More on the Spending Review

My article in this week’s Cornish Guardian somewhat predictably covers the recent Spending Review. Though I have already covered this on my blog – for completeness – here is the article.

The responses to the Government’s Spending Review have predictably been mixed.

One Conservative-leaning newspaper, for example, declared that the Chancellor’s long-term economic plan equated to an “end to austerity,” which is simply not true.

I prefer to stand with those commentators who have complained about George Osborne’s “smoke and mirrors,” that conceal devastating cuts – many hidden in the small print – which will do great harm to communities across Cornwall.

The extent of cuts were deemed not as severe as feared, because the Office for Budget Responsibility had projected that the public finances would be £27 billion better off by the end of the parliament. 

One dissenting voice noted that the OBR expected “more money to flow into government coffers from income taxes, corporation tax and VAT than it did at the time of its last forecasts,” but countered that this was only four months ago and the new forecasts must therefore be questionable.

There was some good news with George Osborne announcing a u-turn on his plan to reduce funding for policing and also reversing tax credit cuts for the working poor.

It shows that strong political campaigns can succeed and I would like to congratulate everyone who played their part in putting pressure on the Chancellor to perform these much needed changes in policy.

But the victory on tax credits is likely to be short-lived. The Government is still committed to £12 billion in welfare cuts and the less-well-off will lose out when the new universal credit system is rolled out. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has estimated that, by 2020, 2.6 million families will be worse off by £1,600 a year.

The cuts are continuing with business, culture, environment, justice and transport among those government departments which had their funding slashed last week, while councils across the UK are right to be fearful.

In terms of local government, George Osborne’s statement was full of talk of “efficiency savings,” “the sale of assets” and a growth in “self-financed expenditure” – that is council tax increases to you and me. But his key announcement was his plan to entirely phase out main grants to local councils by 2020.

Even the Government’s own councillors are saying is truly unsustainable. Lord Porter, Chairman of the Local Government Association, said: “Even if councils stopped filling in potholes, maintaining parks, closed all children’s centres, libraries, museums, leisure centres and turned off every street light they will not have saved enough money to plug the financial black hole they face by 2020.”

MK comment on Osborne’s Spending Review

Mebyon Kernow has welcomed the Government’s partial u-turns on tax credits and police funding, but we have also condemned the Conservatives for pushing ahead with other damaging cuts in today’s Spending Review.

It is certainly good news that George Osborne has been forced to retreat from his shocking plans to both reduce funding for local police forces and slash tax credits for the working poor.

It shows that strong political campaigns can succeed and I would like to congratulate everyone who played their part in putting pressure on the Chancellor to perform these much needed u-turns.

But the Spending Review still includes devastating cuts – many hidden in the small print – that will do great harm to communities across Cornwall.

Many people have commented that the extent of cuts in the Spending Review is not as severe as anticipated, because of new estimates from the Office for Budget Responsibility which suggest that public finances will be £27 billion better off by the end of the parliament.

But I remain sceptical about the new projections given that other recent reports have been starker in terms of tax-take, and the Chancellor’s real agenda.

However George Osborne spins his announcements, he cannot mask his ideological commitment to reduce spending from 45% of “national income” to only 36.5% by 2020.

He is still pushing ahead with £12 billion in welfare cuts including housing benefit changes, and he has massively reduced funding to a host of departments including transport, business and the environment.

And he is continuing with yet more devastating cuts to local government, having announced that he plans to entirely phase out grants to local councils by 2020. This is a shocking blow that even the Government’s own councillors are saying is truly unsustainable.

It all seems pretty grim to me.

Latest monthly report to St Enoder Parish Council

At last night’s meeting of St Enoder Parish Council, I presented my most recent monthly report. It includes much information that I have already posted on this blog, but it is here for the sake of completeness.

It covers the time period of 27th October to 22nd November 2015, and was as follows:

1. Council meetings

I have attended a range of formal meetings over the last month, many of which related to planning matters. These included: Cabinet, Strategic Planning Committee, an informal Planning and Development Improvement Board, and a briefing on the proposal for a so-called “eco-community” near St Austell. There were also two formal meetings of the Planning Policy Advisory Committee, the second of which considered the latest draft of the Cornwall Local Plan. I also took the lead in three meetings / pre-agenda / preparatory sessions about progress towards the preparation of a Local Plan for Cornwall (through my chairmanship of the Planning PAC).

In addition to the formal meetings listed above, I have had numerous meetings with council officers and others to discuss a range of issues.

