A call to Cornwall for a day of action from a lady in Breage, Sarah Tresidder:
“The time has come, someone said: And it certainly has, to join together in arms, to link those arms with other arms and form a chain, this chain to walk in unison around the heart and lungs of land that should have been protected, but this land, held preciously for so long in our custody, protected by Conservation orders and being a part of the World Mining Heritage, has now been ripped up and abused all in the name of money. We cannot protect our heritage, it seems, the paper work is not enough. Even enforcement notices, are not enforceable when up against people who have no sentimentality or conscience but have plenty of money, or people with money behind them.
This is not just about Breage Village, it is about the whole of Cornwall. Bodies are needed to form this chain, to link together in our hour of sorrow, to show that we are watching our heritage disappear, and are fed up with being concreted over. Soon there will be nothing left to save for our children and future generations.
It starts on Easter Bank Holiday Monday 1pm, Breage Village, TR13 9PL on A394. Bring a picnic, make it a day out, there is a lovely village community field with childrens play equipment too.
This is only the beginning, we have a voice, let us shout loud and clear, Cornwall has had enough.
Cornwall Councillors who followed the officers' down the slippery slope of debt and urban sprawl are starting to have regrets.... except oracle Bob Egerton who just can't get enough housing squeezed into Cornwall:
THIS POST HAS BEEN TAKEN FROM CORNWALL REPORTS IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST:
Entirely and as repeatedly predicted by Cornish Solidarity, the smug overconfident Councillor (Bob the Builder) Egerton really ought to ponder if he is capable of running his own bath let alone a £600 million housing development project using borrowed money, which we as council taxpayers are ultimately responsible for repaying.
Councillor Egerton appears to have fallen completely under the thrall of the hyperactive (now departed) therefore unaccountable Bristol-based consultant, John Betty, who championed the increasingly dubious Langarth project that Councillor Egerton remains hell bent on pursuing.
News from Cornwall Reports:
Cornwall Council’s housing headache, having built homes at a cost greater than they can be sold
By Rashleigh MacFarlane
Cornwall councillors have voted to progress their controversial plans to create a new arm’s-length company to build 1,000 houses, despite the misgivings of some councillors over the quality of the new homes and whether taxpayers are getting value for their £600 million investment.
Councillors seem certain to go ahead with a £5.3 million increase in their capital spending and to continue their pursuit of the previously-approved Housing Development Programme. Cornwall Reports described last month some of the problems faced by the project.
An official council report said that pilot schemes at Bodmin and Tolvaddon, Camborne, established that the original design specifications will in future have to be ditched because they are too expensive.
Councillor Andrew Mitchell, the cabinet member responsible for housing, admitted that the council’s pursuit of quality had resulted in it building some properties at a cost greater than the market value of those homes.
This has created a situation where some shared-ownership houses, described as “affordable” by County Hall, are now for sale – with new potential owners set to make a big profit while - should the sales proceed - the council would make a loss.
Mr Mitchell said he had given an undertaking that where this might be the case, those properties would not be sold but would instead be transferred into the rental sector.
Several councillors voiced concern that the whole strategy was flawed. Councillor Neil Burden described the HDP as “a disaster. We’ve been sold a pup,” he said. “The original business plan has been ditched. It’s peppered with words like ‘essential’ and ‘critical’ – we should accept that as an experiment, it has failed.
“It’s going to cost us a huge amount of money. We should accept that when it comes to building houses we are just amateurs.”
The Conservative group of councillors abstained on the proposal to proceed. Tory group leader Linda Taylor said: "Our group made the difficult decision to abstain at today’s full council meeting’s vote to commit another £8m of taxpayer money to Cornwall Council’s Housing Development Plan.
“The reason we abstained rather than voted against, is because we are supportive of the principle of building more houses, particularly affordable ones for people who already live here.
“However today we could not support these poorly costed figures, as this would be pouring more money into propping up this programme, and we are concerned it would be seen as an endorsement of the poor management and financial control exercised so far on this programme.
Some of the houses built at Bodmin are already for sale
“What the administration is trying to do here is play around with figures to hide their incompetence with financial management.
“We are unhappy with this and have grave concerns that Cornwall Council will not be able to complete its target of 1000 houses in the time it had give itself, in part because of this mismanagement.
“The Conservative Group on Cornwall Council will continue to scrutinise and challenge decisions by this administration where appropriate, on behalf of the people of Cornwall who we are all there to serve and represent.”
Councillor Carol Mould said that on the published financial projections, members would have to live for at least another 40 years before they got their money back. “How have we managed to build these houses at a price which is higher than we could sell them for?” she asked.
Councillor Steve Barnes said that he had studied the Tolvaddon scheme and it was “obvious that the first designs bear no resemblance to what is being proposed now.”
Council leader Adam Paynter said “We are not trying to hide anything. We will certainly be acting within the law. We will learn from the mistakes that have been made. We will not sell at below market value.”
Councillor Paul Wills said it was wrong for the council to be trying to build houses for sale. “We should be building social housing, for rent,” he said. “There is no such thing as affordable housing.”
