The Cornwall We Want

What are your hopes and fears for the future?

• Share Returning emmigrant or emmet? on Facebook Share Returning emmigrant or emmet? on Twitter Share Returning emmigrant or emmet? on Linkedin Email Returning emmigrant or emmet? link

  Returning emmigrant or emmet?

  by Christopher Peachey, almost 6 years ago

  My family left Cornwall in 1891 but all generations have continued to return for regular visits/holidays; two of us currently own additional houses in the county ( paying full Council Tax). For ten years I had a part time job in Cornwall and pre-Covid spent 25% of my time in Cornwall, having many friends locally.

  I can get fed up with swamping tourists in both Cornwall and Gloucestershire! But, now retired, would like to continue to live part time in Cornwall whilst still working in the Cotswolds.

  My family left Cornwall in 1891 but all generations have continued to return for regular visits/holidays; two of us currently own additional houses in the county ( paying full Council Tax). For ten years I had a part time job in Cornwall and pre-Covid spent 25% of my time in Cornwall, having many friends locally.

  I can get fed up with swamping tourists in both Cornwall and Gloucestershire! But, now retired, would like to continue to live part time in Cornwall whilst still working in the Cotswolds.
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  A new economy?

  by Maria, almost 6 years ago

  I would like Cornwall to be less reliant on tourism. Each year our population triples from half a million to one and a half million! and this puts pressure on our roads, health services, water supply, environment, police forces and supermarkets. I feel that the tourist industry has grown out of control. We need a new economy which is more self sufficient and sustainable. I think that tourism has a place and people have the right to visit other places in the world. But too much tourism can be damaging to the environment and it's local resources. It can also... Continue reading

  I would like Cornwall to be less reliant on tourism. Each year our population triples from half a million to one and a half million! and this puts pressure on our roads, health services, water supply, environment, police forces and supermarkets. I feel that the tourist industry has grown out of control. We need a new economy which is more self sufficient and sustainable. I think that tourism has a place and people have the right to visit other places in the world. But too much tourism can be damaging to the environment and it's local resources. It can also increase the spread of infectious diseases by encouraging travelling at a time which not only endangers lives, but also harms the travel & hospitality industries and other businesses due to the risk of lock downs. We need to be more self sufficient and environmentally friendly. We have Cornish lithium which would provide electric storage batteries for national grid and also lithium ion batteries for electric cars in a new green economy. There is also a lot of potential for wave and geothermal energy for renewable heat and power generation. Not only would this offer employment opportunities, it would also provide a source of income -https://www.cornishlithium.com/. I would like to see an increase in food production, remote working and more creative industries in every town, which would increase revenue in more sustainable ways. Some ideas for sustainable creative businesses would be to provide workshops experiences, skills and education in the following areas - the environment, growing your own food, upcycling, baking, workshops on how to make wildlife housing and wildlife friendly gardens, teaching people how to sew and make their own clothing, furnishings, teaching water sports, art, writing, singing, pottery, dance, cookery classes, etc. The list goes on. These business would increase revenue in a more sustainable way by providing experiences which increase more satisfaction than the purchase of homogenised bric-a-brac. These sustainable business would increase customer satisfaction whilst also increasing the cohesiveness of a community and improving it's mental health.
• Share Lockdown has given a time to pause and consider what is important on Facebook Share Lockdown has given a time to pause and consider what is important on Twitter Share Lockdown has given a time to pause and consider what is important on Linkedin Email Lockdown has given a time to pause and consider what is important link

  Lockdown has given a time to pause and consider what is important

  by eag, almost 6 years ago

  Time to reflect and really consider the Cornwall I would like to see. Does anyone else feel uncomfortable regarding 2nd home owners who have pushed the housing prices up leaving local young people unable to afford housing in their birth county? The question of council and business tax avoidance is outrageous when locals are subsiding the use of facilities by paying a very high council tax, mine is a third of the state pension I receive. Second home owners have made ghost towns of some of our local areas and this is not a situation to be proud of. We... Continue reading

