大象传媒

Why do you underplay the issue by using the misleading terms 'second' and 'home', Mr Smith? You don't know if a house in Cornwall owned by any non-resident of Cornwall is their second, third, fourth or fifth or sixth house, do you?
As many of these multiply entitled (under current lax rules) voters own multiple houses in multiple constituencies and any house other than their primary residence is hardly a 'home' surely the more precise and accurate terminology is 'multiple house owner' voters. Don't you agree?

Politics of envy, someone richer can afford more than a poorer person; this is a fact of life

The damage in Cornwall is already done, the breakdown in coastal communities has created massive ghost towns with people who do not live the majority of the time within Cornwall imposing unwanted values on us, I do not care how many houses people own but to stop these ghost towns taking over we need to control the SALE of properties not how many people can buy.

A quota of say no more than 15% of homes in a 1 mile radius of properties which will vacant the majority of the time, should become a local law. People are quick enough to blame people for buying houses in a free market but never blame the people who sell them, are they not just as liable to breaking the Cornish community, people are free to buy as many houses as they want but will need to find tenants which will help lower the cost of rent for people wanting to live the majority of the time here, two birds with one stone

You appear to have missed the point, Andrew.

Which is about level playing field and equal voting rights for all.

The only issue with second home owners is community; everything else is either democratic rights or free market forces.

If people own something they have a right to have a say

So, Peter, are you saying it's acceptable to be able to buy additional voting power and influence across the UK through multiple property acquisition?

In general multiple house owners are inevitably, due to their dispersed and divided loyalties and commitments, rarely able to be full participants in the communities in which they have taken those houses out of full time residential availability - indeed they punch holes in the fabric of those communities and disrupt and damage social cohesion.

In any case, surely it is socially unacceptable to decommission residential housing from residential access and availability merely for the taking of occasional holidays? There are plenty of dedicated visitor facilities in Cornwall & Scilly for non-residents to take holidays bringing greater economic benefits and causing far less harm to Cornwall's communities.

AccurateChronometer I doubt you could create such guidelines without being biased against second home owners thus it would hardly be "Level and equal".

Just be honest you are jealous of those who have gained greater financial success than you; it is not a crime to own more than one house. People are free to buy however many houses they wish, under my plan the balance would ensure the local community is not harmed

No jealousy, Andrew. Ownership of a single house let alone two, can be a headache - as you possibly know yourself. It's a bit silly of you to make such petty, shallow and tangential accusations.

No, Andrew. The real and only serious question at issue here is:
Should multiple house owners be able to derive and exert undue political power and influence across the UK by dint of owning more than one house?

I suspect the amount of people abusing the system as you propose is very near to being and almost none existent AccurateChronometer, if you real must solve a problem, I can suggest thousands of other areas in our democracy to start before seeking nano-events.

The truth of the matter is that the reality is not yet visible.
The facts are not known,Andrew.
Not even by your good self.
They should be.

AccurateChronometer I think your summons would better fit religious circles they also like preaching about things that can not be seen or justified and beg people to believe in on purely a hypothetical basis, ironically like you they also are the benefactors of this pot stirring, no electoral system is 100% fair, I would start be looking at postal votes it you want to improve our system, this is nothing more than pretending to be a trawler captain whilst rock pooling and finding a tiddler

That what old AccurateChronometer, does, Andrew. He preaches!

Then I suggest he gets a ticket and visits speaking corners where he may learn just because you say something does not mean anyone cares or if they do for all the wrong reasons, for example this "we are not England" thing, does he really think him saying it is going to change anybodies reality?

Speakers' Corner was frequented by Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin and George Orwell. A Cornish nationalist will seem like a Veggie h'orderves

Of course, let us not forget that some of these properties are not "second homes" at all. They are holiday rentals, owned by Cornish locals and rented by the week.

"At October 2009 there were 13,995 second homes in Cornwall"

[Hansard 21 June 2010 column 23W].

You're right, Slimslad - there's a lot that needs sorting out. How about this - things should be put right to meet the shelter needs of full time residents of Cornwall & Scilly before we think about how to please tourists. That must surely be the first priority and primary responsibility of the Cornwall & Scilly Councils and the UK government.

14,000-5 is a lot of housing that could be put to good and better use.

On top of that there's the 'holiday use only' conversions, the 6-8,000 houses standing empty etc etc etc.

Absolutely no argument from me there, AccurateChronometer.

Cornwall, (like many areas popular with tourists), needs housing for the indigenous population. It is unjust that people cannot afford to buy or rent homes in their own communities. Where shops and local services have to depend on seasonal visitors or risk closure and bankruptcy. Where young people have to depend on low-paid, seasonal employment, or no employment at all.

None it of it 'has' to be that way, Slimslad.
All it needs is for public servants in Cornwall & Scilly to remember to whom they owe their primary duty of care and obligation and to put fiscal instruments, interventions and arrangements in place that reflect that understanding.
Should Cornwall & Scilly have policies dictated by tourists or should Cornwall & Scilly be guided by a greater sense of responsibility towards meeting the needs of the full time residents of Cornwall & Scilly?
One thing is for sure - Cornwall & Scilly would be far better off in so many ways if people weren't being forced to subsidise inflationary parasites from beyond with the destruction of communities and paying housing and other costs that bear no reasonable relation to their wages.

