Are we ready for the G7 Summit?

How will Cornwall cope with the G7 Summit? Lee Trewhela takes the temperature

IN six weeks’ time world leaders including Joe Biden and Angela Merkel will descend on the big toe of Cornwall – a shoe-in for success or a painful boot in the proverbials?

Throw in the planet’s media, a security operation the likes of which the Duchy has never experienced, plus road, rail and schools closures and the idyll of St Ives and Carbis Bay may not know what’s hit it.

What Prime Minister Boris Johnson no doubt hoped would be a welcome distraction from the year of Covid has been derailed slightly by the controversial goings-on at the Carbis Bay Hotel & Estate, which will host the majority of the talks.

For a summit which will have climate change as its main talking point, the felling of trees and resultant environmental protests is an embarrassment. But will it all be forgotten once the US President waves at the crowds?

With the Tregenna Castle resort being home to the dignitaries and their coteries for the weekend of June 11 to 13, and the town being the end of the line for the incredibly popular branch railway – which would normally be packed in June – St Ives will be just as affected as its neighbour.

At the start of the tourism season and with a population of over 11,000, St Ives residents have already found out that the railway line will be closed from June 7 to 14 to be replaced by a bus service and there will be road closures – the extent of which has yet to be announced.

St Ives School has decided to close while other schools in and around the town are also considering following its lead and reverting to online learning.

There will also be a huge police and security operation, with fencing erected in key locations. More than 5,500 officers and 100 police dogs will be on duty in Cornwall during the summit.

Everyone has a view – some people hate the idea of the G7 circus and the ‘ring of steel’ it is already bringing, while others believe this could be the greatest opportunity to help St Ives thrive in the future.

Mayor of St Ives Tony Harris believes the summit will secure St

Ives as a world tourist destination once those TV cameras focus in on the Tate, Porthminster, The Digey and the rest of the town’s delights.

He said: “There will be some inconvenience and we know there will be road closures but we would want to minimise that. But this is good for St Ives in the longer term.”

Tony Mason, who lives in the town and owns a holiday property, agrees. “I’m excited about it. I think it will give an opportunity for the world’s media to showcase Cornwall. I have only positive things to say about it,” he said.

Colin Nicholls, who has run Colenso DIY shop in Gabriel Street for over 50 years, is all in favour. “The G7’s a great opportunity for St Ives. We need to be up for facilitating it, making it work, lessening the impact if there is impact in it, and that people go away and enjoy the exposure for St Ives the world over which will result in the next decade when St Ives will become a world destination.”

But Kate Smith, who runs Lola’s Lounge on Tregenna Hill, is definitely one of those who feels the timing of the Summit during the coronavirus pandemic is a bad decision.

“I don’t think it’s going to benefit St Ives at all. The whole rigmarole that’s going with it – drains are being welded shut, the BT boxes are being welded shut, there’s a ring of steel. People are already being questioned about why they’re coming in and out of town.

“People can’t function like that – we’ve just done over a year almost of lockdown, people are just starting to get a bit of normality back and Boris and his lot want to close us down again for a week to talk about the G7 Summit when a load of trees have been cut down to accommodate them arriving. It seems really hypocritical.”

Jamie Mills commutes to St Ives from Penzance to work in one of the town’s galleries. He said the infrastructure was “already unravelling” as can be seen with the hotel in Carbis Bay. “It will definitely have an impact on a lot of people – it will take me three times as long to get to work in the morning.”

And the most bizarre story doing the rounds? That builders will be paid £200 to clean the VIP’s cars. A spokesperson for the Cabinet Office said she was “fairly confident we can refute this one”.

Monday: Columnist Judi Spiers on those amazing inventions we can’t do without

> Protests have already been held at the Carbis Bay G7 Summit site