  Time to reflect and really consider the Cornwall I would like to see. Does anyone else feel uncomfortable regarding 2nd home owners who have pushed the housing prices up leaving local young people unable to afford housing in their birth county? The question of council and business tax avoidance is outrageous when locals are subsiding the use of facilities by paying a very high council tax, mine is a third of the state pension I receive. Second home owners have made ghost towns of some of our local areas and this is not a situation to be proud of. We need more businesses to lessen reliance on jobs in tourism and seasonal work and affordable housing for our young people. The principality of Monaco guarantees their residents success in interviews over non-residents (as long as they are suitably qualified) and many tourist venues in Europe apply a local tourism charge why can Cornwall not adopt something similar to ease the situation for locals? We are becoming a County of great divide again not something to be proud of. St Ives took a very strong stance regarding ensuring new homes did not go to 2nd home owners. Cornish people have a unique heritage and this is something, I am sure, we all do not begrudge sharing with visitors but not at a cost to local people. Support our heritage and young people.
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  Lockdown has been a kind of strange paradise

  almost 6 years ago
  

  We have had an opportunity in Covid lockdown to enjoy our beautiful surroundings in peace and solitude in a way that has never been possible during the years we have been here. It has made us feel enormously grateful for our privilege in living here, and more acutely aware of the importance of holding on to the positive aspects of these past few months.

  We must try and keep a balance so that visitor numbers are kept to a level which allows us all to walk on the coastal path and find space and enjoy the majesty of the scenery... Continue reading

  We have had an opportunity in Covid lockdown to enjoy our beautiful surroundings in peace and solitude in a way that has never been possible during the years we have been here. It has made us feel enormously grateful for our privilege in living here, and more acutely aware of the importance of holding on to the positive aspects of these past few months.

  We must try and keep a balance so that visitor numbers are kept to a level which allows us all to walk on the coastal path and find space and enjoy the majesty of the scenery, walk through our pretty coastal villages without crowds, and wander across our fabulous Cornish beaches without having to step over the litter and debris of picnics and BBQs, whilst allowing enough visitors to keep our hospitality businesses going.

  These are some of the things that i have experienced during lockdown and that I would like to continue

  Quieter streets and no visitors parking in front of my house

  Regular long walks on sections of the coastal path

  Lack of seagulls sitting in wait for chips and ice cream

  Getting to know all my neighbours better

  Having the time to do regular volunteering work

  Using the car very little and really exploring everywhere that we can walk to

  Coming across wildlife that I have not noticed before-birds, flowers, marine life.

  Not being tempted to shop unnecessarily

  Appreciating my home and garden.

  The divine weather has made everything more beautiful, and my rosy view of the past few months must be largely due to that. I am worried about the crowds returning and interrupting the peace and spiritually uplifting experience of our natural surroundings.
• Share A Cornish Haiku on Facebook Share A Cornish Haiku on Twitter Share A Cornish Haiku on Linkedin Email A Cornish Haiku link

  A Cornish Haiku

  almost 6 years ago

  Oh Kernow my home.

  Wild sea and fallow field bee.

  A commons future?

  Oh Kernow my home.

  Wild sea and fallow field bee.

  A commons future?
• Share Stop letting home grown talent disappear "up country"! on Facebook Share Stop letting home grown talent disappear "up country"! on Twitter Share Stop letting home grown talent disappear "up country"! on Linkedin Email Stop letting home grown talent disappear "up country"! link

  Stop letting home grown talent disappear "up country"!

  almost 6 years ago

  Being a Cornish school leaver some twenty years ago there was little opportunity for good local (not tourism based) jobs, now there are even fewer. The district council hubs have disappeared as well as smaller NHS hubs, they have all moved to the bigger towns in Cornwall. Living in North Cornwall there is virtually nothing here for youngsters to aspire to, to hope that they can remain in their local communities. They are effectively forced to leave the county, all of their friends and other social relationships just so that they can get jobs. Those that stay in the local... Continue reading

  Being a Cornish school leaver some twenty years ago there was little opportunity for good local (not tourism based) jobs, now there are even fewer. The district council hubs have disappeared as well as smaller NHS hubs, they have all moved to the bigger towns in Cornwall. Living in North Cornwall there is virtually nothing here for youngsters to aspire to, to hope that they can remain in their local communities. They are effectively forced to leave the county, all of their friends and other social relationships just so that they can get jobs. Those that stay in the local community can look forward to tourism related work, that, according to aggrieved second home owners comments on social media during the lockdown, they should be grateful for. Should they be grateful for low paid, low skilled, seasonal jobs that hold no security for them? Please, please, please can we create a county with good jobs for local people in their own locality and stop letting our own home grown talent leave needlessly.
• Share Race to zero carbon now and it will be less damaging than the lockdown has been on Facebook Share Race to zero carbon now and it will be less damaging than the lockdown has been on Twitter Share Race to zero carbon now and it will be less damaging than the lockdown has been on Linkedin Email Race to zero carbon now and it will be less damaging than the lockdown has been link