2. Penare Pig Farm, Higher Fraddon and associated AD plant

- Strategic Planning Committee

The three planning applications for Penare were presented to the Strategic Planning Committee on 19th November, with the officers recommending approval for all three applications.

The debate took over four hours, and I was really impressed with the thorough scrutiny given to the applications by the members of the Committee.

Local people speaking at the meeting included Mel Morcom, Helen Martin, Sam Williams, Bella McCarthy, Anne Woolcock and Joszef Varga. All did extremely well. Michael Hopkins represented the Parish Council and spoke authoritatively on all three applications, while Dan Johns was also there for the pig farm.

The first application relating to the pig farm was passed. Councillors voted – in principle – by 14 votes to four to consent the (retrospective) development of the pig farm with additional and stronger conditions. The planning officers were given delegated authority to finalise the conditions – in consultation with the Chairman and Vice-chairman of the Committee, plus me. However, it was also agreed that if I was not happy with the conditions, I could refer the application back to the Committee.

The members of the Committee did listen to local residents and agreed that conditions should ensure bio-filter (or equivalent) odour treatment be inserted into all the livestock buildings. It was also agreed that the construction of the two new buildings they wanted could not commence until all existing buildings had been retrofitted with odour control.

Members also felt that the large livestock lorry, which had caused all manner of problems, should no longer go the farm and instead be replaced by a couple of smaller lorries. The farm manager had told me prior to the meeting that he was already investigating this and it should happen.

It was a different story with the biogas plant. Members of the Planning Committee seemed to universally share the concerns of local residents about how the plant had developed through the non-material amendments and expressed concern at the impact of the traffic, etc. Many were extremely angry at what had transpired, with a number speaking about the public meeting a few weeks back and their own visits to the lane.

The biogas applications were deferred so that the Council could make the case for an access off the A30 with Highways England, with the MP and other interested parties. No members spoke in favour of the applications and a number spoke strongly about refusing the application.

If no agreement can be reached with regard to the A30, it was clear that the councillors will look to refuse the application when it is brought back to the Committee. I cannot remember a meeting when councillors were so united against a proposal.

- Letter to Highways England

I spoke to Ann Double, who was at the meeting on behalf of her husband Steve Double MP, and they have already written to the Roads Minister Andrew Jones MP seeking a high-level meeting to discuss access off the A30.

- Higher Fraddon Community Forum

Because of the imminent meeting of the Strategic Planning Committee, there have been no meetings of the Higher Fraddon Community Forum since 2nd September. I will now be looking into reconvening the Forum in the near future.

3. Application for wind turbines on Pines Tip

The planning application for three wind turbines on Pines Tip was also due to be heard by the Strategic Planning Committee on 19th November. The published report recommended that the application be refused and gave two reasons. These were (i) the lack of local support, which did not meet the test set out in the latest Ministerial Statement, and (ii) cumulative landscape impact.

The application was pulled from the agenda because the applicant stated that they wished to submit further information to address the concerns of the planning officers. Legal advice was sought and this stated that it would be premature to make a decision on the application.

The case officer has told me that he anticipates the application will probably be heard in February.

4. Cornwall Local Plan

I also chaired the latest (four-hour) meeting of the Planning Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) at Cornwall Council on 17th November.

The one item on the agenda was the latest version of the Cornwall Local Plan, which has been redrafted following the first stage of the Examination in Public which took place in May.

As a result of the Examination, the government inspector instructed the Council to make a series of changes to make the document “sound,” and therefore adoptable. This included increasing Cornwall’s housing target for the period 2010-2030.

Officers presented a new FOAN (Full Objectively Assessed Need) for Cornwall’s so-called housing needs, which followed guidance set in place by central government and his appointed Inspector.

The new target is 52,500 new properties for the plan period, which was accepted by those councillors at the meeting because they struggled to envisage how a lower figure could be acceptable to the Inspector. They were also fully aware that David Cameron had recently told councils that, if a local plan was not in place by 2017, the government would step in and take control of the process away from local councillors and impose [an even worse] plan.

There was also much discussion around other aspects of the revised Local Plan, particularly affordable housing and the distribution of housing development around Cornwall.

The proposed housing target for the China Clay Area for the period 2010-2030 is 1,800 properties, though the actual target for St Enoder has yet to be finalised.

The China Clay Area is also expected to accommodate a so-called “eco-community” of an additional 1,200 properties by 2030, making the overall target 3,000 new housing units. [The proposal is for 1,500 properties, but it is estimated that only 1,200 would be completed by 2030.

