Cornwall's 'Local Plan'

About forty of us protested during the The Examination in Public of Cornwall's 'Local Plan', at which property developers were given the floor almost entirely for the five days of the hearing. Thanks for those of you who turned out to make a public stand.

The many interesting comments on the petition recognize that Saving Cornwall's Green Fields requires insight into the links between finance, infrastructure, housing and so on. That is exactly what a petition from Cornwall for Change (C4C) provides in ‘Give Cornwall Our Due’ in respect of the money promised to the Duchy by the EU, that is currently held the Department of Communities and Local Governance (DCLG) in London.

This recognizes that the £826m debt carried by the Council has a direct effect on the provision of public services and of decisions to build houses, as the latter gives a financial fillip from the Government, called the New Homes Bonus.

The C4C press release can be found below and I do recommend their petition to you: http://wp.cornwallforchange.org/

Cornwall for Change represents the interests of over 70 town and parish councils who represent the ordinary people of Cornwall. Many councillors have expressed strong concern over the governance of Cornwall and the strain on public infrastructure, where 25% of households are on the edge of poverty.

In order for us to ‘help us help ourselves’, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly were due to receive £458m from the European Commission during the period 2014-2020. No money has yet come to Cornwall, although it has already been transferred from Brussels and is held by DCLG.

“This is an appeal for the citizens of Cornwall to be treated fairly by central Government.” Says a spokesman for C4C “The ball and chain of the estimated £1.2bn debt in Cornwall Council is clearly unsustainable and must be reduced as a matter of urgency. The payment interests of £58m per annum have a direct impact on public services as well as the Council’s decision to promote house-building and thus population growth. We feel that it is impractical and ethically wrong for a grant to be invested in schemes that have no solid commercial return, whilst Cornwall Council carries a debt of £826m in 2015 (up from £500m six years earlier). The EU money should used to reduce the debt and thus the interest payments. If we don’t act now, the monies due to us will become another pawn in the national negotiations with the EU, which naturally include many other issues.”

The petition to respectfully demand the transfer of EU monies from DCLG under these terms has opened here and will close on the 20th July.

 The context

The fact that Cornwall was paying the price for a lack of Government support was reported as long ago as 2001 by Sunday Times journalist Kevin Cahill in ‘The Killing of Cornwall’ (Business Age magazine).

According to the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR), the South-East of England receives £5426 per capita from Government on public infrastructure costs, compared to just £474 in the South-West. That’s a ratio of 11:1.

In their 2015 report, the Federation of Small Business (FSB) tell us that the ratio on business infrastructure costs is 142:1 (South East : South West).

Cornwall Council have announced that they must make a reduction of £200m costs between 2016 and 2020.

An email to C4C in March 2015 from Cornwall Council’s assistant head of finance state a total debt of £826 million in January 2015, comprising of £633 million long term and £193 million short term debt. This is up from £500m in 2009. In addition, the Council reported a pension fund deficit - the difference between what will be needed and what is actually available - was £369m. That’s a grand sum of £1.195 billion…and rising.

In the same email, the interest on Cornwall’s ‘finance budget’ was reported to be £58 million per annum and a further £60 million per annum for capital repayment. A total of £118 million per annum.

'Kernow Matters' is Cornwall's newest NGO. Formed during 2015 to proclaim and celebrate Cornish culture, history, language and music whilst speaking out unashamedly for the Cornish, our members are proud to be members of the Cornish National Minority.

Follow us on twitter @kernow_matters  /  on Facebook @The Cornish are a Nation  / visit our website at
 http://kernowmatterstous.weebly.com/