The Latest from Your Parish Councillor - Martin Corney (Parish Pump - January 2017)

I am no longer Chair of the Parish Council; just an ordinary Councillor. The EGM on 28th November 2016 to discuss legal advice on the correct procedure for leasing Millennium House to any organisation such as Pensilva Community Association resulted in three Parish Councillors walking out of the meeting and resigning along with a fourth. The EGM was held in closed session so the minutes would not normally be made public. The Parish Council has decided to issue a statement about the EGM which should be in this issue of the Parish Pump. Since this EGM was so significant to the community and the future of Millennium House, I wanted to make the minutes of the EGM public but had no support from the remaining Parish Councillors at the December meeting. I also disagree with the statement about the EGM as I do not think it accurately reflects the legal advice we were given. Because of this I could no longer remain as Chair. I decided to remain as a Parish Councillor because we have been reduced to five when we should be thirteen, which puts us in a difficult position. At least two Parish Councillors are needed to make payments from the bank account and this has been me, the Vice Chair and one other who has now resigned. I am also the only one adding anything to the parish website. We are not allowed to recruit new Parish Councillors because we are within six months of the next election in May 2017.  The Parish Council precept (the Parish Council part of our council tax) for 2017-18 has been set at £64,000 which is a small reduction on the current precept of £64,770.

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 - December 2016)

As I write this the Parish Council have just received proper legal advice on the correct procedure for leasing Millennium House to any organisation such as Pensilva Community Association. By the time you read this the Parish Council will have held an EGM to discuss this legal advice and decide the way forward for Millennium House which is still being funded as a community centre by more than half of the Parish Council precept (the Parish Council part of our council tax). The Parish Council is also in the process of setting next year's precept.

If there is a demand for it, I am thinking of providing free guidance in the community centre to people who would like to use a computer for basic things like sending emails and searching for information on the internet but don't know how. My elderly father has just worked out how to order his regular NHS prescription using the internet, which saves him a trip to his GP practice. I imagine that many in the parish could benefit from this service. If you would like to take advantage of this offer, please contact me and I will make arrangements in the new year.

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 - November 2016)

To continue last months planning news, plans for the Butchers Arms to be reopened supported by two retail units between the pub and the garage in St Ive have not been supported by St Ive Parish Council. For (PA16/07605) the Council has serious concerns that; The proposed refurbishment and extension of the pub does not reflect the Listed Premises or the historic nature of the immediate area. The large extension to the premises would be better sited around the side. No Business Plan was provided with this application. Originally the income raised from the sale/lease of the retail units and accommodation was to refurbish and subsidise the pub. For (PA16/07606) the Commercial units do not reflect the Listed Premises or historic nature of immediate area. This development is overbearing on the Listed Premises. The completion of the refurbishment and extension of the Pub is reliant on the revenue raised from the Commercial Units.

Vandalism is becoming a problem around Millennium House. Several outside lights, provided for the safety of our community centre users, have been deliberately smashed. The replacement of these lights is not covered by insurance since the value is below our surcharge, so we all have to pay extra on our community charge. There is also a problem with litter being deliberately thrown out of cars most evenings in the car park. We will be taking extra security measures and will prosecute offenders.

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 - October 2016)

There is a lot of planning news this month. Cornwall Council's planning committee has turned down the proposed estate of 46 dwellings (PA16/00182) between Pensilva industrial estate and Amanda Way. This followed the Parish Council and community view expressed at our public meeting but goes against planning officer recommendation, so will probably be appealed. Plans have been submitted (PA16/07605 & PA16/07606) for the Butchers Arms to be reopened supported by two retail units between the pub and the garage in St Ive. Diagonally opposite the pub, listed building consent (PA16/07006) has been submitted by The Emily Trust to restore The Chantry to the original configuration when it was the village rectory where Emily Hobhouse was born. Emily is probably the most famous person ever born in our parish. She is certainly as famous in South Africa for her campaign against British concentration camps of the Boer War as Florence Nightingale is over here. Many visitors should be attracted to her birth place. The final big planning application (PA16/02519/PREAPP) covers the fields behind the new Ford Close estate in St Ive and appears to extend the estate to about three or four times it's current size.


