Launceston Big Clean

Last night Launceston Town Council backed an idea from the mayor, Dave Gordon, for a Launceston Big Clean group to work to tidy up our town. The idea stemmed from a community clean up organised by local accountants Hodgsons last month.

The primary responsibility for cleaning our town lies with Cornwall Council and contractors Cory. The general view is that the town centre - which is cleaned every day - is very good. The rest of the residential parts of the town and pretty clean in the main but there are problems from time to time. When we are made aware of these, we report them and take action.

But there are many areas that are not the responsibility of Cornwall Council such as the river and some of the back alleys. So the new group will come together a couple of times each year to organise clean ups. We're keen to involve local residents associations, youth groups and anyone else who wants to take part. If this includes you, contact Dave Gordon via the town hall.

It was also good to hear that new litter bins will be installed on the peace garden - the island in the river at Newport Bridge - and on the new picnic area that is being developed by the Causley memorial stone further along the river near to the bowls club.

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'At least' two years until Launceston medical centre is upgraded

It seems that Launceston will have to wait at least a couple of years until our medical centre is upgraded and able to cope with the demands being placed on it.

The story so far...

Launceston relies on one medical centre which is struggling to cope with the demands of the town and the surrounding area. Although they are trying, the centre is often unable to offer the appointments that patients want and has been one doctor down for some time due to long term sickness.

The medical centre wants to expand and has plans to buy land from Launceston Hospital. But that deal has been held up by the NHS reforms which saw the previous owners of the site (the Primary Care Trust) abolished and replaced with an NHS property company based in Bristol.

At tonight's town council meeting, the business manager of the practice, Peter Harper, assured us that the practice was doing all they can to make progress in the buying of land and the building of their extension. But, even so, the time until the practice is expanded and open is likely to be at least two years.

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'Death Row' development gets unanimous thumbs down from town council

Launceston Town Council tonight voted unanimously against the planned development at Upper Chapel dubbed 'death row' because of the new cemetery extension which would be at its heart.

This was the best attended town council planning meeting I have yet seen and local residents spoke passionately about the problems they perceive with the plans. The chief concern was the highways issue with claims by the applicant that there would be just one more car per minute at peak times openly laughed at.

I'm not a member of the planning committee but I also attended and spoke on the issue to point out that the town framework group had extensively considered this area, as well as all others around the town. We had rejected only those areas we felt unsuitable for good planning reasons and this area was one such.

The applicants claim that Launceston is in desperate need of new housing. They are right to say this. But that is why the local community has identified the space for more than 2500 new homes over the next 20 years - far more than the 1500 that Cornwall Council says we need.

The developers admitted that they had received very negative feedback when they had a public consultation on their plans and that they had not altered them a jot as a result.

The next stage for this application is that it will go to Cornwall Council's planning committee. As soon as I have a date and venue I will post that here.

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Upper Chapel homes plan to be discussed by town council tomorrow

Tomorrow evening, Launceston Town Council's planning committee will consider the application by Hallam Land Management to apply for permission to build up to 100 new houses on land north of Upper Chapel.

This is a very controversial application which has the potential to create a lot of highways problems. The applicants have asked to be able to speak at tomorrow's meeting.

The meeting takes place at 7pm at the town hall and is open to the public. I don't sit on the town's planning committee but will be going along to hear what the applicant, residents and councillors have to say.

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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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Launceston Town Council candidates announced

Following a slight technical blip, the candidates for Launceston Town Council have also been announced.

There are a total of sixteen to be elected in three wards (using the same boundaries as for the Cornwall Council election).

In North Ward, there is only one nomination for the two places so Margaret Young is automatically re-elected.

In Central Ward, there are six nominations for the seven places, so all are automatically elected. They are Rob Tremain, Paul O'Brien, Dave Gordon, Ashley Crapp, Graeme Facks-Martin and, er, me.

