Present:
Karen Clowes
Michele Cowmeadow
Roger Harnett
Manda Brookman
Raven le Fay
Lesley Bradley
Ann Dennis
Peter M le Mare
Barnaby Flynn
John Thomas
Mark Crossley
Frances Truscott
Grant Somers
Mark Russell
Crystal Wakefield
Matt Trevaskis
1.Welcome by Chair. Crystal welcomed everyone to the
meeting and brief introductions were
given.
2.Apologies
Apologies were received from:
Ralph Openshaw
Justin Osolunde
John Brailey
Lynn Gulliford
Patsy Stevens
Mike Orman
Ruth Browning
Julia Bradley
3.Minutes of previous meeting
The minutes of the last meeting were accepted as a true record.
It was agreed that the constitution
will now be adopted as it stands. As from today our member registration
will be adopted to enable
people to vote at meetings. Karen has already received a few membership
forms, and it was agreed
that blank forms will be available at all meetings in future.
Karen to action.
4.Roger Harnett Head of Planning Penwith District Council
Crystal welcomed Roger Harnett to the meeting. Roger explained
that Planning at Penwith consists
of three services; forward planning, development planning and
building control.
Forward planning is the policy making part of the service, forward
planning is underpinned by
sustainability and looks at areas such as brownfield sites, parking,
transport, as well as specific
policies such as renewable energy. Forward Planning are also responsible
for the Local Plan, which
is built on the principle of sustainability.·Development
planning considers planning applications with relation to the
Council's policies.
There are something the Council cannot do for example they
cannot insist on locally sourced
materials due to the EU Regulations, nor can they prescribe that
a redevelopment site must re-use
material on site. Whilst the Council can recommend such practice
it cannot demand it because
planning is so tightly constrained by regulations.
Building Control deals with how well a building performs, wheelchair
access, etc. Government are
starting to catch up on standards, and whilst the Council cannot
insist on going above these
standards it does encourage such practice and advises developers
on grants available to allow them
to exceed minimum requirements.
Supplementary planning guidance encourages developers to go
down the sustainable route. The
Council could work with Sustainable Penwith and take advantage
of their expertise to help promote
best practice, by working together in this way we could also share
resources. Frances stated that the
group could recommend what we would like to supplementary planning
guidance to include.
Crystal asked how community groups can dovetail with policies,
e.g. The Community Plan. Roger
replied that the Planning Compulsory Purchase Bill is undergoing
a radical overhaul, this will help
pull together how the planning procedure will in future be linked
into the Community Plan. It also
requires the Council as a whole to formulate a statement of community
consultation. However, it is
very early days and because planning is very tightly regulated
it will not be an easy task. Roger
said that he would welcome any suggestions on how the Council
can do this.
Crystal asked whether there is a Forum at the moment where
groups like Sustainable Penwith can
work with the Council. Roger replied that as yet there is no such
forum, but that whilst forums are
useful for community consultation the Council needs to look a
lot more broadly than that.
Frances asked whether Roger was inviting Sustainable Penwith to
work with the Council on
community engagement. She felt that whilst we can work with the
Council regarding promotion of
sustainable building, etc., that community engagement has a much
wider remit.
Peter stated that effective consultation means taking notice
of what is being said. We need to be a
real public forum and should be able to have a direct say, and
that it should not just be Councillors
who make the decisions. Roger agreed that Councillors need to
adjust to consultation, it is starting
to happen. He stated that the Council have been ok with listening,
but feedback to the public has so
far been poor, the statement of community engagement will address
this.
Peter said that Councillors need to be reminded that Penwith
Council has adopted LA21.
Manda agreed that Councillors are moving towards a more consultative
attitude. She feels that
because tourism in Penwith accounts for over 40% of our GDP, it
has to have a community benefit,
what is required is a local community planning forum.
Roger said that the Council have, where they can, made progress
in this field for example
Penhaliman Court in St Ives. The Council owns the land so were
able to put conditions on the
development; residents were consulted on design and fittings and
we were able to specify locally
sourced materials.