At the PAC meeting, I made the following points:

· An “eco-community” proposal had been included in the Cornwall Local Plan because central government had included a St Austell “eco-town” in a Planning Policy Statement. But since the PPS has recently been withdrawn, councillors could legitimately reconsider whether the allocation was appropriate.

· If the level of housing proposed for the China Clay Area (including eco-community) was allowed to go forward, it would mean that the housing stock of Clay Country would increase by 87% over four decades (from 1991 to 2030).

· The “live” application for a 1,500 unit eco-community does not have local support. It has been opposed by over 1,000 representations, two local parish councils and St Austell Town Council.

· Last month, the China Clay Community Network Area had written to Cornwall Council seeking that the unitary authority withdraws its backing for the "eco-community."

A number of councillors spoke in favour of the “eco-community”, while others argued that they did not want to change the “distribution” at this “late stage” or high housing growth in Clay Country was not enough to justify cancelling the development.

I nonetheless proposed that the “eco-community” allocation be removed from the document, and the housing reallocated to other parts of Cornwall. This was seconded by independent councillor Gary King from St Austell, but I was extremely disappointed that the proposal was defeated by six votes to two.

The unitary authority’s Cabinet will consider the Local Plan on 3rd December, followed by the Full Council on 15th December.

5. Leisure centres and libraries

I also attended a meetings of the Cabinet to raise my concerns about the plans brought forward by the ruling administration of the unitary authority to shift council leisure centres and related facilities to the private sector, and pass one-stop shops and libraries to parish councils and community groups – neither of which I support.

But I do have enormous sympathy for the councillors on the Cabinet who have brought forward these proposals – which they themselves would prefer not to have to implement – because such proposals are a direct consequence of central government’s deep cuts.

In terms of the leisure centres, these are presently run for the Council via a contract with Tempest, but the new proposal could include the transfer of the freehold of the leisure centres to private providers. I was among a number of councillors who argued that, in whatever future arrangement was agreed, the freehold should be retained by the Council giving them greater control over service provision.

The Cabinet agreed that “freehold retention” would be an option going forward, though it is still unclear how this will pan out.

6. Lottery application

I am disappointed to report that my stage 1 application to the Big Lottery, for funding towards new play equipment in the Indian Queens Recreation Ground, has been unsuccessful.

I am not surprised at the decision. It is much harder to achieve funding from the Lottery than in the past, as I explained verbally at a recent meeting.

The response stated that the application for our project was “not strong enough” for us to be offered funding. It added:

“Reaching Communities projects which include this type of capital funding must be combined with a project to run activities from the resulting facility to address the needs of the wider community. This project was solely to replace and refurbish a community play facility.”

The letter also questioned “what issues, needs and disadvantages existed in beneficiaries in Indian Queens which the new play facility would address” – which I would challenge – and they made it clear that if we were to send “another application for the same project again, our experience suggests it is unlikely to be successful.”

At Tuesday’s meeting, I will put forward a revised proposal for how we fund the renovation of the play area.

7. Inquiries
During the last month, I have been involved with a range of local initiatives and I have also helped numerous people and local organisations with advice and guidance on a wide range of issues.

Cornwall Council to suffer “rushed” boundary review

Three representatives of the “Local Government Boundary Commission for England” (sic) were in Cornwall today to meet with the leaders of the various political groups on the unitary authority.

We all assumed this was to discuss the timetabling of the “boundary review” which Cornwall Council and central government had agreed would commence soon after the 2017 elections, well in advance of 2021 elections when the changes would be implemented. How wrong we were!

The representatives of the Commission told us that we had to commence a review immediately, and that the 2017 council elections would then be contested on whatever new boundaries were agreed.

All members were aghast at the meeting and we collectively pointed that such reviews should be done properly and not pushed through in a rush. But we were told – in no uncertain terms – that what we thought did not matter in the slightest.

If the Commission keeps to its own timetable (unlikely), it will not publish its final recommendations until January 2017 – just weeks before the actual elections.

The process will have two main elements.

First, there has to be agreement about the size of the unitary authority (ie. number of councillors). A reduction in councillor numbers is now inevitable, and we were informed that the number of elected members would need to be between 28 and 107! No – I do not know where their figures have come from.

And second, the actual divisions would need to be agreed with electorates that are broadly similar.

We were presented with a timetable (for the Commission itself) as follows:

19th April 2016 – Agreement of council size.
24th April 2016 – Consultation on “warding patterns.”
16th August 2016 – Meeting about draft recommendations.
6th September 2016 – Consultation on draft recommendations.
10th January 2017 – Final recommendations published.
Mid-late January 2017 – Order laid.

