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TIDE TURNING
Our seaside town is becoming London-on-Sea – hard-up locals live in Travelodges while homes are turned into holiday lets
CORNISH locals have blasted rich toffs for snapping up second homes in their pretty fishing port - while they are forced to rely on food banks.
Situated at the mouth of the beautiful Camel Estuary on Cornwall’s north coast, Padstow has become one of the UK's most expensive areas and a top holiday destination for the rich and famous.
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But all this comes at a price. Padstow was recently named the fourth most expensive coastal town in the UK with an average house price last year of £791,000. The town has also seen a 94 per cent increase in house prices since 2012.
TV chef Rick Stein employs around 400 people in the town across several seafood restaurants, shops and a cookery school.
Fellow celebrity chef Paul Ainsworth runs a Michelin-starred restaurant in the town and Gordon Ramsay has a home across the estuary in Rock.
In stark contrast to its status as a wealthy foodie destination, Padstow opened its first food bank earlier this year and has so far helped to feed 184 people - including 88 children - in the town.
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Jacqui White, project manager for the food bank, said: “People look at Padstow and think this is where rich people come on holiday - why would they need a food bank? But it’s desperately needed.
“We’re in a dire situation. People who are already working are really struggling. They can only work as hard as they are but they don’t have enough money coming in. They’re not people who ever expected to need a foodbank.
“We had a fisherman who hadn’t been able to work because the weather was bad and had burned through his savings. He only came to us and asked for help when he couldn’t feed his dog any more.
“It’s like the old saying ‘Champagne taste with lemonade money’. We’re now paying London prices on Cornwall wages and it’s not just rent, the same goes for prices in shops, business rates, everything you can think of.
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“Jobs here are either on the land, tourism or seasonal food outlets and very few are full-time because the very affluent people generating all the money are not here all the time.
“The biggest problem is housing. Because it’s become so popular down here, we don’t have any council houses, so lots of people on low income are in private rented accommodation. Then the rent goes up and they can’t afford it so we've had a massive rise in people with no fixed abode living in hotels.
"One lady and her three-year-old have been in a Travelodge for six months. They might not be sleeping rough but they don’t have a home to go to.”
Figures from debt relief charity Christians Against Poverty (CAP) showed it has helped 117 local people with more than £600,000 of debt between 2017 and 2021.
Robert Brittain, a debt coach for CAP based in nearby Wadebridge, said: “The majority of cases we see aren’t people spending beyond their means, it’s people just spending to get by and even more so now.
“We are now getting referrals for people in wealthier areas like this where 18 months ago this wasn’t happening.
"Debt is a delayed indicator because it takes time to accumulate but it’s a sign that people in this area are having difficulty making ends meet.”
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'Town of two halves'
When The Sun visited Padstow, throngs of tourists were already bustling around the quaint fishing harbour, with restaurants, pubs and shops doing quick trade. What was very clear is few would call themselves locals - and even fewer would be able to call themselves homeowners.
Jackie Butler, who has lived in a village just outside the town for six years and works in a bookshop in the town, said: “Padstow is so beautiful but it’s a town of two halves - the second home owners and the people who live here year round - and our lives are very different.
“People take one look at Padstow and they think of wealthy celebrities like Rick Stein or Gordon Ramsay. They don’t realise what a poor area it is or how much people are struggling.
“I would like there to be more affordable housing in Padstow. I’d like to think it’s possible my kids would be able to buy a house here because at the moment there is no chance.
“I am very lucky to be able to live and work here and own property, I’m very aware of how lucky that is because for a lot of young people it’s not something they can even consider.”
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Staff shortage due to soaring rent
To help tackle the housing crisis Cornwall Council announced last month it was building 55 new affordable homes in Padstow, which will be restricted to people with a local connection.
But at Padstow Brewery, a popular stop-off for day trippers, assistant manager Rebecca Pas said workers are coping well with the housing situation and even seeing advantages to second home owners.
She said: “I live in Bodmin but I have the longest commute of all my colleagues. Lots of staff live fairly locally although maybe not in Padstow itself.
“I have heard of people being hired for jobs in the town from elsewhere, moving to Cornwall but finding they can’t afford to rent anything so leaving without ever starting work.
“But post-Covid a lot of places are looking for staff which means everybody is paying really high wages because they want to keep good staff, so there are great work opportunities for people here.”
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Tourists spend £145 a meal
Rebecca added she notices foodie tourists spending “frightening amounts” on luxury meals in the town.
An example of this is the set menu at Paul Ainsworth’s No.6 restaurant, which costs £145, while even a simple cod and chips from Rick Stein’s takeaway costs almost £15, with tartare sauce an extra £1.75.
Down at the harbour, around 12 inshore fishing boats still work to land crab and lobster for restaurants.
Johnny Murt, who is a seventh generation fisherman in the town, says Padstow’s reputation as a foodie destination means local fishermen still get top prices for their catch.
He said: “As Padstow has become more famous there is more demand for shellfish locally.
“I think we're in a bit of a bubble compared to the fishing community of the rest of the country, especially the east coast. Because we’ve got Stein here, we’ve got Ainsworth, we've got Nathan Outlaw who all champion our product and makes such a difference to all these other guys catching.
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“Padstow has changed so much since I was a kid but fishing will always be here because it has so much support.
“And I don’t blame people who want to come here - if I wasn’t already from Padstow, I’d definitely be trying to buy a house here”
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