Cornwall school girl writes to council asking for more homes to be built
Year 6 pupil Darcie said she wants every young person to be able to afford a home in the future
A Year 6 pupil has written a letter to the council asking for help to provide more homes for people in Cornwall.
Darcie, from Treleigh Primary School in Redruth, came up with the idea after she heard of increasing numbers of people in Cornwall who are struggling to find somewhere to live or living on the streets.
Darcie said: “As part of our English lessons we were asked to write a formal letter to a person or an organisation about something we would like to see changed.
"I had heard about people in Cornwall who could not afford to buy or rent a house, with some of them having to live on the streets, and so decided to write to the Council to ask them to build more homes".
The Council said they were impressed by Darcie’s letter so they sent it to Councillor Olly Monk, the portfolio holder for housing and planning, who invited Darcie and three schoolmates to visit a new 'net-zero-carbon' housing scheme which is being developed at Cowlins Mill near Redruth.
The homes offer a place to stay for residents and provide a base for support services.
Olly Monk said: “The combination of the impact of the Covid pandemic, the boom in house prices, the reduction in the availability of homes to rent and significant increase in rental costs, has created a ‘perfect storm’, leaving many people in Cornwall struggling to find somewhere to live.
“With more than 1,500 people currently in temporary accommodation, we are committed to ensuring that those most vulnerable and in greatest need have a safe place to stay".
In her letter Darcie mentions the impact of the housing crisis is having on local people.
Darcie argued that the shortage of affordable homes is forcing more and more people to leave their local area.
She ends her letter asking the Council to act now to ensure that today’s young people will be able to afford somewhere to live in the future.
Olly Monk continued: “We all need and deserve somewhere to live and call home.
"Having a home to call our own provides a sense of belonging, it means better health and wellbeing and it strengthens community spirit".
“As well as providing homes for the people who need them today, we also have to make sure that homes are available for our young people in the future".
Cornwall Council is also working with partners on a range of other schemes to prevent homelessness and rough sleeping and increase the availability of homes for local residents including: refurbishing redundant Council owned properties to provide homes for local people in urgent housing need, buying existing homes to use as social housing and offering loans to bring empty homes back into use.
Olly added: “Darcie’s letter talks about children being unable to afford homes when they grow up and having to leave the county. We must take action now so the next generation will have the opportunity to live and work in Cornwall in the future.”