Readers of my blog might be interested to know that the so-called “devolution deal” between Cornwall Council and central government included the following:

“Cornwall Council will take forward a council boundary review. The boundary review is expected to reduce the number of local councillors and will be taken forward by the Boundary Commission. This review will commence in 2017.”

When this was presented to Cornwall Council in July this year, councillors stated that the presumption that the number of elected members should be reduced was not appropriate. The “Deal” was agreed on the understanding, amongst other things, that this statement be removed but central government apparently did not have time to do this.

And now the agreement that the review should commence in 2017 has shown that pledge to worthless.

More information to follow when it becomes available.

Report on Strategic Planning Committee; pig farm and biogas plant at Higher Fraddon

I have just got back from New County Hall, Truro, following the Strategic Planning Committee meeting, which considered the retrospective application for the redevelopment of the pig farm at Higher Fraddon as well as the two applications relating to the biogas plant and its traffic movements.

The debate took about four-and-a-half hours, and I was really impressed with the thorough scrutiny given to the applications by the members of the Committee.

Local people speaking at the meeting included Mel Morcom, Helen Martin, Sam Williams, Bella MaCarthy, Anne Woolcock and Joszef Varga. All did extremely well. Michael Hopkins meanwhile spoke on behalf of the Parish Council, while Dan Johns was also there for the pig farm.

So what happened …

The first application relating to the pig farm was passed. Councillors voted – in principle – by 14 votes to four to consent the redevelopment of the pig farm with additional and stronger conditions. The planning officers were given delegated authority to finalise the conditions – in consultation with the Chairman and Vice-chairman of the Committee, plus me. However, it was also agreed that if I was not happy with the conditions, I could refer the application back to the Committee.

The members of the Committee did listen to local residents and agreed that conditions should ensure bio-filter (or equivalent) odour treatment should be inserted into all the livestock buildings. It was also agreed that the construction of the two new buildings they wanted could not commence until all existing buildings had been retrofitted with odour control.

Members also felt that the large livestock lorry, which had caused all manner of problems, should no longer go the farm and instead be replaced by a couple of smaller lorries. Dan had told me prior to the meeting that he was already investigating this and it should happen.

It was a different story with the biogas plant. Members of the Planning Committee seemed to universally share the concerns of local residents about how the plant had developed through the non-material amendments, the impact of the traffic, etc. Many were extremely angry at what had transpired, with a number speaking about the public meeting a few weeks back and their own visits to the lane.

The biogas applications were deferred so that the Council could make the case for an access off the A30 with Highways England, with the MP and other interested parties. No members spoke in favour of the applications and a number spoke strongly about refusing the application.

If no agreement can be reached with regard to the A30, it was clear that the councillors will look to refuse the application when it is brought back to the Committee. I have to say that I cannot remember a meeting when councillors were so united against a proposal.

I spoke to Ann Double, who was at the meeting on behalf of her husband Steve Double MP, and she has already confirmed she will be helping to chase up about the Highways England meeting tomorrow.

I will continue to keep everyone about progress from this point.

Percentage figures for housing growth set out in Cornwall Local Plan

Following my earlier blog entry this evening, I have been asked to post the [percentage] figures for housing growth for the various Community Network Areas across Cornwall.

The Cornwall Local Plan includes housing figures for the period 1991-2010 which showed that increases in housing stock, over that period, were as follows:

47%; China Clay Area
32%; Newquay / St Columb
30%; St Austell / Mevagissey
29%; Launceston
28%; Camelford
25%; Bodmin
23%; Bude
21%; Hayle / St Ives
20%; Truro /Roseland
20%; St Agnes / Perranporth
19%; St Blazey / Fowey / Lostwithiel
18%; Camborne / Pool / Redruth
18%; Wadebridge / Padstow
16%; Caradon
16%; Helston / Lizard
16%; West Penwith
14%; Falmouth / Penryn
14%; Liskeard / Looe
12%; Cornwall Gateway

I consistently argued that because Clay Country has experienced so much housing growth in recent years, it merits a breathing space going forward. But Cornwall Council is pushing the “eco-community” and, once again, (proportionately) more housing is to be built in the China Clay Area than elsewhere.

