A CONSULTATION for a revised proposed visitor levy for Argyll and Bute will be carried out after a vote among councillors.
A report in advance of a full council meeting revealed details of a proposal for a £5 per room, per night visitor levy after new legislation allowed a flat rate to be set if councils wished.
The project has twice been paused by the council, with a consultation on a five per cent visitor levy having been conducted last year.
Councillor Jan Brown (SNP, Mid Argyll) moved a motion to the full council meeting on Wednesday, June 24 asking that the recommendations to go out to consultation be agreed.
An amendment, asking the council to reject the need for any further consultation on a visitor levy scheme, was moved by Councillor Amanda Hampsey (Reform UK, Oban South and the Isles). The motion prevailed on a roll call vote.
Councillor Hampsey, in summing up the amendment, said: “I will return to the simple question at the heart of this debate – the question that is coming from people who elected us to represent their views.
“How many consultations does it take to hear the word no? For two years we have consulted and debated this proposal and throughout the message from business and communities has been constant – they do not support a visitor levy for Argyll and Bute.
“Members have heard about additional costs, the effects on communities that already face the challenges of distance and rural living, the list goes on.
“We have already heard it is not only a tax on tourists, but on local people who need to stay overnight.
“We can continue to spend more time or money producing a proposal that people have repeatedly expressed concerns about, or we can listen to what they have told us over and over again. Residents and businesses have said no and I am saying no.”
Summing up the motion to agree the recommendations, Councillor Brown said: “In my role as depute provost, I have proposed this motion. The recommendations are perfectly clear. We have debated this backwards and forward and officers have answered every single question.
“The answer to why we are having a consultation is that we do not have a choice. We need a consultation to decide whether or not we will impose a visitor levy.
“We have listened to the public. Contrary to what many people have said, we do listen.
“What is important is that we do right by the people of Argyll and Bute and we do right by our visitors. We need to have a consultation and put this to bed one way or the other.
“There is no decision [today], that comes further down the line, but until we know properly what everybody in Argyll and Bute and our visitors who come here [think], we need to have it, no matter what it is costing.
“We need to put it to the people of Argyll and Bute and beyond to consult and see where it takes us.”
After a roll call vote, Councillor Brown’s motion to agree the recommendations prevailed by eighteen votes to eight.
The consultation will run through the council’s website from Monday, July 13 until Monday, October 5.
