South Crofty Mine

Lately, there has been increased interest in South Crofty Mine. It has been nearly twenty years since the mine closed. I have been having discussions with the various owners of the mine since becoming an MP back in 2010. There have been many false starts, but finally progress is being made. Strongbow Exploration, a Canadian listed company, has plans to reopen South Crofty and mine the high-grade tin at its deeper levels.

Having met with Strongbow on several occasions, I am optimistic about their work. The re-opening of South Crofty would be a huge boost for the area, and it would be great to see the mine returned to its former glory. With the £25 million link road in place, the economic potential of Tuckingmill has been unlocked, and the re-opening of South Crofty would create even more new jobs and business opportunities.

In recent days, we have also seen a boost for rural businesses. Funding for rural businesses that will generate thousands of jobs and provide new support to expand and improve their premises has been announced as part of a £200million grant offer. We have so many fantastic rural businesses here in Cornwall, and I am pleased that further support is being made available to help them continue to thrive and grow.

For the first time under the current scheme specific funding will be available to support new rural broadband projects, and provide significant amounts of funding to on-farm businesses to invest in new infrastructure such as new buildings and machinery.

 

I am very encouraged by the announcement of £30m to improve rural broadband. We have seen huge progress in Cornwall in recent years, but I am contacted on a regular basis by constituents who do not have the access to broadband that they need. I am pleased that this announcement will supplement existing investment in rural broadband.