I must emphasise that Cornwall is not the only area that suffers the negative effects of tourists and wealthy "incomers", although it has to be admitted that Cornwall has more coastline and better weather than many more areas of Britain!

Apparently, Slimslad, we have gathered to discuss 'Graham Smith's Cornwall' and points arising.
Cornish problems need Cornish solutions.
PS The weather is not all those glossy misleading brochures frequently designed by ex-tourists to further exploit a new generation of tourists crack it up to be. We used to have generally grey, damp and windy weather for most of the months of winter. Now we get similarly grey, damp and windy weather for another two months in the summer.
How about this for a typical conversation:
'Dad,why were you so stupid to spend all that money on that little pokey cottage in Cornwall when we only go there occasionally and where nobody likes us 'cause we're taking their houses away so they have nowhere they can afford to live any more. We could have been around the world ten times and go to Disneyland every year and also go lots of times to somewhere warm, sunny and dry for all that money.'
The problem, Slimslad, is that there is an endless queue of similarly misinformed and gullible non-residents with too much money to burn who don't get told the truth when it comes to disappointed buyers lumbered with the consequences of a poorly made decision and trying to sell on for a profit the now no longer residential house no longer affordable, accessible and available to full time working residents.

"Cornish problems need Cornish solutions."

And there's me thinking that you actually gave a bugger about anything other than a nationalist agenda."Moving the goalposts" at will does nothing to forward the national debate on second homes, empty properties, voting rights and the effect this has on local communities.
Folk might even get the impression you have an alternative agenda? (Knowing Cornish "politics" as I do this might even stretch to several alternative agendas).

"PS The weather is not all those glossy misleading brochures frequently designed by ex-tourists to further exploit a new generation of tourists crack it up to be.?"

I will not post the whole "moving the goal-post", generated by "and better weather than many more areas of Britain!"

Blaming "non-residents with too much money to burn" is a little simplistic, I would have thought?

Cornwall, as one of the places you rightly point out as most afflicted by avaricious, anti-social and anti-community non-resident residential housing stock misappropriation can take a lead in devising socially and morally responsible solutions to these problems, Slimslad, that can be of wider benefit to similarly disrupted communities. To assert that Cornwall's problems require Cornish solutions is merely stating a fact. That is where the clarity of perception and the will to effect appropriate community based change must come from.

I am sorry, AccurateChronometer, but your posts give the impression that Cornwall alone suffers the problems caused by tourism and second home ownership. I think this is not accidental. If I wanted to motivates native people to take a stand over this, I would encourage a "victims standing alone" culture. I know Cornwall is special, but not always for the reasons you state here.

AccurateChronometer seems to think second home are a brilliant group to attack, no doubt under the misapprehension they will just disappear and make houses in Cornwall cheaper. I wonder how many Cornish people will be impressed to find the property they spent 25 years paying for is made worthless overnight or better still in negative equity should he and the nationalists in MK get there way. I suspect TK will be run out of Cornwall with his cohorts quicker than it takes him to post something else silly

The guy like all nationalists is very short sighted and seems to spend his time stalking various blogs looking for anything outsider'ish to attack, truly sad and bigoted given the Cornish are minority within Cornwall let alone England

You appear to be getting quite confused now, 'Peter Tregantle', what with mixing up your own ids and other peoples and even, as is your wont and habit and as attempted elsewhere, attempting to embroil a respected political party in your anti Cornish aspiration machinations.
Too much time on the internetty?

Seeking the use of residential housing for residential housing seems a fair expectation and application of proper purpose and is not an unusual view to hold.

"Mebyon Kernow 鈥� the Party for Cornwall believes that local families have a fundamental right to good quality and affordable housing in their own communities.
MK opposes unsustainable government plans to build 70,000 houses in Cornwall by 2026, which has nothing to do with meeting local needs. We are working hard to deliver new housing policies that focus on the needs of local people 鈥� not speculative house-builders.
An out-of-control housing market means house prices in Cornwall have rocketed, leaving a clear mismatch between local wages and house prices. Private rented properties have become extremely expensive and getting a 鈥渃ouncil house鈥� is but a distant dream for the many thousands in housing need.
MK wants radical action to tackle this crisis. We would:
Set up a Department within the Assembly Government to devise the strategy for housing provision in Cornwall.
Only allow housing developments which can demonstrate local need through an 鈥渁ssessment of community need and acceptability.鈥�
Increase the number of affordable homes, through planning and increased financial support for Community Land Trusts and the construction of council houses.
Introduce planning restrictions to stop and then reverse the spread of second 鈥渉omes.鈥�

Very clear and concise. So why does 94% of Cornish voters reject Mebyon Kernow?

Here we go again...the shadowy figures of TIC seeking some daylight for their fixations.

"the shadowy figures of TIC", AccurateChronometer ?

Aren't you barred from there for having several identities? You and Paddy,("De Jure") Trembath?

You know so little, Slimslad. Truth be told.

I am devastated that you would think that, AccurateChronometer.

You're welcome, 'Slimslad'.