Camborne's town deal - a bribe ?

 The Government in Westminster has released funding for the Camborne town deal. This town deal is a part of the Levelling up deal that began under the Johnson administration, with Camborne being awarded £23.7 million in total to support. This is to support four project for the town centre of the town, including green spaces, a theatre and new workspace. The final £16.5 million will be released to Cornwall Council towards the end of March. 


The Town deals and levelling up projects proposed and created by the Westminster government with the aim of creating economic growth in the periphery of the United Kingdom. Within Cornwall, which is one of the most poverty stricken areas in the European continent, Cornwall has seen a number of towns receive funds such as St Ives, Penzance and Truro. Unfortunately, areas such as Helston and the Lizard peninsula are absent from this list. So though there has been some support, across the Duchy, there are many areas which have been passed over. When looking into the towns deal, a report was released by the Cross-Party Public accounts committee was ‘not convinced by the rationales of supporting some towns and not others’. The inquiry further stated that it believed that the towns which have been granted the town deals have been politically motivated. This report was made two years ago, and it is not hard to see that this is still so. Helston has two wards. Of the Cornwall Councillors, one is  a conservative, the other is not. On the other hand, Cambourne as a town supports several conservative members of the unitary authority. When deciding where to reinforce a voter block, one would be most likley to sacrifice one councillor’s seat as opposed to several. 


Though the town deal is good for the town of Camborne and the surronding area, we must not forget that there is a chance that this is creating the foundation to support an already unpopular administration. 

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