With special dispensation from the editor, I'm sending this in just after the special Parish Council meeting on 22nd January to set next year's parish council tax. I'm sure everyone will want to know about this as soon as possible, so thank you Joe for holding space for this.
Rumours that the parish part of our council tax (the precept) was going to double in the next year had been going around the parish, so there was a very large turnout at Millennium House from all over the parish. There were many contributions in public participation, from people who were understandably very concerned at the prospect of a large tax increase.
Since I had been keeping track of the budget on a spreadsheet I explained the situation. There are guidelines as to how much money the parish needs to keep in reserve in case of emergencies. We are supposed to keep between three months to a year of expenditure as reserves. Since the total parish expenditure each year, including Millennium House, is about £250,000, the parish reserves of about £100,000 in the 2010-11 financial year was healthy. Unfortunately, in the following years the losses of Millennium House got worse and worse, eating into the reserves, so that at the end of the current financial year we expect to have reserves of about £38,000, well below the lower guideline of about £55,000.
If the parish carried on with no change, the only way to reverse the decline was to increase the precept from the current £52,000 to £90,000. For a band D house a 73% increase from £72 to £125.
The Millennium House Forum have put forward a proposal to run Millennium House as a charity. I strongly support this as it solves a number of problems.
Since I live in the St Ive end of the parish I didn't realise how controversial and divisive the building of Millennium House was. Some love it, others refuse to set foot in the place on principle, even 16 years after it was opened. We residents of St Ive don't see why we should pay through the nose for a massive facility we don't use.
The plan for a charity to run Millennium House means that everyone can be satisfied. The people who want Millennium House can be responsible for running it, while those that don't will not have to pay for it. Also the Millennium House expenditure will no longer be on the parish accounts so the reserves can safely be kept at a lower level.
My proposal for this plan to be financed with an increase of the precept from £52,000 to £62,000 was agreed by the parish council. For a band D house a 19% increase from £72 to £86. I promised this was only for one year after which it will reduce back to what it was, and eventually even less.
There was a call for the precept not to go up at all. This would have meant the parish reserves coming down to a level near going broke, with Cornwall Council taking over and Millennium House closing. The Parish Council went with the difficult decision to increase the precept in order to at least give the people who want it to work a chance.
I will work to help Millennium House Forum set the new system up, but it's going to be up to the people of Pensilva to prove we were right to give that extra £14 over the next year. If you are one of the people who like having a large and expensive community centre in Pensilva please help. As they say, use it or loose it.
Monday, 2 February 2015
Thursday, 15 January 2015
The Latest from Your Parish Councillor - Martin Corney (Parish Pump - January 2015)
I hope everyone had a merry Christmas and we all have a happy new year.
Parish councillors Roger Bennison and Keith Mutton have both resigned from the Parish Council. Roger in particular has been on the council for many years and has made many valuable contributions to the parish. Most recently organising the solar panels on Millennium House which will be a great asset. Keith is still on the Neighbourhood Development Plan working group as a parish resident.
The Millennium House Forum have presented their plans to the Parish Council and there is now a joint working group to put these plans into action. Last financial year Millennium House cost the parish more money than the complete precept (the parish part of your council tax). Something has got to change since the parish reserves are nearly exhausted. The next precept will have to increase substantially until Millennium House costs us all a lot less money or breaks even. Which it hasn't done in any of the recent years that I've seen accounts for.
On evenings when the youth club doesn’t run an event, the youth still hang around Millennium House. This is causing a problem for Millennium House staff who want them to go home, and ask why their parents aren’t supervising them. I think that the best solution is to run the youth club every evening. Well I would say that wouldn’t I. The youth club is still trying to rent the Café full time.
St Ive Community Park Project is still raising money with events like table top sales, and the Christmas Carol Concerts.
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.
Parish councillors Roger Bennison and Keith Mutton have both resigned from the Parish Council. Roger in particular has been on the council for many years and has made many valuable contributions to the parish. Most recently organising the solar panels on Millennium House which will be a great asset. Keith is still on the Neighbourhood Development Plan working group as a parish resident.
The Millennium House Forum have presented their plans to the Parish Council and there is now a joint working group to put these plans into action. Last financial year Millennium House cost the parish more money than the complete precept (the parish part of your council tax). Something has got to change since the parish reserves are nearly exhausted. The next precept will have to increase substantially until Millennium House costs us all a lot less money or breaks even. Which it hasn't done in any of the recent years that I've seen accounts for.
