Alongside elections for local councillors in the popular English tourist town of St Ives, in the south-western county of Cornwall, residents voted on Thursday in a rare referendum on a new town plan that would restrict second-home ownership, dpa reported. Voters in the town are asked to answer yes or no to the question: "Do you want Cornwall Council to use the neighbourhood plan for St Ives to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?" The referendum was the only one held in Britain on Thursday, when voters in most areas took part in elections for some 2,700 local politicians. Britain will hold a national referendum on June 23 on whether it should remain part of the European Union. The St Ives neighbourhood plan places limits on ownership of second homes by requiring full-time occupation of any homes subject to planning permission and banning the sale of some properties to non-residents. The change is designed to help St Ives residents, who are increasingly priced out of the local housing market, but the referendum appears to have left some voters confused, local newspapaer The Cornishman reported during Thursday's voting.
