[Vwoolf] Letter Sent on Behalf of IVWS to Cornwall Council to Protest Plan to Destroy Talland House View

[Paula Maggio]

Dear Fellow Woolfians:

I am sending this email on behalf of Kristin Czarnecki, IVWS president, who is traveling and does not have a computer available. 

Kristin has sent the letter copied below to the Cornwall Council Planning Committee to protest the proposed construction of a block of six flats that will eradicate the view Virginia Woolf had from Talland House. We invite you to use any portion of the letter below to craft your own message to the committee to object to this plan that will destroy a vital piece of literary history.

Please send your email to the committee before Tuesday, July 14, 2015, as that is the date the committee is expected to act on the plan. Send it to planning at cornwall.gov.uk We were not able to locate the number of the application for the plan, but please don't let that dissuade you from using your voice.

You may also want to consider posting a message on the Cornwall Council Facebook page (at https://www.facebook.com/forCornwall?fref=ts), and/or tweeting a message to the Council @CornwallCouncil

For more information, visit this post on Blogging Woolf: https://bloggingwoolf.wordpress.com/2015/07/09/view-from-talland-house-threatened-by-planned-development/

Dear Cornwall Council Planning Committee:


The view Virginia Woolf had of the Cornish coast is under threat by the proposed construction of a block of six flats and a car park near Talland House in St. Ives. This view of St Ives from Talland House is an important piece of literary history, one that the Cornwall Council and the St. Ives Town Council should work to preserve, not destroy.


When Woolf scholars and readers from around the world visit St. Ives, they come to walk the streets she walked and see the views she saw during her lifetime. When they come, they bring tourist dollars with them. The Annual International Conference on Virginia Woolf will be held in England in 2016 and 2017, and many scholars and common readers are expected to arrive early or stay on so they can visit St. Ives, hoping to again see the town as Woolf did -- and to explore the surrounding Cornwall area.


The views themselves are an important part of the inherent beauty of the charming town of St. Ives and are a vital part of the town's literary history. It is important that these views be preserved for future scholars and readers, as they lend understanding to Woolf's life and work, particularly her 1927 novel To the Lighthouse.

The view from Talland House has inspired new scholarship and allowed new insights into Woolf's work. When those of us who teach share those views and those insights with our students, they are impressed by the beauty of St. Ives and are eager to develop their own insights into the novel and plan their own trips to Cornwall.


On July 14, 2015, when you consider the May 8, 2015, planning application submitted by Porthminster Beach View Ltd., please vote no. You will be preserving a vital piece of literary history that will continue to bring tourist dollars into your community.

Best regards,
 
Kristin Czarnecki
President, International Virginia Woolf Society

Paula Maggio
Social Media Coordinator, International Virginia Woolf Society
Paula Maggio