If the housing figures proposed in the present draft of the Cornwall Local Plan are developed by 2030, the extent of housing growth in each Network Area over four decades (1991 - 2030) would be as follows:

87%; China Clay Area
75%; Newquay / St Columb
74%; Bodmin
64%; Launceston
52%; St Austell / Mevagissey
51%; Truro /Roseland
50%; Bude
50%; Hayle / St Ives
49%; Camelford
46%; Camborne / Pool / Redruth
40%; Wadebridge / Padstow
36%; St Agnes / Perranporth
35%; Liskeard / Looe
35%; St Blazey / Fowey / Lostwithiel
34%; Falmouth / Penryn
34%; Helston / Lizard
34%; West Penwith
30%; Caradon
26%; Cornwall Gateway

It remains my view that the level of housing growth in the Mid Cornwall area is inappropriate and unsustainable, but other councillors do not appear to agree with me following today's vote on the "eco-community."

It is worth noting that the high levels of growth proposed in Bodmin and Newquay are as a consequence of support from local councillors in those towns.

The full statistics for the China Clay Area (supplied by Cornwall Council) are as follows:

Parish dwellings in 1991 - 7,541
Parish dwellings in 2010 - 11,066
Housing growth (1991 – 2010) - 3,525
Proposed Local Plan target - 1,800
Proposed eco-town - 1,200
Projected number of parish dwellings in 2030 - 14,066
- Increase in housing stock (1991 - 2030) - 6,525
- Increase in housing stock (1991 - 2010) - 47%
- Increase in housing stock (1991 - 2030) - 87%

Today, I failed to get the “eco-community” removed from the Cornwall Local Plan

I chaired the latest (four-hour) meeting of the Planning Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) at Cornwall Council, this afternoon.

The one item on the agenda was the latest version of the Cornwall Local Plan, which has been redrafted following the first stage of the Examination in Public who took place in May.

As a result of the Examination, the government inspector instructed the Council to make a series of changes to make the document “sound,” and therefore adoptable. This included increasing Cornwall’s housing target for the period 2010-2030.

Today, the officers presented a new FOAN (Full Objectively Assessed Need) for Cornwall, which followed guidance set in place by central government. The new target is 52,500 new properties for the plan period, which was accepted by councillors.

It is fair to say that members struggled to envisage how a lower figure could be acceptable to the Inspector. They were also fully aware that David Cameron had recently told councils that, if a local plan was not in place by 2017, the government would step in and take control of the process away from local councillors and impose [an even worse] plan.

There was also much discussion around other aspects of the revised Local Plan, particularly around affordable housing and the distribution of housing development around Cornwall.

I took the opportunity to argue that the proposal for an “eco-community” near St Austell should be removed from the document.

I told the meeting that:

-  An “eco-community” proposal had been included in the Cornwall Local Plan because central government had included a St Austell “eco-town” in a Planning Policy Statement. But since the PPS has recently been withdrawn, councillors could legitimately reconsider whether the allocation was appropriate.
-  If the level of housing proposed for the China Clay Area (including eco-community) was allowed to go forward, it would mean that the housing stock of Clay Country would increase by 87% over four decades (from 1991 to 2030).
-  The “live” application for a 1,500 unit eco-community does not have local support. It has been opposed by over 1,000 representations, two local parish councils and St Austell Town Council.
-  Last month, the China Clay Community Network Area had written to Cornwall Council seeking that the unitary authority withdraw its backing for the "eco-community."

This part of the meeting was a little fractious and a number of councillors spoke in favour of the “eco-community”, while others argued that they did not want to change the “distribution” at this “late stage” or that high housing growth in Clay Country in the past was not enough to justify a breathing space at this time.

I nonetheless proposed that the “eco-community” allocation be removed from the document, and the housing reallocated to other parts of Cornwall. This was seconded by independent councillor Gary King from St Austell, but I was extremely disappointed that the proposal was defeated by six votes to two.

The unitary authority’s Cabinet will consider the Local Plan on 3rd December, followed by the Full Council on 15th December.

Hypocrisy ... Cameron complains about council cuts

Two months ago in the Cornish Guardian, I strongly expressed my view that the blame for cuts being implemented by Cornwall Council (and other local authorities) should be placed squarely at the door of central government.

Here in Cornwall, recent headlines have focussed on plans to shift council leisure centres to the private sector, and pass one-stop shops and libraries to parish councils and community groups – both of which I do not support.

But I do have enormous sympathy for the councillors on the Cabinet who have brought forward these proposals – which they themselves would prefer not to have to implement – because such proposals are a direct consequence of central government’s deep cuts.

What is more, Government ministers have had the nerve to criticise cash-strapped councils for retreating from some frontline services.

