At this Tuesday's meeting of St Enoder Parish Council, I will be tabling my latest monthly report. It covers the period 26th February – 25th March and is as follows:
1. Council meetings
During the last month, there were less formal meetings to attend than in previous months. I was present at meetings of the Economic Growth & Development Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Customer and Support Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee, a meeting about the future work programme for the Electoral Review Panel and a training session on planning enforcement.
In the same period, as well as a number of informal meetings with council officers and others, I attended three meetings of St Enoder Parish Council and a meeting of the working group tasked with preparing the Neighbourhood Plan.
2. Other meetings and activities
I attended a meeting of Indian Queens Pit (trustee) and was pleased to help out with the planting of some thorn trees around the edge of the car park and banks.
3. Toldish appeal
On behalf of St Enoder Parish Council and local residents, I attended the informal hearing, which was held at Fraddon Village Hall on 14th March, at which the appeal was heard for a caravan site (described as a “traveller site”) near Toldish.
The basis of my comments was an 8,000 word statement that I had already submitted to the planning inspectorate. This document is available on request, and I will report back when the inspector had made her decision.
4. Customer and Support Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee; 20th March
At this meeting, a document entitled “New Frontiers” was discussed. It will be further considered at Cornwall Council’s Cabinet on Wednesday. It sets out a “proposition to Government that builds on the Cornwall Deal and increases our economic, environmental and social resilience.”
It would be churlish to say that there is not some reasonable stuff in the document – not least in terms of post-Brexit guarantees for Cornwall – but there is also much content with which I fundamentally disagree.
I spoke at the Scrutiny Committee and I raised concerns about democratic legitimacy of the proposals and how the democratically-elected councillors had had little opportunity to be involved with the formulation of what was drafted.
In my comments, I mainly focused on planning matters and noted that the document does not seek the devolution of planning matters but offers to build houses at a faster rate than set out in the Cornwall Local Plan.
This is not something I can support and more detailed comments can be found on my blog:
http://mebyonkernow.blogspot.co.uk
5. Highway matters
The recent bad weather has caused a number of highway problems and I have been in regular contact with the staff at Cormac, In addition, I have been following up on a host of outstanding issues.
Members of the Parish Council will have noticed that the road through Fraddon was closed last week. Cormac was undertaking an investigation into the condition of the main road drain through the village and whether it can cope with all episodes of heavy rainfall. This follows on from flooding incidents over the last four-five years.
I noted last month about the possibility of funding for localised highway improvements, but the information has not yet been forthcoming.
6. Indian Queens School visit to New County Hall
On Friday 23rd March, I was pleased to be at New County Hall when pupils from Year 6 of Indian Queens School visited and I readily took part in a question and answer session with them.
There were many interesting, and searching, questions and comments, ranging from climate change to the Indian Queens Recreation Ground.
7. New play equipment at Summercourt
It was also a pleasure to visit Summercourt Primary School with the Clerk on 15th March to consult some of the pupils about potential equipment for the Thomas Playing Field. Likewise, it was good to catch up with some of the parents at the consultation event in the New Memorial Hall later that same day with the Clerk and other parish councillors.
8. Neighbourhood Plan meeting; 20th March
It is good that we have re-commenced meetings of the working group which is producing a Neighbourhood Plan for the parish of St Enoder. This next stage will focus on the writing a full draft of the Plan, which will hopefully be completed within the next six months.
9. Litter pick
I was also pleased to take part in the community litter pick around Fraddon, Indian Queens and St Columb Road on 17th March, organised by the Wesley Pre-School. Well done to the organisers and everyone who took part.
I was part of the Moorland Road team with Wendy Glanville and her granddaughter Jess Parkyn. Together we filled nine black bags, collected five car tyres, one bicycle tyre, a traffic cone, two bras and much more. Some of the litter came from the top of the Kelliers.
As a Parish Council, we will soon be starting the tidy-up of the Kelliers, which is now in our ownership. I was fully aware that there is much fly-tipping in the area that we needed to clear, but when we were litter-picking I was able to have a much closer look in much of the undergrowth and the extent of rubbish is greater than I feel we have anticipated.
This is an item on the agenda for this Tuesday’s Parish Council meeting.
10. Superfast broadband at Summercourt
As reported previously, the eastern part of Summercourt around the primary school has had a very poor broadband signal for many years.
On behalf of the School and local residents, I made representations to British Telecom and last year they agreed to make the necessary improvements. I am pleased to be able to confirm that BT has completed the works and local residents should now be able to sign up for an improved service.
11. New chairs at Fraddon Village Hall
It is good to see that the new chairs have arrived at Fraddon Village Hall, and I am glad to have been able to help with the grant application for the funding.
12. My community fund
Each year, Cornwall Councillors are allocated £2,000 which we, in turn, can grant to local organisations. I can confirm that for 2017/2018, I have given support to Indian Queens Band, Indian Queens Victory Hall and the St Enoder Scouts.
I will soon receive my allocation for 2018/2019 and I am keen to hear from local groups who may need some financial assistance.
13. Inquiries
During the last month, I have helped numerous people with guidance on a range of issues.
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