Why I'm standing for election, some thoughts about the Town Council and Cornwall Council

This is a blog about why I'm standing for Cornwall Council for Mebyon Kernow- The Party for Cornwall for my home area the Penzance East division. I just wanted to outline a few reasons why I think I'd be a great Cornwall Councillor and I think I could do a lot of good for this town. In this blog mostly focused on the relationship between Cornwall Council and the Town Council, check back for more posts soon. Unfortunately I haven't been able to fight this election in the way in which I'd hoped, my wife's father was very ill for the last few months and sadly passed away on Easter Sunday. My thoughts and attention have obviously been with my wife and my family at this trying time. I mention it, not because I want some form of sympathy, I just wanted to be clear that I've not been as active as I'd like to have been and planned to have been this year.

Firstly, I had anticipated fighting 2 simultaneous elections on May the Fourth both to Cornwall Council and for re-election to Penzance Town Council. Luckily for me, there will be no vote in Penzance East for the Town Council so I'm de facto re-elected, which I'm obviously delighted with. However I think it's a great shame that there wasn't more interest in the election for the Town Council, there needs to be elections in every ward. I think it's rather telling that there are 6 candidates for Cornwall Council for Penzance East from all of the parties (Joseph Bennie Conservative, Jonathan How Green, Tim Dwelly Labour, Richard Goedegebuur Liberal Democrat, Mebyon Kernow and Paul Nicholson UKIP) but there were only 4 standing for the town (Future for Penzance, Green, Labour and MK). This is partly due to the fact that only the Green candidate and myself are standing for both and we are the only 2 Cornwall Council candidates that actually live in Penzance East. Interestingly last time there was a Green candidate (elected) 2 Lib Dems (1 elected 1 not), a Labour candidate (elected) a Tory (not elected) and a Future for Penzance candidate (not elected). Both Tories and Lib Dems don't have a candidate for the town council for Penzance East this time. 

Penzance Town Council is growing in importance, the budget increases year on year the amount of services we provide is massively increasing (weed spraying, CCTV, public toilets etc). As austerity continues and as Cornwall Council's main approach to this is devolution, it is up to the town council to either stand by and watch CC drop these services or catch them. Inevitably the importance of Cornwall Council to Penzance will diminish and it's easy to see that the town council will scoop up most of what Penwith District Council used to do. This is to be welcomed, even if it means slowly un-ravelling the great centralising mistake of unitary in 2009 by the Lib Dems. Devolving services to the lowest possible level is the best approach in my opinion but the town needs more people engaged in the town council and although a lot of great work has been done in the last 4 years PZTC needs to continue to improve. We need to be at a a stage where the town council is just as important as Cornwall Council come election times and to the political parties. 

It's my belief that Penzance East needs a Cornwall Councillor that is also a town councillor to provide more local input and to work better together for the good of this town. On a practical level, it would really encouraging to see the next Cornwall Councillor (and this goes for all of Penzance) engaged in the devolution process between the 2 authorities rather than standing idly by. The failed devolution bid for the Jubilee Pool is a prime example of this and how much work needs to be done to get the 2 councils around the same table on equal terms. This is just one example the story of devolution for this town again and again, PZTC has been eager to take over facilities that are in good order and with some form of funding to cushion the blow to Penzance ratepayers but this seldom happens. 

Cornwall Council's parking plan for the town is another great example. Penzance is a town centre that needs cheaper parking and there are problems (caused in some way by expensive parking in CC car parks) with residents parking. Anyone that lives in this town will tell you that these are the 2 problems and they need fixing. CC plans didn't go anywhere, as nobody was really happy with them, nobody felt they addressed the issues and they were widely seen by people as an attempt for Cornwall Council to make yet more money from people parking in Penzance. Unsurprisingly PZTC voted to oppose these plans. Now we're back to square one and still problems with residents parking. It is clear that local input was wholly lacking throughout this whole process. What we need is to send someone up to Truro that will fight our corner and explain to the great and good at CC what this town wants and convince them that talking to the town council and working with us, will produce better results and actually fix problems. 

In the next 4 years the devolution agenda will continue and we need a strong voice for Penzance at Cornwall Council to get this town a good deal. The 2 councils need to work together better on devolution of services and for decision making in this town. If elected as Cornwall Councillor for this area I would work hard to build bridges between the 2 authorities and not shy away from the difficult work that this would entail. It is for the benefit of Penzance that our voice is heard at Cornwall Council through press releases and public statements but also and importantly in meeting rooms, negotiations and the business of administering and managing the public services of this town.  

A summary/ explanation of the Mebyon Kernow manifesto for the Cornwall Council elections

This was something I put together to illustrate Mebyon Kernow policies before the Penzance Chamber of Commerce election hustings. I thought I'd share it here, it was originally going to go on the PZ Chamber website but I don't think any other parties put forward material, too busy slagging each other off and shamelessly claiming credit for anything good that has ever happened in Penzance, (if you've read their leaflets you'll know what I mean), leaving them no time to talk about actual policies. Me I'm a bit old fashioned I think politics is about policy and manifestos should mean a great deal more than they currently do. That we can talk about attracting investment, providing leadership and protecting the vulnerable until the cows come home but without a plan not much will change. All of the below is relevant to all of Cornwall, for those considering voting Mebyon Kernow in the Cornwall Council elections please read on.

A brief summary of the Mebyon Kernow manifesto

and an explanation of our principles

The Mebyon Kernow manifesto is online on our website

 https://www.mebyonkernow.org/policies/

there you can read the summary and download the pdf versions of it.