It has now transpired that the Prime Minister – who represents an Oxfordshire constituency – recently wrote a private letter to Ian Hudspeth, the leader of Oxfordshire County Council, to complain about local cuts.

David Cameron’s letter stated that he was “disappointed at the long list” of suggested cuts to frontline services which included “elderly day centres, to libraries, to museums.” He also condemned the “unwelcome and counter-productive proposals to close children’s centres across the county.”

Cameron’s letter told the council leader that he should be making “back-office savings” and unbelievably claimed that “spending had increased in the authority in recent years.”

It was certainly heartening to see the robust response of the true-blue Mr Hudspeth, who pointed out government grants had actually been cut by £72m or 37%.

It almost unbelievable that David Cameron can write such ill-informed letters, containing inaccurate information. It clearly shows that he does not understand the impact of his Government.

One journalist (George Monbiot) put it better than I might:

“David Cameron hasn’t the faintest idea how deep his cuts go. This letter proves it … have you ever wondered how the Prime Minister sleeps at night? How can he live with himself after imposing such gratuitous pain upon the people of this nation? Well now, it seems, you have your answer: he appears to be blissfully unaware of the impact of his own policies.”

It now remains to be seen whether Cornwall’s six Tory MPs will be quick to use this “revelation” to put pressure on the Prime Minister and Chancellor to reverse cuts to local government and Cornwall Council, in particular.

[This will be my article in this week’s Cornish Guardian].

Some photographs from the MK Conference

For those that couldn't make it, here are a few images of the MK Conference.

Andrew Long

Michael Bunney

Your truly.

Zoe Fox and Loveday Jenkin

Report on MK Conference

I would like to thank everyone who attended this year’s MK Party Conference. Your support is much appreciated.

And for those who could not be present, printed below is the press release for the event which has just been released By MK.

PRESS RELEASE: MK HOLD 2015 PARTY CONFERENCE

Solidarity with the people of Paris

MK’s 2015 Conference, which took place in Truro on Saturday (14th November), opened with party members standing in silence to express their sadness at the shocking events which had unfolded in France on Friday evening.

The Chairman of the morning session, Cllr Loveday Jenkin, said: “We thought it was extremely important to show our solidarity with the people of Paris, following the terrible terrorist attacks of the previous evening.”

Report on 2015 MK Party Conference

Keynote speeches to the event were delivered by Party Leader Cllr Dick Cole and former Labour councillor Michael Bunney (below).

A series of motions were also debated at the event.

· Party members re-affirmed their commitment to a “National Assembly of Cornwall, which would have democratic control over the wider public sector” like the “National Assembly of Wales and Scottish Parliament,” and were extremely critical of the recent “extremely feeble and top-down ‘devolution deal’,” which gave greater authority to “unelected and democratically unaccountable bodies, such as the Local Enterprise Partnership. They also condemned the Westminster parties for deliberately undermining meaningful “democratic devolution” to Cornwall by treating it as a “local government” rather than a historic nation which merited greater self-government.

· The meeting was also addressed by Hannah Brotherstone, a junior doctor at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, who briefed party members on threats to the National Health Service from proposed government changes, including alterations to the working conditions of doctors. Party members reaffirmed MK’s commitment to the NHS as a universal health service, which supplies the best possible healthcare free at the point of use for one and all; restated MK’s opposition to the ongoing privatisation of the NHS; and gave full support to health service staff, including junior doctors.

· Delegates at the event – which included a number of individuals who played prominent roles in the fight against the waste incinerator at St Dennis – agreed a detailed new policy on waste.

At the Conference, members also debated MK campaign priorities and agreed an action plan for the next two years, leading up to the elections to the unitary authority and town and parish elections across Cornwall.

Mebyon Kernow: looking ahead to the 2017 elections with confidence

Speaking at MK’s Party Conference, Cllr Dick Cole appealed to party members to prioritise working hard over the next 18 months to win as many seats as possible at the 2017 elections to Cornwall Council.

In a wide-ranging key-note speech Cllr Cole condemned the Conservative Government for its destructive cuts to public services, its attempt to take tax credits away from the working poor, the regional inequity of its investment programme, and its approach to housing and planning.

Commenting on the Tories’ announcement that they intended to redefine affordable housing for sale as properties costing less than a quarter of a million pounds, he told delegates:

“Government ministers and MPs may themselves be living in nice properties, but they certainly not living in the real world.”

He also slammed the Conservative’s “devolution deal” and stated that Cornwall had been “short-changed” by the central Government, repeating MK’s core demand for a National Assembly of Cornwall.

