Cllr Louis Gardner pictured in front of the failed LauncherOne rocket at Newquay’s Spaceport while he was cabinet member for the economy (Pic from Cornwall Council video)
By Lee Trewhela,
Published by The Packet, 30 April 2025
The local authority has withdrawn the Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) amount and says no payment will now be made to the space industry hub, which is run by the council-owned Corserv company.
The decision has come after it was revealed that the council’s then cabinet member for the economy Cllr Louis Gardner – who oversaw SPF allocation as part of his portfolio – was actually in the process of getting a top job at the Spaceport when he was part of an Economic Prosperity Board meeting on February 27. He was among members who agreed to give the space hub the £200k levelling up money. He didn’t declare an interest during the meeting.
Days later it was announced he had got the £70,000 head of future air and space role, which sees him controlling a budget which would have included the £200,001 fund previously agreed by him and other Economic Prosperity Board members. On accepting the Spaceport role he stood down from his position as the local authority’s Conservative cabinet member for the economy and will retire as a Newquay councillor on Cornwall Council at the election tomorrow (Thursday, May 1).
A Freedom of Information Act (FOI) response from the council on April 28 has revealed that the unitary authority has now withdrawn the £200k. It states: “Following the usual due diligence process, the funding has been withdrawn and no payment will be made in relation to the application.”
A council spokesperson verified that the Spaceport will no longer receive the money. He said: “Before any Shared Prosperity Funding is issued, each application undergoes due diligence to ensure the application provides the best value for money for the taxpayer. In this case, the bid was assessed as not meeting those criteria and will now not proceed.”
Ben Maguire, the Liberal Democrat MP for North Cornwall, said earlier this month: “Was this clear conflict of interest declared at the time – and were there really no eyebrows raised when Cllr Gardner, days before securing a £70,000 job at the Spaceport, was a key part of the decision-making process to approve its funding?
“I’ll now be escalating this matter to the Commissioner for Public Appointments and engaging directly with Cornwall Council’s monitoring officer to ensure this potentially serious breach of standards is investigated to the fullest extent.”
See: Original Article
