If you're from Cornwall, how do you personally feel about tourists and second home owners?

[Beerlovingwalker]

Genuinely curious really, as an outsider that loves Cornwall.

On the one hand, it must be nice to know that so many people love the beauty of your county and I'm sure it's nice to share it. However, it also must be difficult to adjust from living fairly quietly in the Autumn/winter months, to suddenly have to share your space with so many million tourists and second home owners in the summer.

@DaddyCool60 how do you know it was a local? How do you know it wasn’t another driver driving badly? Or did you see them doing it?

I've only lived in Cornwall since -1973 so I'm not local but I do have a point of view about this. Cornwall is a very poor county and greatly relies on income from tourists. However much we complain about too much traffic etc.we have to recognise this. But I agree with those who have said that second home owners have caused some villages to be virtually empty out of season. Despite what some people feel we do need incomers, people who settle here to raise families, keep our schools open and contribute to the life of the county. If people buy second homes here because they love Cornwall they should be prepared to invest here. At the very least they should pay a greater community charge regardless (or perhaps because of) the number of weeks their property stands empty.

@ultrababy

We have a second home in a coastal village which we use every weekend. We are at home mon - thurs. and spend fri - sun at our second home. It works well for us. It is a luxury but one we have worked hard for.

So for this example, if this couple (I'm assuming no kids as they say they are doing Fri-Sun) are genuinely spending every weekend of the year at their second home. Presumably some holiday in other places but also some holiday time more than the weekend there too.

They are spending 208 days in their first home and 156 in their second home.

So they've got a rough 60/40 percentage split between the two homes.

Positives:
If it's year-round then they are not leaving a house just empty and dark for months on end.
They are spending 40 percent of their life there so presuming they are not buying all their food, household stuff, hardware, petrol etc in home 1 area and importing it they are supporting some local services and showing a need for them.
It's a significant enough time to be able to make a real effort to support local community events.

Negatives:
It's only the weekends so probably not using much public transport or not using the types of public transport that local people need to get around for work

Probably not registered to a GP there

Probably not using local post office much

Not using schools and other kid-related services (although if their 'spot' was replaced with a permanent resident without kids, that's the same.

@ultrababy How interested are you in the community you have your second home in? Do you read the local papers and care about the issues affecting residents who live there full-time?

Would you notice a campaign to save a bus route? Or fix a local playground to make it safer? Or are you more in holiday mode when you are in your second home?

Need to remember that the only reason second home owners exist is due to locals selling. You can't blame legitimate purchases, it take two to tango.
Also without tourism what other industry would you have?

@Bitofanexpert

This attitude really annoys me... no-one ‘owns’ an area. If people want a second home there, then if they pay the money they are as entitled to live there as anyone else.

There is a real snobbery emulating from this area which is really unappealing. I do understand the upset about first-time buyers- but this is happening everywhere now, not just Cornwall. Stands to reason that their parents have made a decent amount on their own property prices alongside this?

But they mostly don't pay the money. Very few second home owners pay council tax, and very many claimed the Covid grant meant for rental holiday cottages. They merrily said oh yes our property is available for rent for x number of weeks a year and got given 10k. It was rampant. As I said it's a free country and you can spend your mind ey as you wish. Just don't take the p!ss

Not using services such as GPs and schools in 2nd homes is not an advantage to the local community- it is a massive disadvantage as those services then close.

@Faffandahalf

We’ve been to Cornwall twice and stayed in cottages. I’m confused. It seems like Cornish people are unhappy about this? Some have specifically said they don’t want homes to be used for letting out to tourists.

What’s the alternative?? Hotels?

Also sorry to say both times we found locals to be fairly unfriendly and yes a little racist. (Not all racism is shouting p**i at someone. It was a lot of uncomfortable moments and staring at times, sullen service or seemingly delayed compared to others etc 🤷🏽‍♀️ Veiled and covert). One time someone actually spoke to me in an irritated slow loud way as though we were in the 1970’s and I had stepped off a boat from India 🙄 so not very veiled there actually! We wouldn’t go again.

But every UK holiday we’ve been on we’ve booked a home as opposed to a hotel. I didn’t realise it was so resented.

Surely most people on this thread have said it's not the holiday cottages which people rent and fill on a weekly basis that is the problem. It's not tourists that are the problem (and I stress most people have said this, not all). The angst is clearly mainly against the second homes which lie empty for much of the year.

Can’t believe someone has said they’ve lived in Cornwall since 1973 almost 50 years but they’re not a ‘local’

@Faffandahalf

Can’t believe someone has said they’ve lived in Cornwall since 1973 almost 50 years but they’re not a ‘local’

That happens in lots of places around the country not just Cornwall - I grew up in Lancashire and there are places where if you are not at least 3rd generation you are not local.

@cabingirl
A baffling attitude as a second gen immigrant. It’s why so many of these places are seen as insular I guess

Surely most people on this thread have said it's not the holiday cottages which people rent and fill on a weekly basis that is the problem. It's not tourists that are the problem (and I stress most people have said this, not all). The angst is clearly mainly against the second homes which lie empty for much of the year.

...but the holiday lets will be just as disadvantageous in some ways. People will (hopefully) use local shops/cafes/entertainment etc but not all services.
They wont be sending kids to school, enrolling with a GP, doing regular activities, going to religious services, doing regular bus journeys, being in community groups etc

Where should tourists stay?