In South Ward, there are ten nominations for the seven places. However, two of those nominations are people who also stood in Central ward - Paul O'Brien and Rob Tremain. Assuming that those two withdraw from this race with their place on the council secure, that leaves eight candidates for seven places and a vote on May 2nd.

The eight remaining candidates are: Susan Alfar, John Conway, John Harris, Brian Hogan, Brian Keighley, Leighton Penhale, Tony Sandercock and Kevin Wadland.

Following the election, the new council will look to fill the two vacancies - one each in North and Central wards - by co-option.

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Launceston Town Council seeks community asset protection for town car parks

Following on from yesterday's news that Cornwall Council have put two of Launceston's car parks up for sale despite no consultation with the local community, tonight the town council voted to seek legal protection for the car parks. The council will seek to have the sites (and all other CC car parks in our town) listed as 'assets of community value' under the Localism Act.

The Localism Act is one of the best pieces of legislation passed by the coalition government. It does various things including allowing local communities to have much more say about what should be built and where. But in this case it allows town and parish councils and community groups to have buildings and land which play a key role in the local community listed as assets of community value. Should the owner of the site want to sell then the local council or community group can have to sale put on hold whilst they put together a bid to buy it.

It doesn't mean that the local council or group will automatically win the bid - they still have to offer more or put together a better bid in another way than anyone else that makes an offer. But it allows the time that local organisations or town councils need to raise the funding and write a decent business plan. It also means that Cornwall Council cannot asset strip a local area in record time and behind closed doors.

I thoroughly support this move by Launceston Town Council. It cannot stop the decision to sell the car parks. But it can delay the process and give the local community the chance to put together a bid to continue to run them as car parks if that is their wish.

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Congratulations Councillor Ashley

Congratulations to new Launceston town councillor Ashley Crapp who was tonight co-opted onto the council. It was a close result with Ashley receiving seven votes and Leighton Penhale six votes. James Rea also put his name forward for the position.

 

Commiserations to Leighton who also stood for the last town council vacancy where he lost out by just three votes. He's getting closer to victory and my hope is that he is successful in his next attempt - whether a co-option or election.

 

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Hospital chiefs get a light grilling from town council

Representatives from Peninsula Community Health attended tonight's meeting of Launceston Town Council to update members on the situation at Launceston Hospital.

It wasn't quite to full roasting that PCH got at the recent scrutiny committee but was at least a light grilling. Some members, including Graeme Facks-Martin, said that they were not satisfied with the explanations given.

 

One significant change since the scrutiny meeting is the number of beds currently closed. At the time of the scrutiny meeting it was said that seven were out of commission. Now that number has risen to ten.

 

A second change from the scrutiny session is the hoped for date for re-opening the beds. Then it was hoped that they might be back open by the end of the year or early January. Now it appears that PCH wants to get some of the beds open by mid or end of January, but not all of them. The PCH reps were invited to come back to the council and report again if the beds were not fully open by February.

 

From my own point of view, I'm still dubious about the ability of PCH as an organisation to successfully manage our community hospitals. All we can hope is that this is enough of a shot across the bows to elicit real change in that organisation.

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Launceston town council votes against TRAC and for Morrisons

At the Launceston Town Council planning meeting tonight, they had both the TRAC project and Morrisons on the agenda.

On TRAC it seems that the western application (the stretch from New Mills to Egloskerry) will shortly be withdrawn for re-submission to take account of an updated environmental study and to correct a small error in the current application. As it is about to be withdrawn, the committee did not vote on it but I sensed that there was strong support for the view that the trail should not be built in a way that would compromise the future extension of the railway.

For the eastern end - from town to New Mills - the committee viewed the proposal to include such a huge length of on-road trail along Under Lane as the deciding factor. They voted 7-1 against the proposal. This matter will be decided by Cornwall Council's East Area Planning Committee.

On the issue of the Link Road development and proposed Morrisons, Margaret Wills of Launceston in Bloom made a speech on the need to preserve the avenue of oaks. She said that she was not against the proposal in principle, but she wanted to preserve the trees that had been planted by such a wide range of organisations at the millennium. The committee agreed to support moving the development sufficiently back so as to not impinge on the growing trees.

