Stroppy you seem to have mised the point and gone off on a 'whinging pom' tirade (obviously gone native!)
This thread is about equality - i.e. why do we (the poorest county in England) pay the highest water rates and some of the higest council taxes in the country. Not exactly fair but maybe we live in such as nice part of the coutry etc etc
What makes it completely unfair is that we have the highest water rates in the country because we have to deal with the influx of tourists from the rest of the country who have lower water rates.
Why do we have high council tax - to provide lots of tourist information and build things like toilets by the beach for guess who, tourists.
As the majority of us don't actually see any money from the tourist industy please excuse us for not being particularly grateful for having to subsidise it.
And you got that the wrong way round - build us a level playing field first then we might have a chance.
Your naivety is almost touching!
Who said anything about higher than average wages - do you know what a graduate salary is in Cornwall? No because it doesn't exist, there aren't any graduate jobs here. So don't bang on about how you worked to better yourself blah, blah, blah.
Good on you Stroppy, I am Cornish born, but many locals need to get up and get on with it. Did you see that Australian fruit growers are bringing in foreigners to pick their friut, not as cheap labour, just because, they can't get any one here to do it. Yes it's hard work, but it 's work and it's only a few months of the year.
So yes, I will agree that Cornwall does pay slightly more for its water. But have you noticed the shape of Cornwall? Not condusive to cheap water is it? Oh, and did you forget that it's also the warmest part of the country, so the resevoirs lose more ? Oh and did you forget that the tourists pay water rates as part of the cost of their holiday accommodation? Oh, and did you think that there are no water rates paid on second homes?
And it wasn't me that dragged second homes and low wages into this debate now was it?
I saw a comment by Chris: "That's partly true but it seems wrong that the money that tourists bring into the region goes into the pockets of those involved in the tourist industry. This profit remains in private hands and the rest of us don't see it yet we help pay for what attracts them"
I appreciate your comments and point of view,but what is wrong with profits going into the pockets of those involved in the tourist industry? Isn't that what free enterprise is all about?
Chris also wrote: "This profit remains in private hands and the rest of us don't see it yet we help pay for what attracts them"
As a resident you may (as we found out earlier) pay slightly more in water rates than other locations, but I can tell you this much, and speaking from personal experience, shops, restaurants and other 'tourist' places pay a lot more in terms of rates than residents do.
What do you expect to see? A proportion of the hard-earned profits of the tourist places?
Chris also wrote: "It's not that I'm against tourism per se, it's just I think it would be nice if maybe the tourists and those running the tourist trade did a little more to subsidise it."
See my post above. Tourist type businesses do subsidise it, in the form of higher rates (council and water).
When I re-read the postings from Chris it finally clicked. It's not a matter of locals paying or subsidising tourists at all, it looks more like a case of green with envy with those who are more wealthy than him...
Chris wrote: "I know a fair few hotel/b&b owners, beach shop and cafe owners and most of them do not originate from down here. Seems like another example of us sponsoring wealthy "blow ins"!"
And again: "Then again I guess there are plenty of out of county holiday home owners (not to mentinon second home owners) who we are subsidising to buy a new Range Rover every year! "
So some people who run a local business are not locally born or do not "originate from down here" So what? If they took the gamble of opening a business (and it is a gamble I can tell you), what does it matter where they are from?
Yes I am jealous of anyone who can afford to buy a house in Cornwall. By afford I mean really afford as opposed to get a mortgage that will cripple you when interest rates go up.
In case you didn't know Cornwall is the poorest county in England so I don't think it's just me who is a little bitter about being disinherited by those fortunate (in financial terms) to have been born a few years before myself and in a different part of the country.
And excuse us for being less than grateful for the scraps off the table of the tourist industry that we all subsidise.
For the record I don't object to anyone from anywhere coming to Cornwall and starting a business, in fact I welcome it. What I do object to is the feeling that we are being bought up and have to make way for the new Cornwall - a haven for well off retired folk, foodies and golfing/gallery holidays.
Who said anything about higher than average wages - do you know what a graduate salary is in Cornwall? No because it doesn't exist, there aren't any graduate jobs here. So don't bang on about how you worked to better yourself blah, blah, blah. [/quote]
So if hotels pay their fair share then how comes we still pay the highest water rates in the country?
I can't see how it can be argued that the poorest county in England pays the highest water rates in the country. It seems fair that all rates and taxes should be equal accross the country
These are usually referred to as the professions, a common interpretation of graduate jobs is a job that requires a degree but not in a specific subject. You will find very few of these in Cornwall.
So by inference is Chris not asking for the tourist industry to pay the poor, unable to better themselves, downtrodden, Cornish, wages above the value of their labour? After all, the Cornish have to exist on crumbs from their masters table. There is no danger of them improving their station in life, and what with the turnip industry in the doldrums, what else can they do but wait at tables?
Due to the holiday influx, Cornwall's population approximately doubles in the Summer months. One problem with this is that water treatment plants, sewage treatment plants and the associated reticulation/storage have to be twice the capacity required for coping with locals. This must increase the service charge. So in effect, locals not involved with the tourist industry are subsidising it
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