My latest Cornwall Council report

This report covers the last three months (24th March – 30th June 2021). My normal monthly reports were not done in April and early May because of the local elections.

1.0 Cornwall Council elections

First and foremost, I would like to thank everyone who supported me in the recent election. I was very pleased to be returned for the new larger division of St Dennis & St Enoder. The result was:

Dick Cole (MK) - 1,501

Nick Morris (Con) - 354

Julian Young (Lib Dem) - 73

The number of seats on the Council had been reduced from 123 to 87, and the Conservatives won 47 of the divisions, giving them an overall majority.

I am now the group leader of a larger Mebyon Kernow / Green Group, which comprises five MK councillors (one more than last time) and a newly-elected Green Party councillor.

2.0 Council meetings

Physical meetings have recommenced at Cornwall Council, but only voting members of the various committees are allowed to be present. Non-committee members wishing to take part have to do so via Teams video-conferencing. I have attended Full Council, the Customers Overview & Scrutiny Committee, and Constitution & Governance. I also attended a meeting of the Central Sub-Area Planning Committee – via Teams.

In addition, I have attended three physical meetings of St Dennis Parish Council and two physical meetings of St Enoder Parish Council.

I have also had a number of meetings via Teams or Zoom video-conferencing about a range of local issues. Some of these are referenced in this report.

3.0 China Clay Area Community Network

A meeting of our local Community Network (for Cornwall Councillors and parish councils) took place (via Teams) on 14th June, and I was elected Chairman for the next 12 months. The meeting also agreed that the priority for the Community Network must be the promotion of a Strategy for the China Clay Area, which I will be taking a lead on.

4.0 New project in Clay Country

Cornwall Council is piloting a Local Heritage List Project, funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. It will cover two areas; Redruth and Clay Country (plus some surrounding parishes). A Community Outreach Officer is being recruited to support the two communities to nominate historic structures or places not already designated, that they would like to see included in a local list and potentially considered for statutory protection (Listing or Scheduling).

Local people will be able to volunteer to help with the project, and I will bring forward more information when I have it.

5.0 Parliamentary Boundary Review

The Boundary Commission for England (BCE) has just published its initial proposals for new boundaries for parliamentary constituencies. Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly will retain six constituencies and there will be no cross-Tamar constituencies but, disappointingly, the proposals would split the China Clay Area between two parliamentary constituencies.

The proposal places three of the four Clay Country divisions within a modified St Austell & Newquay Constituency – namely Penwithick & Boscoppa (comprising the whole of Treverbyn Parish, except Bugle), St Dennis & St Enoder (comprising two whole parishes), and St Stephen (comprising the whole of St Stephen-in-Brannel Parish, except Whitemoor). But the fourth division – Roche & Bugle (comprising the whole of Roche Parish plus Bugle from Treverbyn Parish and Whitemoor from St Stephen-in-Brannel Parish) – would be within a modified South East Cornwall Constituency.

Not only would Clay Country be split but, as pointed out above, two local parishes would also be divided between parliamentary seats.

I am working with councillors and others to make representations to the BCE about keeping the parishes of the China Clay Area together. It is my hope that Dennis Parish Council and St Enoder Parish Council will both support this initiative.

ST DENNIS PARISH ISSUES

6.0 Finding out more

It has been a privilege to serve the parish of St Enoder for the last 22 years. I am now honoured to have been returned on 6th May to serve the new division of St Dennis & St Enoder. Because I have not represented St Dennis Parish before, I have been doing my best to find out more about the issues facing local people. I have attended three meetings of St Dennis Parish Council and a briefing with the Parish Council Chairman and Clerk.

I am grateful that the Chairman and Clerk also took me out for a walk and to bring a number of issues to my attention. This included the condition of the play area on Hall Road and the footway between Manson Place and Trelavour Road. We also discussed issues relating to the parish cemetery.

A number of residents have also been in contact with me and, in the coming weeks, I will be arranging some surgeries at ClayTAWC so that people will be able to speak to me.

7.0 “CERC” Liaison Group

I attended the most recent meeting of the Liaison Group for the incinerator – again via Teams. The Chairman of the Parish Council was also present, but there were no members of the public there. If anyone has got an issue that they would like to see raised at future meetings, please get in contact with me.

8.0 St Dennis and Nanpean Community Trust

As the Cornwall Councillor covering St Dennis Parish, I have been invited to be a member of the Community Trust, which distributes the funds generated by the planning obligations imposed on the incinerator. I will be accepting the offer to join the Trust.

9.0 Planning matters in St Dennis Parish

At the present time, I am keeping an eye on a couple of “live” planning proposals and reading up on them. These include the proposal for 27 houses at Hendra Prazey (PA20/11311) and the proposal for a solar farm near Trerice, for which some pre-application consultations were undertaken during March and April by a firm called Statkraft UK.

During the election period, I attended the meeting of St Dennis Parish Council – via Zoom video-conferencing – at which Statkraft gave a presentation. We are now waiting to see what form the application will take and whether Statkraft UK will make any meaningful changes to their proposal following feedback from the local community.

10.0 Traffic matters in St Dennis Parish

Parish councillors have raised concerns with me about speeding at a number of locations within the village. I am presently collating the reports from speed readings previously taken by Cornwall Council, in advance of a more formal discussion with local councillors.

ST ENODER PARISH ISSUES

11.0 Planning maters

I continue to deal with a range of planning applications. Updates of note are as follows:

11.1 Fifty properties at St Columb Road (PA20/02929)

Residents will be aware that a proposal for 50 properties to the rear of the new development opposite the Doctors’ Surgery was refused by Cornwall Council and the developers appealed to the Planning Inspectorate in Bristol. I was pleased to write a detailed representation to the appeal on behalf of the Parish Council, which also included 75 letters of objection (representing 108 local people), and I can report that the Planning Inspector has agreed with Cornwall Council, St Enoder Parish Council and local objectors.

