Recent history suggests summit will be costly
WORLD leaders will be coming to Cornwall this summer, when the G7 summit lands in Carbis Bay, but what is it like for areas which have previously held the event and what kind of impact could it have on Cornwall?
Two of this century’s summits have been held in UK – firstly at Gleneagles in Scotland in 2005 and then at Lough Erne Resort in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, in 2013.
In those two years, the then G8 summit saw a lot of focus on the cost of hosting the event, but it has been claimed that by hosting the summit in Cornwall we could see benefits of up to £50 million. However the cost of welcoming the world’s leaders could far outweigh that benefit.
The final bill for the G8 summit in Northern Ireland in 2013 was £92 million, and a review found that less than £40 million of that was spent in the local economy. Security costs accounted for a large part of the cost, totalling £75 million.
A large chunk of the costs of hosting the event fell on the public purse in Northern Ireland, with £23 million being sourced locally.
Details of the costs and impact of the event were revealed in a review which was published almost two years after the summit took place.
The report found that international media coverage of the summit had been “extensive and for the most part positive”, but it also found, when assessing the benefits for businesses in Fermanagh: “For most, the G8 summit had no impact.”
Of possibly concern for Cornish businesses hoping to cash in on the event this summer, the report suggested that for some companies it was not entirely beneficial. The report stated: “Further, in the short term the proportion of businesses experiencing a positive impact appeared to be largely counterbalanced by those where the impact was negative.
“While around half the accommodation sector had guests staying with them in connection to the G8 summit, they considered the impact on revenue to be relatively limited. This is because there was some displacement of other guests which meant bookings were either completely or partially lost.
“Official statistics support the views that the accommodation providers that there was no significant uplift in occupancy rates in the period around the G8 summit. However, there has been a strong uplift in guests from outside Northern Ireland staying in the South West during the last six months of 2013.”
Another report was commissioned after the G8 summit in Gleneagles in 2005, and this also focused on the financial issues. The Scottish event had attracted a number of protests, including some linked with the Make Poverty History campaign.
In total, the cost of hosting that G8 summit was £90.9 million, which included £72 million spent on police for the event. The report states that £60.1 million came from the Scottish public sector and £30.7 million from the UK Government.
It says that the event resulted in £64.7 million in benefits which included new turnover to business – but with the public sector cost being £60.1 million the net benefit to Scotland was £4.6 million.
The Scottish report also found that local retailers in the area had reported “significant drops” in sales during the summit.
TO say people in Carbis Bay have mixed emotions about the G7 Summit ‘circus coming to town’ is an understatement.
One resident’s ‘pretty awesome’ is matched by another’s fear that the seaside village will have its own fourth lockdown over the weekend of June 11 to 13 when world leaders such as Joe Biden, Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron and, of course, Boris Johnson discuss global affairs at the Carbis Bay Hotel.
Most agree, though, that, when news broke last weekend that the village was hosting one of the planet’s most important political meetings, they thought it was a ‘windup’.
April 1 had not come early. It was true – the leaders of the USA, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan, as well as Australia, India and South Korea, are all heading to a Cornish village with around 4,000 residents.
While council leaders, tourism heads and those of us who work in the media may have been excited at the prospect, it seems those who live in Porthrepta (to give Carbis Bay its Cornish name) are slightly more sceptical.
As well as concerns about access to their homes and the road infrastructure for such a massive event, residents are cynical about the claim there will be any long-lasting benefits from hosting presidents and prime ministers.
They also hope, but are doubtful, that financial and social improvements can be made to help Cornwall, which is infamous for its poverty and social deprivation.
Katrina Slack, who runs Coast B&B and the Bean Inn vegetarian restaurant, said: “I’ve got such mixed emotions. Of course, it’s exciting to think our village might be hosting such a big event, with the leaders of the world on our doorstep. But I also feel trepidation regarding the disruption and development of the area.
“My main fear is that it will benefit a small minority of already wealthy people and businesses, and that it will put a huge strain on Cornwall’s already cracking infrastructure.
“It will put more pressure on local government to further relax planning laws to allow more of our coastline to be developed for tourism and it will cause disruption to local people. In Carbis Bay, nature is already losing out to luxury development for the rich.
“My hope would be that Cornwall can become a beacon for change, with investment into small-scale sustainable businesses that benefit the local population without destroying wildlife habitat.
