The face of Cornwall is becoming increasingly blighted. Since its inception, Cornwall Council has encouraged and celebrated hyper-development in Cornwall - almost always ignoring protests from local people, preferring instead to cozy up to greedy developers and hide behind government dictat. The damage that has been done to Cornwall is incalculable, although the Council are in denial over this and are eager to inflict further urbanisation schemes on any green space that has hitherto escaped predatory developers. Many have suggested that the Council - if it possessed any integrity - should make representation to government that the so-called 'growth agenda' is bad for Cornwall. But such suggestions are routinely ignored and dismissed out of hand, and so the desecration continues.
It is a pity that the Council refuses to consider any alternative to what appears to be its mission of total urbanisation, and all the terrible outcomes that result from this - ugly developments, traffic chaos, loss of bio-diversity, health services at breaking point, problems with waste and sewage and the disintegration of Cornish distinctiveness.
Other councils have shown more honesty and downright guts by challenging government ambitions of concreting over the countryside. Bravely, and in line with its mandate from the last local elections, South Oxfordshire District Council has challenged green belt development. As a consequence, the government has suspended its planning powers and are now considering making this permanent, transferring powers from the democratically elected representatives to Oxford County Council. How this will all pan out has yet to be seen, but were Cornwall Council to take a similar approach then it might start gaining a degree of respect from residents - rather than the widespread contempt with which it is viewed by most people.
For more information about Oxford see https://www.change.org/p/oxfordshire-growth-board-rethink-oxfordshire-s-economic-growth-plan/u/25619065?cs_tk=AtoeWgPEzLeIKMpDKF4AAXicyyvNyQEABF8BvKOsBzBFMrhKbNTt4zrglRM%3D&utm_campaign=20702b2f013247a7b3cdccc086fbc3a4&utm_content=initial_v0_2_0&utm_medium=email&utm_source=petition_update&utm_term=cs