The Inspector rejected the appeal, stating that “the proposed development would harm the character and appearance of the area and not be of an appropriate scale.”

11.2 Development opposite the Doctors’ Surgery (PA18/04292)

The development of ten units opposite the Doctors’ Surgery has been completed but the condition to put double yellow lines in front of the development had not been actioned. The condition stated:

"Prior to commencement of development, the applicant shall submit to the Highway Authority a request for a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) to mark out double yellow lines along Parka Road on the road side fronting the site subject of this permission. If following the statutory consultation process the TRO is deemed acceptable, then prior to occupation of development the associated works shall be implemented.

"Reason: To mark out double yellow lines along the road frontage of the development along Parka Road in order to reduce obstruction to the free flow of traffic and improve highway safety in accordance with Policy 27 of the Cornwall Local Plan."

I have raised this oversight with the developer and I hope it will soon be remedied.

11.3 Solar Farm between St Columb Road and Whitecross

In addition to the proposal for a solar farm in St Dennis Parish, Statkraft UK also undertook pre-application consultation for a solar farm on land at Tresithney, just to the north-west of St Columb Road. In April, on behalf of St Enoder Parish Council, I produced a document which summarised the views of local people and I forwarded to the applicants.

As with the proposal in St Dennis Parish, we are presently waiting to see what form the application will take and whether Statkraft UK will make any meaningful changes to their proposal following feedback from the local community.

12.0 Referendum for St Enoder Parish Neighbourhood Plan

Electors in the parish of St Enoder have recently received polling cards for the referendum for the Neighbourhood Plan for St Enoder Parish. It will take place on Thursday 15th July.

Over the last few years, the Neighbourhood Plan was produced by the Parish Council. It is a planning document and has to be in general conformity with other planning documents such as the National Planning Policy Framework (produced by central government) and the Cornwall Local Plan (produced by Cornwall Council).

The Neighbourhood Plan does not duplicate policies or re-state guidelines included within other documents. It does however ensure an extra level of policy detail at the local level.

The question in the referendum will be:

“Do you want Cornwall Council to use the neighbourhood plan for St Enoder to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?”

Further information about the Neighbourhood Plan will be circulated over the next few days leading up to the vote.

13.0 Highway matters

13.1 Proposed new footway between Harvenna Heights estate and Indian Queens School

There was a Teams meeting on 10th June, where I went through the legal paperwork for the transfer of part of the field to the west of Indian Queens School, from Cornwall Council to St Enoder Parish Council. The document contained a number of clauses that, from the Parish Council’s perspective, needed to be amended and, as soon as this is done, the transfer will be completed.

This will mean that the Parish Council will be able to proceed with the works for the footway, between Harvenna Heights and the School, through the summer.

13.2 Proposed zebra crossings on Chapel Road and St Francis Road, Indian Queens

The consultation on the proposal for two proposed zebra crossings and associated measures on Chapel Road and St Francis Road took place in March. I have spoken to officers and I will be briefed on the consultation feedback in early July.

13.3 Proposed works on A3058 through Summercourt

There was a Teams meeting on 28th May for me to view the final design of the proposed works on the A3058 though Summercourt. The consultation will be slightly later than I had hoped – in July/August – but I am still pushing that we are in a position for the works to be completed in the Autumn of this year. The relevant officers have assured me that they are already talking to Cormac about fitting it into their work programme for later in 2021.

13.4 Summercourt School

The layout of improvement works outside the school is also being finalised for consultation and, in mid April, I met with the head of Summercourt School and representative of the Aspire Academy to discuss what will be proposed.

13.5 Sea View Terrace

Cornwall Council officers have also identified Sea View Terrace, on the road between Fraddon and Sea View Terrace, as a location to be reviewed as part of their “road safety” audit of around thirty locations across Cornwall. I will report further when I have more feedback from officers on their work.

13.6 Road through Fraddon and St Columb Road

There have been a number of accidents in Fraddon in recent months and I have used this actuality to call on officers to do a full review of road safety issues relating to the stretch of road from Penhale and through Fraddon and St Columb Road.

An initial meeting was held on 17th June and officers have agreed to commence such an assessment looking, in particular, at where there have been incidents in recent years. The project is presently being worked up and I will report more in the near future.

Linked to this, I am continuing to push for Cornwall Council and the businesses at Kingsley Village to address the parking problems at Penhale, where there have been a couple of recent accidents and numerous near-misses. I have already formally requested some double yellow lines in this area.

14.0 St Enoder Cemetery

I have also been pleased to help the Parish Clerk with the supervision of repair works being carried out within the closed cemetery situated adjacent to the Parish Church and churchyard.

The contractors are presently repairing the wall that was built to enclose the burial ground in the early 1880s. Various sections had collapsed, largely because of the impact of tree roots, and many of the moulded capping stones had also slipped from the tops of the walls.

I must admit that these works are very personal to me. Like many local people, lots of my relatives are interred in the space. But when we were initially planning the renovations, I noticed that the moulded capping stones were stamped “CHYTANE” and had therefore been produced by the Chytane China Clay and Brick Works Company, located to the south of Fraddon.

My very own great-great-grandfather, John Cole, worked as a brickmaker at Chytane and it is documented that, by 1884, he was the superintendent and agent for the works.

I am so pleased to know that my own family was involved with the construction of the old cemetery and that I am involved with the present works to improve its modern condition.