Lance goes missing

Lance Kennedy was missing again from today’s meeting of Devon and Cornwall’s Police and Crime Panel. That’s the body which oversees the work of the elected Commissioner. It’s the second meeting in a row that Lance has missed and he is meant to be the Vice Chair of the panel.

The panel is not a trivial thing and the last meeting considered the three biggest subjects within its remit - the appointment of the new Chief Constable, the Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan and the council tax precept. Today’s meeting is also not a small matter as the Commissioner is presenting the final version of his plan and it is a chance to hold him to account for his work to date.

Lance’s absence is all the more serious because he is the Cornwall councillor in charge of public protection. He is paid £16,000 per year (in addition to the £12,000 basic allowance) to take lead responsibility on policing and community safety. The fact that he has not turned up to the last two meetings of the panel seems to me like dereliction of duty.

When Lance was a police officer, if he failed to turn up for work then he would have faced some very serious consequences. Surely when he is Cornwall’s senior elected member responsible for community safety then he should be held to the same standards.


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Nick Clegg launches Lib Dem election campaign in Cornwall

Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg was in Cornwall today to launch the national Liberal Democrat election campaign. He spoke at the Eden Project about the faults with both of the other main parties.

Nick lambasted the Labour Party for their failures in local government as well as the Conservatives for the waste they have presided over in councils across the UK. He singled out Cornwall's decision to hire taxis to ferry tea and coffee between office buildings and attempts to raise council tax year after year. He praised Cornwall's Liberal Democrats for our success in freezing tax bills and investment in services.

Nick was introduced by Jeremy Rowe, Leader of the Lib Dems on Cornwall Council. Jeremy set out our local ambitions locally and the investment that we would be making in repairing roads, cutting parking charges and tackling anti-social behaviour. In contrast, he said, the Conservatives had wasted money on Plymouth's attempts to host the world cup and couldn't even get the basics like emptying bins right.


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Foodbank Trolley Push

Congratulations to Bob Girvan, the manager of Truro Foodbank, who today completed his trolley push from Land's End to Launceston.

Bob has covered the 109 miles in seven days to highlight the problems faced by many people living in Cornwall who simply cannot afford to put a meal on the table. He also showed the great work that the foodbanks do across Cornwall in supporting so many people.

I was proud to have been able to support the foundation of the Launceston Foodbank with a donation from my councillor's community chest. I'm glad that they have been able to help feed almost a thousand people in their first year and I know that they will have to carry on doing such great work into the future.


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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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Cornwall Council candidates announced

Cornwall Council has announced the lists of candidates for the elections taking place on May 2nd.

In Launceston Central, I'm up against a Conservative from Whitstone and a Labour candidate from the other end of town.

Across Cornwall, there will be 103 Conservatives, 91 Liberal Democrats, 76 UKIP, 68 Labour, 26 Mebyon Kernow, 23 Greens, 1 'Liberal' and 90 candidates standing as independents.

But the pattern in North Cornwall is very different. Here there are 21 Lib Dems - one in every division. Up against us are 15 Conservatives, 7 Labour candidates, 10 UKIP, 3 MK, 1 Green and 11 Independents.

Interesting to note that John Keeling, until now an Independent councillor and chair of the Corporate Resources scrutiny committee, is standing as a Conservative in Breage. Also interesting is that George Trubody, who was a Conservative cabinet support member until he resigned citing work reasons, is standing again in Rame but as an independent.

In Launceston South, the presumed Conservative candidate (he was featured on their leaflets as recently as November) is standing as an Independent.

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Stadium gets the planning go ahead

The Stadium for Cornwall this morning got the go ahead from Cornwall Council's strategic planning committee. But big questions still remain as to whether the £16 million or so needed to take the project forward will ever be found.

In terms of the application being discussed today, it is clear that the proposers had listened to previous concerns and modified their design as a result. The stands are lower profile and the pitch will now have a 4G surface to enable it to be used more frequently. I share the worries of my colleague Rob Nolan that the location might be the wrong one and that it will enable the development of more (unwelcome) houses. But it is clear that the design itself is a good one.

But the question will remain as to how the development will be paid for. Cornwall councillors have voted against any idea of giving the scheme any public money. My personal view is that there needs to be a clear idea of the community benefit before public funding can be considered - but it was wrong to rule it out entirely at this time. But any consideration of public money is particularly difficult at a time when all councils are seeing services cut.

But with planning permission now secured, the scheme's proposers now have a much better chance of attracting grant and private funding for the scheme. As ever, time will tell.

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Launceston Hospital to reopen next week

Following the discovery of legionella bacteria at Launceston Hospital, it's good news that the facility will re-open next week.

Although the hospital will only re-open some of its beds, it does mean that outpatient and minor injury facilities will be available once again.

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