As the pressure builds for Councillors to vote through more debt and disaster, for generations to come, we share more letters from disgruntled residents to Cornwall Councillors and Officers. Sent: 04 April 2018 20:51 To: Cornwall Councillors Subject: The Stadium for Cornwall Dear Councillors, I urge you all to please consider very carefully when voting for/against the Stadium for Cornwall on April 17th. There are many factors to consider which are: Firstly, the cost, a £3 million ask from the taxpayer on a vanity project that few want or need. The original costing of the Stadium will surely have escalated over time and it's a reasonable assumption that the Stadium will cost the taxpayer dearly. How can Cornwall Council justify the £3 million cost, which they can ill afford to spend, given that Cornwall is starting to resemble a third world country. Our streets are ridden with weeds, our grass verges are overgrown as are our hedges and a lot of our narrow lanes are becoming impassible due to them either not being trimmed back or only trimmed back once a year. And then we move onto our roads. Roads that are strewn with actual craters because smaller potholes have been left unfilled for so long they have now merged to become huge craters that pose a danger to life if a motorbike/cyclist hit one on a dark evening. Our hospital is on constant black-alert and is barely coping. The £3 million cost for the Stadium would be better placed on one of our front line services. Cornwall Council is £2 billion in debt including a huge pension deficit (your pension, I might add). Plus they're creating tier upon tier of arms length 'companies' seemingly to hide this debt. The Stadium is an ill thought out project that has been used as a bribe; not once, but twice by INOX. First time was when they promised the Stadium if outline planning permission was granted and the second time when a more detailed application was submitted. It is just not right that INOX have gotten away with blackmailing Cornwall Council so as they were granted planning permission. It was deceiving at the very least. The government, under David Cameron, told the peoples of Cornwall that we would get a Stadium. Yet another empty promise... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-33562780 The proposed Stadium is totally in the wrong place; Truro is NOT mid Cornwall. Truro is in the West and is not central. If the whole of Cornwall is 'supposedly' going to utilise the Stadium; it needs to be in a central location. I am sure you’re all aware of the traffic congestion on the A390 corridor and that Truro is in an Air Quality Management Area because traffic pollution is so excessive. What do you think the impact of this proposed Stadium will have on Treliske? I'll give you an insight. Traffic is an absolute nightmare, as it stands, leading up to Treliske. Just imagine, for a second, what the traffic will be like both pre match and post match with all 10,000 seats full which, potentially, could equate to 5,000 extra cars on an already extremely congested road. Then imagine what said cars will do to the excessive air pollution, (I have attached Cornwall council's own Air Quality report for you to see the level of pollution in Truro) it will be off the scale and far exceed safe EU guidelines. Also imagine how ambulances will struggle to get to Treliske with a potential 5,000 extra cars on the road when there's a match. Undoubtedly, lives will be lost because there will be ambulances that will be stuck in gridlocked traffic. If the points that I've raised haven't deterred you from voting in favour then consider the additional cost to the taxpayer for the running of the Stadium which is estimated to be between £1- £1.5 million. You might also like to ask these questions on the 17th April. Who will pay for the upkeep of the Stadium and what will happen if it's not utilised enough to turnover a profit? There is much anger about the proposed Stadium because many see the £3 million cost too excessive and most would prefer it if said cost was spent more wisely on fixing potholes or resourcing essential front line services. They see little benefit to the majority of Cornish people. The only people that will benefit will be the Cornish Pirates, Truro FC, Truro College and fans of both teams. This does not justify the cost in any way shape or form. I urge you, on the 17th April, Not to vote for the Stadium for Cornwall as the cost can be better utilised elsewhere. Kind regards Julie Fox St Austell Sent: 05 April 2018 17:05 To: John.Betty@cornwall.gov.uk Cc: Simon.Mansell@cornwall.gov.uk; adam.paynter@cornwallcouncillors.org.uk; kkennally@cornwall.gov.uk; phil.mason@cornwall.gov.uk Subject: An Open Letter to the Economic Growth and Development directorate - Strategic Director (Cornwall Council) Dear Mr. Betty, I trust you had a pleasant Easter weekend, presumably at home, in Bristol. I’m writing to you directly for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I’d like to apologise for some of the language I used during the public questions of last month’s Cornwall Council Cabinet meeting. It was wrong of me to call you a 10-minute shoe-in pensioner, whilst referring to your new post at Cornwall Council, following your many years of development consultancy around the country. I did not mean the term “pensioner” to be understood in such a derogatory way in which it came across. I have huge respect for my seniors, who are usually a wealth of valuable knowledge, experience and vision, including my 91-year old father, who still works when he can. In fact, I openly deride the current system which “parks away” most working people at 65, despite such a massive accumulated knowledge base, in so many different fields. That said, your new unaccountable role as some kind of economic guru at Cornwall Council is somewhat unsettling. Where