Save Our Fishing Buildings in Cadgwith

FISHERMEN'S BUILDINGS IN CADGWITH 

There are three old buildings in Cadgwith Cove that are used by the fishermen to store their gear and process their catch.  They also house a very popular art gallery and two shops selling fresh fish.

We are the Cadgwith Fishing Cove Trust, and we are a charitable trust whose objects are the improvement maintenance and protection of the historic communal fishing facilities in Cadgwith Cove in the parish of Grade Ruan.

We are trying to put together the funding to buy all three buildings to keep them safe from the ever-present threat of development, which here would mean conversion into yet more second homes and holiday lets.

Cadgwith is visited each year by thousands of holidaymakers.  If our fishing activity ever came to an end, the tourism industry would shrink and many local residents would lose their main source of income.  The fishermen are at the heart of our strong sense of community and we are doing whatever we can to support them.

Our master plan is for the local parish council to take the freeholds of the buildings in order that they may be held in perpetuity for the fishermen and then for our not-for-profit charitable trust to look after the day-to-day management of them.  

There will be covenants requiring the buildings to be used by fishermen as long as they are so needed and preventing them from being sold for anyone's private gain.  The parish council will still exist in fifty or one hundred years time and will use the buildings for other community purposes if there was no more fishing out of the cove.

There can be no element of subsidising the fishermen.   They will pay an economic rent, enough to cover all expenses of maintenance and repairs. 

We are already well into realising the plan.  The council is raising a loan to buy one of the buildings and there is widespread support from parishioners even though the loan repayments may cause a small increase in their local council tax.

For the other two buildings, we have had professional surveys and valuations.   We need to find £300,000 to purchase the freehold of the buildings themselves.   On top of that, the surveys have also identified a number of urgent repairs and some further repairs to bring them up to a good standard.   If we are lucky enough to have enough funding we will also be able to tackle both of these as well. 

This crowdfunding project will hopefully be large enough to form an essential component of that funding.  

If you are able to help us, we and the fishermen of Cadgwith will be very grateful for your assistance.