ALTHOUGH mightily depressing at times thanks to the continual economic downturn, a lack of housing, huge developments which have stalled and no end of intrigue and wranglings, 2024 did prove to be historic and anything but dull when it came to politics in Cornwall.

The General Election loomed large from the start of the year. In January, the prospective Conservative parliamentary candidate hoping to be the next MP for Camborne, Redruth and Hayle – Connor Donnithorne – was criticised by a number of residents in the constituency for failing to mention which party he represented on his latest election leaflet.

All’s fair in love and war and so it was that his political rival, Labour’s Perran Moon, also got some stick. He denied knocking on doors dishonestly claiming to be a “local councillor” while canvassing for votes. He had been a councillor in Oxfordshire, but told us no one working on his campaign would ever have used the term “local councillor” in connection with Cornwall.

The first week of January was barely over when some really sad news was announced – the closure of Heartlands in Pool, which led to a number of job losses. The National Lottery revealed that it pulled its funding for the mining world heritage centre as the attraction had become “unsustainable” and it had a responsibility to ensure public money was well spent. The decision was met with shock and anger.

The month also saw the first of myriad warnings about the state of Cornwall Council’s finances. Millions in debt, there were concerns the local authority could go the same way as councils in Birmingham, Thurrock and Woking. A meeting of Cornwall’s economic scrutiny committee heard that while the Duchy was unlikely to declare itself bankrupt like those authorities, it was on a financial “cliff edge”.

There was more woe at the council – 2024 was a pretty woeful year all-round at Lys Kernow / County Hall – when it was revealed that over a third of homes owned by Cornwall Council didn’t meet the Government’s standard of decency. Olly Monk, the portfolio holder for housing, told councillors that the council was investing over £590-million over a 30-year period for a housing plan, which would include improving its stock.

The housing crisis was arguably the most talked-about issue in Cornwall this year. A startling 800 families were living in temporary or emergency accommodation at the start of the year, while as of August there were 21,120 households on the Cornwall Homechoice social and affordable housing register. The number needing homes could actually be thousands more than that.

Concerns were raised in January after Cornwall recorded its highest ever level of drug deaths, a figure which was likely to increase again. A neighbourhoods committee meeting heard that the increasing use of synthetic opioids was a driving factor in the number of deaths.

A 27 per cent council tax rise in Newquay was labelled “obscene and cruel” (at the end of the year the town’s council agreed not to increase it for 2025/26).

The owner of arguably the best music venue in the county called on Cornwall Council and the Duchy’s MPs for help in securing the future of grassroots live music. Rufus Maurice told me that small venues like his, the Cornish Bank in Falmouth, were struggling with 125 venues forced to permanently close their doors in 2023.

As talk of a General Election in 2024 increased, Cornwall received its first major political visit in February and, oh my, was it bizarre. I was part of a “media huddle” who were seated in teeny weeny pre-school seats at Nancledra, near Penzance, to quiz Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

The equally teeny weeny PM sitting snugly in one of the kids’ chairs was an incongruous sight – no wonder photographers were banned. The reality of these heavily stage-managed affairs is you’re only allowed to ask one of the many questions you’ve come armed with (and the Tory handlers preferred you to tell them in advance what that question was).

So I never did find out what he thought about 800 homeless families living in temporary accommodation, a figure that increased under the Conservative government, or if and why he flew to Cornwall when there are perfectly good (arguably) rail and road links.

I did manage to squeeze in an extra question and query the amount of money the Conservative government promised Cornwall following Brexit and the loss of EU funding. Mr Sunak’s eyes flashed angrily and he looked at an advisor to move the conversation on. Had I just seen the real Rishi?

I visited one of the most astonishing places in Cornwall in February . Trevone Quarry is a unique new idea of what an industrial estate can be in a world facing a climate emergency. You’d think such an idyllic business model would be wholly supported. However, the 13 businesses based near Mabe Burnthouse all faced eviction after Cornwall Council’s planning department served an enforcement notice two years ago, saying the land had to be restored to how it was before. The businesses fought back and won.

In a year where despondency over Cornwall’s future has been high on the agenda – a lack of housing, the debilitating effects of second homes and holiday lets, the continuing cost of living crisis, a drop in tourism – there was a definite ray of glowing light; the rise of lithium extraction in the county. I visited both Imerys British Lithium (IBL) and Cornish Lithium, who are at the forefront of mining this cleaner, carbon-free source of energy.

