New funding for Cornwall to produce a G7 legacy
The Prime Minister has announced new intends to produce a long-term legacy from the G7 Summit and purchase Cornwall’s town centres and natural landscapes.
World leaders are soon to collect in Carbis Bay in Cornwall for crucial discussions on world issues, including agreed action to tackle global warming, protect nature and lead a recovery from coronavirus that works for everyone over the length and breadth of our countries.
The Town Deals announced for Penzance, St Ives and Camborne count over £65 million and will fund projects in the centre 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 may also be restored and expanded to ensure both residents and visitors can fully enjoy the cultural heritage from the region.
The Cornwall region has over 700km of coastline and 27 percent of Cornwall has already been designated being an Section of Outstanding Natural Beauty. However, biodiversity is declining in the region quicker than the UK average. Over the last 3 decades the populations of just about 1 / 2 of breeding birds have declined and 1 / 2 of land mammals and almost two-thirds of butterflies are found in fewer places.
To reverse this decline, the federal government, together with Natural England and the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, is launching a significant 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 location as a role model both over the UK and round the world with regards to looking after the natural environment.
This restoration will provide a huge boost to Cornwall’s efforts to become the very first net zero region in the united kingdom. Reforestation and also the restoration of wetlands with the project will take approximately 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: as much as £1 million of innovation funding earmarked for businesses in Cornwall to support their development of technologies, products and procedures in energy efficiency, power generation and energy storage; as well as establishing Cornwall like 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 around the globe look to Cornwall now, not simply will they see a place of remarkable beauty, they'll witness a region that is innovative, exciting and looking firmly towards a bright future. The exciting projects we've announced today are a fitting legacy for any region playing host to probably the most important diplomatic talks in a generation. Because the world builds back better from coronavirus, Cornwall will lead the way.”