  Race to zero carbon now and it will be less damaging than the lockdown has been

  by TruthBard, almost 6 years ago

  I live on the edge of the County and often feel, being so far from Truro, that my town is overlooked for a lot of things. I am less bothered by tourists but more bothered by my community being cut in half by one of the most dangerous and busy roads in the UK, the noise and air pollution, and the endless policies that take us further away from our need to address the climate and ecological emergency. For example, why do we need to have a 'gateway development' incorporating a burger chain drive-through and also a coffee chain drive... Continue reading

  I live on the edge of the County and often feel, being so far from Truro, that my town is overlooked for a lot of things. I am less bothered by tourists but more bothered by my community being cut in half by one of the most dangerous and busy roads in the UK, the noise and air pollution, and the endless policies that take us further away from our need to address the climate and ecological emergency. For example, why do we need to have a 'gateway development' incorporating a burger chain drive-through and also a coffee chain drive through? They don't add anything to our town other than a lot of litter. I know they create jobs but these are not skilled jobs and because these places are open 24/7, employees on shift work, will ultimately struggle with their health. And the local people who are encouraged to buy the food will suffer all the health problems associated with poor diets. Meanwhile, everyone living nearby will have to put up with the air pollution, noise, litter, and night time light pollution which is incredible. None of these things are compatible with overall environmental goals. Beef burgers are not sustainable, even if the beef is locally sourced. Coffee is not sustainable, the packaging is just an outrageous waste of resources and a hazard. Our town has lost all its distinctiveness and much of its community spirit. Our public services are being run down, our Library opening times reduced, our leisure centre struggling. In Cornwall, too much emphasis is placed on things that will not be of any use to us in a 4 degree world and tourism is one of those things. I think there should be a ban on second homes to allow young families to live comfortably and affordably to live in their own communities. I haven't been able to live in the seaside village I grew up in for years, because it has been taken over by incomers who have bought up older properties and redeveloped the plots with enormous five bedroom luxury pads they hardly ever spend any time in. Many people living comfortably where I am from, are retired baby boomers with large pensions. I will never enjoy the luxury lifestyles they have and I don't want to if it means ultimately the destruction of the Earth. All of the luxury houses, luxury holiday homes, luxury lifestyles are based on levels of consumption that result in our environmental footprint far greater than one planet. This is simply not sustainable and is doing a lot of damage. They say an ecosystem needs 30% tree cover to stabilise. We have hardly any trees. Insects are in steep decline yet we do not have an outright ban on pesticides. Town centres and busy roads are cutting up green routes and preventing wildlife from moving around freely. Our rivers and countryside and ocean are used like waste dumps. The lockdown allowed me to enjoy cycling again but it has been short-lived. Now the cars are back, all breaking the speed limit. Tonight is my last night of peace. Once the pubs and restaurants start to open, I will not enjoy an undisturbed night's sleep as cars zoom down the road at 40mph in the 20mph zone that no one ever respects. Our town centre needs help. It needs pedestrianizing. We need regular markets for shopping. Lower commercial rents, lower rents for accommodation. We need to stop allowing developers to build tiny, c-rated homes on ugly estates without character. Instead Cornwall Council should build the homes that are needed, that are fit for a new future where we can work from home and enjoy free energy and heating from the sun. We should now be working to insulate all existing homes so that gas and oil-fired heating can be eliminated. We need to stop dreaming about giant wind turbines and massive solar farms and make all property as energy efficient as it can be, first. Then we need to make people energy efficient. There is too much waste, this is not just about turning the lights out anymore. We need to become proficient in growing all our own food. We need to do a lot of re-wilding. We need dark skies at night, we need trams in town centres. We need transport to be free it is just far too expensive at the moment and it does not serve the people well. If it were free and frequent, everyone would use it. We also need a lot of cycle routes and pavements. In fact. I'd say we need to close whole lanes of traffic and open them up for walkers, riders and cyclists. I don't care if the traffic jams grow longer and longer. This should put people off wanting to drive. We need to show that we want to change. It won't suit everyone to begin with but if we don't change, I doubt we have more than 20 years left. And I say this as environmental scientist, who is fully aware of the climate tipping points we have already crossed. We have to ask young people what they want. We need to leave the Earth in a better state for them to survive. We need to stop favouring unsustainable business and unsustainable land management practices. We have probably already locked in more than 1.5 degrees of warming and thereby a few metres of sea level rise, lots of stormy weather and heatwaves. Our future must be local, sustainable, and adapted to a new climate. We need to protect air, soils, and water. We need to be able to work where we live. We need to grow much more of the food we eat and much less of the food that goes to animals to eat. If we throw everything we can at zero carbon by 2030 we will all live better lives. If we don't prioritise that, everything will fail. Forget tourism, we should be in survival mode now. You may think that will wreck the economy but it is already wrecked and so now we need to act fast, to change. Start up-skilling local people to do the jobs that need to be done like home insulation, water efficiency, waste efficiency. Employ people to clean up the county. It is smothered in litter of all kinds and will take an army of people to sort out. Invest in that and not in tourism or road building. People need access to land, hedgerows need to be reinstated, there should be a moratorium on cutting down any mature tree, anywhere, unless it is dangerously diseased. Cutting grass other than for access paths should be banned between April and August. As George Monbiot recently suggested, we need to live more modest lives but we should have access to public luxury, good libraries, good education facilities, more vocational training, and no tuition fees for practical subjects like woodworking, horticulture and agriculture.
• Share More amenities for Torpoint on Facebook Share More amenities for Torpoint on Twitter Share More amenities for Torpoint on Linkedin Email More amenities for Torpoint link

