In an independent statement, which he made clear were his own thoughts and not that of the council, a Hayle councillor has condemned the myth of 'affordable' housing that is being used to justify the building of an increasing number of houses in the town. Mr Duncan Cook, who represents the Hayle South on Penwith Council warned that "the public are being conned for the benefit of developers and the inflated egos of a few politicians". He argued that the concept of affordable housing is fatally flawed and while it is affecting the whole of the district to some extent, Hayle seems to be the main 'beneficiary' of the flawed scheme.

 

Mr Cook has echoed the views that contributors to the Hayle Eye Open Forum have been making for some time - that the term affordable used to justify development is completely meaningless with houses classified as 'affordable' being within the reach only of those earning at least double the national average income as defined by the Government, and three to four time the 'real working wage of the district. Mr Cook said that he suspected that very few of the houses being described 'affordable' would be available to the people who really need them - people on the housing needs register for Hayle, as they could not afford them. This suspicion is supported by Penwith's own housing need register which shows that 68% people awaiting housing cannot afford more than £50,000. Currently the 'affordable' houses being built or planned were two to three times that figure. Hayle Eye has been told that some of the 'affordable' houses intended for local people to buy have been bought up by local landlords as buy to rent properties as a cheap way if increasing their portfolio.
 

Mr Cook fears that in the wake of the Governments call for another 4,650 houses to be built in Penwith over the next 20 yeas, Hayle is likely to be asked to bear a disproportionate share of the development. If Mr Cooks prediction is correct then Hayle with a approximately 1/10 of the population of Penwith will get 30-60% of the total new housing for the whole district. He Said "My conservative estimate is that, in a 10 year period, Hayle will receive 30 per cent of the total allocation for the whole of Penwith for 20 years.

 

Mr Cook also highlighted the discrepancy between the provision of housing and that of other community facilities. Regional Planning guidelines and indeed Penwith's own Local Plan identifies housing as one element in a four handed approach which must also include employment, recreational and the social needs of the community. Mr Cook said he feared that some cherry picking was going in in which Hayle was being given all of the housing while other developments such as the employment, leisure and social facilities going elsewhere.

 

Certainly there is a strong feeling in Hayle that it is being lumbered with all of the undesirable elements while prestigious leisure facilities were being built in St Ives and Penzance for which Hayle people ended up paying for from their council tax. Why is it that Hayle, with so few facilities has a higher council tax that that of Penzance or St Ives? St Ives has a new leisure centre, Penzance is getting a new one, Penzance, Newlyn and St Ives are having lots of Taxpayers money spent on harbour improvements. It seems that whenever Hayle wants anything their are screams of protest about it all going on the Council Tax bill, but when Penzance or St Ives want anything it seems to be assumed that its OK as the people in Hayle will pay for it. This has to stop.

 

Just look at what  Hayle gets. Its tourist information centre closed and squeezed into a corner of the library, a small hole open-air in the ground used as a swimming pool for a few weeks a year which has to be funded by raffles and quizzes, a beach that is fast disappearing and a harbour falling into the sea despite promises from David Hooper, Lord of all he surveys, that 'Penwith will not stand back and let the harbour fall into the sea'. Even the Foundry that is supposed to be being regenerated has lost the public space and community use that was promised so that the nice new refurbished buildings can be let out as commercial office space. Gee thanks!

 

As Mr Cook put it "I am a Hayle citizen and councillor and, as such, make no apologies for pointing out that the general perception, certainly from those that I represent, is that of these 'aims' Hayle gets the affordable boxes and Penzance and St Ives get the super expensive leisure centres and the subsidies to accompany them. I do not believe for one second that this is a deliberate policy on the part of any councillor or officer of Penwith council, it is simply a trend that, once started, continues of its own inertia and is difficult to stop or reverse."

 

Well Mr Cook, Hayle Eye is with you all the way on this one, apart for your comment about it not being deliberate policy, which we can but down either to your political expedience or naive optimism.

 

Surely there is another more balanced road down which we can go?