On evenings when the youth club doesn’t run an event, the youth still hang around Millennium House. This is causing a problem for Millennium House staff who want them to go home, and ask why their parents aren’t supervising them. I think that the best solution is to run the youth club every evening. Well I would say that wouldn’t I. The youth club is still trying to rent the Café full time.
St Ive Community Park Project is still raising money with events like table top sales, and the Christmas Carol Concerts.
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.
Wednesday, 10 December 2014
The Latest from Your Parish Councillor - Martin Corney (Parish Pump - November 2014)
Things are changing at Millennium House. The youth club want to rent the Cafe in partnership with Merryhue Farm, and the Millennium House Forum should be presenting their plans for change to the Parish Council this month. I still want to open the youth club Cafe every night of the week, and am contacting all potential new volunteers I hear of - we now have several new starters.
St Ive Community Park Project raised over £500 at last months Fun Day, and community participation was great, with nearly 100 people voting on which equipment to get, even adults were allowed to vote.
The housing association which built Ford Close, St Ive Cross sent a representative to last month's council meeting to sound out opinion for expanding the estate in two more phases. Plans can be seen on our Facebook page.
I presented the lucky winner of the Neighbourhood Development Plan survey prize draw with a food hamper of local produce from the Farm Shop and the Growing Project Pensilva. So if you didn't get the prize, you didn't win! The NDP survey report is available for inspection in the parish office as well as on the parish website.
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.
St Ive Community Park Project raised over £500 at last months Fun Day, and community participation was great, with nearly 100 people voting on which equipment to get, even adults were allowed to vote.
The housing association which built Ford Close, St Ive Cross sent a representative to last month's council meeting to sound out opinion for expanding the estate in two more phases. Plans can be seen on our Facebook page.
I presented the lucky winner of the Neighbourhood Development Plan survey prize draw with a food hamper of local produce from the Farm Shop and the Growing Project Pensilva. So if you didn't get the prize, you didn't win! The NDP survey report is available for inspection in the parish office as well as on the parish website.
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.
Sunday, 5 October 2014
The Latest from Your Parish Councillor - Martin Corney (Parish Pump - October 2014)
The St Ive Community Park Project is up and running. We have loads of pictures of play equipment on our Facebook page. This is an ideal place for people to put ideas and photos of what people want in the new play area. We are throwing a Fun Day on Saturday 4th October at 2pm to raise money and awareness. Also children will be able to vote on which equipment they like best.
The Neighbourhood Development Plan Survey went very well with our 23% response rate beating neighbouring St Cleer’s 20%. Well done everyone. The report is available on the parish website under NDP. To reassure the people of St Ive who worried that the larger population of Pensilva would unfairly say build everything in St Ive, if anything it was the other way round. I hope that hasn’t spoilt the story, by telling how it ends!
This month’s Millennium House Forum meeting on Wednesday 8th is going to be the most important one yet, with a recommended business plan to consider. Don't forget that you can also have your say on the parish website or parish Facebook page.
The youth club Café is now opening on a Tuesday evening as well as Thursday and Friday. This fits in with having to move the Friday Flipdance to Tuesdays during term time when the Friday Club have the sports hall.
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 Neighbourhood Development Plan Survey went very well with our 23% response rate beating neighbouring St Cleer’s 20%. Well done everyone. The report is available on the parish website under NDP. To reassure the people of St Ive who worried that the larger population of Pensilva would unfairly say build everything in St Ive, if anything it was the other way round. I hope that hasn’t spoilt the story, by telling how it ends!
This month’s Millennium House Forum meeting on Wednesday 8th is going to be the most important one yet, with a recommended business plan to consider. Don't forget that you can also have your say on the parish website or parish Facebook page.
The youth club Café is now opening on a Tuesday evening as well as Thursday and Friday. This fits in with having to move the Friday Flipdance to Tuesdays during term time when the Friday Club have the sports hall.
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.
