We have been informed by the Celtic League that they will be holding a series of peaceful demonstrations on Crinnis Beach, Carlyon bay, St Austell. They will have the support of both Cornish Solidarity and Cymuned, a housing group from Wales.
The main focus of the Celtic League activities will be the second homes issue and that the development on the beach is not wanted. They state that their members all share the same concerns as those of the CarlyonBayWatch group and the many hundreds of people who have already shown their hostility to the size of the proposed development by signing to support the call for a public inquiry.
The Celtic League local Convenor, Rhisiart Tal-e-bot, states that the Celtic League "are unhappy at what is going on and people from around Cornwall feel the same way."
The dates of the demonstrations which will take place at the beach are as follows
SATURDAY 13th DECEMBER 2003 at 11am.
SATURDAY 10th JANUARY 2004 at 10 am
SATURDAY 28TH FEBRUARY 2004 at 12 am
The theme of their campaign will be Affordable Housing Before Second Homes. The Celtic League have expressed great sympathy with CarlyonBayWatch's campaign and concerns that are by now very well known - that a development which is 1 kilometre in length that will have a population about the size of nearby Mevagissey and will irrevocably harm the environment and cause untold traffic and infrastructure problems is unacceptable.
CarlyonBayWatch spokeperson, Peter Browning states, "Although we are a single issue pressure group, the CBW Team warmly welcome the support of the Celtic League and wish them luck in their attempts to draw attention to this potential environmental mistake in the making."
Mr Browning adds, "We would again stress our message that we are not against all or any potential development on the beach, but rather are campaigning for one restricted to the size of the footprint of the site taken up by the Coliseum presently. Our cry against the Ampersand project is the same as ever, it is just too big!
NOTE: CarlyonBayWatch was formed as an umbrella group covering various residents associations in the area, in response to concerns about the holiday development to be built across Crinnis, Polgaver and Shorthorn beaches. A selection of members have been meeting regularly with representatives of the development company, Ampersand, since Spring 2003.