The Latest from Your Parish Councillor - Martin Corney (Parish Pump - July 2014)

I've heard people complaining about noise from the wind turbine at Charaton. I've been to visit the area to see how bad the noise is. I've been there in light winds but couldn't hear anything over the racket of the local blackbird. I've been back when it was blowing hard, but any noise was drowned out by the wind in the hedge. Some nearby people say they can hear the turbine from their homes, other locals say they don't know what the fuss is about. I've asked people to invite me to listen when it's noisy, without a response. I conclude that, like the emperor's new clothes, the unacceptable noise just does not exist. I sympathize with the horror of having a large object intruding into our much loved landscape, although others have told me it is a thing of beauty. I think that wind turbines are much better than coal power stations and necessary to replace fossil fuels and stop global warming. What do you think? You can have your say in the Neighbourhood Development Plan survey which should be delivered with this newsletter. Your response to this survey will form the vision for the future of our parish, so it is very important. I and the working group will be hunting for completed surveys at as many parish events as we can get to.

By the time this goes out we will have had our Millennium House Forum inaugural meeting. These meetings are really important for the future of our community centre, so keep on coming along to have your say. You can also have your say on the parish website or parish Facebook page where the event is posted.

I'm really pleased that I've had approaches from people interested in volunteering with the youth club (which is now an official charity with a number and all that) and thanks very much for the kindly donated filing cabinet. It's surprising how much paperwork is created when we do things properly.
 
Don’t forget the parish website st-ive-parishcouncil.gov.uk with council meeting agendas and minutes; also downloadable copies of the Parish Pump. For those of you who do Facebook, our St Ive Parish Council page is still being updated with parish news.

Phone me, email me on martin.corney@btinternet.com or "martin corney blog st ive" in search engines will find my blogs for you to comment on this article and other gems.

The Latest from Your Parish Councillor - Martin Corney (Parish Pump - June 2014)

After this year’s parish AGM, I'd like to thank my fellow councillors for showing their confidence in me, and selecting me to be Vice Chair of the Parish Council for the next year. I'm also glad that Peter Dipper continues as Chair so that we have continuity of policies started before I joined last year.

Over the coming year there are two main things I want to do for the parish. The first is to get the parish NDP (Neighbourhood Development Plan) in place (last month's promised piece about this will be in this issue, fingers crossed). The second is getting Millennium House running on a sustainable basis. This will need more people getting involved in turning Millennium House into a thriving community centre.

The youth club, Pensilva Youth Projects, also needs more people to help run events and provide backup staffing, (as I write, tonight's event has had to be cancelled for lack of volunteers). By next winter I'd like the Youth Cafe to run every night to give a warm safe place for our youngsters, but it needs more than just two of us - both busy people.

Now that summer is here, the potholes of winter are filled, but not forgotten by me. There are many photos I've taken of parish potholes and blocked drains on our parish Facebook page (I really must get a life) that I reported to CORMAC. Even our MP's office wanted copies! Seriously, there seems to be a different standard of repair on the A390 (done properly) and all other roads (poorly patched).

Don’t forget the parish website st-ive-parishcouncil.gov.uk with council meeting agendas and minutes; also downloadable copies of the Parish Pump. For those of you who do Facebook, our St Ive Parish Council page is still being updated with parish news.

Phone me, email me on martin.corney@btinternet.com or "martin corney blog st ive" in search engines will find my blogs for you to comment on these articles and other gems.

The Latest from Your Parish Councillor - Martin Corney (Parish Pump - May 2014)

As I write this just before Easter, spring is bursting out all over. The weather is lovely and I'm at the Growing Project helping put up the new poly-tunnel most days. We want to get it built quickly so we can get crops growing with all the advantage of this spring weather.

If you are wondering why the Butchers Arms car park is blocked off with massive concrete blocks, this happened after a large number of Irish Traveller caravans camped in the fields behind the pub in the middle of April. After Enterprise Inns, who own the pub, got the authorities to move them on, they have clearly decided it's safer to block everything off.

