The Latest from Your Parish Councillor - Martin Corney (Parish Pump - November 2015)

I want to tell you about the Caradon Community Network Area Panel this month. When Cornwall Council became a unitary authority the old Caradon District Council was abolished, but this left a big gap between the parish and town councils and the new unitary authority. This gap has been filled by community network areas; each has a panel which is the main way Cornwall Council communicates with local communities. These panels meet every two months and consist of the local Cornwall Councillors and representatives from the Town and Parish Councils. Three community network areas have been set up covering the old Caradon District Council area; Liskeard & Looe, Cornwall Gateway (Saltash & Torpoint), and us in Caradon Community Network Area. I attend these meetings to represent and report back to our Parish Council. These panels have no powers or budgets, but do provide an opportunity to question Cornwall Council officers, Devon & Cornwall emergency services; fire, police and ambulance or any other local service providers. Recently we have heard from the Devon & Cornwall Police Commissioner. He explained months ago that with the cuts imposed by government, there would have to be cuts in policing services. This has now been detailed as the closure of 30 police stations, including local stations; Callington and Liskeard, both of which have been running down for years. With this reduction of policing, the emergency and non-emergency phone services have become even more important. We know that there have been problems with the 101 non-emergency phone service. I heard that some times you had to wait up to 45 minutes for a response, but the service is supposed to have been improved recently. We are trying to get the police service to demonstrate this, with meaningful statistics.

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 2015)

I am please to say that our Neighbourhood Development Plan is moving forward with two new members joining the committee. This committee has not met for a long time. Last year the NDP committee presented our work at public meetings, both in Pensilva and St Ive. At these meetings we asked you to tell us what you thought the important issues were for the future planning of our parish. This guided us as to what questions to ask in the questionnaire that everyone was asked to complete last year. The results of the questionnaire have been analysed and the report is available on the parish website. This now needs to be turned into planning policies in a plan that we can vote on in a referendum. Planning decisions for the parish will then have to be based on what we have democratically decided locally, instead of just being whatever Cornwall Council choose.

Transferring the management of Millennium House from the Parish Council to Pensilva Community Association is taking a lot longer than expected. The trouble with having volunteers running the Parish Council is that we only have our spare time to get work done. This is also a new undertaking that we want and need to get right, but is a steep learning curve. We are however making progress.

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 2015)

Peter Haines has been welcomed back onto the Parish Council after many years of absence. His previous experience as a Parish Councillor makes him another invaluable addition to our ranks. We still have vacancies on the Parish Council, so if you think you can contribute your time and enthusiasm, please contact the Parish Clerk, Leesa Childs.

Congratulations and thanks to the Millennium House Events Group who organised Pensilva Carnival Week this year. This shows how the local community can run some things just as well as the parish council, if not better. I think this shows that Pensilva Community Association CIO running Millennium House is a positive way forwards.

As the new Universal Credit system is rolled out to replace a number of benefits it is possible that some of us will have financial difficulties if the change doesn't happen smoothly. If you know of anyone in temporary difficulties, don't forget that the food bank where I volunteer in Callington is there to help, also the one in Liskeard.

I heard recently that our rural buses can be flagged down on a 'hail and ride' basis. I think this means that if the bus driver considers that it is safe to stop, we can wave them down at places other than the standard bus stops.

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 2015)

David Waddington has been welcomed back onto the Parish Council after many years of absence. His previous experience as a Parish Councillor makes him an invaluable addition to our ranks. We still have vacancies on the Parish Council, so if you think you can contribute your time and enthusiasm, please contact the Parish Clerk, Leesa who is also a new addition to the team.

The Butchers Arms Preservation Society has decided to turn down the new owner's offer of a tenancy agreement to run the pub, since the terms were not considered to be workable. The pub is still registered as an Asset of Community Value, and the Butchers Arms Preservation Society would consider purchase if it comes on the market.


The resurfacing of Higher Road Pensilva has reinstated the speed restriction cushions. Many people asked for these traffic calming measures to be left out of the replaced surface, but Cornwall Council told our Cornwall Councillor that it would actually be more expensive to change the paperwork, than to put the bumps back. It does occur to me that this might be a blessing in disguise. Before the bumps were added, the traffic on Higher Road used to rocket through the village, endangering life and limb. There was a clamour to do something about speeding traffic and so the speed cushions were added. Maybe they are a good thing. What do you think?

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 2015)

There has been an interesting development on the planning application in St Ive for change of use of the Butchers Arms public house to a residential dwelling with Bed and Breakfast facilities and a village shop/post office. The Butchers Arms Preservation Society has been formed, and the pub registered as an Asset of Community Value. At last month's parish council meeting opponents of the change forcefully expressed their views to the new owner. He has withdrawn the application for change of use and offered the community a tenancy agreement. This is an opportunity for the community to run the pub. The offer will only be open until the end of July, so if we want to take up this offer, the time is rapidly running out.


The Community Emergency Plan for St Ive Parish is nearly in place. Unlikely though it may seem now in high summer, it is possible that a snow storm could block our roads, leaving many people stranded and in need of help. There are other possibilities that have to planned for. Mostly we would just be managing the situation until the professional emergency services take over. Copies of the plan and grab bags with vital kit will be stored strategically in Pensilva and St Ive. This plan has been worked on by our Cornwall Councillor's local working group, and under Cornwall Council's guidance for a long time, but is nearly done.
  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 2015)

At the AGM on 11-May-2015 I was elected to be Chair of the Parish Council for the next year. Alan Moss is the new Vice-Chair. Unfortunately Linda Olver has had to resign from the Parish Council, and we thank her for all her work for the parish.

There are two planning applications that need to be mentioned. The first is a new application in St Ive for change of use of the Butchers Arms public house to a residential dwelling with Bed and Breakfast facilities and a village shop/post office. Although I can see that getting back our shop/post office would be positive, the survey for the Neighbourhood Plan was very strongly in favour of retaining the pub. The second planning application that the architect and housing association involved presented to the Parish Council, is for a new housing estate to be built on the fields between Amanda Way and the industrial estate on the St Ive road. This not only removes the buffer zone between residential accommodation and the noise and smells of the industrial estate, but is not a small-scale development, as required by the Neighbourhood Plan survey. Your opinions of these developments are welcome. Comments on the Butchers Arms change of use can be added to the Cornwall Council planning website (reference PA15/02306). The housing estate already has the pre-application closed (reference PA14/03812/PREAPP) but existing documentation can be viewed.

On Fore Down some unofficial 15 mph signs have been erected, vandalised and removed. I know this is just outside the parish boundary, but if the person who put them up wants the damaged signs back, please contact the parish office.
 
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 - May 2015)

In the Millennium House Forum Working Group, we've made more progress on transferring the running of Millennium House from the Parish Council to the new charity, Pensilva Community Association. The constitution of the charity has been agreed with the Parish Council, and now it has to be approved by the Charity Commission. I am one of the four founding trustees. There is still a lot of work to be done, getting the paperwork right for the contracts. Joe has done most of the paperwork, including the business plan which has been agreed by the Parish Council.

Sue has moved on, so we are looking for a new Parish Clerk. David Waddington has volunteered to do the work temporarily, but you should see an advert for the permanent job elsewhere in this Pump.
 
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.