Meeting with Premier Inn about proposed Branwell's Mill development

As many of you will have read online and in the local papers. Premier Inn are interested in setting up a hotel in Branwell's Mill in Penzance. Last night members of the Town Council were invited to a presentation by the agents from the hotel chain in St John's Hall. The Town Council rightly has a clear position that it is neutral on this development. Due to Code of Conduct rules and particularly Section 25 of the Localism Act, councillors must not enter debates with a closed mind. Or to put in plain terms the council and councillors can not be seen to have made a decision before the meeting and before they see the facts before them of that meeting. As with any planning application in the parish of Penzance it will be reviewed, debated and voted on by Penzance Town Council  Added to the fact that I've seen a presentation for the developers but not been able to speak to hear other sides of the story. This post is primarily to inform yourselves of what is happening rather than give an opinion or discuss and analyse the case for or against.

To give the facts and figures as presented last night. They are looking to present a planning application in July, with the hope of finishing construction and opening in last 2017 or early 2018. The plan (at this stage at least) is to have a 61 bedroom hotel with a 55 cover restaurant. Construction works, over all seem to be to keep the existing structure with internal modifications. The timber window bays are to be removed and there will be a small single floor foyer/ lobby constructed at the existing entrance pictured right. They did assure the meeting that they are working with Conservation Officers at Cornwall Council on plans.

The hotel's agents told us that the development would represent a £6 million investment. That the site would probably employ 16 full time equivalent posts. They seem confident that there is adequate demand in the town for another hotel and point to their research that shows that nearly 17,000 searches were made for Penzance on the Premier Inn website in the last 12 months. They claim that the knock on effect of having the hotel for the town would equal £1.95 million a year.

Obviously a great deal of this is early stages and it is in the pre-application stage. Obviously more will be known then. Although as I stated above the Town Council does not formally have a position there were a number of concerns raised by members about issues such as the knock on effect to existing businesses, parking (as the hotel is not planning on providing any) the poor pedestrian access to the site and the fact the building is both prominent and in a conservation area amongst other things. This is a significant development for the town and in a very significant area definitely one to watch with interest. Any thoughts or views please don't hesitate to get in contact.

A welcome u turn by Andrew George on planning echoing MK policy

Plagiarising MK's recent policy announcement Andrew George has spoken in parliament about how planning should be devolved to Cornwall. Which goes to show if MK can exert this pressure without an MP imagine what we could do with proper representation for Cornwall in parliament.

No doubt with a keen eye on this announcement by MK:

"All planning decisions should be taken in Cornwall: The leader of Mebyon Kernow has challenged central government to democratise the planning system and for all planning decisions to be taken in Cornwall." Link

Or these words from my Conference speech:

"Mebyon Kernow wants a planning system that Kow Tows not to developers and the interests of profit but Kow Tows to the people of Cornwall. So we can be masters of our own destiny, decide what planning policies we want and what housing numbers suit us.

The present centralised planning system favours developers and works hard for their needs and wants. Yet it ignores the needs and wants of our communities. The present planning policies do nothing to stop unsustainable development on green fields of houses unaffordable on the average Cornish wage." Link

The present St Ives constituency MP, Andrew George, had this to say:

"I hope you don't think I am damaging you with faint praise when I say that you are the best party leader by far, and therefore you will recognise that Cornwall will benefit a great deal from the proposed devolution enabling act.

"But would you agree that under these proposals that Cornwall and places like it could redesign their planning and housing system to put local need above speculators' greed and the growth of second homes?"

Anybody thinking the Lib Dems were serious about devolution to a Cornish Assembly should note Clegg's answer:

"If in Cornwall it is felt that a Cornish assembly borne out of the existing county council - not inventing yet another talking shop for politicians, it could cut the number of politicians if it wished to - if it wanted to have powers in the planning areas you suggest, that is something I hope we would empower the future Cornish assembly to do." Link

Quite how Cornwall Council could morph into an assembly, have more powers and less elected councillors is patently ridiculous. Especially when on an issue like planning where most decisions are taken by officers. This happens partly as there are not enough councillors, quite how this would be more democratic is ludicrous. It reminds me greatly of the last time the Lib Dems fiddled with local government, centralising everything in Truro and slashing the number of democratically elected representatives,  it is clear by devolution they only wish to continue on this trajectory.

The Lib Dems can't be allowed to damage Cornwall in this way again, if voters want more powers to Cornwall and devolution  within Cornwall,  then MK is the clear choice. Further if voters want a party committed to devolving issues like planning rest assured MK MPs would not sit on their hands for 5 years and start listening to the public on the eve of an election....

P.s. anyone else noted the way Tory, Lib Dem and Labour worry about more politicians in a Cornish assembly, yet do nothing about the very expensive and hugely bloated House of Lords?

The housing and planning policies that Cornwall needs to address affordability

To say housing and planning is an important issue in Cornwall is a gross understatement. No one is happy with current policies whether affordability, second homes or over development. I am pleased that Mebyon Kernow is leading on this and has today called for planning policy and the whole process from planning to appeals to be devolved to Cornwall. This coincides with my piece in next weeks Cornishman which addresses the issue of affordability.

