Dear Councillor,

I am writing to you from Waikato, New Zealand. I am a Cornish-Kiwi, and originally a Truro boy.

I have been following the various debates and discussions around Sportva Kernow (Stadium for Cornwall) and the upcoming Cornwall County Council vote - living so far away, I have no idea how the local government and politics work in Cornwall, so these are my observations.

County Councillors are only custodians or guardians of their Wards while they are elected: and this is an inter-generational, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Cornwall has been left behind due to a historical lack of understanding of legacy, visions and dreams of the people - this is all about a county whose slogan is “One and All”! - it is not about Looe, Polperro, Feock and Playing Place (where I grew up) - this is all about the proud county of Cornwall - and being a county councillor is all about what’s good for Cornwall.

Why is someone like me involved from New Zealand and why Dicky Evans from Kenya?

It is all about “...the Greater Good... for the love of sport... the next generations... and giving back to a part of the world that is very special to us...” - the last thing this is about is money.

The County Council’s Capex Budget for 2018/19 is GBP 808m and the request for Sportva Kernow is only GBP 3m or 0.4% - tiny - especially compared to what has been spent on other Capital Projects - to put this into context a “good” roundabout could easily cost GBP 2m - all we are asking for is the cost of 1.5 roundabouts - I think Cornwall can live without 1.5 roundabouts for a year. While we get on with building Sportva Kernow they can build the 1.5 roundabouts next year!

If people need dog poo, wheelie bins and youth soccer teams in East Cornwall need changing sheds as I have heard from some of the debates, we can organise these “easy as” (as we say here in NZ) - there is a big picture here and that is:

“Cornwall stronger through Sport”

The county councillors need to think strategically about what's good to Cornwall rather than just what's good for their wards.

What is apparent to me from talking to various councillors once they have had the message explained - they do understand it.

The partnership that we have developed between the Cornish Pirates and Waikato Rugby and the NZ Super Rugby Franchise the Chiefs (formerly the Waikato Chiefs) is both unique and ground breaking and offers many, many opportunities for both Cornwall and the Waikato at all sorts of levels.

So, in summary, this is a once-in-a-lifetime moment, and I urge you to support it as passionately as I do!

Many thanks for considering my views.

Yours Faithfully,

Colin Groves

Chair of Waikato Rugby, New Zealand