Craig Weatherhil writes: “It's not often that one wakes up to a pleasant surprise and a minor miracle, but it appears that Michael Gove has done something right. He's ordered a review of the countryside with a view to creating more National Parks, and extending Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. He's apparently worried about the threat to the countryside by so much development. I'm glad you could join the club at last, Michael. Better late than never. Meanwhile our hypocritical "champion of the countryside" Duke of Cornwall is building all over green field sites at Truro and Newquay! There is a strong feeling that National Park status ought be applied to Cornwall. These are the current landscape designations of the Duchy. I'd say we have a strong case, and it might call a halt to the disastrous amount of unnecessary development that's been forced on us.” Whilst Orlando Kimber wrote: “Report from Orlando Kimber: For whom, the houses? Armorel Carlyon has represented the people of Truro for 45 years and has attended all the Structure Plan and Local Plan Enquiries since 1989. Here is my précis of her excellent 16-page response - decorated with a few contributions from myself - to the NPPF, a document which defines the framework for Planning policy across the whole of the UK. And here we meet the first problem. It’s a ‘one size fits all’ policy proposal. As such it takes no account of Cornwall’s unique environment, geology, archaeology, culture nor our economic status as one of the poorest regions in Europe. It ignores the fact that the South East of Britain receives 11 times more public funding than the South West, where Cornwall is situated. It also ignores the fact that the South West is rural and that the commerce here is dominated by agriculture and tourism. It is a fact that the world population is growing and there are more mouths to feed. Food is paramount and therefore the means of production - farming - is vital. Food does not grow on supermarket shelves. Moving on from this oversight, it is worth examining another piece of lazy thinking, but one that is daily broadcast in our newspapers, tv channels and Twitter feeds. Housing. Shelter, like food, is a fundamental human need and we are told that the UK needs one million more houses. No reliable evidence is given for this, so let’s have a local fact: Currently there are 5663 houses on the market in Cornwall. It is true that there are local people who cannot afford to buy or rent a house, but their incomes are low in relation to housing prices. There is a need for genuinely affordable homes under £63,000, but not “more houses” per se. Note the difference. Homes, not houses. Aspirations Yes, we all want a large house, a lovely garden, two cars in the drive and two holidays a year, but what we must have is a good home. Cornwall Council has a ‘Local Plan’ in which it has committed to build 52,500 houses. At no point does it offer proof of why we need those houses. Note, that 52,500 houses results in a population increase of over 100,000, all requiring healthcare, transport, education, sewage, water supplies and of course, employment. Neighbourhood Plans, which are created by towns and parishes, are meant to be the building blocks of the Local Plan. However in Cornwall, no such construction exists. As a result, when a town or parish states in a Neighbourhood Plan that it needs very few additional houses, they are told firmly that they must receive their quota…or more. “It’s in our strategy” say the Council, however it seems that awareness of the consequences of their so-called strategy has not been dialled into the Planning department.As Churchill once quipped: “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” There is no vision, so how can there be a viable strategy to achieve it? There is a list and there is one thing on it: “build houses”. One example is a development in Truro which will house an additional 7000 people like you and me in an area where the hospital is already on black alert 24/7, schools are full and…need I go on? Yes, because the sewage system is so badly under stress that the Truro River and subsequently the Fal River, are poisoned during heavy rainfall. Further east up the A30 is an ancient marshland near Bodmin which routinely floods in winter. This is due to receive a minimum of a further 4000 souls. God help them. This pattern is repeated on the edges of ten towns in Cornwall whilst in many cases, the high streets are dying. Why is it that there are no low impact homes being built in town centres and instead, car-reliant satellite ‘Garden Villages’ are planned and built? Responsibility The local authority is responsible for actual Planning permissions, 95% of which are sanctioned by the unelected officers of the Council. They are civil servants and will therefore do as the Whitehall mandarins dictate. If Westminster says “allow housing”, housing is allowed wherever a developer wants to build. However, the purpose of a Council - or indeed any Government -is to serve public interest. The public interest of Cornwall is in preserving the natural beauty of the environment, the fragile network of its communities and the tender shoots of enterprise. I don’t think any of us would give our money to an unknown civil servant to invest on our behalf - it’s just “not their thing” as most public servants would privately admit - but this is exactly what Cornwall Council now demands. It is now borrowing and additional £600m of debt to speculate on property development in a “change of direction.” No landscape is protected; no community has the authority to defend itself; and there is no vision or strategy of sustainability that serves our children or ourselves. It’s all done in the name of “the economy, stupid.” So who are the homes for?” Message to Phil Mason, John Betty and Kate Kennally: youbwould do well to read this report (link below), in between your developer-sponsored champagne jollies to Cannes... https://www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1464661/planning-system-not-working-interest-communities-nation?bulletin=planning-daily&utm_medium=EMAIL&utm_campaign=eNews If you agree with the above, even just a little bit, then please sign the petition below: www.change.org/p/cornwall-council-we-the-undersigned-wish-to-express-a-vote-of-no-confidence-in-cornwall-council