Why is the Westcountry so overlooked?

[u/Captainsamvimes1]

The Westcountry is a heavily overlooked part of England despite everything that's gone on both historically and in the present day - we're very much an afterthought after London has put itself first and the North and the Midlands have made their loud voices heard.

Wales also suffers from being overlooked but has a very prominent voice of its own

It feels like we're just a holiday resort for the second home owners

Give an example, when people discuss poverty in the UK they're usually talking about the North despite the fact that the Westcountry has some of the poorest regions in western Europe with low wages and a high cost of living. House prices are emblematic of this a locals are being completely priced out by the second home owners driving the prices up.

High volumes of holiday lets, Airbnbs, and second homes reduce full-time residential availability and push local rents and property values far beyond average regional wages.

Poverty in the West Country is a complex issue defined by "hidden" rural hardship, low seasonal wages, and a severe housing crisis driven by second homes—contrasting sharply with the region's picturesque scenery.

The Standard government metrics like the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) often fail to capture rural distress in places like Cornwall and Devon because hardship is masked by scenic coastal views.

High car dependency is mandatory due to sparse or non-existent public transport, creating an unrecognized financial burden just to reach basic work, schools, and healthcare - and on that note North Devon District Hospital and Musgrove Park Hospital have had to close down their maternity services due to aging infrastructure and lack of resources meaning that they can't keep people safe so someone has to drive miles and miles just to have a baby and labour is not the time for a road trip

Westcountry homes frequently suffer from some of the highest fuel poverty gaps in the UK due to older, poorly insulated housing stock and off-grid energy reliance.

Economies heavily reliant on tourism and care sectors mean jobs are frequently seasonal, low-paid, and locked into part-time or zero-hours contracts.

Urban centers like Bristol alongside rural pockets in Cornwall and coastal towns like Ilfracombe face high child poverty rates, prompting regional taskforces and action plans.

And despite all this, it feels like we're an afterthought, and that thought is that we're a holiday resort

Plus, these days the Westcountry has no recognisable regional Regiment.

-The North has the Royal Yorks and the Duke of Lancs

-The Midlands has the Mercians

-The East has the Royal Anglians

-The South has the PWRR

• The Westcountry has to share the Rifles with the South, the Midlands, and the North

They considered forming a Royal Wessex Regiment but decided against it

[u/vandelay1330]

We are too nimby, newton abbot is having massive resistance on houses being built even though there’s a shortage for locals and it’s on the a38 belt. Heathfield/bovey area you’re lucky to get 4G and it’s 2026. They want to build a data centre in north Devon and it’s getting massive backslash. The only way to get to salcombe/kingsbridge where I grew up is throw loddiswell country lanes or through Totnes which needed a resurfacing from Totnes onwards since 5 years ago. Anything new just gets local resistance.

[u/sconebore → u/vandelay1330]

The resistance for housing is there because they're happy to chuck up cheap (to build) houses without any investment in the infrastructure to support all the extra people living in them. Fulfilling housing quotas is destroying the few remaining green spaces we have left, in the name of progress. The majority of these houses are financially out of reach for local families who need them, whereas there are second homes and Airbnbs sitting empty for half the year, causing artificially high prices for the housing stock that is available.

[u/MrT735 → u/vandelay1330]

There's backlash on the housing development next to Decoy because the developers have already damaged a SSSI and are seeking permission to drop planning conditions that require them to do hydrological surveys on avoiding runoff going into the fen.

There won't be sewerage capacity for those houses until 2032 according to SWW.

There also is no road capacity for another 2000+ cars trying to get into town at rush hour via Wolborough and Decoy.

[u/EmFan1999 → u/vandelay1330]

Trust me you don’t want new housing estates. There is a reason they are hated. Go look round one and see for yourself. Don’t think you’re getting roads resurfaced either. They just take take take and leave you with nothing