G7 summit: World leaders should see the 'real St Ives'

One councillor described St Ives as a "town of two halves"

A community volunteer says she hopes world leaders see the "real St Ives" when they visit for the G7 summit.

Leaders such as new US President Joe Biden are set to attend the event on the coast in Cornwall in June.

Groups in St Ives and neighbouring Carbis Bay have said they hope the event will benefit the local community.

"There is poverty in St Ives, it is alive and kicking," said Gill Scott Anderson, who organises food pantries across the area for those in need.

The G7 summit will be held in Carbis Bay, a popular beach resort and village just along the coast from the town of St Ives where many international delegates will stay.

Gill Scott Anderson questioned how the local community would benefit from the G7 summit

Ms Scott Anderson said the demand for free food offered by the pantries was "unbelievable at the moment", with people struggling to feed their families.

"The real St Ives is a community where there is a lot of inequality," she said

The volunteer also questioned how the local community would "benefit from world leaders and the G7 coming to Carbis Bay".

The Reverend Chris Wallis, who co-ordinates the St Ives Foodbank, said demand for the service had risen by four times since last March.

"It is a tough time," he said.

"St Ives is primarily a holiday destination and it is being hit hard because a lot of people are not getting their income from their properties and the cleaning and maintenance of properties."

Leaders such as new US President Joe Biden are set to attend the event in June

Mr Wallis said even in non-Covid times there was still poverty but not as bad as in nearby towns such as Camborne and Redruth.

He added that he did not think the summit would make the "slightest difference to the area".

Linda Taylor, a former mayor and Cornwall councillor said she was "very excited" the summit would be in Cornwall, but thought it important "to highlight that not everybody has the same quality of life" in the town.

"From a tourism point of view it's going to be a fantastic opportunity, but Cornwall cannot be all about tourism, we've got to showcase exactly what we can offer," she added

The UK, US, Germany, France, Canada, Italy and Japan make up the G7 and leaders from Australia, India, South Korea and the EU are also due to attend the event in Carbis Bay as guests.

Ms Scott Anderson said demand was "unbelievable" at the moment for food from the community pantries

In 2016 more than 80% of residents in nearby St Ives voted to ban new-build homes from being sold as second homes.

Supporters of the vote said that one in four properties in the town were second homes or holiday lets and after years of being priced out of the market, the community had spoken.

Cornwall and town councillor Andrew Mitchell agreed there was poverty in St Ives, describing it as "a town of two halves".

He said if the outcome of the summit was further promotion of Cornwall as a tourist destination that would be a "failure" and that the focus should be attracting businesses "who would never have dreamed of coming to Cornwall" to start up here.

"We need to show the real Cornwall and that is its beauty but also its hardship and its people," he said.