What message is Phil Parsons sending out?

Councillors in Cornwall have, for legitimate reasons, taken different points of view on the issue of the allowances paid to members and the vote to raise those allowances next May. I voted against the proposed rise, but understand the reasons that others voted for them - even if I disagree.

In today's Cornish and Devon Post, Altarnun Tory councillor Phil Parsons is quoted extensively on the issue. Phil decries the decision to increase allowances and asks:

"What message are we sending out?"

All this is perfectly reasonable except that Phil wasn't actually there when the vote on allowances was taken. He had left the meeting to go home. This despite the meeting having been arranged and in councillors diaries since last March.

So, to answer his question, the message that Phil seems to be sending out is that if you vote for him, you'll get someone who can't be bothered to be there at the time that the key decisions are being taken.

In case any reader thinks that this is a one off example, Phil has a habit of not turning up to key decisions. Parking is one of the biggest concerns to people in the Launceston area and Phil is the only Launceston area councillor on the parking panel which recommends the charging rates for local car parks. Since the panel came into being, there have been 23 meetings, of which Phil has attended just 10. There was a period of more than a year when Phil didn't attend a single meeting of the panel.

In total, since he was elected in 2009, Phil has attended just 69% of all meetings he was due to and couldn't even be bothered to submit his apologies in almost a quarter of the ones he missed. His is the lowest attendance record of all the Launceston area councillors and even at those meetings he is recorded as attending, as with the allowances vote, he is often gone by the time some important decisions are taken.

There are other councillors who don't have great attendance records - often due to illness. And we shouldn't be judging our councillors purely by the number of times they set foot in County Hall. The work we do as ward members in our communities is just as important - if not more so. But a councillor who decides to go to the press to berate his colleagues for their decision on allowances should be prepared to justify their own record. 

(For the record, I have a 90% attendance record and have submitted apologies every time I missed a meeting).

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Wanted: People with tape measures and notebooks. Apply to Eric Pickles

It seems that Eric Pickles wants to recruit an army of snoopers armed with tape measures and notepads in his latest central initiative to make local government more open and accountable.

According to Conservative Home:

Councils will have to publish soon as it is produced the number of off-street parking places and the revenue raised from them; the number of on-street parking places and the revenue they raise; as well as the revenue from parking fines and the number of free parking spaces available in line with the Portas Review of the High Street recommendations.

The trouble is that in rural areas (and probably in urban too), there is no simple database of all parking spaces in or around our town centres. Most councils will have the data on the capacity of their car parks (but some are very informal and not marked), but what about on-street parking spaces?

In Cornwall, our streets aren't divided into bays - merely a hatched line to indicate the area that people may park. Does Mr Pickles want councils to recruit busybodies to go around measuring and counting the potential car parking spaces? I can certainly think of better ways to spend local taxpayers' money.

Mr Pickles is right in so far as councils should be open and transparent about the money they raise from parking. Here in Cornwall the council makes the second highest profit in the country outside London (and the seventh if you include the capital). The amount raised - more than £8m - would have been even more if it weren't for the multiple failures to hit their budget by the parking department (clue: don't treat car parks as a cash cow. Motorists can only afford so much).

But whilst openness and transparency is to be applauded, I'm not sure that yet another central diktat like this is going to make anyone much the wiser and it's going to be pretty burdensome to produce.

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Launceston Lib Dems call for urgent action from new parking boss

Together with my colleague Sasha Gillard-Loft and local Lib Dem campaigner Jade Farrington, I have written to Cornwall Council's new cabinet member for highways and transportation calling for urgent action on parking issues in the town.

We have asked Councillor Bert Biscoe to continue the £200 season ticket trial price which is due to run out at the end of October and to extend the deal to other areas of the town where Cornwall Council still charges £470 per year.

The cheaper £200 season ticket deal we secured back in July has been a huge success with more than 100 sold already. It has made a profit for Cornwall Council to help fund local services, but it has also been a welcome relief for town centre workers who couldn't afford £470 per year. The trial period is due to run out at the end of the month and Launceston cannot afford to return to the previous chaos.

We've asked Cllr Biscoe to confirm the trial as a success and make the £200 price permanent. We also need him to extend the deal to the other season ticket areas around the town rather than just limiting it to the Cattle Market long stay car park.

