A campaigner’s letter that generated the response from the Council in the Western Morning News: Date: 9 June 2018 at 12:52:44 BST To: kkennally@cornwall.gov.uk Cc: @cornwallcouncillors.org.uk Subject: Phil Mason Dear Mrs Kennally, As the new CEO of Cornwall Council, I feel that you should be aware of the increasing anger and frustration by the public towards our council, given the ridiculous pace at which mass housing development is being allowed across the Duchy. More than 6,000 are now demanding that the council’s long standing Chief of Planning, Phil Mason, either resign or be sacked for his multiple errors. You can find the full set of public demands here: www.change.org/p/cornwall-council-phil-mason-council-s-chief-planning-officer-has-failed-cornwall-and-must-resign Phil Mason, Council's Chief Planning Officer, has failed ... www.change.org Phil Mason, Council's Chief Planning Officer, has failed Cornwall and must resign. In addition, I attach over 1,000 comments collected from the general public, relating to the current housing chaos or more specifically to Phil Mason himself. Ignore this at your peril. It’s not going away and it’s growing. I’m presuming that you won’t want to be remembered as the CEO on whose watch this whole business exploded and the council failed. I would presume that given the numbers of signatures asking for the current Chief of Planning’s removal, a meeting should be organised at some level, and possibly even a vote of confidence with all councillors present. Many of (y)our councillors are very angry too, I gather, so it’s not just a general public issue, although the latter alone should be cause enough for concern. I wish you every success in dealing with some of your wayward officers as well as with a growing and angry public. One local Councillor responded to Cornwall Council’s rebuttal: This letter states it is building 1000 homes for local people, so who the hell are the other 54000 homes for? I drive to Falmouth twice a week and the speed of development is astounding every few months another sign goes up promoting a range of three- four bedroom houses. What I fail to understand is why these idiots can’t see the destruction they are wreaking on Cornwall. Cornwall Council's stand at The Royal Cornwall Show was advertising its democratic credibility; I did challenge a councillor stating there is no such thing as democracy in Cornwall Council. The whole system beggars belief. Another concerned campaigner writes: Dear All, If you scroll down the page you will see a list and details of the Housing acquisitions by CC - you may all be aware of these but it is good to see a list. On Wednesday 20th June Cabinet Item 9 Mr. John Betty is going to make his first purchase of land at Langarth, Threemilestone, to enable development of a new town to go forward. This item is to be taken behind closed doors so we shall not know whether the land is being purchased from INOX or whether it is a new piece of land to add to the jigsaw, to be able to complete the “Vision”. I cannot come to terms with the fact that if the development of Langarth has been declared a mistake by Phil Mason (Oct 17), how it now such a “good idea’! I had not previously understood that two wrongs make a right. Most of the information we have about this project was contained in the 2nd May (?) Cabinet agenda. I cannot understand why Cllr. Nolan is so enthusiastic to review the Truro and Kenwyn Neighbourhood Plan - what difference is it going to make “talking” to Cornwall Council? They have already decided what they are going to do, whether we like it or not - maybe we shall be able to alter the number of trees on the proposed boulevard - who knows? There are one or two interesting items on the Cabinet agenda but some of them I find difficult to understand - or at least, the implications are not clear. https://democracy.cornwall.gov.uk/mgIssueHistoryHome.aspx?IId=77022 A note from Cornwall National Park campaigner, Orlando Kimber: Dear All, If you feel that a National Park Cornwall is the best way to protect what we love, please respond to this Government consultation (20 questions). https://consult.defra.gov.uk/eu/environmental-principles-and-governance/consultation/ If we don’t say anything through the formal channels, it will be easy for us to be dismissed. If we do respond (and encourage others to do so) we can build a strong case. It’s not the only action we need to take, but it’s a solid start: In order that we can have a brilliant compilation of answers, would you also copy the text of responses that you feel are really strong into a single text document? Then, if you send it to me through FB Messenger, I’ll synthesize ‘the best of’ and recirculate / send to media etc. Many thanks, Orlando Kimber Cornish Solidarity then met and wrote to Councillors: Dear Councillor Thank you for engaging in a very productive conversation with me yesterday. I get the feeling that we agree on much more than we disagree on, but I do wish to enlarge on one particular point where it was obvious that my intransigence frustrated you. I do take on board your lack of appetite for our petition calling for the removal of the chief planner, but having deeply reflected on the matter in the interim, I am afraid that my view is unaltered. You have only been a councillor for a year, while the issues in question have been increasingly boiling up since the Unitary Council’s inception in 2009. The reasons for this are various but revolve around the fact that legitimate approaches by numerous individuals - most particularly over at least five years - that attempted to reach a compromise on the issues at stake have been spurned, ridiculed and dismissed, whilst my colleagues and I have been patronised, labeled vexatious and threatened on more than one occasion with fatuous defamation proceedings, designed to bully and intimidate. Personally I never yield to threats or blackmail and never knowingly peddle untruths, in stark contrast to the chief planner, who with a perfectly straight face, stated on Radio Cornwall in 2015 that ‘’according to extensive surveys 80% of the new homes to be built (inflicted on Cornwall) up to 2030, will be occupied by local buyers’’. Subsequent FOI requests by a fellow campaigner revealed that no surveys, extensive or otherwise, were ever undertaken by Cornwall Council. In truth, it is a racing certainty that the legendary 80% myth can be turned on its head insofar that if the accents of the occupiers of new homes are any guide, >80% of the homes are in reality going to inward migrants, who merely exacerbate the problems that so many Cornish council taxpayers are quite rightly up in arms about, with regard to school places, healthcare, traffic congestion and environmental degradation, etc… In the final analysis, no one (most particularly myself) embarked on the campaign to remove a named officer lightly, but you must appreciate that given the way we have been collectively treated by Cornwall Council, hard ball had to be the weapon of choice. This decision was justified by the fact that even within Cornwall Council, the ‘’buck’’ must stop at someone’s desk; in this case, unfortunately for him, it happened to be the chief planner who really ought to recognise that the people of Cornwall have every right to expect senior council officers to serve their best interests at all times, or be fully prepared to face the inevitable consequences of failing to do so. The petition now stands at over 6000 signatures and the comments gathered make very interesting reading, they have been shared with Cornwall Council who really should ignore them at their peril. It is a very sad reflection on the current state of affairs that our council is so universally disliked mistrusted and disrespected, but at the end of the day, the remedy is entirely in the hands of Cornwall Council, and the organisation really does need to take a long hard look at itself and its perceived failings from the top down The growing protests are multifaceted; it is not just Cornwall for Change or Cornish Solidarity involved. We are aware of and in contact with many others, and Cornwall Council ought to be thankful that these movements have not yet formally coalesced into one overarching movement, although there are currently discussions ongoing to assess that possibility in the not too distant future. Once again thank you for your attention Kind regards Kevin Bennetts On behalf of Cornish Solidarity. Dear Councillor Many thanks for yesterday’s unexpected but very welcome call. For your information and in the interests of transparency, I am copying yesterday’s email to Councillor Tudor outlining Cornish Solidarity’s position, following our robust yet highly productive exchange of views on Wednesday. However it may appear to Councillor Tudor, the campaign petition calling for his removal is not against the chief planner as a private individual, but against him in a professional capacity, and is largely self-inflicted due to his long perceived bias in favour of speculative development as well as his willful refusal to engage with us (whether he likes it or not, the electorate are major stakeholders in Cornwall’s future), in the same manner as he has always engaged with corporate developers. Please clearly note that if the complaint against the chief planner is one of “bias”, it is not about financial impropriety, as there is no evidence of this. We, initially as individuals and latterly as a loosely aligned group, have always been denied a right of reply by Cornwall Council, in a similar manner to the highly suspect “Private Developers forum” which seems to enjoy seamless access to the chief planner. Ironically, Cornwall Council always makes great play about its right of reply when it suits the organization, while ruthlessly denying others the same treatment. We suspect that more notice is being taken in TR1 (than we give ourselves credit for) in the form of policy sails being subtly trimmed; it is heartening to discover how many are actually reading our missives, which albeit often uncomfortable, are always intended to be constructive. Transparency and time constraints demand brutally frank straight talking, which may horrify those of a sensitive disposition; however we contend that those who do not like the heat should consider leaving the kitchen! We detect a growing groundswell of deep concern among a significant number of good councillors, some of whom openly talk of feeling powerless; more worryingly, some even go so far as to say that they feel intimidated by certain senior officers, which confirms something we have suspected for some time, but which appears to have intensified in tune with the meteoric rise of a certain John Betty. Perhaps the time is right for these councillors to make a credible stand by reasserting democracy in TR1. This would require courage, but that is in truth what public service is about. All we ask is that our council works efficiently for us, to the degree where we can actually learn to respect it. Kind regards Kevin Bennetts Cornish Solidarity. One Cornish Business leader wrote: Our fragile economy in Cornwall relies upon 71,500 self employed (almost 1 in 3 of our economically active population), many of whom have followed this career path not through choice, but through necessity. Although our unemployment figures look good, there is mass underemployment in the Duchy. So it would be interesting to find out where the jobs are going to come from to make living in the thousands of new homes sustainable. Finally, another campaigner questions the dubious relationship between Cornwall Council and the secretive and hugely wealthy Duchy Estate/Council: In my attempt to ascertain how much influence the secretive and unelected Duchy Council has over Cornwall Council, the latter is trying hard to wriggle out of my FOI request by claiming the task is too expensive. However, they have admitted that items of communication between the two, since 2008 comes to 4,787. That is more than one a day! Which only serves to fuel suspicion. The Council wants me to pare down my request. What's going on there, I wonder?