MINUTES OF A MEETING OF SUSTAINABLE PENWITH HELD ON MONDAY 21 JULY AT PENWITH DISTRICT COUNCIL, ST CLARE, COMMITTEE ROOM 2.
Present:
Karen Clowes
David Rutherford
Matt Trevaskis
John Pritchard
Justin Olosunde
Mail le Coq
Ginni Little
Barnaby Flynn
Mat Kraft
Raven le Fay
Pamela Gray
Crystal Wakefield
Sam Ryan
Iris Matthews
Michelle Cowmeadow
Paul Matthews
Ruth Browning
Ralph Openshaw
Apologies:
Frances Truscott
Lesley Bradley
Peter le Mare
Julia Bradley
John Brailey
Minutes of last meeting
The minutes of the last meeting were accepted as a true record.
Matt stated that he has not
heard anything from Penwith Housing Association yet, he is waiting
for them to get back to
him.
Crystal asked who would pursue Roger Harnett's invitation for
the group to become involved
with the strategic side and work with the planning department
at PDC. It was agreed that
Crystal and Sam would take this forward after our workshop in
September. Matt has drafted
a letter to potential applicants, he will post this letter on
the website so all can comment on
it.
Ruth still needs to get feedback from Credit Union regarding
a little bit of office space for the
group. Karen stated that she has spoken to Matt Barton and he
can see no problem with
having a display stand for brochures in the St John's Hall foyer,
but that there is no spare
office space there at the moment. She also said that she had
spoken to the Estates
Manager Rod Porter and has been told that at present PDC ha e
no suitable office space
available in properties it owns around the District. Karen will
ask the Economic,
Regeneration Department whether they know of any community office
space that may be
available either now or planned.
Weekend Workshop
It was agreed that the date for the workshop will be 25 th
September at Penwith District
Council, St Clare, Committee Room 1,start time 9.30 finishing
at about 4pm. The morning
will focus on getting to know each other and what sustainability
is really about, and getting
ideas together to help formulate our Mission Statement. It was
agreed that everyone should
bring food for lunch to share out. The afternoon will see the
group split into separate
workshops with facilitators. This part of the day will focus
on our action plan and how to
take things forward, trying to decide what our targets, aims
and objections should be. It
was agreed that the date of the workshop be posted on the website.
Ralph stated that he does not think a mission statement can
be decided in half a day.
Crystal replied that it does not matter if we have not finalised
the mission statement, but at
least we will ha e made a start.
It was agreed that before the workshop we need to find out
what is happening in Penwith
and who is doing what already. It was agreed that Sam would get
info on Water, Ralph and
Karen on Waste, David on Tourism, Mat on Transport, Michelle and
Raven on Land (and
David will chat to Paul Walton of AONB), Crystal, Barnaby and
John on Energy, John Deane
on Housing, and John Pritchard on Food. Matt said that Simon
Reed would be the best
person to help with Air because he sits on the Air Quality Forum.
Justin proposed and it was agreed that the Workshop be an Agenda
item for the next
meeting as not everyone is in agreement with the direction it
should take. He asked
Crystal to prepare a draft programme ready for August's meeting
and we can review it then.
Crystal stated that she is happy for it to be changed if that
is what is decided in the August
meeting. Ralph was concerned that this is going to involve a
lot of work for Crystal and that
it will be difficult for her to change the programme at such a
late stage. Crystal emphasised
that this will not be our one and only workshop.
Reports
Sustainable Communities Bill Public Meeting Justin
stated that this was a great success,
we had the biggest turn-out of all the Cornwall public meetings
with about 120 people
attending, and he thanked everyone for turning up and spreading
the word. However there
were a few problems which we can take on and learn from. In future
we need to ensure that
there is a much better audio system. There was also concern about
the lack of Fair Trade
Tea and Coffee and the use of polystyrene cups for juice. Karen
stated that she had asked
the caretaker (and had followed it up the day before the meeting)to
ensure Fair Trade
coffee and tea was bought and that no non-disposable glasses and
cups were used. She
has already phoned him and complained and brought the matter to
the attention of the Head
of Operational Services. She further explained that the Council
now has a Fair Trade policy
and all its coffee and tea machines serve Fair Trade, however
they still have stocks of non
Fair Trade Coffee and Tea which have to be used up before they
buy fresh supplies.
However, she had in this case asked for Fair Trade especially,
because the New Economics
Foundation were going to pay for the refreshments.
Environment sub-group of the LSP Justin attended
the first meeting of this group. He
explained that the group's first task is to look at the performance
management framework of
the LSP and need to consider the sub-groups objectives and priorities
for the next meeting,
these can be overarching with the other sub-groups. He would
appreciate any feedback
from Sustainable Penwith on what would be suitable objectives
and priorities to recommend.