We hope the new cabinet member for parking will also bring a new attitude to pricing. Cornwall Council has treated car parks as a cash cow which can be milked for as much money as possible. That attitude wasn't just harming local shops and businesses, but it was failing to bring in the amount of money needed. The parking budget had to be bailed out twice in the last year alone.

The rising cost encouraged commuters to leave their cars in residential streets as they abandoned the car parks – making it difficult for householders to find a space outside their own homes. Some of those living in Race Hill asked the council for a residents-only parking permit scheme and it is set to come into effect shortly.

We’ve knocked on all the doors in Race Hill and people are very concerned about the lack of information about the scheme. We’re asking Cornwall Council to include the right to park in the Fair Park season ticket car park within the cost of the permit as it is currently almost empty and it would give Race Hill residents a much better chance of finding a space.

We have invited Cllr Biscoe to Launceston so we can show him the devastating effect Cornwall Council’s parking charges have had on the town centre and we will be urging him to lower them when the council’s new tariffs start in April.

This story was covered in the Western Morning News and Plymouth Herald at the weekend.

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Camelford Leisure Centre deal announced - UPDATED

The front page of today's Cornish Guardian carries the announcement that Camelford Leisure Centre has been saved from closure by the local community after Cornwall Council decided to close it.

This is fantastic news for the people of Camelford, led by Mayor Rob Rotchell and the leisure centre users. It's been a long fight. Two years ago the Council declared that they would be abandoning the leisure centre (we have never found out why they chose Camelford) and closure was certain unless the local community stepped in.

After a lot of hard work (and precious little help at times from the council), the funding has been secured and the leisure centre will stay open. Neil Burden deserves credit for ensuring that there is funding from the children's services department for the next two years as part of the package.

Read the full story here.

UPDATE: Local MP Dan Rogerson has added his thoughts:

"I am extremely grateful to everyone involved who has worked so hard to secure the future of the Leisure Centre for the town and the surrounding areas. It is only through their hard work and determination that the Centre has been saved.

"Naturally there will be some way to go to get more support for the future to ensure that the Centre can become profitable and stand on its own two feet. I will continue to lend my support and to help out where I can.

"It is good to see that despite their poor response at the start, Cornwall Council has now come around and agreed to meet local people half way in their bid to save the centre by guaranteeing some funding for the next two years. But other leisure centres in Cornwall will still be receiving funding from the Council, so I am now calling on the Conservative and Independent administration running Cornwall Council to continue to provide funding in the long term like they do for other leisure centres. The People of Camelford and the North coast pay their Council Tax like everyone else, and so they deserve to be treated the same as everyone else in Cornwall."

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Tory MP Geoffrey Cox says boundary changes are 'zombie proposals'

At least one Conservative MP is prepared to break ranks with the Prime Minister and express his opposition to the proposed boundary changes.

Geoffrey Cox is MP for Torridge and West Devon and would see part of his current seat amalgamated with North East Cornwall to form the Devonwall seat. In an interview with the BBC, Mr Cox says that he would vote against the proposals.

Although Tory Party Chairman Grant Shapps has claimed that some sort of deal could still be done to offer the Lib Dems party funding reform in return for the new boundaries, Nick Clegg has been insistent that there can be no 'cash for constituencies' deal and that the Lib Dems will vote against the change.

See the full BBC report here.

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Promise of action on Westgate pothole

This morning I had a meeting with our local highways engineer to  discuss a range of issues including the ever expanding pothole outside the Westgate Inn.

Although not hugely deep, the pothole is now more than five feet long and getting bigger all the time.

Thousands of cars pass over this spot every day and each one runs the risk of damaging tyres and suspensions - and it's not great for people in the car either.

Originally, a temporary patch was planned, but the council will now be undertaking a full repair within the next week or so.

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Park for free in Launceston next Wednesday

Cornwall Council is once again offering free parking in various car parks across Cornwall next Wednesday 31st October.

To take up the offer, you need to display a voucher which can be found in the Cornish Guardian tomorrow. You can also print off a copy for free by using this link.

The free parking only applies after 9.30am and to some Cornwall Council car parks and does not apply to those operated by other organisations such as the town council. In Launceston, the valid car parks are:

Walk House Car Park
Cattle Market Short Stay Car Park
Cattle Market Long Stay Car Park


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