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Fish and Chip Placards in Gerrans Parish (Update)

10.11.11: Dear Ms Brigg
 

Thank you for the in-depth update.
 

That all seems satisfactory and, as you mentioned, the offending signs I see have now been removed (albeit, I'm sorry to say, only from the Gerrans parish). However, as this is the only parish you have jurisdiction over and, as resident, the only one I am entitled to complain about, I shall leave the other Parishes - and/or their residents - to react according to their own conscience on the matter.

With thanks for your sterling work.
 
Professor Falcon

09.11.11: Dear Professor Falcon

Further to my email of October 13th I can inform you that the situation is as follows:

At the time of your first complaint, Chairman of the Council Ken Symons had indeed spoken with the vendor from Indian Queens about his advertising and was reassured at the time that he would remove his signs. I informed Chairman Symons of your complaint and the matter was discussed at the next Council meeting.  The Council considered their right to request that CC highways  remove the signs however were concerned that Highways would show no discretion and other business owners such as Collins Sailmakers etc would also have their signs removed.

Therefore, Chairman Symons agreed again to speak with the vendor, requesting that he remove his signs or they would be taken away by Highways.  The vendor agreed, and having spoken with Chairman Symons this evening, he was aware that signs had been removed but one remained at Tregassa.  He would pursue this.

I hope this reassures you that the Parish Council is taking action on the matter. I have also been asked by Roseland Online for an update and will be informing Mark of the PC's actions.

Kind regards

Jayne Brigg

08.11.11: Dear Ms. Brigg (Gerrans Parish Council Clerk, ccd to Roseland Online)

Pendower Beach Hotel Development (To read more about the development, click here)

Dear Editor

Having looked at the proposal both as a resident of the Roseland and a surveyor, I consider the proposals represent an overdevelopment of the site. 

The whole point of an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty designation is to preserve the amenity. I consider that because of the scale and nature of these proposals this will be diminished for most.  Imagine how many Lorries per day will be servicing this development once it is completed - on a narrow road which is not suitable for such traffic.  There will be increased levels of noise, light and pollution as a result - all impacting on the natural environment. The proposed routes to protect the wetland are acknowledgment of this important habitat, but do not really protect it - the development will put paid to that!

The proposals mean that the density of development in this location is greatly increased, way beyond the original footprint and completely out of keeping with other properties in the locality. What is suitable for south of St Austell is not appropriate for the Roseland.

I recommend that these proposals are turned down as a matter of priority - this is a unique location which requires preserving.

Dear Editor

I have just discovered your website and as the owner of an apartment at Pendower Court, I was very interested to read your report on the latest development in the Pendower Beach Hotel saga. We live up in the Cotswolds most of the time but get down to Pendower as often as we can.

The new plans appear to be a great improvement on the original “Spaceship” design which filled everyone with such horror. However, our main concern is still the access to the new development via Rocky Lane.

Almost every day in the summer, and most weekends in the winter, Rocky Lane already becomes gridlocked with cars trying to get in and out of the little car park at the bottom. Our private visitors car park at Pendower Court is continually in use as an escape route to allow cars to pass. If we are to have a large hotel down at the Beach House site, something must be done about the road to cope with just the normal traffic that the hotel will generate. During the building phase of the development, how anyone thinks they are going to get twenty ton contractors lorries up and down the lane I really don’t know. It will be a nightmare. In fact as the lane stands at the moment, it would be virtually impossible. I doubt if a twenty ton truck would manage to even get round the first corner up by the Pendower Court drive entrance and a long wheelbase vehicle would not stand a chance.

One suggestion that I made, at the first public meeting back in 2008, was to rebuild the bridge over the stream and make the whole road “One Way Only” through to Veryan. However, this still would not cope with contractors’ vehicles during the building phase, which is quite another problem, and my idea, surprisingly, did not go down well with the residents on the other side of the stream.

St Just Self-Build Affordable Housing

Dear Editor

During the last few months I have been corresponding with Cornwall Council re the misuse of Exceptions Site Policy, the gifting and allocation of building plots and future affordability of the Self Build Affordable Homes planned for the St Just Cross Exceptions Site. In view of Roseland-Online’s helpful and interesting coverage of the Gerrans Hill Development you[r readers] may be interested in [this] correspondence:-

In early 2006 Council Officers, then Carrick now Cornwall, were told by local parishioners that the site they had chosen, St Just Cross, was unsuitable because it included the outfall pipe and drainage field for the adjacent cottages’ sewerage system. 4 years [on], and unknown administrative hours after invoking Exceptions Site Policy on the grounds that there was a perceived ‘pressing need for 8 Affordable homes which could not be met by any other means’, the Exceptions Site remains untouched and all the members of the Self Build Group have been offered Association Affordable homes - which only a few have accepted, although, for the purposes of justifying the Exceptions Site they are all still counted as being in pressing need of an Affordable home, which cannot be met by any other means.

Work has not yet started on the 8 supposedly desperately needed Affordable homes, since although the Council knew about the sewerage outfall pipe and drainage field, for some unknown reason and against their best practice, Carrick Officers, just prior to being unified as Cornwall Officers, went ahead and released the funding to buy this blighted land. Many of these same individuals, but now as Cornwall Officers, claim that buying this site was a bargain since 5, possibly 6, of the 8 homes planned in 2006 may still be built in 2011.

All those in need of Affordable Housing were recently asked to re-register, with Homechoice so that the housing needs of the whole County could be centrally and uniformly prioritised. Despite having spent considerable time and funds setting up this equitable system, its Housing Register plays no part in the selection of the Self Build Group or the allocation of the building plots on the St Just Cross Exceptions Site. The gifting of the building plots on the St Just Cross Exceptions Site to the current self selected membership of the SBG will be administer by the non-elected self appointed trustees of the Roseland Community Land Trust.

