Cornwall Council leadership will be without the Conservatives

Over the past two weeks, I have been working with people from all the other groups on the new Cornwall Council to seek to form a new administration. I blogged last week about the Liberal Democrat desire to bring all the parties together and create a true 'rainbow alliance'.

Now it looks like things are moving forward.

The shame is that it appears that the Conservatives will not be part of the new arrangements. The even bigger shame is that I think a deal could have been done with them if their group leader had engaged better with the process.

It wouldn't be right to give a full blow by blow description of everything that happened. But the leaderships of both Independent and Liberal Democrats groups sought to discuss policy ideas with Cllr Ferguson on many occasions but got no response. We wanted to make sure that there was a firm foundation for the new council which set out a vision for the next four years. In the end, we couldn't even reach Cllr Ferguson to get an answer to our proposals for Conservative involvement after she went away to consult her group.

In fact, the first anyone heard that the Conservatives would definitely not be part of the new administration was when Cllr Ferguson appeared on the radio talking about a load of policy issues that she never thought to raise with us.

As a result, the new council administration will be without a number of talented Conservative voices. I have no doubt that those groups that are serving on it will seek to listen to the views of Conservative councillors and do the best for their divisions as well. But it could have been so much better.

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Application for 100 new homes off Upper Chapel

An application has been submitted for 100 new homes off Upper Chapel in Launceston. This is the scheme that was advertised at a public consultation session in the town hall a few months ago.

You can view the details of the proposal on the council's online planning register here (use the code PA13/04056 if needed.)

Although I cannot give a definitive view until I have seen and studied all the application documents, I am hugely concerned about this proposal. The local community looked at the potential for development in all areas surrounding the town as part of the Town Framework plan. Various areas were ruled out for good planning reasons. One of the areas considered was the land off Upper Chapel. This was ruled out because of concerns over highways and access issues as well as being outside the town's development boundary. We did not think that Moorland Road and St Johns Road, or Meadowside and Western Terrace could cope with the additional traffic that would be generated by a new scheme.

Instead, the framework plan recommended the area south of the Link road and around Stourscombe for further development.

Nobody can stop a developer making a planning application for any area - regardless of what is proposed or who owns the site. But I would hope that, when the town and surrounding parishes have been through the process of agreeing a form framework plan, Cornwall Council's planners will take the wishes and needs of the community into account when making their decision.

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What Sheryll should do next

South East Cornwall MP Sheryll Murray has come fourth in the annual ballot for Private Members Bills in the House of Commons. This is the chance for a backbench MP to put forward legislation.

All the attention will focus on the person who came top of the poll - James Wharton - and the his proposal of an EU referendum bill. But the number four position offers a real chance for Sheryll to propose a change in the law that would really benefit Cornwall.

She won't be short of ideas, but here is something that would do a huge amount for Cornwall and the people here. A bill to require change of use planning permission when someone wants to turn a permanently lived in residence to become a second home would, at a stroke, help thousands of families in Cornwall who cannot afford to own their home.

In far too much of Cornwall, houses that come onto the market are bought by people from up the line who want to use them as second homes. This deprives local families of the chance to buy them and the part-time residence means that local shops and businesses are deprived of trade, putting their future in jeopardy. It wouldn't affect houses already used as second homes, nor would it permanently prevent such change of use. What it would do would be to allow local authorities to judge whether another second home is in the best interests of the long term viability of a particular community.

Cornwall Council recently voted overwhelmingly to ask for this change in the law. It's not a party political thing. But it is a change that would have huge benefits for Cornwall.

So come on Sheryll, why not go for it?n


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Launceston Town Council co-options (and mayor choosing)

Last night was my first meeting as a Launceston town councillor. (I've been to plenty before as a Cornwall councillor). As an annual meeting, there was a heck of a lot of procedure to be followed - allocations to committees and outside bodies and so on - but also the choice of two co-opted members to fill seats not chosen by election (because there weren't enough candidates in two wards.

Seven people had put themselves forward for co-option and one withdrew on the night. But that still left a very strong field. The two chosen by the elected members were Maurice Davey and Jane Nancarrow. Congratulations to them. I would have been delighted to see others chosen too and, should there be a vacancy in the future, I hope that they will put themselves forward.

We also chose the mayor and deputy mayor for the coming year. It was no surprise to see Dave Gordon elected unopposed to the mayoralty and councillors voted (narrowly) for Brian Hogan as Deputy Mayor. I know that both will do a great job representing our town.