They also voted in favour of the principle and key elements of the development but raised questions about the number of houses proposed and the cut in the proportion of employment land. They also voted to restore the spur from the roundabout to the boundary of the development to form the southern loop road - this has disappeared from the latest plans. This application will be determined by Cornwall Council's Strategic Planning Committee.

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Could you play a part in Launceston Town Council's future?

Launceston Town Council has two vacancies following the sad death of Eric Chapman and the decision of Connie Geach to stand down. Would you or anyone you know be the right person to help guide the organisation into the future?

The vacancies are about to be formally announced and, if ten electors request one, a by-election will be held to fill each vacancy. If there is no by-election then the remaining members of the town council will fill the vacancies by co-opting a willing volunteer.

Eric Chapman was elected to represent the North ward and Connie Geach for South ward - so any by-elections or co-options would be run completely separately. The term of office for town councillors runs out in May and elections will be held to fill all 16 positions alongside the Cornwall Council elections on May 2nd. At that time there will be a re-drawing of the boundaries to create a seven member 'South' ward (slightly different from the current boundaries), a seven member 'Central' ward (including most of the current North) and a two member 'North' ward which would include just the Lanstephan estate and half of St Stephens Hill.

So if you think you could play a part in the long term future of the town council, now is the time to do something about it. Most of the people on the current town council were elected as 'independents' - but many of them have also stood for district or county elections under a party banner. There is also one member of the town council who stood under a party banner. So whether you are a supporter of a particular party or have no political affiliation, the town council could be for you.

If anyone who is at all interested wants to talk about standing, please contact the Town Clerk or talk to other members of the Town Council. If anyone wants to talk to me, I would be happy to help them.

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Free Parking in Launceston this weekend

Launceston Town Council have just got in touch to tell me that they are making the multi-storey car park free all weekend from Saturday until Tuesday.

Cornwall Council car parks will be charging as normal on Saturday between 9am and 4pm. Parking on Sunday is free but charges will apply on Monday and Tuesday from 9am until 4pm.

With all the Jubilee weekend events and the Charles Causley Festival happening too, you won't have to worry about paying for parking thanks to the Town Council.

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Launceston Mayor Making

This afternoon was the civic highlight of the year with the annual mayor making (or mayor choosing) ceremony at the town hall. Rob Tremain was elected for a second term as mayor and Dave Gordon for a second term as his deputy. Congratulations to them both.

The event brings together the great and the good of the town including representatives from many town organisations, churches and charities. There are mayors from across East Cornwall and we were joined this year by Pat Harvey, Chairman of Cornwall Council.

As well as the usual business, there was a special award for Graeme Facks Martin, one of the longest serving councillors in Cornwall. Graeme has become an Honorary Alderman of the town, a rare accolade, for his time spent on Launceston Rural District Council, North Cornwall District Council (he was the only person to serve for the entire life of the authority), South Petherwin Parish Council and Launceston Town Council.

Rob Tremain read out a list of tributes to Graeme as well as giving a potted biography. In the 1970s when the Tories were divided between the 'wets' and the 'dries' Graeme was apparently once described as being 'positively oceanic', something he took to be a compliment. Certainly I have always found him to be a particular type of Tory and someone whose opinions, particularly on housing, I greatly value. I thank him for the reference he made in his speech to my work - even if it might not have been meant entirely favourably!

Finally there was an Award of Appreciation given to the Launceston Male Voice Choir who have raised so much for charity over the years with their concerts.

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That was close...

The people of the South Ward of Launceston voted today in a by-election for the town council caused by the sad death of Olver Harris.

