Bodmin residents' anger as they claim 770-home development is a 'done deal' www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/bodmin-residents-anger-claim-770-1567914 A DISTINCT LACK OF COURAGE AND CONVICTION? It is perhaps a fitting coincidence that Cornwall Council conveys in its initials the two essential requirements for representatives of the Cornish in the Chamber. Courage and Conviction. During my lifetime, I have observed the make-up of councils (even perversely at parish level) being tucked ever more tightly under the cross-border Westminster wings of political parties. By definition, being in Cornwall and having the privilege of speaking for Cornwall requires from the Cornish people that our councillors defend Cornish culture, landscape and amenities with absolute vigour and tenacity. That cannot be achieved after councillors become bonded to political party "persuasions" that are diametrically opposed to Cornwall's best long term interests, the current vogue of short-termism is simply not good enough. To be Cornish is to be independent, incorruptible and responsible at all times and in all issues with the conservation of what is best for Cornwall. Where bad anti-Cornish law exists, those charged with the ethical governance of Cornwall need to expose those excesses (and where it exists, corruption) to negate the bad law by whatever courageous means at their disposal. The issue of unnecessary, damaging excessive and unsustainable development, and so called “growth” are open to party people who, by association, may be party to unsavoury, outside-council “deals," funding and favours, etc... In Catalonia, we see on the sidelines of the news, the courage and conviction of those who represent the indigenous views of those who elect them to local administration. Not for them the blind conformity of bending the knee to a greater national (Spanish) government and entering into history as a non-performer. More: "arrest me then, but I will fight to the last, for my country and its people." Somehow, sometime the people of mainland Scotland and Wales drew their borders and insisted on their cultural needs away from the parliament in London, England. In 2004 Cornwall was recognised in no small way (at the time celebrated by the Lib-Dem/Con pact) as culturally, even ethnically different. However, rather than being in the vanguard of that recognition at every opportunity, our so-called "Cornwall" Council forgets (neglects?) to mention this recognition, when dealing with Duchy issues; these should, if necessary, be battles at every opportunity in their dealings with civil servants or Ministers of the Crown. The obvious lack of required courage and conviction makes the current sell-out of Cornwall an incredibly one-sided affair. www.change.org/p/cornwall-council-we-the-undersigned-wish-to-express-a-vote-of-no-confidence-in-cornwall-council Photo: the once pristine and peaceful Tolgarrick Farm at Arch Hill, Truro, being turned into another noisy and polluted urban mess by Phil Mason’s complicity-cum-stupidity and his benign council colleagues, despite the plans initially failing all of his own litmus test for development, and right opposite a large school. The endless congestion experienced between Morlaix Avenue and Treliske is set to grow much further once all of Mason’s new traffic light systems are in place. At least we can afford these new high tech traffic measures now our councillors, in their absurd wisdom, have given him and John Betty the green light for a further £600m borrowing, to add to the approximate £2bn in council debt.... watch those council TAX bills go through the roof, once Mason, Kennally and Betty have vanished with their six-figure golden handshakes... oh the moral bankruptcy of it all. Meanwhile, nearly deads Bob Egerton (Probus) and Mike Gibbons (Trispen) tell us it’s all good for our future...