If you see a problem with potholes or other road problems you can report them directly to  Cornwall Council Highways online at http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/transport-and-streets/roads-highways-and-pavements/report-a-problem-with-a-road-highway-or-footway/ or by phone to 0300 1234 222.

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 - September 2016)

Last month's Pensilva Gala Day was fun. My photos of the day are on Facebook and shared to various related pages; Pensilva Carnival Week and St Ive Parish Council. A petition to save Millennium House was circulated on the day and handed in to the Parish Council. I have heard that at least one Councillor has been saying that Millennium House will close but I can assure everyone that that is not what the majority of Councillors want. There has been clarification of the process we need to follow if the management of Millennium House is to be handed over to the community. Unfortunately this means more work and more delay which is very frustrating for everyone.

I have had more complaints about dog fouling. If you have a problem with dog behaviour (noise, fouling, strays) you should contact Cornwall Council's Dog Welfare and Enforcement Service. They are available on Cornwall Council's website and email to publicprotection@cornwall.gov.uk or phone 0300 1234 212. If dogs are dangerous or in danger then you should contact the Police. Please remember that dogs are not allowed on the recreation grounds because they can deposit parasites that could be picked up by the children who play there. These parasites have been known to blind children.

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 - August 2016)

As the Summer holidays; with gala, carnival and fete season comes round once again, the business of the parish carries on. As ever the Parish Council is trying to save money, so we are going to mow the recreation grounds ourselves instead of putting the work out to tender.

Although Ruth Wilson is new to the Parish Council she has agreed to chair the Parks and Open Spaces Committee. As well as the usual maintenance of recreation grounds, play equipment, cemetery and bus shelters, the committee is looking at the issue of allotments. There are currently no allotments in the parish. One of the features of housing in Pensilva, and a key feature of it's World Heritage Site status, are the large garden plots associated with the miners' cottages. This obviously provided space for growing vegetables, and may be the reason we have no allotments. Maybe because of this there was no need for allotments back then. But now we have lots of new housing with small gardens, this would explain why the 2014 survey showed a demand for hundreds of allotments.

The Neighbourhood Development Plan has finally received the grant money to print copies of the survey report for those who would like a copy. We have also found out that we need to coordinate our plan with all the others in the Caradon Community Network Area in order to ensure that the Cornwall Council Local Plan targets for housing are met. If we don't then our Parish Plan will be invalid.

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 - July 2016)

As I write this, the tragic news of the death of Jo Cox MP is the major news item. Like all of us I was shocked and horrified at this violent political assassination, but I was surprised at the strength of own my personal reaction. As a Parish Councillor I may only be at the lowest level of the political structure, but even I have been physically assaulted, just because I was a Parish Councillor standing up for my integrity. This incident from the past clearly resonated and upset me far more than I expected. I mention this since it continues an ongoing theme of reminding everyone that Parish Councillors are all volunteers who get no financial benefit for the work they do. Why do we volunteer to be Parish Councillors? Mostly I think we want to make the community work better. We all have different ideas about what this means, but we generally agree about most things and work with integrity for everyone in the parish. For this voluntary work for the community by ordinary people we should be treated with respected.

The workload of the Parish Council has increased so I am making more use of committees to do the work and bring completed plans to the Parish Council meetings. This way we can hopefully keep the council meetings down to less than the recommended maximum time of two hours.

The slow process of transferring the management of Millennium House to PCA still continues and we now have clarification of the exact process so there is light at the end of the tunnel.

The Neighbourhood Development Plan is progressing. The Working Group met with the residents of St Ive to hear opinions about the development of the Butchers Arms supported by retail units and industrial units in the field opposite.

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.