Modern Conservatives and evil firemen

At full Council on Tuesday a Conservative Portfolio Holder said, in the course of recommending a Cabinet decision on housing, that he sees nothing wrong with landowners in rural districts building a few houses for their immediate family. Wooly thinking that caused surprised looks amongst the members of the Planning Committee, who didn't know about this apparent change of policy! To be fair to the Tories, it was one of their more experienced members who got up and reminded the Portfolio Holder of the 1991 Chanel 4 documentary 'Concrete and Cream Teas', which gave Planners in Cornwall a good slapping for an unwritten policy of allowing locals to build what they wanted, but coming down hard on incomers.

Shame that the same experienced Member later got up and described the Fireman's Union as 'evil' and when invited to withdraw the remark, accepted that it might be a bit strong, but refused to withdraw it. Have the Conservatives changed in the last 30 years? Not as far as I can see.

Three Types of Councillor

City Council last night. I've blogged before on the change to our electoral cycle caused by the Unitary, which means that we won't have an election until 2013. Seems the Cornish MP's and some people on the Unitary have had second thoughts, and now want our elections to coincide with the Unitary next year. I don't really mind, having fought, and won, elections last year and the year before. I'm going to be at a bit of a loose end this May and will be ready for action next year. But it's the way they've gone about it that's annoying the Council. There has been no consultation whatsoever, and we get to read about the plan in the West Briton, same as everyone else. So we're writing saying we want to continue until our full term would end, in 2011, at least. It would be best if our elections were separate from the Unitary elections. We'd get lost in theirs and a separate election two years after, gives the electorate a chance to have their say on issues that crop up meantime, and maintains our separate identity.

The best quote of the night though, was from an Independent Councillor. 'There's three types of Councillor. There's drivers, there's passengers, and there's handbrakes!' Very true.

Budget Setting

Set the budget for the year ahead last night. A surprisingly entertaining meeting, the bottom line being that we kept the Council Tax increase to 2.5%. There was some controversy and disscussion over a proposed one off grant of £100,000 to the Hall for Cornwall. A Conservative Member objected strongly, saying that if people want to go to the theatre they should pay for it themselves, and not be subsidised. It was demonstrated that the Hall brings a great many people into Truro, bringing many benefits to shops, bars etc. In the end only 3 Councillors voted against the grant.

We also gave ourselves a rise, which in my case amounts to £45 a year. Snouts in the trough or what! We tried to oppose raising the mileage allowance for larger engine cars to 55.8p per mile, but only 8 of us voted against it, so it passed. Easy for me to take a stand on that one, I walk to the Council and have never claimed any car allowances.

Yes We Can - Barack Obama Music Video

Can't see my speech to the Planning Committee being set to music! But this is how to do it, this is public speaking.

Ankh-Morpork

A good Valentines day, in that I hit the 'lost two stone' goal, although nothing romantic occured, perhaps because I went of to Taunton for my Young and Talented (and slightly lighter) Councillor course. As usual we saw some very interesting things, that will slowly leak out here as my own initiatives for Truro, and met some interesting people . We visited Wincanton, which was described as 'a market town without a market, twinned with somewhere that doesn't exist'. It being twinned with Ankh-Morpork, a city in the Disc World series and boasts the Ankh-Morpork Post Office and Consulate, something that could be a tacky souveneir shop but is actually brilliant, mainly because the people running it love what they're doing. Find them at http://www.discworldemporium.com/ .

But the most interesting thing about Wincanton is that they seem to have managed to keep the locally owned shops, and fought off the chain stores. Something we in Truro have struggled with. This seems to be down to the local member, Cllr Tim Carroll, having made himself a planning expert, he even reads Planning News!, which enables him to deal with officers and developers from a strong position. Not sure I want to suscribe to that myself, but it has been becoming obvious to me that its not enough to have a feeling that a developement is wrong, you have to be able to demonstrate it using the planning system. I wonder if Trafalgar Stores stocks Planning News?

