Sportva Kernow should be an national iconic project for Kernow, uniting the people of Cornwall in a pusuit of sporting excellence.Instead, the reality is that the stadium project, as it stands, will never be more than a lieral political football passed between all politicians across the Duchy.
Even Cornish nationalists are to blamefor this.
As a Cornish nationlaist I believe that Cornwall deserves and requires the opportunity to foster sporting prowess in our children, to provide a modern and technically excellent base for our finest sports teams and to allow the everyday sports fan the chance to spectate at world class sporting events. A stadium should be a national project for the benefit of Cornwall.
Forget the 'business case'. Supporters of the stadium who argue that our economic problems will be solved by a sporting panacea are quite simply deluded. The Conservative and Independednt parties, in their shadowy dealings to get public approval and planning permission for the project have attempted to bribe us with the creation of hundreds of jobs and the idea that new customers will not only vist the stadium but flood into the local shops and businesses to deliver a new era of economic prosperity. If building a stadium were to so easily turn a profit is it not likely that some greedy developer somewhere would have already done it and even now be raking in the economic benefit? We are told to trust the private sector to deliver economic prosperity - well surely we should trust them when they tell us that it's not worth their while.
If we are to build a stadium it should be for the people of Cornwall and for the benefit of the people of Cornwall - and this is the point where even some sporty Cornish nationalists seem to lose their priorities. In the rush to get a stadium bult for the right reasons we are in danger of supporting all the bad things we are told must go with it.
A stadium for Cornwall should be a national project for all the people and not just a plaything for sports fans. It certainly should not be a plaything that has cost us the development of open space. Many acres of Cornish countryside covered with yet more housing ready for yet more people to move here. There should be a real and thorough consultation process as to the location of a stadium and not a mere sham, ignoring the wishes of local people, which has been engineered to show how Langarth is the only possible option.
Most importantly we need to discover whether the majority of the people of Cornwall agree that Sportva Kernow would be a positive way of building national sporting excellence and identity or whether they think that it would simply be an expensive white elephant that has cost not only money but also a lot of tarmac.
Whatever happens from now on, it is clear that the whole process has been mismanaged to suit the commercial interests of greedy developers and to provide a chance to enhance the odd CV. This mismanagement, far from uniting the average person on the streets, will be a cause of concern and controversy for as long as it takes to build a stadium and then some. Hardly the legacy that you would hope for from such an iconic project.
I'm not opposed to the idea of a Stadium for Cornwall but am opposed to public money being used when there are cuts in other areas of spending.
ReplyDeleteSome more thoughts on the subject here:
http://www.falmouthpeople.co.uk/Stadium-Cornwall-Cornwall-Council-fund/story-16063163-detail/story.html
"Sportva Kernow should be an national iconic project for Kernow, uniting the people of Cornwall in a pusuit of sporting excellence.
ReplyDeleteInstead, the reality is that the stadium project, as it stands, will never be more than a lieral political football passed between all politicians across the Duchy."
Agreed with you up to then Stephen.
The idea of a multi-functional national iconic stadium for Kernow was part of the philosphy of the supporting group for a stadium. They didn't argue that our economic problems will be solved by a sporting panacea. Merely gave examples of what might be and what had been achieved elsewhere. Exeter Chiefs was one example.
However, you lost me with your next remark:
"Even Cornish nationalists are to blame for this."
I'm a proud Cornish nationalist and even more proud to be a long time voter for Mebyon Kernow who just recently became a supporter/life-long member and a regular donator.
You can have absolutely no idea of how insulting that remark is to me, or other Cornish nationals. You surely can’t have, or you wouldn't have made such an ill-judged and alienating comment.
Are you serious in your remarks to me and other nationalists who support a stadium for Cornwall,when you refer to us as 'sporty Cornish nationalists who seem to lose their priorities' and that we can somehow be blamed for what you say about the stadium:
"Will never be more than a lieral political football passed between all politicians across the Duchy".
Bitterly disappointed, Stephen.
KernowKernewek
Hi KernowKernewek,
ReplyDeleteMany apologies to you. Don't get me wrong - I am all for a national stadium, maybe even at Langarth.
But a national stadium should unite the people and not divide them and even Cornish nationalists are divided by this project. The project as it is now is mired in secrecy, commercial profit and political intrigue.
I totally support the idea of Spotva Kernow but not if the price is more unnecessary housing.
As a Cornish nationalist I include myself in any share of the blame for being where we are. We should fight harder and longer for these sorts of projects and talk in terms of social benefit instead of allowing politicians to dictate about financial costs.
Personally I would prefer to see the stadium paid for by the people and owned by them as a national asset. We should be fighting for match funding and grants from Europe and Westminster and not relying on using a share of the profit created by concreting over green fields to achieve it.
As for the business case for the stadium, this has been overplayed by the Conservative/Independents in their attempt to find a financial rather than social justification for the stadium.
Of course their will be a wide scope for economic benefit to be generated from the project and this was quite correctly identified by the supporting group as one of the advantages of the project.
What won't happen is an overnight economic boom generated by it as Cornwall Council tries to make out.
So I am sorry if I have worded my criticism of the project in such a way as to offend you or anyone else fighting hard for the stadium - this was not my intention.
Myttin da, Stephen.
DeleteMany thanks for your apology and be assured of my continued support.
Oll an gwella,
KernowKernewek