Proud to be Mebyon Kernow

Yesterday was a day to be proud to be a member of Mebyon Kernow!

Although the council has opted to reccommend that we build over 42,000 houses in the next 20 years at least we 'sons of Cornwall' can hold our heads high in the knowledge that the party, led by Dick Cole, has acted professionally, consistently and with integrity. Acted in opposition to Cornish hyperdevelopment demanded by Westminster, initiated by unelected planning officers and rubber-stamped by councillors too scared of litigious scare stories to put Cornwall first.

Mebyon Kernow has acted professionally. Dick Cole, chairman of the Planning Policy Advisory Panel, has spent years gathering and assessing data, opinion and local knowledge and has demonstrated leadership by gaining cross-party consensus leading up to a reccommendation of 37,950 houses as a target for twenty years. This is leadership at its best, working to achieve broad support and to persuade rather than cajole (though, knowing Dick, there probably was a fair bit of cajoling).

We have acted consistently. Mebyon Kernow was the only political party (or 'group') that could be bothered to submit a reasoned and evidenced reposnse to the Core Strategy consultations. The figures that we submitted were broadly in line with those produced by the PPAP (very slightly lower) and we have been saying this for many years.

And, unlike the planning officers, we have acted with integrity. Over the past few years proposals (all eveidence based of course) have been made for housing figures of 68,000 -54,000 - 49,000 - 48,500 and then 45,400 have come from the planning officers. All of the proposals backed with irefutable evidence (though I can't understand how the same evidence leads to such wildly different conclusions) and all of them backed by Mark Kaczmarek, in fear of having to satnd up to our lords and masters in London. All of this time we have argured for what is best for Cornwall. For housing for local needs rather than developers' greed. And we have argued for affordable social rental homes with affordable being given its natural dictionary meaning rather than convoluted formulae provided by Wetsminster to disguise how unaffordable the rent really is.

We are the only party in Cornwall that has a bespoke planning and housing policy designed specifically to put Cornish people first.

For all of these reasons I am proud to be a member of Mebyon Kernow. I am also proud because I know that for us the fight won't end on May 2nd. For us the fight will go on through the final public consultation and then beyond. We will campaign tirelessly for homes for local need and for autonomy for Cornwall to be able to make its own decisions rather than have to submit to policies imposed on us from the Home Counties.

Cornish Company Looking to Bring Jobs to Illogan

Last Wednesday, at the Illogan Parish Council Planning Committee meeting, the Members enjoyed a pre-application presentation from LDD (Large Diameter Drilling).

From the LDD Website:

LDD is an offshore drilling and specialist marine construction contractor. Using our extensive in-field know-how, we design, engineer, build and operate world class pile-installation equipment to deliver tubular foundations of any size, in any geology, anywhere.

LDD aims:

To become the recognised world leader and first point of call for specialist marine construction services, serving the global marine and subsea construction communities.

... so no lack of ambition there then!

LDD currently has an annual turnover in excess of £12 million and employs more than 80 engineers, designers and support staff. They actively seek to employ people who live in Cornwall and they use Cornish companies wherever they can as suppliers and partners.

Their success means that they need to invest in premises that will enable them to continue their growth and they are looking to build an office that is suitable to welcome clients from around the globe and a workshop facility that will be customised to manufacture and maintain their large scale engineering projects and equipment.

Hopefully LDD's new headquarters will be built at the Tolvaddon Energy Park in Illogan Parish and provide employment for new office and support staff in Illogan.

Mock Interviews at Pool Academy

I have just finished conducting mock job application interviews in conjunction with my local secondary school, Pool Academy.

My son has attended this school since we moved to Cornwall. We chose Pool both because it was close to where we lived but also because when we visited the school we could see that there was an emerging ethos of excellence in the school despite a less than favourable reputation at the time.

Pool has been  evaluated as 'excellent' by ofsted. This is reflected by their results. In 2008, when Jack first attended the school, 34% of the pupils attained 5 A* grades including English and Maths. This has risen to 60% in 2012.

