Does Gordon Ramsay’s Cornish village want a £600k levelling-up grant?

It’s a millionaires’ playground favoured by celebrities, Royals and hordes of super-wealthy second-home owners.

Which is why some locals are asking why Cornwall Council has given the villages of Rock and St Minver a £600,000 taxpayer-funded levelling-up grant.

The seaside hotspot, where average property prices soared to £1.2 million last year, has been awarded the windfall to build a new community centre.

The Government’s Levelling-up fund is supposed to benefit Britain’s poorest areas.

But pretty fishing village Rock is one of the most expensive places to buy property in the country.

Local residents are asking why Cornwall Council has given the villages of Rock and St Minver a £600,000 taxpayer-funded levelling-up grant

Homeowners include chef Gordon Ramsay, who has a £5 million mansion overlooking the sea

The wealthy are attracted by its secluded coves, well-stocked delis and upmarket restaurants, including Rick Stein’s The Seafood Restaurant across the Camel Estuary in Padstow. 

Princes William and Harry have been photographed surfing in nearby Polzeath.

Homeowners include chef Gordon Ramsay, who has a £5 million mansion overlooking the sea, Fifty Shades Of Grey author E.L. James, who bulldozed a bungalow to build a £2 million clifftop pile, and Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron, who paid £2 million for a holiday home in a nearby village.

The £600,000 Government grant was awarded after an application from the St Minver Community Hub trust to replace huts used by local scouting groups and football teams. 

The group had already raised another £300,000 from donations to begin construction work.

Last night, baffled locals questioned why they had qualified for the grant. 

Margaret Marshall, 86, who has lived in the area for more than 40 years, said: ‘Do we really need it? 

‘I understand why local people think other areas of Cornwall are in greater need of levelling-up.

‘Another long-time resident Patricia Core said: ‘This just isn’t right. Other parts of Cornwall need facilities far more. 

‘If they want to level us up then provide housing we can afford or a GP surgery we can get to.’

The seaside hotspot, where average property prices soared to £1.2 million last year, has been awarded the windfall to build a new community centre (pictured)

Some residents have defended the decision however, saying ‘we’re not all millionaires here’

One woman, who asked not to be named, said she was ‘absolutely gobsmacked’ at the £600,000 grant, while another described it as a ‘vanity project’.

Residents pointed out that there were already numerous public buildings serving the community.

However, Maureen Dodd, 87, defended the plans for a new building, saying: ‘It will be great for children and they’re including a cafe where older people can meet. 

‘We’re not all millionaires here. We’re just ordinary people who have worked for a living.’

The Government’s £4.8 billion Levelling-up fund was launched in 2020 to improve infrastructure in Britain’s poorest areas.

Local authorities were tasked with allocating grants to areas ‘most in need’ based on factors such as economic recovery and growth, transport links and the need for regeneration. 

The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly councils was given £137 million to hand out to community organisations.

Some areas of Cornwall are among the poorest in Britain. Around a third of children under 15 living in Penzance Quay are growing up in poverty, according to government figures.

Rock is the UK’s third most expensive village, with house prices almost three times higher than the average figure for Cornwall

But Rock is the UK’s third most expensive village, with house prices almost three times higher than the average figure for Cornwall, according to estate agents Yopa. 

Last night, a council spokesman said: ‘The perception of the area from the outside is of luxury seaside houses, but people fail to see the deprivation a few yards away.’

She said the new building will replace ‘outdated’ timber huts and will ‘deliver a wide range of much-needed facilities and activities targeted at those most in need in the community’.