During his address, he also bluntly acknowledged that the General Election had been a “difficult contest for MK” and, in spite of much positive feedback, the Party “had not polled as strongly as we would have liked.”

He thanked party members for all their hard work during 2015 and made it clear that they should be proud of the case MK put before the voters of Cornwall which had included:

· A new democratic settlement through the creation of a National Assembly of Cornwall.

· A geographical re-balancing of the UK economy away from London and the South East.

· Fair funding for public services in Cornwall.

· Greater investment in public works to boost local economic activity.

· Opposition to the privatisation of our National Health Service and the destruction of our public services.

· Opposition to the establishment consensus around austerity, which is impacting most severely on the vulnerable and the less-well-off.

He added that the 2015 General Election had raised MK’s profile and described himself as “confident,” looking ahead to the 2017 elections to the unitary authority and Cornwall’s town and parish councils.

The St Enoder councillor told members that they should treat these upcoming contests as MK’s “General Election.”

Cllr Cole told the meeting:

“Ours is a distinctive political force, which is and will always be unashamedly pro-Cornwall. We are based here and we have no political masters in Westminster to please.

“Let’s start the run-in to the Cornwall Council elections now; let’s make it our best campaign ever; and let’s win for Cornwall.”

Remembering the fallen of the First World War

Thousands of people attended the recent Remembrance Day commemorations across Cornwall and I was honoured to be able to lay a wreath at my local war memorial in St Enoder Churchtown.

It is right that we remember the dead from all conflicts but, as we continue to mark the centenary of the First World War, it is especially important that we all learn more about the war which engulfed the globe between 1914 and 1918 and led to the tragic deaths of millions, leaving no community untouched.

Each year, the fallen are remembered when the names on local war memorials are read out. But I think we need to do more. It is not enough to just remember the names of those who died. We should know more about who they were, what they did in their lives, what happened to them, and the consequences of their deaths for their families and friends. In short, we should know the human story behind each and every name.

Looking back, some sixty servicemen from my home area of Fraddon, Indian Queens, St Columb Road and Summercourt did not return home from WW1. The majority of these men died in the final three years of the war, though four lost their lives – 100 years ago – in 1915.

The first of these was William Ephraim Dunstan. A china clay labourer, he was born in Canada in 1884 to Cornish parents though his family returned to mid Cornwall when he was a small child. He served in the 6th battalion of the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry and was killed on 31st July during a “liquid fire” flamethrower attack on British positions at Zouave Woods near Ypres. His body was never recovered.

Richard Enoder Tonkin was killed on 7th August. Born in Fraddon in 1892, his family emigrated to New Zealand when he was a child and settled in Auckland. Prior to the conflict, he worked as a fireman on a local railway. Richard served with the Otago Regiment and was killed in a battle on the Gallipoli peninsula. He is buried in the Chunuk Bair Cemetery in Turkey, which contains the remains of 632 Commonwealth servicemen of which only ten have named graves. Richard is one of the ten.

William Henry Hare of Fraddon lost his life on 13th August when the transport ship Royal Edward was torpedoed en route to the Dardenelles. An older man at 47, he had only enlisted with the Army Service Corps in the previous month. Born in Truro, he moved east to work in the clay industry and had become a wall mason. He was a married man with three daughters.

The fourth local casualty in 1915 was 18 year old William Pearce from Indian Queens. A trooper in the Royal North Devon Hussars, he also served in the Gallipoli campaign but died on 3rd November of dysentery. He was aboard the hospital ship H. M. Kildonan Castle at the time of his death and was buried at sea.

It is so important that everyone is remembered and it is to be welcomed that the Royal British Legion, working with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, has launched an initiative to ensure that every single man and woman from across the Commonwealth who died is individually commemorated by people alive today.

The project is called Every Man Remembered, but it also incorporates Every Woman Remembered as over 800 women died in the conflict. To find out more, see: www.everymanremembered.org.

[This will be my article in this week's Cornish Guardian].

Support the Chagos Islanders

Fifty years ago this weekend, the United Kingdom Government split the Chagos Archipelago away from Mauritius to form the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Within a very short period, between 1967 and 1973, the Chagos Islanders were forcibly evicted from their homes so that the British Government could lease the largest island, known as Diego Garcia, to the United States for the construction of one of the biggest military bases in the world.

The expulsion of this community has been condemned many times as one of the “most shameful episodes in British post-war history,” and Cameron’s government still refuses to right this terrible wrong, just like the previous governments of Blair and Brown.

