Cornwall Council won't listen to our 11,000 supporters on change.org, so please add your voice and signature here:

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stop-killing-cornwall-reverse-council-agendas

Cornwall Council must revisit its priorities, which are currently geared towards outdated, aggressive and unsustainable urbanisation. We call on Cornwall's councillors to plan for internal need NOT external greed.
Why is this important?
The experience of Covid-19 tells us that we can't return to 'normal' because 'normal' is the problem. In Cornwall 'normal' has meant

1) Over-dependence on tourism.
2) A housing market aimed at outside demand and second home owners.
3) An environment ruined by endless urbanisation, ever-increasing traffic and identikit housing.
4) Policies that are helping to create a climate emergency.

We call on Cornwall's councillors to plan for internal need NOT external greed. As the Council's Chief Executive herself said, Cornwall should 'not go back to how it was before'.

It’s time for some radical changes. Help Cornwall Council to make those changes by signing this petition.

On the Falmouth Packet website re. Langarth, the Cormorant comments:

I have the feeling of the greatest foreboding over this project, and if I am honest, I truly hope that it doesn't come to fruition. It is a question of trust, I would say, and whilst Councillor Egerton seems to content himself with his daydreams, Councillor Harris appears happy with half-hearted opposition, likewise, Dulcie Tudor, Councillor for the immediate area has concerns about what has gone before, rather than gearing up for battle.

Looking at the artists' impression highlights all too well my concerns and begs the question where is the integrity of Cornwall? Where is the quality - there isn't even a nodding acknowledgement to this county (sic), the very place we love.

Once inferior officials and planners ruin any part of that, there is no turning back.

Are we going to use one hundred acres of Cornwall to build something that, when we stand on any spot within the completed project, we could be anywhere in this nation? Within seconds, we could easily forget we are in wonderful Cornwall. Do we truly want bland, without soul and no heart? Do we want such a new development to be an island of concrete, tarmac and not much else in Cornwall?

If the ultimate aim is to have a Stadium at any cost, I would suggest that those supporters first travel to, say Swindon, should they truly believe it is a price worth paying. Spend two days in the town and explore and savour the emptiness, the sameness and lack of just about anything worthwhile. It is a dump of the first order, it is a planner's mess and yes, just about everyone loved those impressions by so-called artists.

Officials in such cases are slippery and will disappear as quickly as the morning mist, once a mess materialises and dissatisfaction sets in, of that we can be certain. Just look around at some of the decisions now built and glare at us as we drive by. Designers and builders create monuments and leave them in their wake, hitherto their responsibility is done.

Just who will be responsible and brought to book with this project, should we all end up unhappy with another eyesore, but this time on a 100-acre scale? The seriousness cannot be understated but even if they are all found and brought to account, Architects, Designers, Artists, Building Contractors and out of their depth Councillors together with Council Officials, even if they are stripped of everything and marched bare through Truro and they are condemned to live like paupers for the remainder of their lives, it would not be punishment enough for errors, folly and downgrading of Cornwall with this venture.

The Stadium needs to be a stand-alone project and professional negotiators need to rethink and rework their approach. As the article has made clear there is currently plenty of time and as Eleanor Roosevelt once said - Nothing has ever been achieved by the person who says, 'It can't be done.'

From one local mid-Cornwall councillor
Subject: Langarth

Having followed the Langarth Garden Village project with its many twists and turns since 2012, I have concluded that it has done nothing to enhance the reputations of all parties, including Cornwall Council involved.

To call the project’s path controversial, in my opinion, is an overstatement as at times, proceedings have involved questionable conduct well below expected levels of the democratic standards.

Controversy has surrounded many aspects including lack of consideration for finance, accountability, transparency, consultation, various pollution, sewerage, climate emergency, traffic congestion, land purchase, reduction of farming land, public health and infrastructure.
While being an employed officer-driven project, it has not found positive favour with all  elected members or the public.

Now today, we learn that on Friday 26th March Cornwall Council concluded a deal to purchase 100 acres of farm land required for the Langarth Garden Village project. This is a blatant disregard for the Prime Minister's advice which asked to pause land and housing transactions, because of the Coronavirus pandemic.

In my opinion, this officer-led decision puts Cornwall Council in serious conflict with the UK Government, which places the council's Chief  Executive in a situation which invites challenge on the grounds of being incompetent by presenting serious damage to  the reputation of the authority.