This from one supporter: "I proposed this (National Park Status) to the Council - both directly and via the media - when I was at CPRE. Totally ignored. Why? Because increased housing has been Cornwall Council's sole strategy for income (council tax, Boles’ bung, etc...) whilst they remain in unsustainable debt and huge pension fund deficit. The fact that a) the Council have proven themselves grossly incompetent in the use of public money, and b) there is no commensurate planned infrastructure, and c) the increased population therefore causes both social and healthcare crises, and d) the strategy has continually failed, and e) truly affordable homes are not made available (I could go on…see Bernard Deacon’s excellent research) all appear to be inconvenient truths." Meanwhile, one resident from Redruth wrote the following in the West Briton: "I have come to the conclusion that the government and local councils are living in cloud cuckoo land. If they had half a brain, they would be dangerous for sure. The reason I'm saying this is because the schools are full, doctors are struggling, hospitals can't cope, the roads can't cope with the vast increase in traffic, and yet they are building more and more houses - even on green belt it seems. Now without being rocket science, it's plain to see that one day soon the bubble will burst and we will find ourselves in funny street. It's all very well building lots of houses to accommodate these people (most from over the Tamar, no doubt) but where are the jobs for the people concerned? The mind certainly boggles for sure. Time to put a sign up saying:"Cornwall is full". Barry Thomas, Redruth Another resident of Penwith wrote: "In 1988, there was a housing moratorium in place in Penwith District for all except vital local needs housing, and very small development proposals. The reason? Because the sewerage system was ancient, inadequate, polluted the sea around our coast, and could not cope with more demand. It was not removed until SW Water carried out its massive re-sewering programme in the mid 90s. It's now more than 20 years on. Our population has relentlessly increased, and it's clear that the present sewerage system in Cornwall cannot cope with the current demand, let alone the 52,500 houses being forced upon us. For the last 2 summers, several of our beaches have been polluted by overflow from overloaded sewers. Once again, our sewerage system has got to the point where it cannot cope with any more. But now, as opposed to the 1980s, it's a sight worse than that. Our NHS is on constant black alert. Its limited capacity cannot cope. Our roads cannot cope. Our elderly persons' facilities have been pushed beyond the limit of their capacity. How long will the current reservoirs be able to cope with demand before even more open land disappears underwater? Tourism has also been pushed to ludicrous proportions. This year - unprecedented in my experience - a Cornish town (Perranporth) had road access to it shut off several times because the town was gridlocked and could no longer cope with the traffic demand. That also meant that access for emergency vehicles was nigh on impossible. That is totally unacceptable and placed local residents' lives in danger for the sake of Great God Tourism. The whole of this demand results from a mad scramble for (largely external) profit. Cornwall itself gets next to nothing out of this, except hell on earth for its long-suffering residents. We need to demand and impose an instant housing moratorium and, again, for all except essential local needs. I was not party to the moratorium of the 80s, of how it was introduced and by whom. The reasons for a moratorium are unquestionably there, but who can authorise it?" Phil Mason anyone?? Support for this petition, to date, comes from: Area & villages Redruth-Pool-Camborne 481 Penzance-Newlyn-Helston-St Ives-Hayle 472 Truro-Threemilestone-Roseland-Chacewater 418 Bodmin-Liskeard-Wadebridge-Lauceston-Bude-Saltash 299 Newquay-Quintrell Downs-Perranporth-St Agnes 281 St Austell-Carlyon Bay-Clay Country 276 Falmouth-Penryn-Mawnan-Mylor 194 CORNWALL 2422 Others 997 Total (15-10-2017) 3419