  More amenities for Torpoint

  by JannyG, almost 6 years ago

  Living in Torpoint for 40 odd years now and have seen no new developments. I see Saltash expanding its shopping areas with Lidl. The food warehouse etc. Got its own swimming pool. And recycling centre. Torpoint is being left behind. We need our own shopping estate and recycling centre. Sports amenities that people can afford. We travel miles to go to saltash for recycling household items and shopping etc. If we had our own, then it would cut down on traffic, carbon emissions, wear and tear on the roads and vehicles, it would create jobs that people won’t need to... Continue reading

  Living in Torpoint for 40 odd years now and have seen no new developments. I see Saltash expanding its shopping areas with Lidl. The food warehouse etc. Got its own swimming pool. And recycling centre. Torpoint is being left behind. We need our own shopping estate and recycling centre. Sports amenities that people can afford. We travel miles to go to saltash for recycling household items and shopping etc. If we had our own, then it would cut down on traffic, carbon emissions, wear and tear on the roads and vehicles, it would create jobs that people won’t need to travel miles for. Don’t let Torpoint be forgotten.
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  A place to retire

  by Mike, almost 6 years ago

  After spending 40 years travelling to Cornwall many times a year, retirement looms so we purchased a home in Carbis Bay.

  Not worried about being a so called outsider I have now purchased a second home in Cornwall and since the lock down, we have signed as a volunteers, met some nice people in need of our services for shopping etc . Recently I traveled to Reading to pick a stair lift for a local person a round trip or 550 miles and a 19 hour day.

  Not all outsiders are money grabbers, I guess some have worked very hard... Continue reading

  After spending 40 years travelling to Cornwall many times a year, retirement looms so we purchased a home in Carbis Bay.

  Not worried about being a so called outsider I have now purchased a second home in Cornwall and since the lock down, we have signed as a volunteers, met some nice people in need of our services for shopping etc . Recently I traveled to Reading to pick a stair lift for a local person a round trip or 550 miles and a 19 hour day.

  Not all outsiders are money grabbers, I guess some have worked very hard to earn the money to purchase in this area.

  I would like these whingers to look at their motives. Would it not be better voice an opinion about accidental release of sewage into Cabis bay ? or improvement of Mental health services, fight for more youth services.

  I too have to suffer the St Ives road in the summer. It sometimes makes me laugh when i find out the person who is moaning about outsiders have only lived here for 15 years or less !!

  Since 2016 i have spent with local tradesmen around 80K on property refurbishment and I am sure I will invest more in both houses and local businesses.

  you can't have it both ways. Stop people coming to Cornwall and where will you be ?

  Just another point after leaving school in Reading at 15 with no certificates to my name and during the 3 day week recession we managed to save, work, save, work, save raise 2 children and finally Cornwall.
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  Decrease availability of family homes for ownership as second homes

  almost 6 years ago

  Cornwall needs tourists. Hotels, guest houses, bed and breakfast accommodation, holiday centres, caravans and camp sites bring holiday makers, provide work but don’t destroy communities. Houses and cottages in our towns and villages bought for temporary occupation provide limited benefits while inflating property prices making homes unaffordable for local people and destroying communities.

  Cornwall needs tourists. Hotels, guest houses, bed and breakfast accommodation, holiday centres, caravans and camp sites bring holiday makers, provide work but don’t destroy communities. Houses and cottages in our towns and villages bought for temporary occupation provide limited benefits while inflating property prices making homes unaffordable for local people and destroying communities.