Truro City and the Cornish Pirates

I went away on holiday for a week, and have had real trouble restarting the blog. Hats off to those bloggers who keep going week in week out. Whilst away I had a letter from a Cornish Rugby supporter regarding the proposed stadium at Threemilestone ( see below under Planning Again). I did a lot of work trying to assist Truro City relocate to Pencoose Farm. A £6 million developement that would have had real benefits for young people in Truro, and a scheme that was deliverable within a reasonable timescale. Mr Heaney came along and spoke at the public meeting and to the Planning Committee. I was impressed by that. He could have paid somebody else to do it, or like most developers not bothered with public opinion at all. He seemed to have a genuine interest and a desire to improve the standard of football, and football facilities, in Truro.

But the new scheme, building a sports stadium for the Pirates and Truro City out at Threemilestone raises some doubts in my mind. I don't mean about Mr H and his team, they seem genuine. But it's a 10 year scheme costing £40 million and therefore dependant on a lot of things falling into place over a very long period. It's of no use to the young people in Truro now, and my involvement came about through my working to improve sports facilities for kids. Perhaps I lack vision, but I would have preffered a smaller scheme, something deliverable within the next two years. Thats not to say that I won't support the plan, but lets see, firstly if they can get the Pirates fully on board, and then what they actually come up with.

As to the level of support in Carrick, well it's strong but Carrick will be gone within the next two years and who knows how the new Unitary will look at this.

Planning again

Well I might moan about planning, but there's no doubt that it's important to people. A four and a half hour Planning Committee meeting last night, with a couple of controversial issues and quite a crowd. People get quite passionate and it's good that they get to see the Committee deliberating. What does annoy me though is the Committee Members who get up and go as soon as the issues in their Ward are dealt with. There was nothing for Truro, the nearest was in Malpas, but I stuck out the full session. One Tory wandered in and out during the first matter, voted and then left. Not good enough

Railway Club

Well I'm afraid we lost the fight to save the Railway Club. It will be swept away and replaced by modern flats. Truro is changing rapidly at the moment, the Co-Op, which is popular with older folk who live in the centre of town, is to be demolished and replaced with smart new shops. And Luke's, an old fashioned hardware come all sorts of stuff shop, is closing, because they can't afford the rent and rates.

I know we can't get get stuck in the past, that shops change, but here we are with a number of places that are popular and provide a service to the community, are indeed part of the community, that are disappearing and we can't do a thing about it. We just sit and watch the Coffee Shops open and Truro become anywhere UK. Actually we don't just sit there, we're busy spending hours deciding whether someone can have a Victorian Conservatory on their 1960's bungalow in the middle of nowhere.

Just a little bitter at the moment. I guess it's the same everywhere. When are we going to get some legislation that will allow us to protect our local communities? to do the job we were elected to do?

Wreckers

On Saturday night Timewatch ran a programme on Wreckers, www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008pyps , telling the story of people who supposedly lured ships on to the shore, and murdered the crew, in order to plunder the cargo. The programme focused largely on Cornwall, and despite only being able to produce evidence of one person ever having been convicted of Wrecking, gave us the whole Daphne du Maurier Jamaica Inn experience, with knowing nods and winks from local characters and fruity West Country accents.

Obviously if a ship did come on to the shore, it was a bonanza and not a scrap was waisted. But ships foundered so regularly on the North Cornwall coast, that there was hardly any need to lure them in. Really, this whole story is a slander on the brave men who lived, and still live, by the sea. The men of the lifeboats who go out in the worst of weather to save lives, sometimes tragically loosing their own. Look at the lists of lives saved, posted outside any of the lifeboat stations. The men of the Pilot Giggs who rowed out into the Atlantic to guide ships safely in. And the fishermen who work the sea. Really the story of life by the sea is one of hardship and great sacrifice. The Timewatch team should be ashamed of themselves, for it is them that's making profits dishonestly.