The question put to all candidates in this general election is:

“The cost of housing - whether it is renting or buying - is becoming out of reach for a vast number of people in Cornwall – what can be done to solve this pressing problem?”

My answer (within a strict 200 word limit) is as follows:

Housing is a huge issue for people in Cornwall, most people of my generation struggle with high prices of both renting and buying, coupled with low wages, it’s a perfect storm, forcing people out of Cornwall.  Yet thousands of houses are being built, unaffordable to the majority of the local population and even those supposedly affordable are fair higher than the average wage can afford. Second homes are ever increasing and thus further increasing demand and prices. The current Labour, Tory and Lib Dem doctrine is developer led resulting in a building boom swallowing up green fields and not addressing our pressing problems of lack of affordability.

This is why I am delighted that this week that my party Mebyon Kernow has called upon planning to be devolved to Cornwall, the ‘Westminster knows best’ one size fits all approach of central government is not working here. The problem of affordability has not been resolved by successive governments and has in fact got much worse. The time has come for a fresh approach to housing in Cornwall. Empowering us to look at new ways of funding and delivering housing that the people of Cornwall both want and can afford.

Dick Cole's recent piece on Cornwall taking control of planning is here

Neighbourhood Plan: Your chance to have a say on the future of Penzance

After a lot of planning and preparations the Neighbourhood Plan will publicly launch this weekend

 in Penzance town centre. It is your chance to have your say on the future development of the Penzance area. For decades it has always been the way that a select few would decide what was built, where and under what design. A Neighbourhood Plan turns this all on it's head and puts people in charge and makes planning officers, politicians and developers have to listen to people.

The process will take a long time, it will be a thorough consultation, ending in a referendum of all the residents of Penzance parish (i.e. Eastern Green, Gulval, Heamoor, Penzance, Newlyn, Mousehole and Paul). To find out more there will be a pop up shop opening in the town centre this saturday, in the old travel agents on Market Jew Street near the Humphry Davy statue. opening hours will be saturday's 11 am - 3 pm, thursdays 4 pm- 7pm, fridays 11am- 3pm.

As one of the town council's representatives on the board, I'm very pleased with the work done so far. I'm delighted that the pop up shop will be an interactive exhibition, it's there to get people' opinions, whether that's on particular sites or a blank canvas. If you've ever wanted a greater say on Penzance and it's future development now is your opportunity.

The Penzance plan starts here, with myself on the board!

This is of course the neighbourhood plan for Penzance, more properly and in the words of a former Cornwall Council planner (Andy England) the process of 'planning for a plan' is well and truly in the offing. Last night at the town council I was elected onto the Penzance Neighbourhood Plan Board. Regular readers of the blog will now I have written on this subject before, back in October last year Should Penzance create a Neighbourhood Development Plan? I think it gives my initial views on the process and also some of the limitations I think it holds. For a more generic description try this from the DCLG.

Briefly a Neighbourhood Plan (NP) guides and informs planning decisions for the length of the plan (typically 20 years). Within the constraints of planning law (i.e. the National Planning Policy Framework) and the local plan (currently being devised by Cornwall Council). Unlike those policies that have already decided crucial matters like number of houses the NP will have the constraint and the advantage of being borne from the community. Although Penzance Town Council has started this process and will work with others it is not our plan, it is the communities plan. The whole process is punctuated by public consultations and then at the end a public referendum. There is a lot of talk about localism at the moment and giving local communities the say on key decisions, the Neighbourhood Plan is one of the few examples of this happening.

I think it would be very easy to underestimate the scale and importance of this task. Simple old fashioned public consultations won't cut it, listening only to consultants or solely to those that shout loudest could mean the plan will be doomed to failure at referendum, it is imperative the vast majority of the public are involved in the process. So it will be a great deal of work but will be better for it.

Policies outlined in Penzance's plan will become planning law. I'm sure any of us could look around the town (or indeed anywhere else) and see planning decisions that for better or worse have changed the fundamental nature of the place. For example, what if planners had never allowed the harbour to be filled in for a car park? what if your local park or green space had been built upon? It's easy to see planning policies as words on a piece of paper but the decisions taken in the plan will help shape the future of our community. I know many of you will be reading this well aware of planning policies you do and don't like, but I do hope there are others reading this now (and in the future of the process) that will think about how planning effects themselves and their neighbourhoods and what they'd like to see from it.

So what is the board? Well firstly it has been named the Penzance Neighbourhood Plan Board and its job is Governance and Management of the NP process. To be more exact:

"Establishing an appropriate governance and management structure - The Penzance Neighbourhood Plan Board (PNPB) and a Project Manager - is critical to the success of the NP. The PNPB will oversee the NP's development, dissemination and community consultation and ensure that the process complies with its statutory duties."

The first task of the PNPB will be to make an application to central government for grant funding for the first stage. From there it is imperative to create a communication and engagement strategy and start the long process of getting people involved in the decisions!

I don't have a great deal left to say at this point. This is a huge task and it will go on for a long time and I'm not even sure how long that will be. I've a lot to learn about a lot of things which really excites me. I'm really looking forward to the challenge and all that is left to say is a thank you to my fellow town councillors that showed faith in me and voted me on to the board. I hope I live up to the expectations.