The result was:

Launceston Town Council South Ward

Maurice Davey (Lib Dem) 160 votes 28.67%
Leighton Penhale (Ind) 157 votes 28.14%
Anna Duke (Ind) 104 votes 18.64%
Susan Roberts Alfar (Labour) 73 votes 13.08%
Ashley Crapp (Ind) 64 votes 11.47%

Spoilt 2

Turnout 18.25% (no poll cards)

Lib Dem gain from independent

Obviously it's always good to win, but three votes was a very close margin. Huge congratulations to Maurice who will, I'm sure, be an excellent town councillor. Commiserations to the other candidates, particularly Leighton. I can't imagine how it feels to lose by such a close margin and I feel for him. With the whole town council up for election in just 15 months time, I hope that all the losing candidates consider standing again at that time.

I've noted in the result above that there were no poll cards issued for this election. The resultant turnout of 18.25% is pretty poor. When you consider that just about half of those who did vote did so by post (the postal vote turnout was well over 50%), you see that the turnout on the day (albeit a cold February day) was truly awful. I know that a town council by-election is not the most exciting contest, but it is still important and I know that many people were simply unaware of when the poll was taking place. I think that poll cards should be mandatory for all such contests, even if they do cost a bit of money to send out.

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Five to fight for Lanson Town Council vacancy

Five candidates will be contesting the Launceston town council election for a seat in South Ward made vacant by the sad death of Olver Harris.

The five are:

Ashley Crapp, standing as Community Volunteer - Independent
Maurice Davey - Liberal Democrat
Anna Duke - no description
Leighton Penhale - no description
Susan Roberts Alfar - Labour

I'm obviously backing Maurice Davey, the landlord of the Bell Inn and a great local bloke. But I'm delighted to see such interest in the seat. Last time there was a by-election there was no contest and John Conway was elected unopposed. The time before when there was a vacancy it was filled by co-option.

Next May, all the seats on the town council will be up for election - 7 in South Ward, 7 in Central and 2 in North. I hope that those who are not elected this time will choose to re-stand and that we can encourage a wide range of others to put themselves forward. Local democracy is important. It's no sleight on the current town councillors, but it is always better to have a contest than not!

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Late Night Shopping tomorrow!

Launceston's annual festive bonanza takes place tomorrow evening with and evening of entertainment in and around the town. The event is known simply as 'late night shopping' but it's far more than just having the shops open late.

There will be a parade featuring camels, the town band and a samba band. There will be street stalls and a charity auction and there will be food and drink available. And you can do your Christmas shopping at the same time.

If you haven't been before, it's a huge party.

And the lovely people at the Town Council have announced that they won't be charging for car parking in the multi-storey car park after 4pm (the Cornwall Council car parks are always free after 4). So there's no excuse for not coming to join in the fun.

Last year I almost got gored by a reindeer. I'll try not to get trodden on by the camels this time.

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Vacancy on Launceston Town Council

Following the resignation of Jacki Ellis-Martin, there is a vacancy on Launceston Town Council. This will be filled either by a by-election or co-option.

A by-election can be triggered if ten electors petition the returning officer. If this doesn't happen then the Town Council will invite anyone interested to make themselves known and will consider who to co-opt at a future meeting.

The last time there was a vacancy there were at least five applicants, but no by-election was triggered.

Launceston Tourist Information Centre - an update

Over the last two days I've been trying to find out more about the decision to close Launceston Tourist Information Centre - as reported here.

My understanding of the situation is that Cornwall Council does not want to keep the TIC in the One Stop Shop. This is partly because the OSS is very busy and partly because they do not see the two functions as compatible. It was initially reported to me by many people that this decision had been taken and was final.

There was clearly some mis-communication somewhere along the line about this. However, I have been assured that no decision will be final until senior officers, Cabinet members and local councillors have been properly consulted.

I am very glad to report that discussions between Cornwall Council and Launceston Town Council are still on-going. I've had a couple of apologies from senior people at the Council about the inaccurate information that has been given out and I'm happy to accept those apologies.

In the meantime, the Town Council is still talking to Cornwall Council about working in partnership to deliver a decent tourist information centre for our town and the surrounding area. My guess is that this will not be from the current premises.