Allotments

We have quite a waiting list for allotments in Truro, about 84 people at present. If you applied today you would probably be looking at a four year wait, and here I should declare an interest my wife having been on the list for about two years. But it seems that under the Smallholdings and Allotments Act 1908 we are obliged to satisfy demand on receipt of a petition with six signatures on it. Our Parks Manager has been searching high and low for some suitable, and affordable, land. Affordable being a key point with every garden being regarded as a brownfield site, he's competing with developers. But he seems close to a solution and the Parks Committee are keen to back him, allotments being so obviously 'a good thing'. I look forward to the peace and quite once my wife disappears off to her allotment. And the vegetables of course.

New Year

I had intended to resume blogging on New Years Day. I did the run from Jamaica Inn to Brown Willy, the highest point in Cornwall. It's quite a tough run being uphill through bogs and across rocky paths on the way out, and not helped by most of us having New Year hangovers! I thought I would work it into a metaphor for the year ahead, saying that only by being bold, taking on the big challenges and working hard could we achieve our objectives personally and as a party. But then I read up country blogs moaning about all the personal content in blogs and thought, well it was just a pleasant jog across the glorious Cornish countryside.

But we all blog for different reasons. My only interest is Boscawen Ward and the City of Truro. Well, alright, I do fret about my waistline a bit. So I shall ignore up country folk and throw myself into 2008 and the fight against Sainsburys extension, saving our Post Offices, providing affordable homes, maintaining the unique identity of Truro and whatever else I'm asked to do by the only people that count.

Europe

On Radio 5 this morning Nick said he would like to see a Referendum on Europe. In or Out, no messing about with referenda every time there is a new treaty, or a change in membership. Do we want to be in or not? Straightforward question. I can go on the doorstep with that.

Coalition talk

Let's hear a loud, clear 'no' to coalition talks. We have to work with the Tories down here, and they're just not on our wavelength. They may produce the odd national figure that seems reasonable, but when you get down to Councillor, activist or member level, they are still unreformed Thatcherites. So nip it in the bud straight away Mr Clegg, lets have nothing to do with them.

Phew!

Phew! that was close. Nick came close to losing through being too cautious. Let's hope he learns a lesson and takes the brakes off. And make sure Chris and Vince are both right up front with you, Nick, we need their immense talent. What a team! I might even break my diet and put milk in my celebratory cup of tea! Ooooh sod it, I'm going to have a biscuit as well! Happy days.

Monday

Up early to deal with e mails from people worried about planning and dustbin collections,etc. Then up to Penair to listen to year 9's visions for the future of Truro. This class was a bit more fidgety than last weeks, with a number of people who clearly didn't want to be there, so they were a little more challenging. Still, lots of interesting ideas and we all survived. Had a couple of Furniss Coal Vouchers to deliver. I normally wait until I've got 6 or 7 to do, but in this cold weather I thought I better go out, even though I only had two customers. Then a nice run down to Malpas and back, in 37ish minutes. My running mate moaned quite a bit, along the lines that its alright for people who've lost weight and can magically go faster, but I don't listen, she's ten years younger than me and will soon catch up. Then I posted all my Christmas cards.

Sounds like a good days work to me, but my wife disagrees. She's barely talking to me. Seems I'm not entering into the Christmas thing properly or, indeed at all. (The Christmas cards weren't for family and friends just, you know, contacts...in my ward) Still the result of the leadership election will be out tomorrow and a win for Clegg will surely put a smile on her face. Although sometimes, I wonder if she really cares either way, or at all?

Can't blog today

Can't blog today, because tonight's Planning Committee is the issue of the day, and its been suggested that I should be very careful about commenting on live planning matters. Fair enough. One of the joys of a City Centre Ward is that we get lots of big applications, and to nights theme is Supermarkets, with Sainsburys and the Co- Op involved. So I shall quietly read the Officers reports today, go along to the Committee and listen to the Officers expert presentation, and to anyone else who wants to say a few words, and quite possibly chip in with a word or two myself.