So our house is next door to tow families that live there full time but we have had our house longer than either family have had theirs. We have strong links to all the business owners and would regard them all as friends. We have lived like this even with children except the week would be split fri afternoon - mon morning down there and home them for the rest of the week. We have done this for approx 15 years and will consider moving there permanently when retiring.
Although having said that we would not sell our primary residence and would keep that for when we went back so that would probably be empty 90% of the time. That's given me food for thought. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

[quote Faffandahalf]@cabingirl
A baffling attitude as a second gen immigrant. It’s why so many of these places are seen as insular I guess[/quote]
I don't think it's just a UK thing - I've seen similar things across Europe in rural areas (particularly France)

@cakefanatic

You should watch Simon Reeve’s Cornwall on iPlayer; I think he gets it really spot on with the assertion that there are jobs in Cornwall but no careers. That’s certainly my experience of growing up in west Cornwall. I left for uni and haven’t gone back.

I’d dearly love a second home there, but I don’t think it’s fair. Even though it’s the place in my heart that feels like home. It is quite literally the home of my soul, and at times I physically ache to be there (dramatic, i know!). I bumped into some friends on the beach a couple of summers back, and we were chatting; it was painfully obvious to me that our nursery bill was comparable to household income for them.

The Cornish need the tourists, everything is built around a service industry, and they desperately need the money that will be rolling in this summer. But even so, the wealth is so unevenly split, with most of the money in my hometown shared between a handful of families.

Fish Town set in Brixham also shows how locals struggle to afford to live in their own community.

@ultrababy

So our house is next door to tow families that live there full time but we have had our house longer than either family have had theirs. We have strong links to all the business owners and would regard them all as friends. We have lived like this even with children except the week would be split fri afternoon - mon morning down there and home them for the rest of the week. We have done this for approx 15 years and will consider moving there permanently when retiring. Although having said that we would not sell our primary residence and would keep that for when we went back so that would probably be empty 90% of the time. That's given me food for thought. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

So I really believe that changing technology is going to bring some massive changes to how we work and live over the next 10-20 years - and there will be more people who find themselves 'living' in more than one community.

This feels like the time to make local authorities and councils start planning for these changes. Find ways to bring life and energy to communities that include a more transient population.

Find ways to protect and integrate essential services to make sure everyone has the access they need.

One example: GP surgeries

At the moment you can only be registered with one practice. The system only supports that option.

For someone who splits their time equally between different places it would be beneficial to both community and the patient who moves around.

And yes, I appreciate it's complicated that it will take a lot of investment, planning and energy to make these kinds of changes. But our communities are changing and our lives are not the same as they were even 30 years ago.

Our quality of life depends on how well we work together on small local levels and bigger national levels.

Bait is a better (fictional) representation of Cornwall. Disturbing!
Simon Reeve's Cornwall was striving so hard to tell its narrative that he got suckered by those taco van boys. I know young people that age and I can tell you that after one summer's trading they wouldn't be able to afford to set up in premises in Exeter! I also know one lass who went to Exeter uni with one of them and they weren't run of the mill poor Cornish boys.
The food bank and other stuff was fair representation however.

@NursePye

No I've genuinely never heard that phrase *@Mmn654123* - where are you from?

London!

Cornwallians live in Cornwall. I guess we could call you Cornish. Seems a bit rude to do that. You aren’t pasties or scones!

[quote AppleAppleAppleApple]@Mmn654123 so Cornish people have to get out of Cornwall because they can’t afford to live there? What a ridiculous argument! And where do they all go?

What an absolute crock of shit! Telling people to leave their home county because other people want a second home or holiday home there. And then who is going to clean those holiday homes? And serve your beer and cream teas? And sweep the streets and clean the beaches?

They don’t want to relocate to Norfolk. They want to live here. What a total fucking joke. Honestly! How selfish.[/quote]
Not selfish at all. Survival of the fittest. But then I grew up in Ireland and emigration is virtually written into our DNA. The idea of staying somewhere where it isn’t economically viable to stay makes no sense.

@Faffandahalf

Where should tourists stay?

Hotels, guest houses, campsites, holiday parks?

@eliope

While families relocate to Norfolk just like that... sounds like a clearance. Most of my dh family emigrated to Australia in the 60's probably because these problems. The Cornish have always got off their arses and travelled. They were sailors, miners it's why you have a Bolivian pasty.

Exactly. A long tradition of migration. If it’s not affordable, migrate. If that becomes problematic for the local area, policies to retain local people locally will follow. But not if you all stay put no matter how bad it gets.

@shallIswim ah thanks - I was trying to work out the Taco Boys narrative. Didn’t buy that they were honest Cornish lads trying to make an honest buck, always assumed they were rich kids set up by bank of mum and dad and playing at slumming it.

Well why sell to people who aren't local then? Someone is getting rich at others' expense.

Cornwallians live in Cornwall. I guess we could call you Cornish. Seems a bit rude to do that. You aren’t pasties or scones!

Well, the Irish aren't whiskey or stew either, but it's still a valid way of referring to the people of Ireland.

@HesterShaw1

Cornwallians

That is quite literally not a word.

Please don't tell people in Cornwall they are doing it all wrong if you don't even know the name for people who are from there.

www.wordsense.eu/Cornwallians/

And another Londoner using it - I did say it’s what we call you

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g1218658-d2350305-r208027637-The_Crown_Inn-Lanlivery_Cornwall_England.html