I've also put a piece in to this month's Parish Pump explaining what the Neighbourhood Development Plan is and where we are the process. This is a very important project for the parish, since if we don't have a plan, new housing developments could be built with very little control.

I'd like to welcome Charles Wadge, from the Queen Vic, to the Parish Council. I think it's very useful to have input from as wide a section of the community as possible.

Don’t forget the parish website st-ive-parishcouncil.gov.uk with council meeting agendas and minutes; also downloadable copies of the Parish Pump. For those of you who do Facebook, our St Ive Parish Council page is still being updated with parish news.

Phone me, email me on martin.corney@btinternet.com or "martin corney blog st ive" in search engines will find my blogs for you to comment on these articles and other gems.

The Latest from Your Parish Councillor - Martin Corney

In my contributions to the Parish Pump I always try to keep you informed about what is going on in the parish in an impartial and objective way. So I was disappointed to be personally criticised for my reporting of what I have written about Sean Ellis moving his Wolf Centre to the parish. For those of you who do not have access to the internet and were not at the meeting...

At very short notice the Parish Council invited Shaun Ellis to an informal question and answer session so the community could find out what is going on. I was very pleased that, even in just a few days, word-of-mouth and the internet attracted so many people that it was standing room only.

On the internet I reported "There seemed to be about the same number of people who welcomed the Wolf Centre as were hostile. Shaun Ellis said that the Wolf Centre has 7 mature wolves, all raised in captivity. The wolf enclosure will be kept about 40m from the road and buildings are being soundproofed. The noise should be less annoying than the nearby dog kennels. Livestock and horses will not be disturbed. His daughter rides her horse by the wolves OK. They will have a small number of visitors (about 6 at a time) who will stay in local B&B. They have never had a wolf escape and they advise internationally as containment is their speciality. – Neighbours were concerned about the noise and risk of wolves, also a previous mobile home on the site burned out as the fire brigade did not have adequate water pressure when they attended."

My personal opinion is that wild animals should be free in the wild, but if Shaun Ellis keeps to the rules he is welcome as a member of the community.

The next big thing happening in the parish, is trying to run Millennium House through an organisation at arm's length from the parish council. I think this is a good idea and that both the parish and Millennium House will be run better.

Don’t forget the parish website st-ive-parishcouncil.gov.uk with council meeting agendas and minutes; also downloadable copies of the Parish Pump. For those of you who do Facebook, our St Ive Parish Council page is still being updated with parish news.

Phone me, email me on martin.corney@btinternet.com or "martin corney blog st ive" in search engines will find my blogs for you to comment on.

The Latest from Your Parish Councillor - Martin Corney

With different responsible adults, I've started opening the Millennium House Cafe each Thursday evening between 6.30pm and 8.30pm so that the youths of Pensilva have somewhere warm and safe to gather for the evening, instead of being out in the cold. One of the girls asked me "Do you get paid for this", (I don't, I volunteer), but this got me thinking. I heard the Rev. Richard Coles on the radio talking about how worried he was for communities in this secular age. How the decline of the church, which used to be the "organised goodness" that brought everyone together, wasn't adequately replaced by the welfare state. As one of the secular members of the community, volunteering on the Parish Council, Pensilva Youth Projects, and even Callington Food Bank is my way of putting something back and bringing us together. It also keeps me busy instead of being slumped in front of the TV now I'm retired.

Here's an idea for bringing the community together that sounded interesting, "The Big Lunch" is something started by Tim Smit of the Eden Project. The idea is that, throughout the country, street parties happen on the same day, with neighbours sharing food and ideas, meeting neighbours they may never have spoken to before. This year it's Sunday 1st June. Anybody interested?