While Cornwall’s largest music festival Boardmasters was unsuccessful in persuading Cornwall Council to increase its capacity to 66,000 (it had to settle for 58,000), councillors did approve a replacement for the failed Stadium for Cornwall. The 3,000-capacity Truro Sports Hub in the heart of what will be the 4,000-home Langarth Garden Village was given the go ahead in February and Truro City FC were back home and playing matches by the end of the year.

The debate on whether locals should be paying to cross the Tamar continued this year. There was an emotive debate on an ‘unfair and unjust tax on people of Cornwall’. The number of empty houses in Cornwall – over 2,000 including council-owned properties – during a housing crisis was a matter of concern for councillors.

One of the most positive aspects of my job is giving people a voice when they feel no one is left to hear them. A case in point was the plight of the Jones family whose council house in Lanreath, near Looe, was literally falling apart – they were desperate for Cornwall Council to finally fix dangerous holes appearing in their floors.

One of the most contentious planning applications in West Cornwall was approved in March. Plans for 320 houses at Trannack Farm, Penzance, were allowed despite the concerns of residents, the town council and a parish council about the safety of pedestrians.

I visited a number of Cornish towns this year to see how a lack of available housing and the death of traditional industries are affecting communities, and in many cases how those communities are fighting back. They included Looe, which isn’t necessarily Beyond Paradise, and “knackered” Porthleven.

Newquay Town Council was apoplectic after one of the most controversial developments in Cornwall in recent times was approved by Cornwall Council’s planning department behind closed doors. The scheme to demolish the Hotel Bristol and regenerate Newquay’s clifftop road Narrowcliff with 200 apartments and a new hotel was allowed despite a fierce backlash.

Another huge talking point this year was the number of plans for giant solar farms in Cornwall and their effect on agricultural land. Emotions ran high as more than 100 concerned residents packed a public meeting about four industrial-sized solar parks planned in mid Cornwall.

The same month saw Cornwall Council agree to get rid of 2,000 of its assets, which include beaches, parks, playing fields, green spaces, chapels and car parks to save around £2-million. One councillor asked the local authority’s senior officers “are you playing politics with Cornwall’s family silver?”

In April a warning was made that the council’s halted scheme to develop the Pydar area of Truro could be its own “bankruptcy project”. Despite the council agreeing to inject another £10-million into the £160-million project, there was still no movement come the end of 2024.

We highlighted the plight of how no-fault evictions were impacting the lives of Cornish families when we spoke to the Luscombes in Camborne. I interviewed Truro and Falmouth’s Conservative MP Cherilyn Mackrory who told me: “If I’m out, that’s democracy.” As we now know, democracy played out.

There was a David and Goliath battle in St Ives when people power beat hotel giant Premier Inn. Its owner Whitbread’s bid to build a 90-room hotel overlooking the town was refused. However, the company has since appealed the decision.

The issue of Cornwall Council finding an investment partner to take on the Newquay airport estate and ease financial pressure on the local authority has certainly been controversial this year, with Cornwall Chamber of Commerce originally stating it hadn’t been consulted properly. Many councillors believe it could lead to the loss of public ownership of the airport and its eventual closure, while others think it will be a vital move to stop the continual loss of taxpayers’ money. By the end of the year, the agreed partnership still hadn’t been sorted.

Another big planning issue which came up against local dissent was the National Trust’s bid to increase parking at its Trelissick estate near Truro in a bid to meet growing visitor demand and stop queuing cars. Businesses and residents aired their fears about safety and the application – one of the most contentious to ever be tabled in mid Cornwall – was refused. The Trust has since appealed.

Parking was another major issue this year – the council aims to offload a number of its free car parks to be charged and overseen by a private company, while a £31.50 late charge in one Truro car park was greeted with anger by traders. The council appears to have made a U-turn on the hated decision this month.

Talking of car parks, the council announced in May that the upper floors of Moorfield multi-storey in Truro would have to be closed indefinitely due to the discovery of structural issues. The move put enormous pressure on the city for the rest of the year, after it lost a number of other car parks to make way for the delayed Pydar development. The full effect became apparent on the busy run-up to Christmas.

Cornwall should be more magnificent, Labour MP hopeful Jayne Kirkham told me in May. Two months later she was the MP for Truro and Falmouth. Time will tell if Kernow does become more magnificent under her watch.

