Phil Mason has huge executive and legal powers though rarely uses these other than to push for more and larger developer schemes, usually on green belt land and prime Cornish agricultural land. He rarely if ever fights an appeal, loses 95% of them, and fails to adequately prepare his colleagues with the necessary documentation to fight these. Planning inspectors - such as Simon Emerson (pictured here) who pushed through the 52,500 homes Local Plan last year - invariably side with the developers, normally also awarding costs against Cornish tax payers. The developers hold enormous powers over the whole system, and the very people we pay hefty wages to (the planners), to protect and defend us, have completely failed us in this process. Why??? A self-explanatory letter from another Truronian to Cornwall Council last year: Simon, I acknowledge your email and letter from the monitoring officer, attached, telling me that I am 'banned' for a further six months. However, I've now lost interest in you and your dog handler, as I don't feel you have the first clue as to why I write to councillors and officers. I continue to have very real concerns re. the planning process and the lack of popularity & accountability for many planning decisions across Cornwall, that are causing chaos at Treliske, on our roads, schools and surgeries, in our ability to daily go about our normal business without massive inconvenience, where not much existed 10-20 years ago. Whether you yourself have moved down from Bedford, Birmingham or Brighton, I doubt your heart's really in Cornwall, as like so many other rather well paid officers at the council these days, you have little understanding of what is happening around you, otherwise you might better appreciate my persistent requests for information from officers who seem to spend much of their time passing the buck and shirking responsibility. There is simply no accountability at Cornwall Council, and I resent having to contribute (again), towards another £4million overspend on one of the most unpopular projects for many years, if not ever: Tregurra Valley. Truro and every individual and organisation within it, warned of the problems, and rejected it (Tregurra) outright as a community; yet, in its wisdom, CC went ahead with it; now less than a year into its construction, there's already a FOUR MILLION £££ shortfall, long after some major partners have already pulled out, eg. farmers' market? Waitrose? It's not a shambles, a farce or a disgrace; it's ALL of these things and much, much more; it's morally bankrupt and verging on the criminal. And there are just so many other examples of such complete planning chaos. Who's in charge for Goodness' sake?! "Have the lunatics taken over the asylum?", is one question I often hear, from all sorts of people, across Cornwall. Given your new role at CC, and despite all the lovely letters & titles after your name, I wouldn't expect you to understand, so please do what you do best, and pass it on to someone who might. Regards, PS Given also that you have stopped my democratic right to quiz CC members, be they officers or councillors, over the financial affairs of my council - towards which I am a contributor - please be informed that I will have to find other ways to get my letters, wishes, questions and/or advice to your shadowy colleagues who now wish to hide behind you. Have a nice, short and stress-free day, at the Cornwall Ivory Tower.... There are 123 Cornwall Councillors, and though many are lame, idle, egotistical or self-serving, there are also some extremely good, ethical, decent and hard-working ones. However, against all local advice, these were the councillors who, after planning officer advice, voted for the destruction of Tregurra Valley in favour of a Park & Ride and another supermarket (who themselves were offered a brownfield site in town): Ellis, Greenslade, Wallis, Wood, Mann, Fitter, Flashman, Pugh, Glenton-Browne and committee Chairman, Falmouth's Mike Varney When we asked one of these councillors: "With hindsight, would you vote for this project?" Councillor: "There are a few like that, we were often warned about appeal costs to the council and so local tax payer." (So planning officers are already expecting to lose appeals before the first round; doesn't inspire much confidence in their ability for rational and unbiased advice or their ability to fight appeals.) Question to councillor: "So we're putting through hundreds of illogical, irrational, unpopular & unreasonable projects because we can't fight properly against them; it's a disgrace and certainly makes developers' statements that Cornwall is their paradise and 100% full proof, more understandable. NOTHING seems to get in their way, not even intelligent and willing councillors, because the council's planners and legals seem completely useless. So in conclusion, you didn't vote for it because you were in favour of part of the scheme (farmers' market), but because you were concerned about the costs of saying no? With hindsight would you vote for this project again?" Councillor: "There are a few decisions that I would look at again. Including that one. But coming from the west I have never felt Truro is very Cornish. In fact rather snobbish. Often I have heard Truro members snearing at Camborne /redruth etc. So I have little sympathy. I did what I thought was right at the time." If planners seem like inept and developer-complicit bully boys, it must be said that some councillors are complete idiots, given the statement above. To find out who your councillor is, simply click on this link: https://democracy.cornwall.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?bcr=1