Monday, 15 September 2014
The Latest from Your Parish Councillor - Martin Corney (Parish Pump - August 2014)
I heard it. It was a spookily misty night so I stopped to listen, as I'd been advised these were the best conditions to hear it. If I strained to listen I could just hear it going whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. The wind turbine at Charaton does make a noise, and the wind was taking the noise away from me. It might be louder on a different day, but so far it has been acceptable in my opinion.
If you feel strongly about all sorts of things in the parish, don't forget that you should fill in the Neighbourhood Development Plan Survey that was delivered by hand to every household in the parish last month. This survey will be used to decide the future of our parish for the next twenty or thirty years, whether we get new housing estates, wind turbines, solar farms, the lot. So fill your survey in and drop it in to one of the collection points before 12th August 2014.
The future of Millennium House as our Community Centre is still being discussed at the forum. I'm writing this before the next meeting, which I hope will look to the future rather than the past. Since I live in St Ive rather than Pensilva, I didn't realise how controversial this building was a couple of decades ago. The building exists and is not going away. I just want it to be used efficiently for the benefit of the community. That way we won't have to pay increased council tax to keep it going.
Phone me, email me on martin.corney@btinternet.com or you can comment on my blog. Search engines will find me at "martin corney blog st ive".
If you feel strongly about all sorts of things in the parish, don't forget that you should fill in the Neighbourhood Development Plan Survey that was delivered by hand to every household in the parish last month. This survey will be used to decide the future of our parish for the next twenty or thirty years, whether we get new housing estates, wind turbines, solar farms, the lot. So fill your survey in and drop it in to one of the collection points before 12th August 2014.
The future of Millennium House as our Community Centre is still being discussed at the forum. I'm writing this before the next meeting, which I hope will look to the future rather than the past. Since I live in St Ive rather than Pensilva, I didn't realise how controversial this building was a couple of decades ago. The building exists and is not going away. I just want it to be used efficiently for the benefit of the community. That way we won't have to pay increased council tax to keep it going.
Phone me, email me on martin.corney@btinternet.com or you can comment on my blog. Search engines will find me at "martin corney blog st ive".
The Latest from Your Parish Councillor - Martin Corney (Parish Pump - September 2014)
One of the benefits of having the solar farm in our parish is that we get payments to use for charitable purposes. The Parish Council has decided to use the current payment as seed money to improve the children's play facilities at St Ive Cross. The idea is for something like the Pensilva Play Park and Skate Park. To set this going, Councillor Keith Mutton and myself will be holding an initial meeting in St Ive Methodist Chapel at 7 pm Tuesday 2nd September. Come along and join us in improving our children's environment in St Ive.
The six week period for completing the Neighbourhood Development Plan Survey has now finished. The number of completed surveys has been impressively large. Well done everyone. The results are being turned into graphs even as I write this, and by the time you read this a report will be available on the internet. (See the parish website.)
To turn the results of our survey into a plan we can all vote on, we could really use more people on the NDP Working Group. If you have any experience in planning or report writing - Your Parish Needs You - please contact me.
The Millennium House Forum meetings are getting down to business now. I'm sure that Joe will cover the last month in detail, but don't forget that you can also have your say on the parish website or parish Facebook page where the event is posted.
The youth club now has a couple of laptops. Although they also have fun, the main reason for the laptops is practical. We will help school leavers put together CVs, personal statements, and job applications. I also intend to offer a service to people who missed out on learning about emails, but would like to communicate with distant friends. We could get together in the Millennium House Cafe. Do you think there will be any takers?
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 six week period for completing the Neighbourhood Development Plan Survey has now finished. The number of completed surveys has been impressively large. Well done everyone. The results are being turned into graphs even as I write this, and by the time you read this a report will be available on the internet. (See the parish website.)
To turn the results of our survey into a plan we can all vote on, we could really use more people on the NDP Working Group. If you have any experience in planning or report writing - Your Parish Needs You - please contact me.
The Millennium House Forum meetings are getting down to business now. I'm sure that Joe will cover the last month in detail, but don't forget that you can also have your say on the parish website or parish Facebook page where the event is posted.
The youth club now has a couple of laptops. Although they also have fun, the main reason for the laptops is practical. We will help school leavers put together CVs, personal statements, and job applications. I also intend to offer a service to people who missed out on learning about emails, but would like to communicate with distant friends. We could get together in the Millennium House Cafe. Do you think there will be any takers?
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.
Sunday, 15 June 2014
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.
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.
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