Anger as Cornwall towns miss out on £1.5 billion funding
Only one town in the South West made the list (Torquay).
There was anger at a Cornwall Council meeting on Tuesday (4th March) as the Duchy was ignored in £1.5 billion of government funding to “restore pride in Britain’s neighbourhoods”.
It came as the council’s economic development committee heard which towns are among the most in need in Cornwall.
The committee noted investment of place and town-based funding over the past five years amounted to more than £142 million with significant outputs and outcomes delivered across Cornwall.
One of the committee’s original recommendations was for the leader of Cornwall Council to write to the Secretary of State to ask for Cornish towns to be among 75 that will benefit from a new UK regeneration programme, known as the Plan for Neighbourhoods.
However, the Government announced the lucky recipients this morning and there was not one town in Cornwall included.
The council’s Conservative cabinet member for the economy Cllr Louis Gardner said: “It’s beholden on all of us to carry on lobbying this Government.
"I am really upset that the Government have announced the programme this morning and there is not one single Cornish town on it and only one town in the South West (Torquay).
"That does not bode well for Cornwall at all- our MPs need to answer for that.”
Committee chair and Independent councillor Tim Dwelly agreed with the disappointment over the lack of funding for Cornish towns and asked for the recommendation to be removed.
He asked that town and also village vitality remain key objectives for future investment in Cornwall.
The meeting heard that the council’s Place Shaping Framework had allowed it to maximise the impact of funds made available through the Future High Street Fund, Town Deal Funds and Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF).
Targeted investment in places such as Penzance, Truro, Camborne and St Ives through Town Deals has “already delivered impressive results in terms of regeneration”.
A committee report stated: “Cornwall Council has a good track record of intervening in towns and places where there is market failure linked to high construction costs and low land values.
"Projects such as the Penzance Creative Cluster, Liskeard Cattle Market and Hayle Marine Park have demonstrated Cornwall Council’s ability to improve the structure and nature of towns and places by bringing unused buildings back into use and reimagining the economic potential of places within Cornwall.
“SPF investment in town and places has happened across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly with many examples of joined up approaches to place-shaping such as Helston, where the Helston Gateway project has seen the derelict Budgens supermarket acquired and refurbished with the aim of creating space for community-based services and activities including a GP practice and a youth café.
“Other SPF investment, including The Ladder project in Redruth and the IntoBodmin project, has taken place in historic libraries and other civic buildings carrying on the legacy established in Cornwall by John Passmore Edwards and others.”
In the 2024 Autumn Budget, it was announced that SPF will continue for a further transitional year, albeit at a reduced level, which will see £47.3 million for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly for 2025/26.
This transitional funding arrangement is intended to bridge the gap until wider funding reforms are introduced.
The report highlighted the Town Economic Vitality Index 2024, which lists the Cornish towns most in need.
The index allows the council to monitor how towns across Cornwall are performing and target interventions where there is greatest need.
The score is based on indicators such business growth, unemployment, benefit claimants, deprivation, household income, fuel poverty, gigabit broadband, high level skills, life expectancy, occupations, violent crime and job vacancies.