A huge plan to redevelop a “major eyesore” – the Coinagehall Street area of Penzance’s seafront – was approved in May despite a lot of local objection. A more relaxed Rishi Sunak visited Penzance at the end of the month as election fever hotted up.

There was drama at Cornwall Council when Conservative councillor John Conway labelled his boss – council leader Linda Taylor – a “dictator”. He later defected from the party to join a new Non-Aligned group with other disgruntled Tories.

In a bit of a coup for Labour politicians in Cornwall, former Undertones singer and now environmental campaigner Feargal Sharkey paid a visit in June . In Falmouth, he told me Cornwall has “led the charge” in raising awareness about pollution spills and sewage dumping.

A Reform UK candidate said he was assaulted while campaigning in Falmouth. Steve Rubidge, a GWR train driver, said aggression was a “worrying trend” in politics but the incident didn’t stop him from carrying on campaigning.

I visited a number of constituencies on the run-up to the July 4 election. If my chat to people in the St Ives constituency was anything to go by it was clear the Tories were in for trouble in that part of Cornwall. While in North Cornwall, fishermen told me they had been “shafted” by the “Brexit lie” and were changing parties. It soon became clear they stuck to their word. In the Camborne area, it was apparent that disenchanted voters were going to put the red back in Redruth.

Cut forward a couple of weeks to the election and all of these premonitions came true in a historic moment for Cornwall. All of Cornwall’s six Conservative MPs were voted out to be replaced by four Labour MPs (Anna Gelderd, Noah Law, Jayne Kirkham, Perran Moon) and two Lib Dems (Ben Maguire and Andrew George).

I visited Langarth near Truro in July to see how work on the “garden village” was going. The development, when completed, should house 10,000 people and be the size of Wadebridge, so not exactly a “village”. The flagship Cornwall Council development had stalled somewhat a few months later due to the economic downturn.

Another Tory councillor, Adrian Harvey, defected to the Non-Aligned group in July, meaning the Conservatives lost their majority at Cornwall Council. However, it didn’t last long as an independent Tory, Paul Wills, joined the Conservative group, which renamed itself the Conservative & Independent Conservative Aligned Group. Snappy.

Yet another controversial planning application was decided in favour of objectors. Coastline Housing, in conjunction with landowner Portreath Parish Council and Classic Builders SW, applied to build 22 affordable properties on a former WAAF (Women’s Auxiliary Air Force) base at Cambrose, near Portreath, which was used for housing and workshops to support the war effort during and after the Second World War. Those against the plan argued it was a valuable nature reserve.

Residents of St Erth spoke to me in August about a “shocking lack of privacy” after a housing development was built following council approval. While parents on the Isles of Scilly spoke about a “scandalous” lack of help for their children’s schooling on the mainland.

Used needles, other drug paraphernalia, vomit, human faeces and piles of rubbish were all found in a community area within the grounds of New County Hall – Cornwall Council’s headquarters in Truro. Residents said they felt too scared and intimidated to visit the community orchard, a public space which is popular with dog walkers and picnicking families. The area has since been cleaned up.

Plans for what would be one of the biggest solar farms in the UK were refused by a Cornwall Council committee. The proposal on 230 acres of land between Bude and Launceston again raised the thorny issue of the need for renewable energy but where to place solar farms in relation to agricultural land.

Also in August, Cornish political party Mebyon Kernow withdrew support for its candidate in a Penzance Town Council by-election after discovering information about his criminal past he hadn’t shared when selected. James Casbolt was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2015 after attempting to blackmail his American heiress ex-wife out of £2-million.

Bodmin Town Council wouldn’t tell us why it suspended its town clerk after police were called to the council offices on the morning Peter Martin, who walked out of a meeting earlier this year, was suspended from his duties.

I visited Truro businesses who told me there was a shoplifting epidemic in the city, with an estimated £1-million worth of goods stolen from shops in a year. Martin Gaunt, part-owner of quirky gift shop Happy Piranha in Pydar Street, who was critical of the police, made national headlines following the publication of our story.

A quietly revolutionary yet wildly ambitious group of movers and shakers in Cornwall are working together to provide hope for the future and an escape from the housing crisis, which is blighting life for so many in the Duchy. I spoke to members of Homes for Cornwall, a politically neutral band of volunteers committed to reversing the lack of affordable housing in Cornwall by forming a “collective uprising”.