“I’m hoping delegates are inspired by the local landscape and take action to protect it by designating large areas of Penwith as a national park and a marine nature reserve.
“I hope it raises awareness of the problems Cornwall faces, with huge inequalities between areas and the problems that second homes and lack of infrastructure bring. I hope this will bring further investment into businesses that benefit local people and the environment, and further investment into renewables.
“My hope is that governments realise the complexities of maintaining a balance between a thriving local economy and protecting our planet for future generations and it is not to be solved with ‘build, build, build’.”
Ben Colclough lives between Carbis Bay and St Ives and runs an e-bike rental business.
He said: “I’ve got three kids, so I think it’s totally exciting that the circus is coming to town.
“It’s also an absolutely stunning place – there’s nowhere like St Ives Bay and in June they’ll see the best of that, so there’s a pride you’re showing the world that you live in.
“But having said that, there’s going to be a lot less business going on locally during that period, I think.
“After they said there would be a £50m benefit, I thought ‘what’s the benefit to the economy, then?’ I thought about my business and wondered if we’d even be able to open. Will Boris rent some of my bikes or will Boris not rent any because there won’t be any tourists around?
“I Googled it and saw a study into Gleneagles which hosted the G8 [in 2005]. There was a £9.5 million loss to the local economy and £6.5 million loss to the tourism economy, and I could well believe it because all of the economic benefit they’ve either talked about was either press coverage or increase spend from delegates and the boost from their presence.
“But then there was paying the police and large contractors doing the catering and things like that.
“There was very little spend by delegates at local restaurants and businesses, because that’s not what they’re here for – they’re here for business.
“The remaining benefit to the local economy – when you’re being hardnosed and ignoring the excitement of the thing – is the press coverage. But St Ives is a place that is approaching over-tourism.
“Effectively from May through to September it is at or close to capacity. It could be of detriment to the brand experience if people start grumbling: ‘I don’t like St Ives, it’s too busy’.”
Ben added: “Having said that, with a decent strategy in place to build on that extra press coverage, we could get more out-of-season visitors, but you have to be quite smart about that. From people I’ve spoken to, including a designer who’s putting together a pamphlet of local servic es, people are thinking along those lines.
“Undoubtedly, some of those taking part may be thinking ‘that’s my summer holiday’ with their families. Apparently Boris is staying for two weeks – I don’t know how true that is. But then, they’re not going to be spending any more than another family that comes down for two weeks over that period.
“But actually, it’s pretty awesome that the world’s coming to Cornwall. Expanding it further out to the whole of Cornwall, surely Boris and the like will be making some positive announcements about investment in Cornwall, infrastructure or replacing the EU funds which have gone? It’s the perfect format for that.”
One woman, who did not wanted to be named, is dead against the whole thing.
“I don’t think it’s going to be very good, living in Carbis Bay,” she said. “I fear it’s going to be lockdown for us all over again. I cannot see any benefits, even if it goes ahead. I live on the sea side of Carbis Bay and reckon we will be cordoned off.
“I’m not looking forward to it at all. I’m going to batten down that weekend and not go out.”
Claire Davidson is a pharmacist at Carbis Bay Pharmacy. She has mixed feelings and like so many others is concerned about being able to come and go if you live in the village. She said: “As they will be in such a beautiful place, I really hope that it forces them to discuss climate change, and as child poverty is such an issue in parts of Cornwall, I hope that will be addressed.”
Although she believes it will be good for local businesses, including hotels and B&Bs, Claire has more pressing personal concerns – her son has his 12th birthday on the weekend of the summit, so she hopes it will not ruin his party.
A mother and her young son had differing views. The son said: “I can’t wait.”
However, his mum said there is a lot of worry in the village about security and the possibility of Covid-19 being brought in to the village by visitors.
Resident Paul McNamara see both sides. He thought it was “great” but had concerns about the minimal road infrastructure for such a massive event, and “how to keep protesters from coming in”.
He was also worried that the summit might get cancelled if the Covid19 situation gets worse before then, but feels the vaccine programme should have had an impact by June.
Derek Thomas, Conservative MP for St Ives, has welcomed the event but said he had been contacted over the weekend by people with concerns.
“We’re still struggling to get out of this pandemic and I fully understand that concern,” he said.
He was another person to raise the concern that Carbis Bay could see its very own lockdown during the summit.
What everyone can agree on is that life in Carbis Bay is going to get a lot stranger in the coming weeks.