More excitingly than all that, though, I've now lost one and a half stone and manged to do two sub eight minute miles, at Running Club, last night. We did more than two miles in all, but I got a bit slower. Yes, Running Club, I am that sad. But I'm the one strutting about with my shirt tucked in and my belt done up another notch. Oh yes.

A small success

People who run sports teams do it for a variety of reasons. Perhaps they have a child in the team or they've always played themselves and want to stay involved. For whatever reason they do our community a big favour. The Police will tell you how good it is for young lads to be involved in organised sports, and the benefits in terms of health and being part of a team are obvious. But it's a thankless task for the organiser, and I have a lot of respect for the people that do it.

So it was good at Full Council to be able to reject the Councils plans to increase charges to teams wanting to use the Council owned pitches in Falmouth. The loss to the Council is £1000 per year, and the saving to the teams is only £6 per game, but it's a step in the right direction. A very small success, but Falmouth has some of the poorest wards in the Country and £6 could be the final straw, that makes someone call it a day. Perhaps next year we can agree to give under 18's the pitches for free.

Labour lies

Unseemly scenes on Lemon Quay last Saturday. Every year the Mayor holds a Charity Day where local charities take stalls in a marquee on the Quay. The Transition Truro team unfurled their banner for a photo opportunity and Labour PPC Dr Charlotte MacKenzie, who has attached herself to the Greens to their increasing dismay, caught hold of one end of the banner and despite much tugging couldn't be dislodged. Not while there was a camera there, anyway!

I only mention this small matter because Dr C is keen to be in my blog. I've published two of her comments, but had got bored of her by the third. So she's e mailed me at the address Carrick give me for Council business, complaining that I haven't published her comment! Dr C, this blog is not a platform for Labour lies. Best thing to do is to write you're views on a leaflet and, if you've got any activists left, and I hear you haven't, deliver them to the poor unsuspecting electorate and let them make up their own minds. Oh, they already have, haven't they, you always struggle to even come third in actual elections, don't you.

Young People

Nice start to the week, up to Penair School to talk to 14 to 15 year olds about what Councillors do and, more importantly, how the Young People would like to see Truro develop. We started off telling them who we were and then they gave us a series of presentations. Now I've been banging the drum for Young People and the need to involve them in the decision making process, for a little while, but I still found this lot impressive. The ideas presented to us included making Boscowan Park more attractive to a wider range of potential users, a Snow Park so that there is something to do in the winter, an Ark Pet Shop and Cafe on the Compton Castle site, move the Football Club to Pencoose Farm (been there, tried that), a Leisure Centre, and a shopping mall with an ice rink and glass roof on Garras Wharf.

These are all great ideas, several of which have already been put to us by Officers (at great ex pence) and Developers. There were no 'Green ideas' which is surprising for Young People. In the question and answer session we began to focus on housing. They do not want everything built on, they don't want Cornwall covered in housing, they like things as they are. But, I asked them, if we don't build more houses where will you live? We talked of Eco Villages and new Council Estates and had a great time. We Councillors probably learned more than the Young People, we're more ready to compromise, whereas Young People have a certainty about them. Perhaps one day when I'm retired from public life, I'll find myself having a cup of tea in the Ark Pet Shop Cafe, and I'll smile,knowing that our City is in safe hands.

Priskwatch

Interesting stuff at www.priskwatch.blogspot.com detailing the many appearances of Mark Prisk MP in Cornwall. I see what the Tories are trying to do here, but I think they're making a mistake. As 'Shadow Minister for Cornwall' Mark can come down and look after the various Tory hopefuls in the County. I met Mark at a lunch hosted by Sarah Newton, Tory PPC for Truro Falmouth. Now, from what I saw at that lunch Sarah has absolutely no personality or presence whatsoever. Do you remember the way the Doonesbury strip once represented a character, I think it was Dan Quayle, as a feather floating in the air?. That's Sarah. So although Mark is supposed to be mentoring and guiding her, he ends up completely overshadowing her. He engages with people in the room, while she sits playing with her hair. Most people probably think she's his Researcher.