If Cornwall Council is to sever its links with the TIC then it would be a great shame for local businesses, but I hope that the Town Council or another group could pick up the slack. However, any decision along these lines by Cornwall Council will be more evidence of a 'one size fits all' approach - the sort of thing that we were promised would not be happening.

Cornwall Council to close Launceston Tourist Information Centre

Cornwall Council has taken the decision to close the Tourist Information Centre in Launceston. This is a terrible decision which will massively affect a large number of local businesses and mean a worse experience for many visitors to our town.

The Tourist Information Centre (TIC) shares the One Stop Shop premises in Market House Arcade. I've been in the TIC many times and have seen many visitors getting information about our town, planning days out and booking accommodation. All of this work will be hit if the Council's plans go ahead.

The difficulty apparently comes because of the way the TIC is currently managed. It is currently funded and managed via the Customer Services wing of the Council and is the only TIC run in this way. Others are either private, run by town councils or by Visit Cornwall.

Customer Services were in discussion with Launceston Town Council about taking over some or all of the running of the TIC in its current location. But whilst the discussions were still going on, it appears that the decision was taken nonetheless to end Cornwall Council's involvement with the service.

I've asked a number of urgent questions of the Council about this decision - specifically:

• who took the decision
• what discussions did they have with Visit Cornwall or anyone who deals with tourism within the Council
• why they did not inform the local Cornwall Councillors
• what consultation has been held with local businesses who help to fund the TIC as it currently is

I've also asked them to guarantee that this is not a prelude to a decision to close the One Stop Shop and withdraw services from the town altogether.

Certainly one of those kept in the dark was Carolyn Rule, the Cabinet Member with responsibility for tourism who assured me a month ago that there were no plans to abandon Launceston's TIC - although the Council would be looking for partners to help them with the operation. Carolyn has told me this afternoon that she knew nothing about the decision until I told her.

Assuming that the One Stop Shop is kept open, this doesn't appear to be a decision about money. Although not huge, the TIC does have some income and, for a number of reasons, simply taking away the TIC from the One Stop Shop is likely to actually cost the Council more, rather than less.

Launceston is not the biggest tourist centre in Cornwall, but we do have lots of visitors and we have been working locally to do more to promote our town and its attractions. Why the Council seems to think that it is ok to simply abandon us at this time is beyond me.

UPDATE - I've slightly modified the original version of this post based on replies I've had from the Council to some of my questions.

Town Council Parking Meeting

This evening I've been at a meeting organised by the Town Council to discuss parking in the town. The meeting was called following the deputation at the last full meeting led by Karl Hockridge and a group of town centre traders.

The traders want the council to take action to boost footfall in the town. They would like to see the Town Council introduce a cheap initial parking scheme (such as 10p for the first 20 minutes) in the multi-storey car park. They also propose a barrier system to prevent ticket abuse which they say is common and which is costing the Town Council much revenue.

The Town Council say they have debated such a discount period but believe that it would lose money for the Town (and therefore for town council tax payers) and that a barrier system was investigated 10 years ago and found not to be viable.

The meeting got a bit heated at times but the Mayor proposed at the end that the Town Council would consider the ideas put forward as well as any others that are proposed. There was an idea put forward by a town councillor that the town should ask for a technical report on a barrier system and other means of controlling entry and/or exit to determine what would be possible and what is simply not.

I was also asked to speak to explain what Cornwall Council has done and is considering doing. I explained that Cornwall Council had decided to group Launceston in with towns such as Penryn and Hayle (and not the original proposal of lumping us in with St Austell and Camborne). I explained the likely impact on charging and that there will be another meeting in two weeks to consider the issues of charging scale and of discount offers. The Lib Dems have campaigned since last year for a 10p first hour parking scheme in at least one Launceston car park to boost local shops.

I very much hope that the traders and Town Council will be able to work together to make sure that the multi-storey car park balances charges and discounts against maximises income for the council and for the town as a whole.