This sound academic base is augmented by strong programmes (such as the one that I helped with today) which encourage students to gain experience in 'real life' situations and to equip them with knowledge and confidence by exposing them to possibly stressful situations before they have to meet them in the job market.

The 'Pool Learning Cluster' (which consists of Pool Academy and many of the primary schools close to Pool Academy that are likely to feed pupils there) are also setting up a Business Links Directory. The idea is to forge stronger links with the local business community with the aim of discovering what local employers need from potential employees and how the Cluster can work towards meeting those needs.

For me these type of activities exemplify what our educationalists can do when they are not constrained by political interference. No doubt Tories will claim this as a victory fot the policy of Academies. Having spoken to the teachers at the sharp end I am convinced it is more a reflection of wanting to do the best possible for pupils despite constant changes and intereference.

The St Piran Trust

It is with immense pride and humility that I am able to say that I have been appointed as a Trustee of the St Piran Trust .

I firmly believe that if you go and live somewhere new then you should do your best to contribute to the place that you call home. For me the legend of St Piran is the quintessential essence of the spirit of  the Cornish people. Ensuring that the story of St Piran continues through protection of his artefacts and improving public access to them is, I believe, an important job.

Never afraid to let his hair down at a feast day, Piran, nevertheless, led by providing an example of humility and service to his people who recognised a genuinely 'good' man and loved him for it.

You can read about St Piran, his legend and the story of his churches in an excellent book by Eileen Carter available here .

The Trust has the following objectives:

• To uncover the Oratory of St Piran on Gear Sands, with the support and cooperation of all interested bodies.
  The Oratory of St. Piran is one of the oldest Christian edifices in the British Isles and has been consigned to the sands since 1980. 
• To protect, preserve, maintain and administer the Oratory, the site surrounding the Oratory, and access to the site.
  The Oratory was buried to protect its fabric in the absence of public commitment to protect and make it accessible.  The Trust will ensure that once uncovered it will be protected and properly managed. 
• To develop, protect, preserve, maintain and administer the Church of St Piran, the site surrounding the Church, and access to the site.
  The Trust, in partnership with others, has excavated the Second Church and put it into sound condition. 
• To promote the cultural, historical and educational significance of the sites of the Oratory and the Church in an inclusive manner, relevant to all the population of Cornwall and other interested people.
  In addition to the Oratory and the Church, the Trust has taken charge of the maintenance of Perran Round, the Mediaeval Playing Place or Plen-an-gwary, one of the best preserved Playing Places in Britain, which had been neglected and covered in woodland scrub, gorse and brambles.  Our ambition is to see performances in the Round once again.  We invest in representing the three sites to all who are interested.  
• To support schools, educational and cultural organisations so that they can promote greater awareness of Cornish and Celtic culture and history.
  The Trust will provide speakers and other resources to organisations that are involved in promoting Cornish history and culture.

I have been a volunteer with the Trust for the past three years and I have helped with the props for the St Piran Play as well as rasing money for the Trust. I look forward to being able to help with the difficult challenges facing the Trust in achieving its objectives.

Local Transport Board for Cornwall and Isles of Scilly

A new Local Transport Board for Cornwall and Isles of Scilly has been announced. The body will receive £13.3 million for roads in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The board will be comprised of 4 Cornwall Councillors, 1 IOS Councillor, 1 from the Local Enterprise Partnership, 1 from Local Nature Partnership, 1 from the Health Board and 1 from the User Group. The board's decisions will need to be signed off by Westminster.

Co-incidentally, as a member of the Illogan Parish Council Planning Committee, I have just received a project consultation document concerning the dualling of the A30 at Temple.

My own personal view is that spending money on dualling the A30 is not as good for Cornish business as improving the road network around Cornwall would be.

Surely Cornish businesses would benefit more from being able to move goods around Cornwall more freely than reducing 'queues of up to an hour between May and October' on the A30?

I can see that dualling the A30 might save tourists half an hour or so and that it might help big corporations restock their supermarkets more efficiently but wouldn't it be better to service smaller locally owned businesses and residents in a better way?