In September , we revealed Cornwall Council’s highest paid councillors, with one member defending his £56,602 claim – £20 less than the council leader. The Government was slammed in no uncertain terms by Cornwall Council’s Conservative administration on its decision to cut the winter fuel allowance for most pensioners. One councillor went as far as accusing the Labour Party of “freezing grandmothers at Christmas” in Cornwall.

Secretary of State for Health Wes Streeting admitted the new Women and Children’s Hospital promised for Cornwall may now never be built. The new building, which was expected to cost £291-million, is now under threat as the Labour government said it had become clear that the last government’s New Hospital Programme (NHP) had become undeliverable and unaffordable.

A shock motion to call for a vote of no confidence in Cornwall Council leader Linda Taylor was brought by a Tory rebel over the ongoing airport saga. She later survived the bid to oust her, with one of her Cabinet blaming misogyny for the move.

As part of the council’s bid to find a partner to run Newquay airport, we were told by a contact that there was “deep concern and disquiet” on the part of Marriott, one of the world’s biggest hotel chains, over Cornwall Council stalling a £28-million project to build a major hotel and conference centre at the airport, which would support hundreds of jobs in the area.

In an unusual case, a single dad faced jail for mooring a barge on the waterfront in a Cornish village in a bid to create a home for him and his son. Former bank manager Dean Richards was battling the Marine Management Organisation, Cornwall Council and his neighbours in a picturesque Cornish hamlet. He was later found guilty and was torn off a strip by the judge.

In October Penny Wheeler won the dementia champion award at the Proud To Care Awards, which are overseen by Cornwall Council and celebrate the outstanding contributions of those working in the independent adult social care sector. I visited Penny at Coombe House, near Liskeard, an extraordinary Cornish care home treating dementia with love.

The ethics of adding fluoride to drinking water came up for discussion in November when Cornwall Council agreed to start the process of consultation to ask South West Water to add the chemical to Cornwall’s drinking water. The council believes it would improve oral healthcare among the county’s children.

Users of a community centre in Liskeard are fighting back after the council closed a ramp used by disabled users. I visited the place “held together by magic” and was astonished by what I saw.

The setting of what has been described as Cornwall Council’s most challenging budget yet, for 2025/26, saw council staff “tearing their hair out and losing sleep”, a meeting heard in November.

Residents of the Carland Cross area told me they were fearful that if permission was granted for a 210-acre solar park it would severely impact food production, local businesses and the beauty of a sprawling green valley. The proposal for a 125,000-panel solar farm in a valley near Mitchell was eventually thrown out.

At the same planning meeting, a much criticised application to build a 400-lodge luxury resort on fields near Newquay was approved despite a lot of objection, including from the area’s MP Noah Law. The Green Ridge Resort will now be built on land near Colan and Quintrell Downs.

As Cornish farmers descended on London to protest the Government’s changes to inheritance tax, one furious mum spoke to us saying her daughters’ school suspended her children for wearing wellies in support of fellow farming families.

Cornwall Council’s arm’s length development company Treveth defended its track record in December after councillors said it would be declared insolvent if it was a “normal” company.

RST Constantine Bay Homes Ltd – an offshoot of Acorn Property Group’s Cornwall developer Acorn Blue – went bust owing Cornwall Council £1.2-million which was earmarked for public open space, education and local affordable housing. The local authority says it is pursuing the money, but the company argues it was incorrectly levied by a council planning committee.

On International Day of Persons with Disabilities, I chatted to wheelchair user James Ball, who went from the brink of suicide to Mayor of Camborne. He is now using his experiences to help others.

There was a sad end to the year as just two weeks before Christmas, over 100 Cornwall Council staff were told they face redundancy in a bid to save £48.6-million.

There was also sad news for anyone wanting Cornwall to have true devolution without the need for a mayor or having to get into bed with any neighbouring authorities. The announcement of the Government’s English Devolution White Paper was called a “grim day for Cornwall” by Mebyon Kernow leader Dick Cole.

The year ended in typical 2024 fashion with Cornwall Council’s deputy leader David Harris hoping Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Christmas turkeys ended up “burnt and destroyed”. He was angry that the Government had ignored constant pleas for fairer funding, leaving Cornwall short by millions.

Here’s hoping this year is a bit more positive.