West Briton (Truro and Mid Cornwall)
And cons of tourism industry
Callum Smith recently joined the pub after two months of being jobless. “It’s really hard to find work,” he said. “Everyone struggles out of season. Businesses reduce hours. It’s hard. Looe’s so heavily reliant on tourism – there’s not much else in the area.”
Reflecting a Cornwall-wide housing crisis, Callum is currently sleeping on a sofa at a mate’s place.
Armand says there is a “significant number” of Airbnb properties in Looe – a quick look online finds about 250 – at a time when there’s a growing housing need. There are currently more than 220 people/ households on Cornwall’s Homechoice Register needing accommodation in Looe, compared to just 45 in 2018.
As we passed East Looe beach, looking up at the properties above, Armand said: “Lots of them are Airbnbs. There are a lot of flats which are let out, many of them are holiday lets. You only have to walk around all the streets to see the amount of key safes on the cottages.
“The trouble is Airbnb is so lucrative, though it does appear to be dropping off a bit now. It impacts the neighbours – holidaymakers understandably want to holiday at night and that upsets people living next door.”
Another bugbear of Armand’s is the controversial increase in tariffs at the council-owned car parks.
“They are handy for people popping in to use the shops, but the Millpool car park is now too expensive for a lot of people. It seems to be pushing some people away from Looe.”
As we chat, Armand – his mother was Belgian hence the unusual name for a man with a fine Cornish accent – has to continually break off to speak to people he knows. It can take him over three hours to walk through the town. It’s no surprise – he can trace his family back 18 generations to Polperro, Talland and Looe, so this area is his lifeblood.
In many ways, Looe seems to be thriving. Armand points out the large amount of independent shops and a growing number of restaurants. There are noticeably less empty shops than in many other Cornish towns. With his local knowledge, Armand is quick to point out that almost all of the empty premises will soon be filled by new businesses.
One shop, opposite East Looe Beach, is run by Jamie Pearn, who is in his 20s and a town councillor. He hopes to resurrect the town’s chamber of commerce. “There are a lot of people like Jamie doing their best for
Looe,” said Armand.
Paul Welshman runs the Knottershop gift shop on Buller Street. He’s lived in Looe all of his life. “It’s all changed – the fishing fleet’s gone but there’s now a bustling café culture. People moan about visitors and traffic, but this is Cornwall. There are a lot of holiday lets – I live in Liskeard, I couldn’t afford to live here – but we wouldn’t have a shop without those holiday lets.”
Like many towns, the banks have gone but a banking hub has been set up at the post office for residents, and most of the banks bring a weekly mobile service to the town. Armand’s quick to point out organisations which help local people – the sailing club holds free taster sessions for young people and the gig club is popular too; the men’s team are the current world champions.
Armand, who was a trawler fisherman for 25 years, is saddened by the decline of the fishing trade. He points out a trawler for sale in the harbour. “If that goes, we’ll be down to about five boats.” There were 33 in the 1980s.
For every negative there appears to be a positive. “People are investing in the town,” he says as we walk past a new Greek restaurant near Pengelly’s fishmonger, which recently expanded. Looking across the water to the Portbyhan Hotel, Armand added: “That place has been a bonus for the town – busloads of visitors come in to stay there all year round.
“We are never going to be the largest tourist resort, but we do the best with what we’ve got.”
As he shook my hand and left me to buy an oggy from Sarah’s Pasties, Armand added: “People prove that they care about each other in Looe.”