Phil Mason had a history of “mishaps” whilst Chief of Planning (and even before that, at Restormel District Council), he nonetheless had some vested interest in the area, thanks to him both living and raising a family here. This in itself does raise serious questions about his competence, given the latter facts; but yes, he did have a strong connection to the area. What is yours? How are you a stakeholder, in any way, shape or form, in Cornwall’s future wellbeing, given that you neither live here nor have any apparent strong connections to Cornwall? Other than, perhaps, a strong connection to some of the “dubious” developers that have implanted themselves in the heart of our communities... So despite having much respect for your position in society as a senior and experienced citizen, I really question how that experience can be seriously useful to Cornwall’s beleaguered and high tax-paying residents, in the context of your new role as Strategic Director, at the Council's VIP department: The Economic Growth and Development directorate. Apart from appeasing the rather transient politicians of the day, what can you bring to Cornwall, in the way of real community benefits, other than more poorly built housing which serves generally external interests, leading to the usual destructive suspects of: poor air quality, noise and light pollution, excess traffic, increased crime, plummeting relative healthcare provision, environmental decimation, loss of local businesses, decent wages and community cohesion, as has been witnessed many times over, up and down the country, and not least in your own backyard, Bristol and its immediate environs...? I’m sure that in a social context, you’re a very affable man - although I doubt I’ll get a chance to find out given you don’t live in Cornwall - but in the professional sphere, and after careful consideration of your remit over the last several months, I consider your position/employment hugely detrimental to Cornwall’s future. Please prove me wrong, and remember, actions speak louder than words... of which Cornwall Council tends to generate too many, usually followed by sub-standard action. Kind regards, Iwan Le Moine Truro Penventinnie Kenwyn Truro Cornwall TR4 9 EG 28th March 2018 The Right Hon Matthew Hancock MP Minister for Digital Culture, Media and Sport 100 Parliament Street London SW1A 2BQ Dear Sir I write as “the Local Conservative Council Member” for Kenwyn in which geographically is the area in which the proposed Stadium for Cornwall might be constructed, to express my serious concern. Concern Number One Any Stadium for Cornwall should be constructed adjoining a main railway line and station not three miles away, which will require “bus” transport support. Concern number Two This will require considerable financial support from both yourselves and Cornwall Council. Does the money come as a gift from government or a loan? Concern Number Three The venue came in my opinion as a blackmail bribe used twice, both times to Cornwall Council’s Strategic Planning Committee. First time with the outline planning application by “Inox” the development for 1,500 house and again secondly with the detailed application. On both occasions they promised a “free stadium” if the Council granted the planning permission. Concern Number Four This chosen site granted by blackmail is the wrong site for Cornwall. a) The Stadium site must be in a walking distance from a railway station – this one is three miles away and the proposal is to use buses to transport people from train to stadium. b) A Stadium for Cornwall should be available to all the people of our county not just in the Truro area which is in the western half of the county. c) The stadium will for Cornwall involve “mega bucks” so it must work for the entire county. so again in my opinion it needs to be in the Bodmin Area (Central Cornwall) and closer to Newquay Airport where visiting teams and more affluent supporters can fly in and out for a match. Concern Number Five The main A390 road which takes the traffic from Chiverton Roundabout towards Truro City Centre as well as The Royal Cornwall Hospital at Treliske and Truro College etc. The road is now running at over capacity. The Stadium will only add to that and vice-versa on their way home. It will also gravely affect ambulances accessing the hospital. Concern Number Six There are a total of 3,914 houses planned along this road and although the Stadium is now separate from the house building programme, many of those houses have already gained detailed planning permission (1,500) at Langarth) even our Planners estimate, on the basis of two cars per household, that this will be equal to almost 8,000 extra vehicles on a road that cannot cope today. Concern Number Seven The Stadium’s annual running costs are estimated to be approx. between £1 million to £1.5 million per annum.- who pays? Will the user organisation, like the Hall for Cornwall in Truro be back on an annual basis with the begging bowl when their expenditure extends their income? The Astro Turf will require replacing every eight years and will cost £300,000 ( at today’s prices), so again who pays? Again I fear it will be the begging bowl scenario. There are presently business people who have transferred their banking and shopping to Redruth to avoid the traffic on the A390 road to Truro. Whilst the Stadium, wherever it is situated in Cornwall, will generate business, it will also detract. One could continue with this view of thinking, the local people are simply very worried that this is the wrong site for a Stadium for Cornwall and although the six Conservative M P’s who represent Cornwall may be to a greater of lesser extent supportive, the local residents most certainly are not. Yours faithfully John Dyer M B E CC Conservative Member for Kenwyn and Chacewater on Cornwall Council