Please show your support to the islanders: http://www.chagossupport.org.uk

An invitation to the 2015 MK Conference … 14th November

This year’s Annual Conference for Mebyon Kernow will take place at New County Hall, Truro, on Saturday 14th November.

Doors will open at 9.15 for MK members, with the Conference itself getting underway at 10.00.

Non-members are also welcome to attend the afternoon session, and I would like to extend an invitation to anyone interested in finding out more about MK. 

This session will begin at 2.00, and include my keynote address along with a series of structured discussions about MK’s campaign priorities.

I would certainly be really delighted to see you at the event.

If anyone would like further information, please contact me at dickcole@btinternet.com.

Latest news on so-called eco-town

This afternoon, I attended a meeting in St Austell, which updated Cornwall Councillors and other invited guests about the planning application for the 1,500-property eco-town near Penwithick.

The meeting was addressed by Samih Sawiris of Eco-bos, who lead the hard sell! He informed the meeting that he would once again be taking an active role in the promotion of the eco-town proposal.

We were told that, from this point forward, Eco-bos would be formally taking on the lead in terms of the planning application from Cornwall Council. I am not sure how this could be done in terms of the present application and I guess that the Cornwall Council application may have to be withdrawn and a fresh application submitted.

I am following up on this and will report when I know more.

At the meeting, I reaffirmed my opposition to the plans. I raised a number of points including (i) the extent of local opposition to the scheme, (ii) the already high levels of housing growth in the China Clay Area, and (iii) the low number of affordable homes offered as part of the present application.

It was all very different to last week’s meeting of the China Clay Community Network Panel, made up of Cornwall and parish councillors for the area, when it was unanimously agreed to seek the removal of the eco-town housing allocation in the Cornwall Local Plan!

No to Devonwall Constituency

On 15th May, I wrote to all six Conservative MPs and challenged them to push for the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act to be revisited and to do everything in their power to prevent the creation of a cross-Tamar constituency.

Two MPs responded, though neither fully addressed the points I raised.

Sarah Newton MP (Falmouth and Truro) replied as follows:

“I have noted your comments, and understand how important it is for you to express your concern regarding the boundary changes. At a time when the country is still clearing the budget deficit inherited from the previous Labour Government, it is right to set an example by cutting the cost of politics and reducing the number of MPs.

“That is why I support the plans put forward in the Conservative Party manifesto to address the unfairness of the current boundaries, as well as reducing the number of MPs to 600 to cut the cost of politics and make votes of more equal value.

“In addition, the Conservative manifesto laid out the party’s intention to implement the boundary reforms that Parliament has already approved and make them apply automatically once the Boundary Commission reports in 2018.

“In my view this is a common sense approach that is good for the taxpayer and good for democracy.”

George Eustice MP (Camborne and Redruth) meanwhile wrote:

“As you know, all Cornish MPs including myself argued that there should not be a cross border “Devonwall” constituency in the last parliament when this was discussed. We tabled an amendment and tried to get the legislation changed. However, we were unsuccessful in doing so and the final plan to emerge for boundary changes therefore included a cross border constituency in North Cornwall and North Devon.

“In the event, the boundary change was not implemented as a result of a coalition dispute over Lords reform. However, the legislation that established the new boundaries still stands. It is quite likely that it will therefore be implemented for the next General Election, but I have not seen any immediate plans on this.

“I will follow this issue, but the time to change it was when the original legislation went through three years ago. We tried to do this but were ultimately unsuccessful.”

I find these two responses extremely disappointing and I have today rewritten to the other four MPs seeking their views.

Further information

The letter that I wrote was as follows:

On behalf of Mebyon Kernow – the Party for Cornwall, I am writing to all six Cornish MPs following statements from senior Conservatives which stated that the redrawing of parliamentary constituency boundaries is “at the top of the agenda” for the new government.

If the government does enact the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act, this will inevitably lead to a “Devonwall” seat, which we, and many others, consider to be unacceptable.

It is my view that you, as a Conservative MP, are in a strong position to ensure that the legislation is revisited, and I would ask that you do all in your power to prevent the creation of a cross-Tamar constituency.

It is my belief that the territorial integrity of Cornwall – a historic Celtic nation – must be protected and its future MPs must serve constituencies that lie entirely within the boundaries of Cornwall (and the Isles of Scilly).

It is also the case that the Cornish people have been recognised as a “national minority,” which reinforces why the historic border of Cornwall should be treated the same as the historic borders of Scotland and Wales when it comes to the delineation of new constituencies.”

I look forward to hearing from you about the actions that you will be taking on this matter.