Cornwall Cabinet Member calls for sale of Newquay Airport

Mark Kaczmarek, Cornwall's Cabinet member for Housing, has broken ranks with his colleagues and called for the sale of Newquay Airport. The remarks were in an interview for Business Cornwall which you can hear here.

The airport was taken on by the Council 18 months ago when the RAF moved out and has been making a loss since that time. My understanding is that this loss was expected and that development and investment would turn the airport into a valuable asset over time. Certainly there have been a number of cabinet discussions over recent months about investment in the facility. My understanding is that Cllr Kaczmarek voted in favour of all these investments.

There are a number of councillors who believe that the council should never have got into the airport business. But now Cllr Kaczmarek appears to be the first to go public with a call to cut and run to save money in the short term.

I'm not sure how his comments will go down with his Cabinet colleagues, particularly Carolyn Rule whose portfolio he is trampling over.

Newquay sends home drunken teens

Another summer and Cornwall braces itself for another series of stories highlighting the activities of visitors to Newquay.

Last summer there were the tragic deaths of two young visitors who fell off cliffs when drunk. We also saw organised pub crawls causing chaos and distress to local residents. As a result, the Newquay Safe project was started by Cornwall Council working in partnership with the town council and local Police. My colleague Geoff Brown also went on a tour to schools in Berkshire (where one of the victims came from) to warn of the dangers that alcohol can bring in seaside resorts.

No one in Newquay wants to stop visitors coming to enjoy the sun, surf and sand. But there have been a large number of problems which have gone beyond what anyone considers reasonable.

Today comes the news that two 15 year olds have been sent home to Bristol having been found drunk and wandering the streets. What makes this more than simply young people doing what young people do is that they were on holiday in the resort on their own.

No one pretends that we can stop all under age drinking, but Newquay is acting to try to stop the annual invasion by unaccompanied under 18s.

I hope I'm not coming across as a killjoy. I'm hardly one to preach. But the actions of some parents is really quite unbelievable.

Air South West sale means trouble for Newquay airport and trouble for local businesses

Today's news that Air South West is up for sale is worrying for Cornwall, for local businesses and for Newquay Airport in particular.

The airline's owners are stressing that they are seeking to sell it as a going concern, but in the current climate it is not certain that anyone will want to take the business on and maintain the current levels of service.

I've travelled on the Air South West service to London a number of times and it was speedy and convenient. But the airline accounts for more than half the flights from Newquay and if the current levels of service can't be maintained then the airport's business plan may be in jeopardy.

It is also very worrying for businesses in Cornwall and for the Council and others who are seeking to attract more firms based on the services from Newquay. If there end up being fewer flights, then Cornwall becomes a less attractive location to relocate to.

Obviously I hope that another business will see the benefit on taking over Sir South West - the firm made a profit last year.

Two ways to tackle Newquay's problems

Over the summer, Newquay had a number of problems involving the combination of alcohol and young people. Most tragically, there were the deaths of Paddy Higgins and Andrew Curwell who fell from the cliffs around the town.

Two very different ways of tackling the problem have been evidenced in the past few days.

The Tories sent George Osborne to the resort to issue soundbites.

But Newquay Town Council has other ideas and backed a plan by my colleague Geoff Brown (a Newquay Town Councillor as well as Lib Dem Cornwall Councillor, although it should be stressed that this scheme is totally non-political). Geoff and his wife will spend two to three days per week for thirteen weeks during the spring travelling to Berkshire to speak in schools. They aim to reach every school in the county and to speak to every pupil in year 11 and chose Berkshire because it was where Paddy came from.

Their message will be that Newquay is a great place for a holiday, but that alcohol can ruin that holiday. It isn't just the tragic accidents that meant that Paddy and Andrew lost their lives. At the luch lower end of the scale, too much alcohol can mean a miserable time. Please come to Newquay, but please don't ruin it for yourselves or for others.

Full marks to Geoff and to Newquay Town Council for reaching out in this way. Perhaps Mr Osborne could learn something from their work.