Thank you for contacting us on the 22nd August. I am sorry that you were unhappy with the service and thank you for letting us know.
Your complaint was that Cornwall Council’s social media use the name New County Hall Truro instead of the Cornish name Lys Kernow.
In this instance, we use New County Hall because the majority of residents know it as that, and therefore for reasons of clarity and understanding we refer to Lys Kernow as New County Hall. We are in no way avoiding the name Lys Kernow or attempting to stall the progress made over the years.
As you mentioned in your feedback great strides have been made. The Cornish language is a big part of the history of Cornwall and proudly has a place in it’s future. There are many examples of Cornwall Council using Cornish both in our communications and on social media – including, for example, our recent Cornish language week posts and establishing the Cornish Language Office.
This is a reply I received from Cornwall council complaints team, and it is not entirely accurate. It was not just a complaint about the use of County Hall when it should be Lys Kernow on social media, there was a bit more to it than that.
I started looking at this because I found if I was talking to someone and mentioned Lys Kernow they would look puzzled and ask what’s that? When I would say it’s the name of Cornwall Council they would say more often than not I just call it County Hall. That got me thinking that if Cornwall Council has been called Lys Kernow since 2009 why are they still using the name County Hall?
So I started looking at the council’s social media feeds, their online platform and letters I received from the council and County Hall appears everywhere and is used by the council as the primary name of their headquarter in Truro.
The issue I have with this is the use of the word county. The last few years have seen greater recognition of Cornish identity,language,culture,ethnicity and the idea that Kernow is a Celtic nation which should have devolved political powers to an assembly/parliament,many Cllrs claim to support these ideals and yet the the council refuses to use the official Cornish name of Lys Kernow preferring county over Cornish. This was the full basis of my complaint.
How are we to move to a devolved assembly/ parliament and manage our own affairs when every day the council sends out letters to people across Kernow with a County Hall address which reinforces the idea that Kernow is a county of England?
I agree with the council that the majority of residents only know the name of New County Hall but whose fault is that?
Why has the council chosen not to promote the official name of Lys Kernow? Everyday the council’s social media team puts out messages from factual to inane,so how many sub committees have to meet to agree to put out a simple message on social media saying something like ‘fun fact did you know that Cornwall council’s name is actually Lys Kernow?’
In the hallowed corridors of Lys Kernow what do they think of the intellect of the people of Kernow, that if the council uses the name Lys Kernow people will become so confused that they will be unable to contact the council?Do they not think that many people would just Google the name Lys Kernow? They could use Lys Kernow/New County Hall till people come to accept it then drop County Hall.
If the hard work carried out by so many people across Kernow to get Cornish identity recognised is to continue and flourish then it has to be led from the top and the council has to show it fully supports Cornish language and identity.
I have been told that if I am unhappy with the reply from the council I can ask for a step 2 review which I will be doing but if you read and agree with what I am saying then maybe you could email the council and ask them the same question.
KernowCalling 