A bishop yesterday warned that rural life was facing crisis because of soaring property prices and the decline of traditional industries. The Rt Rev Bill Ind, Bishop of Truro, said families were being split apart because younger members could not afford to live in areas popular with second home owners.
The bishop said schools, post offices and other amenities were being forced to close and warned that the tourist industry could be affected if nothing was done to stop the trend.
He said: "Cornwall remains a place of low pay and yet the price of houses is very high, especially on the coast and in secluded areas. The relationship between the price and low wage structure means it is virtually impossible for many people who have been born and bred in Cornwall to live and bring up their children in the communities which have formed them."
Traditional industries are also suffering, he said, recalling the recent loss of hundreds of china clay jobs in St Austell, on top of problems faced by farming and fishing in the region. He said that ironically this meant tourism could be damaged in the long term. "Part of the attraction of Cornwall is that it retains a strong identity and sense of place, but this in turn depends on people here being settled, and felt and known to be part of the pattern of life that has developed for centuries."
The bishop said there were parishes where half of the houses were second homes. "Once the traditional pattern of life disappears, then Cornwall loses a lot of its drawing power as a place to which people can come and refresh their spirits."
Writing in the Western Morning News, the bishop concluded that what was needed was not a series of single issue protests but a "detailed hard look at rural life in general".