The Council places great store on the future affordability of these Self Build homes, but whereas the self builders will enjoy being gifted the land and being freed many costs, fees and taxes, when these properties next come onto the affordable housing market, they will be priced at some percentage of their evaluation as a detached 3 bedroom home standing on its own land and will be compared to the surrounding houses - even heavily discounted they will still be unaffordable to the vast majority of those most in need of local housing.

I fully accept that there is a need for affordable housing in the Parish but cannot see how these 3 bedroom detached S106 properties will ease the worst problems since the main demand appears to be for rented, 1 and 2 bedroom starter homes as per the 2/3^rds+ housing mix at Gerrans. Some of the Self Build Group are not amongst the most deprived tradesmen of our Parish, but will all be excused the trouble of getting onto the Homechoice Housing Register as well as receiving a substantial handout in the form of building land for a peppercorn £1, Planning concessions and exemptions from, or at least reductions to, a variety of development costs, fees and taxes as a leg up into ownership of a full sized family home.

However, some of the less fortunate in our Parish, who may well be in greater need of affordable housing, must join the queue to be screened, assessed and prioritized so they can be put on the Homechoice Housing Register to await their turn to bid for an appropriate sized home, all of which they must do without the benefit of any concessions or handouts from the Public purse.

Your [readers’] views on my claims [below] and the Council’s defences would be very much appreciated:-

Yours sincerely - Mrs A. Marshall.

Roseland Online have sent a copy of this email to the people at HomeChoice to obtain a statement. Here is their official and in-depth reply:

____________________________________________________________________________

Roseland 'Temporary' Road Signs

Dear Editor

Have you noticed that the Roseland has come out into a red and white rash? Popping up almost everywhere I have been recently are signs which proclaim 'Temporary road surface'.

Now I may be becoming a 'grumpy old man' but I don't suppose that any of us expect the present parlous state of our roads to be regarded a permanent. So why does Cornwall Highways feel that it is necessary to state the obvious?

And not only do these signs have irritant value; they cost money. However little each sign costs to produce there is the additional cost of survey where the signs are to be placed, (some places at least three signs within a hundred metres of so of each other), but also there is the cost of the timber posts the signs are mounted on and the cost of the time taken to erect them.

All of these costs come out of the Highways budget - that is the pockets of Council Tax payers. Wouldn't that money have been better spent on filling just a few pot-holes?

Just a final point: Dog owners are advised not to put up signs saying 'Dangerous dog' or anything similar as it has been held by the courts that the owner knew that the dog was dangerous and if the dog attacked someone the owner had failed to control the dog. Are Cornwall Highways not leaving themselves open to similar accusations that if damage is caused to vehicles or accidents are caused by the condition of the road surface they must be liable as they knew about it and did not take any action to prevent the damage or accident?

Of course, if they were found negligent then any compensation would ultimately have to come out of the pockets of Council Tax payers!

Fr Doug Robins

Agree/disagree with Doug? Let us know your thoughts and we'll print them here.

Re: Lighter Later Campaign News Article:

Dear friends, 

I'm writing with a slightly unusual request: could you help end daylight robbery?

I know these round-robin emails can be a bit impersonal but this one could really change our lives for the better. We've all been enjoying the bright summer evenings, but from June 21 - the summer solstice - it's a sad fact that the nights start drawing in and the days become shorter. However, the outlook doesn't have to be so gloomy: Lighter Later (www.lighterlater.org) is campaigning to get the clocks moved forward by one hour so that it stays lighter for longer in the evenings. That means an average of 55 minutes of extra usable sunlight each day - whether you're playing sports, enjoying extra time in the pub's beer garden, or simply getting some valuable vitamin D from the sun's rays.

Lighter Later has been working since March to stop the current 'daylight robbery' which sees hours of valuable sunlight wasted while most of us are asleep, and makes us use expensive and energy-hungry electric lighting to keep out the dark nights. So far, more than 16,000 people have seen the light by visiting www.lighterlater.org and signing-up.

By moving Britain's clocks forwards by one hour throughout the year, research shows that it would cut at least half a million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year, save lives on our roads and give a boost to sport, leisure and domestic tourism. What's more it's practically free and it could happen right away. The research is so compelling that on June 21, Lighter Later visited parliament to present the evidence to a room full of MPs and lords.

Changing our clocks so that we are awake for more of the time that the sun is out is a no-brainer. So why not join me and the thousands of other supporters at www.lighterlater.org?

Tim Light - King Harry Ferry

Ladies Day - Veryan Players... I hope everyone knows about the Veryan Players latest production! Ladies day is an exuberant and up the minute comedy set at Royal Ascot when it was held at York Race Course a few years ago. 

If you have holidaymakers with you, then they are sure to be entertained by this great evening out. Some tickets are still available for this Thursday, and next Wednesday. There are still a few available for the last night which is next Thursday. Have a look at the Roseland On Line Calendar  for Wednesday 19^th August for details of how to get your tickets - You won’t regret it! By the way - the last night is also Big Hat Night - Ladies, join in the fun by wearing your biggest and best bonnet! ( I guess men in "Toppers" would also be welcome! - (Roseland Online review coming Friday! MDH)

Ian Bennett

Bio-degradable waste bags - I agree with you that these 'experimental' bags are totally unfit for the purpose, as they start to degrade too quickly, especially when collected fortnightly. They burst as soon as they are lifted - and the resulting mess left on the pavement!

Mine are kept at the side of the bungalow - not in the sun - and protected as much as possible by polythene sheeting. When I complained to Cornwall Council I was told to keep them in my garage. I was under the impression that garages were for cars not garden waste!!

I hope you will be successful in getting this problem solved.

Yours sincerely

Sue Jeremy - Gerrans