19th November 2024
Planning changes may not benefit Cornwall
AFTER Labour won a landslide General Election victory last summer there were expectations that the building of new homes would be high up on No.10’s ‘To Do’ list.
Planning processes and emphasis may well be changing but Morval’s county councillor, Cllr Armand Toms, has told the Government that South East Cornwall will not roll over and let Plymouth take Cornish housing land to meet their needs.
Cllr Toms, the independent member for the Looe East and Deviock ward (it includes Morval parish), is urging Cornwall Council to resist any planning changes that do not suit Cornwall.
“With 802 residents or families in Bands A, B and C either homeless in temporary accommodation or under the threat of homelessness, the idea of building homes for Plymouth to meet their demand is not possible,” he said.
“The infrastructure, waste water and electricity capability is just not in place.
“In 2022 and 2023 our water reserves went down to as little as 15 per cent in one reservoir and if that happens again we will have no water.
“Building thousands of more homes will only add pressure on a system that is already not capable of meeting the current demand.”
And he added: “Our hospitals can’t cope; both Derriford (Plymouth) and Treliske (Truro) are funded less than those in Bristol and London and other cities.”
Cllr Toms also feared that more homes could ultimately even lead to an increase in second home or airbnbs.
“In 2016 we had fewer then 2,000 airbnbs but the latest figures show 20,688 active that we know of,” he said.
“There are also 12,679 second homes which all make our rents and housing costs more expensive.
“We are pushing out local people… (that’s) our key workers and also our most valued product – our youth.”
Admitting he was ‘fed up’ with the situation, Cllr Toms said that the Government should start valuing Cornwall with fair funding and some well-paid jobs. “The better paid jobs stop at Exeter and Cornwall gets little or no help,” he said.
“It is the job of a councillor to stand up for his or her area and I feel we need to do that now,” he said.