Mazey Day Our stall raised £123.97 and the
raffle £72,giving a total of £195.97,which was a wonderful
success. Thanks to Matt, Mat, Barnaby, Ruth, Crystal, Justin,
Lesley and
the Youth Forum for all their hard work and effort. Justin suggested
that if we are to do
similar things again, it may be worth investing in some metal
framing for a stall because if it
were not for a neighbouring stall holder lending us scaffolding
and tarpaulin we would not
have been able to work the stall due to the appalling weather.
Penwith Tourism Forum David explained that the
Tourism Action Group will look at a
series of aims and objectives. The forum will hold four meetings
a year and will also have
an on-line forum. Matt as this group's representative on the
Tourism Forum will have an
access code for the on-line forum. Matt stated that it was interesting
to see the different
perspectives of those involved in the Forum e.g. hoteliers and
local town councils, he feels
that some aspects we as a group would embrace, but other aspects
we would probably find
objectionable. David explained that it was vital that the Forum
has community
representation, and that tourism can help drive community amenities
if done properly.
Any comments regarding tourism should be given to Matt for him
to feed through to the
Tourism Forum.
Cornwall Waste Action Conference Justin represented
this group at the conference.
Since the conference the Local Authorities in Cornwall have received
confirmation of
funding from WRAP (part of DEFRA)for a countywide waste awareness
campaign which
will include doorknocking and will be complemented by a national
campaign.
Michelle stated that she often picks up empty bottles around Morrab
Gardens and that it
would be good if there could be a recycling bin for glass there.
It was pointed out that this
could give the wrong impression because Morrab Gardens is a no
alcohol zone, Karen
would speak to Mike Toms to see what his opinion is on the matter.
Michelle also
requested that a litter bin be placed in Love Lane, Karen will
speak to Mike Toms.
Ginni said that in Vancouver you can be prosecuted if you do not
recycle and that should
happen here. It was asked if some of the funding will be concentrating
on encouraging
businesses to recycle, Karen confirmed that the funding is for
domestic household recycling
only. The question of business waste was discussed, Sam stated
that as a business man
himself he knows how expensive it is to recycle, and most businesses
are put off by that
fact, it needs to be made easier and cheaper for companies to
recycle. Paul stated that it
really is a producer responsibility.
Regeneration Plans
Paul asked to circulate his written comments and thoughts on
the regeneration proposals
for Newlyn. Paul stated that this was his four page response to
the exhibition at Newlyn
regarding regeneration proposals for the harbour and Penlee Quarry.
He felt that Hyder's
consultation was very hit and miss, they only asked a few simple
questions and outlined the
plans. When he asked about the traffic impact he was told this
would be addressed later!!!!
Paul said that the public only ha e until the 31 st of this month
to respond. He feels that the
new breakwaters for Newlyn mean that you wont see anything except
for concrete and he is
extremely concerned about the proposals for Penlee Quarry. Ginni
proposed that Nigel
Horwell be asked to display all the regeneration proposals (including
those for Penzance
Harbour and the promenade) at the public libraries. Karen stated
that they are on display at
the Council Reception area. Ginni said that she is trying to get
hold of an alternative study
that suggested the possibility of building beside the Albert Pier.
Ginni also outlined her
concern at the proposals for Penlee Quarry she knows that there
is a badger set on the site
and there have been sightings of bats. She feels that the area
would be better as a nature
reserve rather than a village for the rich. There was once the
idea that the Quarry should
be used as an overflow reservoir but SWW after investigating the
site stated that it was not fit to be used for such a purpose.
Sam stated that the feasibility studies are purely an
advance preview, they are just ideas to show the public and absolutely
nothing is concrete,
there have not even been any environmental assessments yet. Karen
confirmed that the
Council has an open mind on the proposals and is waiting for more
detailed information
before forming its considered opinion.
Ralph stated that there are good points as well that we should
be considering, for example
the land/sea fare park at Newlyn Coombe. We have to be reasonable
we do need
regeneration, so lets come up with positive stuff too. Barnaby
said he would like the plans
to be laid out clearly e.g.how, why and who has a vested interest.
David stated that the
plans for Newlyn give strong support for the fishing industry
and that perhaps members of
this group should consider making links with or attend one of
the Newlyn Regeneration sub
groups e.g. The environmental or the community skills groups.
Tony Woodham's (Newlyn
Regeneration Officer) office in Newlyn is always open and he is
always happy to chat to
anyone about the proposed plans for Newlyn. Karen said that we
have to be careful that
Penwith does not get stuck in a time warp, she reminded the group
that Sustainability is
about social and economic gains too. Justin asked whether we
should form a sub-group to
give a response on behalf of the group for the 31 st July deadline.
It was agreed that Ginni
Mat K and John would work on this and give the group's response
to the initial plans.
Peacechild Presentation
Matt told the group that Peacechild are holding a presentation
session at County Hall on
Sustainability on Saturday 24 th July. If anybody would like
to go could they contact him.
Deferred Items on the Agenda
Due to lack of time the following items will be deferred until
the next meeting:
Working with the proposed co-op
Planning applications
Draw of Raffle
Open/Green Spaces
TetraPak Recycling Service
Date of next meeting
The next meeting will be held on Monday 16 th August at 7pm