New funding for Cornwall to create a G7 legacy

The Prime Minister has announced new plans to create a long-term legacy from the G7 Summit and invest in Cornwall’s town centres and natural landscapes.

World leaders are soon to gather in Carbis Bay in Cornwall for crucial discussions on world issues, including agreed action to tackle climate change, protect nature and lead a recovery from coronavirus that works for everyone across the length and breadth of our countries.

The Town Deals announced for Penzance, St Ives and Camborne are worth over £65 million and will fund projects at the heart of communities in some of Cornwall’s most deprived areas.

This includes creating a new network of foot and cycle paths across Camborne, Penzance and from St Ives to St Erth. Community hubs including theatres, sports clubs and historic buildings will also be restored and expanded to ensure both residents and visitors can fully enjoy the cultural heritage of the region.

The Cornwall region has over 700km of coastline and 27 per cent of Cornwall is already designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. However, biodiversity is declining in the area at a faster rate than the UK average. Over the last 30 years the populations of almost half of breeding birds have declined and half of land mammals and almost two-thirds of butterflies are found in fewer places.

To reverse this decline, the government, in partnership with Natural England and the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, is launching a major land restoration and regeneration programme across 21,000 hectares of land. This nature recovery project involves planting trees, restoring peat, making improvements to water quality, recreating scarce habitats and reintroducing lost and declining species such as dormice and the marsh fritillary butterfly. These plans will ensure the beauty and biodiversity of Cornwall’s landscape is safeguarded for future generations and will establish the region as a role model both across the UK and around the world when it comes to looking after the natural environment.

This restoration will provide a huge boost to Cornwall’s efforts to become the first net zero region in the UK. Reforestation and the restoration of wetlands through the project will take an estimated 440,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. To help Cornwall reach net zero faster the government has also announced a package of measures to help individuals and companies take steps to reduce their carbon footprint.

This includes: up to £1 million of innovation funding earmarked for businesses in Cornwall to support their development of technologies, products and processes in energy efficiency, power generation and energy storage; as well as establishing Cornwall as a pilot area for a new e-bike support scheme – e-bikes are the only electric vehicles not to receive grants at present.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “As the eyes of the world look to Cornwall this week, not only will they see an area of outstanding beauty, they will witness a region that is innovative, exciting and looking firmly towards a bright future. The exciting projects we have announced today are a fitting legacy for a region playing host to some of the most important diplomatic talks in a generation. As the world builds back better from coronavirus, Cornwall will lead the way.”