The number of houses in Cornwall has doubled in the last 40 years, it was and still is, one of the fastest growing areas in the Country. However, as a prime example of the failure of housing led growth, housing affordability problems for local people on local wages has worsened.

Public Comment

Given the low wage levels in Cornwall, affordable homes are anything but to people trying to get onto the property ladder. Given an income of £16,000 and with a wife and young children to support, what is the cost of an affordable home to me?  Are so called affordable homes a myth and just an in phrase used by planners and developers?

Public Comment

Why are new homes required? What is the existing stock of houses which are empty and/or need refurbishing? Why build thousands of new homes on greenfield sites when many houses stand empty?

Public Comment

Thousands of new quality jobs will be required to support buying these new homes. Who is going to provide the  job opportunities? and why can’t they be provided now to reduced the unemployment which already exists?

Public Comment

Are our MP’s in support of the Regional Spatial Strategy or not? Maybe a more forceful oppositiion is required in Parliament

Comment

I noted with interest that you have published an email from Jean Ellis who lives in Calumet which was formally  the premier copper mining area in Michigan. Jean’s family came orginally from Penponds, Camborne.
I was fortunate enough to visit Calumet in July 2007 for the Cornish Gathering.  The residents are very proud of their Cornish roots and have preserved their mining heritage. Jean Ellis was very supportive of me when I was working so hard to save the Holman no3 site at Trevu from overdevelopment, even going so far as to write to Camborne Town Council,  who, as a matter of interest, recommended refusal. Kerrier however went on to give planning consent  thus ignoring the 500 people who signed a petition asking for the site to be preserved.  You can now look forward to flats with balconies along Trevu Road, planners seem to feel that is the ideall way to promote a world heritage site.
With the ridiculous numbers of buildings that are being proposed by the government and driven by quangos, what is going to happen to our heritage? In Camborne alone we have lost most of. the important buildingst that defined our mining history Tescos pulled down The School of Mines and not content with this went on to destroy Holmans no 1 works. We need to save what’s left, not bury it in concrete.
I am now in the process of contacting Cornish groups all over the world, these people celebrate their heritage, I know they will support our  cause.
In conclusion ,we urgently require homes for local needs there are empty houses in the area, there are brownfield sites, let’s use these to give local people the homes they so badly need.

Councillor Jean Charman Mayor of Camborne

Comment - Report on Internet BBC News Channel (28/03/09)  - interview with Margaret Beckett

A government pledge to build three million affordable new homes by 2020 is in trouble because of the recession, the housing minister has said.
Margaret Beckett said the government must now look at ways to put the programme “back on track” once the downturn comes to an end.
She said the government was doing what it could to help the building industry.
But housing bodies are calling on the government to do more, including invest in the UK’s one million empty homes.

In 2007, Gordon Brown promised to build three million affordable homes to help reduce the housing waiting list, which now stands at nearly five million.
But Mrs Beckett said of the targets: “They were set because of the predicted levels of household growth - that is not going away.
“So of course we’re in difficulty at the present time because there is very little building.
“But what we have to do now is to consider how we can tackle that,” she told BBC News.
“Now we have to consider when this recession comes to an end, which it will, some day, how can we get back on track.”
Richard Diment, of the Federation of Master Builders, said it was unlikely the targets would be met.
He said house building was at about 20% the rate that it was 12 months ago, making it “extremely difficult” to hit the targets.
Mrs Beckett insisted the government was doing all it could to help, including bringing forward £1.2bn of investment in construction, maintenance and repairs.
“We’re doing everything we can to sustain and support [the construction industry]. “We’re working with them to prepare for the upturn when it comes,” she added.
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) suggested the only way to deal with the current housing problem was to renovate empty homes.
Simon Rubinsohn, of Rics, said: “While it’s understandable that the government may not feel that this is the easiest way and perhaps the most opportune way of actually dealing with the problem, ultimately I think probably in the short-term, it is the only way.”
David Ireland, head of the campaign group Empty Houses Agency, said the recession meant homes that became empty were staying empty.
He urged for policy change to ensure any investment was correctly targeted and called for housing associations to shift their focus from new builds to regeneration.
Sir Bob Kerslake, chief executive of the government’s Homes and Communities Agency, accepted the government should be doing what it could to put empty properties back into use.
But he said they were empty for a number of reasons, including probate or refurbishment and about half were occupied again within six months.
Margaret Beckett said if there were empty homes the government could help, but urged the local authorities to do more to find them and make them habitable.
“What we’re not going to do is do the jobs that local authorities should be doing.
“They do have opportunities, they do have their own resources and you know we’re keen that they are more pro-active than sometimes some of them have been on this subject,” she said.