Concerns from the business community: "I have now run over 200 business events in Cornwall since September 2015. It is very clear to me from running these events that there are very many people in the county forced into self employment as there are not enough jobs paying a living wage available in the county. They go into business, not to fulfil an ambition, but to try and put food on the table. It is also very apparent that a large percentage of those people are hugely underemployed. As highly skilled as many of them are, some find it very difficult to gain meaningful contracts in Cornwall. Many of these run on a shoestring operations stand little chance of gaining contracts outside the county either. The events I run are called Collaboration Hubs and as the name suggests one of the core aims is to help businesses collaborate for mutual benefit, which can help them win business they would otherwise stand no chance of winning. We are trying to do our bit, without any support, to help improve life in business in Cornwall. With the ONS statistics showing that there are some 50,000 self employed people in the county earning an average of less than £10,000 per annum, we are obviously only scratching the surface. This is the huge problem that needs to be solved in Cornwall. Poverty brings with it a huge spiral of social problems. Sadly much of the attention for our "Future Economy" is in my view focused on ill researched vanity projects which will never have a meaningful positive effect on the man in the street. Until the challenge above is recognised and dealt with by those with their hands on the purse strings, home ownership will remain out of reach for huge numbers of people in Cornwall. Each year, young talent leaves Cornwall for the reasons outlined above. The result, we have an ageing population, with increased dependency on our healthcare systems. The 52 week population in the county has I believe fallen slightly over recent years. We apparently have 29,000 or so empty homes in the county. So I am puzzled as to why we need 52,500 more unaffordable homes! In my humble opinion, the efforts of some very well meaning people are not focused on the things that are going to make a real difference." The council has a near two billion pound black hole (that’s £2,000,000,000), including the pension issue and has no money to spare (apart from over-inflated Cormac projects - see Tregurra in Truro); in fact, it seems to spend a lot of time working out which libraries and toilets to close. Yet somehow, it employs an army of planners AND outside experts (usually from the construction industry) to advise on how many more homes we have to have, as a community. Where are the County Highways reports that have stated for years that roads are at capacity?? Where are the Southwest Water reports that should reflect private admissions from managers that they can’t cope with current sewerage levels, can’t cope with flooding due to additional concrete surrounding our market towns, can’t cope with the current pipe network upgrades?? According to at least one councilor, these reports are often shoved at the bottom of a developer’s planning application, AFTER the green light is given at council meetings. WHY?? Who will clear up the mess? Developers ride into town, concrete over the best farmland and green belts for vast profits, and leave behind a toxic mess of nitrogen dioxide, sewerage and flooding. Why aren’t our councillors and planners (paid for by local council tax and business rates) actually standing up to this moral bankruptcy? We had green and safe communities in Cornwall; real communities, with soul and spirit, kinship and bonds; now we have Sainsburys, Tescos and Waitrose, all guaranteed to have the best TV adverts, paid for by an army of newcomers dumped on ugly, unsustainable and generally unaffordable greenbelt developments. Do these new Cornish residents even know that their water bills and council taxes will probably be the highest in the land? In other news: ST. AUSTELL: www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/a30-st-austell-link-concern-860483 SALTASH: www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/nearly-everyone-lost-job-palmer-857661 WADEBRIDGE, NEWQUAY, ST. IVES, BODMIN, HELSTON, LISKEARD: www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/natwest-close-branches-six-cornish-860437 HELSTON: www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/15688922.Your_chance_to_find_out_how_Cornwall_Council_changes_would_affect_you_in_Helston_area/?ref=mr&lp=4 HOUSING: www.bewnanskernow.org/cornish-culture-blog/new-paper-from-bernard-deacon-going-west-housing-migration-and-population-growth-in-cornwall