Well done to the people of St Ives

It is also fantastic that voters in St Ives yesterday endorsed a Neighbourhood Plan for their town, which includes a policy to ensure that any new-build properties cannot be sold as second homes.

The vote was overwhelming with 3,075 people voting yes, while 616 took the opposite view.

This is of considerable significance for the development of Neighbourhood Plans in other parts of Cornwall, and represents a symbolic fight-back against a top-down planning system which is out of control.

However, a firm of developers (RLT Built Environment Limited) is seeking to challenge the democratically expressed views of the people of St Ives through a judicial review.

It is clear that their motivation has nothing to do with what is best for St Ives or Cornwall, and it is all about their own profit-driven house-building plans.

The ability of developers to challenge local democratic decisions is one of the things that is so wrong with the planning system in the UK today – and such actions must be defeated!