I hope that the new board will consider how to improve the internal Cornish economy as a priority.

A Week of Hypocrisy

What a lot of hypocritical nonsense we have had to suffer during the last week!

First up Eric Pickles and his Westminster cronies cut council tax benefit and try to scam us by passing on the responsibility for that cut to local authorities. When local authorities decide to increase their tax base instead, Mr Pickles claims an abuse of democracy because the councils keep the increase below the amount required to trigger a referendum. The loss of council tax benefit is down to you Mr Pickles and we don't see you calling for a referendum on George Osbourne's budgets.

Westminster Tories - hypocrites!

Next up we have:

"Nigel Farage's UK Independence party has told its MEPs not to oppose a package that would fund some of Europe's most extreme parties. The Alliance of European National Movements, a grouping of far-right MEPs, is looking to get £340,000 from the European commission, with a similar amount for a possible thinktank. The alliance includes Nick Griffin's British National party, Hungary's neo-fascist Jobbik party, Bulgaria's far-right National Democratic party and the Front National in France."

From http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/jan/27/ukip-far-right

So it seems that not all European spending is a bad thing where UKIP are concerned and actually our money is well spent on promoting far right organisations.

UKIP - hypocrites!

And then we had the spectacle of the Lib Dems trashing the Tory reform of constituencies and the number of MPs which would have resulted in a 'Devonwall' constituency. The thing is, all of the Cornish Lib Dem  MPs have previously trudged through the lobby in support of Devonwall. It's only because Nick Clegg, in his London office, feels a bit peeved that the Tories haven't supported the Lib Dem attempt to reform the House of Lords that Cornish MPs have been instructed to vote against Cameron and the Conservatives. I'm sorry Cornish Lib Dems, you voted against the Bill because of a coalition tantrum, not because you care about preserving Cornwall's historic border.

Cornish Lib Dems - hypocrites!

Meanwhile Alec Robertson (the wannabe comeback kid) has started a petition to reserve the role of councillors in Cornwall for those that are well off or retired. His 'family and friends' petition calls on Cornwall Council to rethink it's decision to increase councillors' allowances by less than the independent reccommendation. As you can read here Cllr Robertson has profited from his time at Cornwall Council to the tune of over £123,000. never mind greedy councillors, more like a greedy and hypocrtical ex-leader.

Alec Robertson - Tory (though which particular Cornish denomination thereof is unclear) - hypocrite!

Cornwall needs politicians to put Cornwall first. Mebyon Kernow councillors do this time after time. We have no masters to serve in Westminster and we don't put party, career or personal bank balance ahead of what is right for Cornwall.

Back your local MK candidate in May and leave the westminster hypocrites in the cold.

Celebrate Perrantide in Perranporth

CELEBRATE PERRANTIDE WITH US IN PERRANZABULOE

Come and start off the celebrations by joining in our events to honour St Piran

Friday March 1^st. 6pm. St Piran will come ashore at Perranporth beach to be welcomed by the giants of Perranporth school and the children dressed as tinners and bal maidens. He will be paraded through the streets accompanied by music and banners to the venue for music, dance and refreshments.    The children work hard for this event and your presence would be much appreciated.

Sunday March 3^rd. 1.30 for 2pm. St Piran Play on the dunes at Gear Sands; Free parking near the start in Haven holiday park. Very exciting news for this year, we have a new play written by Alan Kent; Cornish author and playwright who has dedicated it to our late chairman, Perran Penrose. Our new director, Jason Squibb is well known amongst theatrical companies and has the expertise to give us a most enjoyable day. The play is unique with many twists, do come along and enjoy a real spectacle.

Haven are opening their doors to you as usual to enjoy a snack, drink or hot food. They will be open beforehand for those who need refreshment early. We thank them for their support and hospitality.

Displays and videos of St Piran plus news of the impending dig at the oratory will be in the bar at reception area. A big raffle will be held to help funds for the dig Trustees will be present to answer your questions.

St Piran Trust appreciates your continued support.contact colinretallick@gmx.com eileen@st-piran.com