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Mike Eathorne-Gibbons leaves the Conservatives

It takes quite a lot to amaze me in Cornwall Council nowadays, but the decision by councillor Mike Eathorne-Gibbons to switch from Conservative to Independent less than a fortnight after the election is genuinely amazing.

I also think it is incredibly arrogant and contemptuous to voters.

It would be naive not to accept that people sometimes switch sides. But this is usually on a point of principle - they cannot agree with the direction that their party is taking on a particular issue or on a series of issues and they feel that their only recourse is to leave their party.

Except, of course, that there have been no decisions yet at Cornwall Council and so there is nothing for Mike to be upset about. Indeed, the only decision that has been made that affects him is that the Conservative group has re-elected Fiona Ferguson as its leader.

In an interview with Radio Cornwall, Mike has said he believes he was elected as an individual and not because of his party label. Once again, I think this is incredibly arrogant. Most politicians would like to claim that their electorate choose them because of their amazing work record or personal endeavours. But the truth is most people choose who to vote for on the basis of party label - even if that label is independent.

The voters of Ladock and St Erme will have a chance to express their feelings for Mike's move - but not for another four years.


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The parking changes which do Cornwall Council a discredit

Sadly, more and more people are being caught out by changes to parking rules and regulations in and around Launceston. And Cornwall Council is seeing its reputation trashed as a result of a situation that could, and should, have been handled very differently.

Earlier this year the council decided to make various changes to parking rules around the town. One of these was to introduce residents parking schemes in Western Road, Kensey Hill and Race Hill. The problem is not whether or not this was the right decision, but how it was communicated.

I argued at the time that the council should do its utmost to make drivers aware of the changes. I didn't think that the first people knew about any change should be a ticket on their windscreen. I asked for a two or three week period when, instead of handing out fixed penalty notices, the council should be putting notes under windscreen wipers to advertise the change.

But the council refused. They argued that the statutory notices in local papers and the changes to the signage at the side of the road would inform drivers. I have yet to come across more than one or two people who actually read the council's notices in the papers. The form and content is required by law and is, in my view, a colossal waste of money. And the road signage looks exactly the same as what was there before unless you take the trouble to study it closely.

And, to add insult to injury, the parking service claimed that putting notes under windscreen wipers risked the council being sued for trespass. (Which is utter rubbish, by the way. It is the action that the Police have advised)

And so many visitors to our town who have been parking in the same place for years are getting tickets.

I don't blame the traffic wardens who are simply doing their jobs and applying the law completely properly.

But this is a cock-up by the council which should have been avoided and is the sort of attitude which I hope can be changed.

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Lib Dems seeking a fresh start for Cornwall with a 'One and All' administration

Since the election last week produced a council in which no single party has overall control, there has been much speculation about how an administration might be formed. The Liberal Democrats have said that we are seeking to be part of a 'rainbow alliance' comprising all of the groups on the authority.

With discussions on-going, it is not helpful to give a running commentary, but our aims are set out in a letter that newly re-elected Lib Dem group leader Jeremy Rowe* sent to other groups last night.

To: All members of the Council

Dear Colleagues

I am writing to open up a dialogue on a way forward for the running of Cornwall Council.

The people of Cornwall have spoken and it is clear that no one group can claim the right to run the council on its own. We have huge challenges ahead and it is clear that we need to put our differences aside.

I would like to suggest that we see if we can create as wide an administration as possible to run Cornwall over the next four years, but we do this based on a common programme of principles which a shared administration would pursue. I hope these are things that everyone can agree on.

• Protect the services which are important to the people of Cornwall;
• Improve housing options including the building of new council houses for local families;
• Keep council tax as fair as possible;
• Drive the economy to create and protect jobs within Cornwall. Create additional apprenticeships to upskill local young people for the world of work;
• Take more council decisions in local communities instead of in County Hall;
• Always seek the best value for money and the most efficient services;
• Keep our roads safe, clean and well-maintained and support our local economies by cutting parking charges;
• Campaign for fair funding and additional powers from central government.

The people of Cornwall gave us all a challenge and an opportunity to come together for a fresh start - a One and All council. No one group will have a monopoly on good ideas and we would be happy to discuss anything that you think should be added to this list.

With best wishes

Cllr Jeremy Rowe
Leader of the Liberal Democrats
Cornwall Council

*I was re-elected Deputy group leader at the same time - many thanks to my colleagues.


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