Listen to the Locals!
It is encouraging to read about so many people who want to protect our county from the unwelcome excesses of the last few decades. I can hardly do better than agree with all that “Greenways” writes, but here are a few more words.
Tourism
It is sad to see tourists being made to feel unwelcome, sometimes before they even get here. It must be possible to reduce or amend the scale so that we see tourism not just as an economic necessity (if it is), but as a chance to welcome visitors to our wonderful county and enjoy sharing it with them. We cannot do this with the crowds that we have seen latterly, especially with the knowledge that this pandemic, or a future one, is perhaps never going to go away entirely. Cornwall is for the residents too, but many are now too overwhelmed by masses of holidaymakers (the traffic jams at Kynance Cove a year or two back had to be seen to be believed), and too frightened of the dangers of covid to venture outside their own front gardens. Let’s encourage people who love our countryside and coast for its peace and for the beauty of its wildlife.
Wildlife
The National Trust, English Nature, Cornwall Wildlife Trust and others all try their hardest to conserve and protect our countryside with its flora and fauna. Sometimes, though, they must feel as though they are spitting into the wind: funding constantly being cut, other areas given greater priority, and latterly loss of volunteers because of lockdown. They should be given proper funding and support so that they can carry out their essential work as they need to.
Further, to protect sea-life, water skiing and power boats should be discouraged from our coast. As for fishing, that is one for the politicians but at the very least our territorial rights should be protected.
The Land
Pesticides and herbicides should be banned; Cornwall Council have already made a start by prohibiting neonicotinoids on any land belonging to them. The ban should be made county-wide. The depressing sight of a once green field, turned brown overnight by gallons of herbicide, is not one that should ever be experienced. What’s wrong with the old fashioned method of ploughing?
Greenfield sites should never be built on; nor AONB’s without reference to local opinion. Which is not to say that brownfield sites should be viewed as a convenient alternative; they, too, are home to a host of different wildlife, many of them endangered species.
New building should be limited to local needs, not second homes, with no large developments and nothing to which locals object.
Cornwall could be a shining example of sustainability, and this seems to be what its people want. With the right management, consultation and will, this can be achieved.
Finally, I, for one, would be willing to pay just a few pounds more in Council Tax so that Cornwall Council can afford to do their job properly and achieve what local people have suggested in this survey.