It was surprising to hear that Shaun Ellis and his wife Kim are moving their wolves to the parish. You might have seen Shaun on the TV actually living with his wolves as a pack member. They failed to get planning permission in North Devon, so are moving here. Their new neighbours are concerned about the effect that a pack of howling wolves will have on their sheep and horses. Can livestock learn to become accustomed to the noise? I don't know. Will a Wolf Centre be a tourist attraction creating local jobs? I've asked them to give a presentation about the move, so hopefully we'll get to ask questions and get answers.

Don’t forget the parish website st-ive-parishcouncil.gov.uk with council meeting agendas and minutes; also downloadable copies of the Parish Pump. For those of you who do Facebook, our St Ive Parish Council page is still being updated with parish news.

Phone me, email me on martin.corney@btinternet.com or "martin corney blog st ive" in search engines will find my blogs for you to comment on.

The Latest from Your Parish Councillor - Martin Corney

I understand that there is a lot of disquiet in the village about the future of Millennium House. There have been a number of changes in the staff and running of Millennium House which were essential to reduce costs. Change is never easy, but it will be a lot easier and more successful if we work together. Millennium House is our parish community centre and is subsidised by us through our council taxes. Local sports teams and many other groups in the community benefit from the subsidised facilities. As well as paid staff, we rely on volunteers to keep Millennium House running. Without volunteers we would have to employ more staff, paid for by increased taxes. So please volunteer.

I'm still comparatively new to the parish council, and don't know the history and personalities involved, but it is obvious to me that some people are still upset about some of the changes that have happened. I would like them to contribute to the future of the parish. Remember that Parish Councillors are volunteers and are all trying to do their best to make things better for the community. It's not all sweetness and light. Parish Councillors have different opinions. We disagree about many things, have our say, vote, and go with the majority. That's democracy. There are places vacant on the council, so I suggest that anyone who wants things to be run differently volunteers.

Millennium House has been our community centre for the last fifteen years. Built by Lottery and European grant funds, it is an asset that other communities envy, with reason. This facility exists and is not going away, so let's use it and enjoy it.

The December storms destroyed two greenhouses at The Growing Project, but I will help replace them with something even better. We’ve also started on the Incredible Edible Pensilva scheme for free fruit and veg in the village.

Don’t forget the parish website st-ive-parishcouncil.gov.uk with council meeting agendas and minutes; also downloadable copies of the Parish Pump. For those of you who do Facebook, our St Ive Parish Council page is still being updated with parish news.

Phone me, email me on martin.corney@btinternet.com or "martin corney blog st ive" in search engines will find my blogs for you to comment on.

The Latest from Your Parish Councillor - Martin Corney

We had a good turnout for the public meetings at the end of November, where I presented a slide show of information about our Neighbourhood Development Plan. We then had a good discussion followed by the opportunity for everyone to leave comments on Post-Its stuck on flip charts headed by different issues. These comments will be invaluable to the Working Group in creating a survey which we will all receive so that our democratic opinion on parish issues can form the plan we all get to vote on in a referendum. If we pass it, this plan will then have legal standing that can't be ignored by the local planning authority.

A few of the comments related to forming a community energy company that would generate and sell electricity locally and cheaper. I could get really enthusiastic about this idea. There is a similar organisation at Wadebridge called WREN. They also concentrate on helping the community save energy by good insulation and other measures.

The plan for photovoltaic panels of Millennium House looks like it will go ahead. The electricity generated will provide income and savings that can pay off the loan after five years. From then on we generate massive savings which should mean a reduction in our community charge.

I'm still working on the parish website st-ive-parishcouncil.gov.uk adding council meeting agendas and minutes; also downloadable copies of the Parish Pump. For those of you who do Facebook, our St Ive Parish Council page is still being updated with parish news.

Last but not least, several of us are working on turning Pensilva Youth Project into a properly constituted charity so that we can expand what it does. I also want to involve young people in managing the project as full trustees. This has recently become possible since the minimum age for trustees has been changed from 18 to 16.


Phone me, email me on martin.corney@btinternet.com or "martin corney blog st ive" in search engines will find my blogs for you to comment on.