Michelle asked whether the Council could publicise the land
available the local communities could
use, rather than waiting for a community group to approach the
Council as had to happen when she
was looking for a community woodland. Roger replied that Penwith
has a large land bank and that
one of the Council's most important aims is the provision of affordable
housing for housing·associations. Land that is not suitable
for housing could, and has in the past, been offered to
community groups for establishment of orchards, gardens, etc.,
and this is something members tend
to be keen to approve. Karen will ask Rod Porter for his views
on publicising available land. She
also stated that the liveability funding will include an audit
of Council land. Karen said that the
Bowjey Woodland in Newlyn is an ideal piece of Council land for
a community group to adopt and
that she would like to encourage Newlyn residents to take up the
challenge.
John said that if the Council really wanted to engage the public,
that they should back an award
winning idea such as a truly sustainable eco-homes project. Roger
replied that eco-housing is still a
very sensitive subject with some members at present.
Crystal brought up the subject of Renewable Energy. She said
that trying to get any planning for
renewable energy projects was extremely difficult and that grant
funding does not cover such
schemes as everything seems to be tied up in economic development.
Roger replied that the
Council have been working very closely with the Cornwall Sustainable
Energy Project which is
helping to promote and educate the need for renewable energy and
that Penwith Council has been
heavily involved in the consultation process for CSEP's Renewable
Energy Strategy. He said that at
present most members still regard wind turbines as a very sensitive
issue. The Council have been
very involved in discussions on the possibility of establishing
a wave energy pilot off the
Penwith/Kerrier coast. Crystal replied that for community projects
the only way ahead at present is
windmills and that even though biomass is being promoted there
are still issues as regards the
supply chain for such plants. Roger replied that there is little
as contentious as a windmill, there are
two schools of thought, but the majority of councillors at the
moment tend to be against wind
energy.
Crystal told the group that the Cornwall Sustainable Energy
Partnership is holding a final
consultation event on 20 th April for its Renewable Energy Strategy.
The Strategy is to be launched
on 21 st July and is expected to be a high profile event. The
draft Strategy can be viewed on the
CSEP website www.csep.co.uk.
John stated that if we do not have 10% of our energy coming
from renewables in 2010 we will be
fined. Wind energy is all very well but there many other alternatives
for example biogas, biodiesel,
and solar energy. Peter said that solar panels are not particularly
sustainable due to the
environmental impacts of the extraction of raw materials and the
manufacturing process. Whilst
they are alright for things such as recharging batteries, etc.,
they are not the ideal choice for larger
energy projects. Karen clarified that the 10% of energy from renewable
sources is at a county level,
not district.
It was noted that there is a very prominent anti-wind farm
minority who are very good at getting
their voices heard in the media. |t was agreed that we should
write our own letters to local and
county papers giving the other point of view, to try and counteract
the bad publicity and
scaremongering that tends to be occurring.
The group thanked Roger for coming to the meeting and chatting so openly to them.
4.Election of New Treasurer
Raven and Frances agreed to work together in the role as Treasurer
for an interim period of 6
months, but a permanent volunteer for Treasurer needs to be found.
The Group gave Raven and
Frances their heartfelt thanks. Matt agreed to write to Community
Chest to enquire about some
initial funding for the group, to enable us to work on projects,
etc.
5.CoAST Consultation Paper
Manda told the group that CoAST's tourism/business strategy/plan
is at the consultation stage and is
available for viewing via a link on CoAST's website. The Strategy
is based on the VICE model
(Visitors, Industry, Community and Environment) as is the Sustainable
Tourism Strategy for
Penwith which is being developed by David Rothwell at PDC. Manda
asked the Group to look at
the document and would like Sustainable Penwith to give its written
response, CoAST will add
them into the Strategy, which will show that Sustainable Penwith
have signed up to it.
Karen told the Group that David Rothwell would like for a representative
from Sustainable Penwith
to sit on the Sustainable Tourism Forum he is hoping to set up.
