Open letter to Councillor Ray Bryan, Portfolio holder in the Dorset Cabinet of the Dorset Council, unofficially on behalf of all on behalf of all guest houses, b&bs and hotels in Weymouth.

Just to give a quick recap who we are. We run a small guest house on the Esplanade, and our background has been in the hospitality industry over the last 35 years, in the UK and across the globe, for a number of hotel chains. We understand tourism, and we understand the business.

A lot has been written about the removal of the £4 a day parking scratch cards for visitors to Weymouth, regarding the scrapping and the cancelling of these cards.

There are even some local residents who apparently think this is a good thing as we hoteliers apparently charge a lot of money anyway; this is hysterical!

Our prices are more than reasonable, and bear in mind we have to pay rent as well to the council, as well as massive increased utilities and food costs, it would be interesting to see and hear what these local residents base their comments on.

The bottom line is this - there are over 165 accommodation venues in Weymouth and all are reliant on outside visitors and the scratch cards were a lifesaver.

Now according to Councillor Ray Bryan, who sits on this cabinet at the Dorset Council, he is adamant that these scratch cards are to be removed and no discussion to be had.

Why? Because apparently it is not fair that other towns have not got them. I am assuming that he means places like Bournemouth, Poole, Swanage, Dorchester and the like? Really? We are comparing Weymouth to these places?

And why can’t Weymouth be treated differently? Weymouth, an old Georgian seafront town, with a magnificent beach, surrounded by the sea on three sides, is a tourist town for visitors from all over Britain, and is unique, of this there is no doubt.

Dorset Council has always been incredibly supportive of us, and continues to be so and even in these matters, Weymouth Council as well is supportive. Although one is occasionally baffled at certain vanity projects, such as the Weymouth railway station forecourt and car park, where what is actually needed is to fix the railway station itself, and the roof of the platforms and the building as they are in a terrible state.

Our colleagues in this business here in Weymouth have been struggling - we all have. Covid did so much damage, and as we emerge from the pandemic, we all now have to pay for the last two years of this, with the massive hikes in all commodities we try to keep our prices down as much as we can; we try to offer value for money and we are generous with what we offer. Yet all this costs money, and if we compare what we offer, we are actually losing money now. But we will continue to do what we believe in.

I am wondering if this particular councillor understands what Weymouth actually needs, and perhaps if he was to enter a dialogue with us all, he may well understand the needs of the town. Instead of silly vanity projects and increased parking costs, perhaps consider what tourists really want and need?

We have no issues if these scratch cards went up to £5 or even £6, but let us at least have a discussion and hope that common sense can prevail.

Andrew Ashmore

The Esplanade, Weymouth