Here is a short summary of the manifesto’s 10 points. As you’re probably

aware Cllr Phil Rendle is standing in the Central division and Rob Simmons in the East division, both are standing for Penzance Town Council and Cornwall Council.

  1.       Working to restore faith in local government

MK has committed itself to strong candidates in this election who will work hard to champion their communities and promote and protect good quality public services in their areas. They will work with Penzance Town Council and represent the views and interests of that body at Cornwall Council. MK wants devolution to Cornwall and within Cornwall, for town and parish councils to take a bigger role. So more decisions are made where they matter most, by people that will listen to the electorate in those areas.

   2.       Protecting public services

MK will continue to oppose the austerity measures imposed by central government that are wreaking havoc on both the Cornish economy and our public services. In Penzance we have seen, hundreds of jobs lost to centralisation by successive government and councils, the tax office, the courts, Penwith district council, the downgrading of West Cornwall hospital and Poltair’s recent temporary closure. Penzance’s economy does not benefit from these job cutting measures and asset stripping measures and MK will continue to fight against them.

   3.       Winning fair funding for Cornwall

MK has long championed the right of Cornwall to enjoy the same infrastructure and service spending as other parts of the UK. The continued underfunding of our public services denys us millions of pounds every year to our economy. The city of Sheffield has about the same population as Cornwall yet has 3 major hospitals, not only does this situation effect care but it also means less jobs here and people paying more to get to hospital. Transport spending in Cornwall too is woeful, give or take tinkering with roundabouts hardly any of our road tax is being spent here. Our train services continue to get worse with time as elsewhere Labour built HS1 and the present government plans HS2.

   4.       Protecting the less well off and vulnerable

At the moment the people most in need of help are the ones feeling the pinch most. Benefits are being cut, bedroom tax and council tax benefit cuts. People in these situations need help and support this is what MK councillors will work hard to do, we need to make people’s lives better because it’s the right thing to do and putting people into poverty helps no one. We think that voluntary and community groups need more help and support for the excellent work they already do. MK believes that pay at Cornwall Council is wrong, many council workers exist below the living wage yet at the top wages have grown to eye popping figures, this needs to be better balanced, MK will push to review pay at Cornwall Council.

   5.       Safeguarding the Cornish economy

Cornwall’s GDP in 2009 was 72% of the EU average, worse than Slovakia and Slovenia. This is before the full force of austerity was felt. We believe Cornwall Council should take the lead on developing a strategy, to seek investment, to use natural resources better and get investment in high technology industries such as the renewables sector. We believe that the LEP should be made accountable and controlled by elected politicians. That the body should be doing more to aid small and medium businesses already in Cornwall as well as seeking others to set up shop here.

   6.       Developing Pro Cornwall planning policies

We do not believe in the logic of housing led growth and have argued that the Core Strategy figures for the number of houses over the next 20 years is too high. That the focus at the moment is too heavily weighted in favour of profits at the expense of the needs of Cornwall’s communities for proper local needs affordable housing. We do not want to see a Cornwall where the interests of residents, communities and our countryside are sidelined in favour of big business. Whether this be housing estates or the worrying trend of out of town supermarkets and shopping centres.

   7.       Delivering proper local needs housing

Local families should have a right to housing this is something we believe firmly in. The problem that needs to be addressed is the fact wages have not kept pace with house prices. We believe that smaller scale developments across Cornwall is a better way of providing housing. That the council itself and housing associations and trusts based here in Cornwall, employing Cornish workers is the way to deliver it.

   8.       Protecting the Cornish environment

The threat of climate change must be addressed here in Cornwall. Cornwall Council must develop an Environmental Action Plan, to reduce emissions and find ways we can save energy. We must also look to ensure energy security in Cornwall by investment in renewables such as wind turbines, solar panels on buildings, tidal energy and wave hub. MK will work to make Cornwall self-sustainable in terms of food production, reducing food miles and supporting Cornish food production.

   9.       Making Cornwall Council democratic

Decision making at Cornwall Council has been centralised to Cornwall and to a select few in the cabinet. This has resulted in informal meetings where the majority of decisions are made behind closed doors, with a handful of councillors and senior officers holding sway. This does not serve democracy, accountability or openness. MK will work to make Cornwall Council democratic and listen to people better. We believe that the council should be ruled by committees so councillors from opposition parties and from across Cornwall can take a part in the decision making process and question and hold to account the leadership and the officers. People are not listened to by the council, MK wants more participation with voters in the policy development process, so people have a say in the decisions that affect them.

   10.   Winning greater recognition for Cornwall

One of the core aims of Mebyon Kernow is to promote Cornwall’s unique identity, history, culture and language. To promote pride in our historic nation and win recognition for our identity by the powers that be. We will continue to oppose policies that impinge on this, whether they be south west regionalisation, Devonwall or the dreaded pasty tax.  We want Cornwall to have a greater say in how we are governed and we are the only party committed to creating a legislative Cornish assembly. So decisions can be made in Cornwall and we can make specific Cornish policies to help our economy grow and for it to be something one and all can once again take pride in.

Any questions or comments, requests for posters, or to join, go to mebyonkernow.org or find MK on facebook https://en-gb.facebook.com/MebyonKernow and twitter https://twitter.com/MebyonKernow or on  google +

As always thanks for reading, I'm really humbled by the thousands of visitors I've had over the election period to this blog and I hope people have come to realise despite what others might say MK and myself are serious contenders in this election.