6.Penzance Area Regeneration
Market Jew Street proposals were discussed. Anne stated that
the traffic should be one way
downhill not uphill, only a downhill direction will help reduce
traffic pollution problems in Market
Jew Street. Anne is very concerned that the residential streets
around Market Jew Street are going
to turn into rat runs, causing even more pollution and congestion.
She feels that County have not
properly considered the implications and that their view that
vehicles will go out of town on the
A30 via St Clare Street is wrong.
It was agreed that a letter be sent to Peter Moor which will
state that we accept that one-way of
Market Jew Street is preferable to two-way traffic, we think traffic
should flow downhill, and also
we would expect the Council to think of one-way traffic as an
intermediate step before total
pedestrianisation. We would also like Park and Ride for Penzance
and residents parking to be
addressed.
Karen told the group that whilst total pedestrianisation would
be the ideal, County have ruled it out
for the moment. She said that Penwith District Council are going
to be looking at parking provision
in Hayle, Penzance and St Ives (including on-road, residential,
and the way forward for park and
ride). It is expected that this study will be completed by December
this year. The study will be
used by CCC in the rewrite of the Local Transport Plan. Penwith
DC will use the study to formulate
a Parking Policy for Penwith which will complement the Local Plan.
She also stated that
Regeneration proposals for Penzance hinge on provision of park
and ride facilities a fact that
Penwith DC do recognise.
Everybody was asked to try and attend the public consultation
being held by CCC in St Johns Hall
on Monday 26 th April 12.30 til 8pm. Leslie agreed that she would
collate our recommendations and
draft a letter to Peter Moore giving the Group's response.
7.Green Fair
Matt told the group that the Green Fair was well attended,
and our stall got a lot of attention.
Energy saving lightbulbs were given away to the public and this
probably helped to draw people to
our stall.
8.Any Other Business
Library Display
Matt advised that the library display is now in St Ives. He
would like us to consider what new
topics we would like the displays to cover next. We covered three
topics on our current display and·he feels that this is
too much. He thinks two topics will be plenty, one topic he would
like to cover
is the Disability Discrimination Act. Suggestions for topics to
Matt please.
Sustainable Communities Bill
Karen advised that the New Economics Foundation had been in
contact with her. They want to put
on a public meeting during June to raise public awareness and
gain support for the Sustainable
Communities Bill. It will probably take at least three years for
it to be taken to Parliament and
become law. She has a meeting with other Sustainability Officers,
The New Economic Foundation
and Tim German of CSEP, date not yet finalised to arrange the
public meetings. This Group could
help spread the word and help promote the Bill.
Meeting with Arthur Roberts, Head of Operational Services,
Penwith DC
Matt told the Group about his recent meeting with Karen, Pete
Verran and Arthur Roberts at
Penwith District Council regarding the Disability Discrimination
Act. The meeting was to flag up
the act and to find out what Penwith are doing to prepare for
the Act. Matt said that Arthur
appreciated our drawing his attention to this matter. He and Pete
explained to Matt how they are
now looking at their buildings, gardens, public toilets, etc.,
and adapting them as far as they
reasonably can to comply with the act.
Logo designs
Matt passed around a form to all, the challenge being to design
a logo for the Group. All designs
for logos will be considered at next month's meeting.
Simultaneous Policy
A flyer about the Simultaneous Policy was passed around. This
is a grassroots strategy to allow
citizens to drive politicians and governments to deliver sustainable
values and to listen to what the
people want rather than just listening to corporations, trade
unions, wealthy lobbies and
superpowers. For more information visit the website on www.simpol.org
Home Health Project
Crystal told the group that the home health project is rolling
out in Newlyn and Heamoor. The aim
of the project is to promote energy efficiency in homes.
Priorities for the Group
It was suggested that we all produce a wish list to generate
new ideas for the Group. Frances felt
that we have a lot on our plate already and that we perhaps do
not need to take on any more.
However she feels it would be useful if we all submit to the groups
our skills and specialities so that
we can make the best use of the group membership.
Date of next meeting.
The next meeting will be held at 7pm on Monday 17 th May at
Penwith District Council Offices,
Committee Room 2.