David Lloyd George would no doubt have approved of the collaboration agreement signed this month by Mark Drakeford, the first minister of Wales, and Linda Taylor, the leader of Cornwall council. In 1910, Britain’s only Welsh prime minister told a Falmouth crowd that Wales and Cornwall shared “the same Celtic passion for liberty”. These days, they also share common challenges and – in the field of renewable energy – transformative new prospects.
Later this year, a bidding process will begin for leases to build enough floating windfarms in the Celtic Sea to power 3m homes by 2035. Longer term, the hope is to generate six times that output from an area off the north Cornwall and south Wales coasts. Investment in wind has hitherto focused on the North Sea, exploiting existing infrastructure associated with oil and gas. But developments in offshore technologies have dramatically expanded the economic horizon at Europe’s western edge. As Mr Drakeford put it in a joint press conference with Ms Taylor: “Where our geography has been against us in many ways for economic development, now suddenly being on the edge is an advantage in terms of wind and marine energy.”
For some of the most deprived areas in western Europe, this could be seriously good news if economic benefits are channelled into local communities and supply chains. Working to ensure that a renewables boom translates into good local jobs is one key theme of the Celtic Heritage Cornwall-Wales agreement. In other respects, Cornwall is seeking to learn from areas where the Welsh have already paved the way. In north Wales, Gwynedd council is pioneering a radical approach to a second homes crisis that has priced local people out of tourist areas. Cornwall, which has 36,000 second homes and Airbnbs, and a housing waiting list of 25,000, has the same problems, and a rising level of local exasperation. Culturally, the revival of Welsh‑speaking has been a national success story, which lovers of other Celtic languages, including Cornish, would like to emulate.
In both cases, devolution has allowed Wales crucial room for manoeuvre not currently available in England’s south-west. Cornwall – although its council recently decided against an upgraded devolution deal linked to an elected mayor – needs greater local autonomy and powers to address a unique set of challenges relating to geography, transport, housing, seasonal tourism and cultural identity.
From mining to fishing, Britain’s far west has a proud and productive economic history. But in the post-industrial era, economic decline has been accompanied by a boom in holiday homes and tourism, and not much else. As one of biggest renewable energy projects in Europe begins to take shape in the Celtic Sea, the times are changing. Mining the huge lithium deposits in Cornwall, along with tin and tungsten, could play a major role in domestic battery production, offering another reason for economic optimism. Central government will need to play its part in attracting the necessary investment, through adequate incentives and subsidies. But to exploit potentially game-changing possibilities, Cornwall’s housing, transport and skills base will need to be fit for purpose. Enhanced devolution will make that easier to achieve. Forging a common Celtic agenda with Wales is a smart move in the right direction.