If any further proof were needed of Councillor Egerton's concrete & car agenda, one Grampound resident wrote to Councillor Egerton about his bizarre vision for Cornwall, and this is what was said:
On 25 Mar 2019, at 20:02, Per Lemon <perlemon@hotmail.com> wrote:
Dear Councillor Egerton,
I’m writing to you as you are my councillor on Cornwall Council and I understand that you are also on the committee making decisions about housing developments.
I heard that you are a keen advocate of environmental policy so cannot for the life of me understand how and why you would allow so much new housing around us which is making life in our village utter hell.
In my short life on this earth, I’ve watched our community turn from small backwater and gateway to Truro and West Cornwall, into this constant daily stream of traffic that even makes it difficult to cross the road from one side of the village to the other on most days! Years ago, we used to play in the street!
To make matters worse I saw on the county council website that we now have high air pollution in our village. This is just ridiculous when you think about where we are. We’re supposed to be in a rural part of Britain yet you now tell us that we have air pollution!
And then when I visit some family in Saint Columb Minor and Goonhavern, it’s even worse because the whole landscape changes from one week to the next. I simply fail to recognise some villages I’ve been visiting all my life. There’s these new estates everywhere, some in red brick but who for, because given the number of young locals I know are always asking for a bedroom, there never seems to be any new homes actually built for them, just for others. Is that normal from a local council supposedly looking after its own (tax payers)?!
When will all this building and traffic stop, councillor Egerton, because like many others in this town, we’re getting really angry about what Cornwall County Council is allowing to happen in our own home.
I know some who’ve been complaining for years and many used to ignore them, but now everyone sees they were right all along, that Cornwall council are not doing the job they’re supposed to do with our taxes.
Please can you start standing up for people in our town before allowing all this development for everyone else.
Yours sincerely,
P. Lemon
Grampound
TR2 4QR
On 30 Mar 2019, at 09:58, Egerton Bob CC <bob.egerton@cornwallcouncillors.org.uk> wrote:
Dear Per Lemon
Thank you for your email. I am the Cornwall Councillor for this area and I am also the Cabinet member for Planning and Economy.
You are right to say that Fore Street, Grampound is a busy road and also that we have a problem with air pollution particularly at the upper end of the village. It is also true that more houses are being built in Cornwall each year, as they are across the country. However, trying to stop new housing being built is not the answer to problems of traffic and air pollution. The increase in traffic has been predominantly caused by an increase in car ownership, not by an increase in housing. When I was young, far more families owned their own homes than owned a motor car. Today it is the opposite.
The Council has an obligation to produce a Local Plan that sets targets for housing numbers and Cornwall’s Local Plan was adopted in 2016. Having a Local Plan means that the Council can exercise some control over where housing is built, design of houses and estates, levels of affordable housing etc. If we did not have a Local Plan, then we would be obliged to give planning permissions for more housing and have little control over where it was built.
One of the reasons for the high traffic flow through Grampound is that Truro acts as a magnet for inbound traffic each day. Truro has a high number of jobs and a high proportion of those jobs are filled by people who live outside of Truro. What we can do as a council is to encourage housing in areas where there is less need for car travel. A good example of this is that Cornwall Council is bringing forward development on the west side of Truro beyond Treliske hospital. Over the next 15-20 years, there could be up to 3,000 houses built there in a new community. All of those houses will be close to the jobs at the hospital, Threemilestone and the city of Truro. All of those places are well served by public transport or are within walking and cycling distance. This will mean that there will be less need for car journeys.
In my own area, I actively promote public transport. I produce bus timetables each year and distribute them to all residents. I frequently liaise with First Buses to alleviate any problems that might occur in the system. I feel that I do make a modest contribution to encouraging residents to use their cars less.
With regard to pollution, this has predominantly been caused by the government’s promotion of diesel cars in the early 2000s. What seemed at the time to be a good idea because diesel cars have lower fuel consumption than petrol cars turned out to be a mistake because of the particulates emitted by diesel engines. Whilst Cornwall Council can try to bring in small mitigation measures, the only long term solution is the elimination of these polluting vehicles. That is a task for central government and cannot be done by a local council.
In conclusion, I sympathise with your concerns about traffic levels and pollution. However, I do not believe that trying to stop new housing being built is the right answer.
I hope that this helps to clarify my position.
Best wishes
Bob Egerton
Bob Egerton, Cornwall Councillor, Probus, Tregony and Grampound
Cabinet member for Planning and Economy
Tel: 01872 322571
Mobile: 07785 748844
On 1 Apr 2019, at 16:37, Per Lemon wrote:
Thank you very much for your long response, Councillor Egerton, I appreciate it.
I’m not a highly sophisticated or intelligent man like those that work at the council, and I’m therefore struggling to understand some of the points you are making.
Are you saying households today have more cars than they did ten or even twenty years ago, and that’s the problem?
So you’re also saying that few of the 60,000 new homes being built in relation to the Local Plan will have car usage, as you write that “The increase in traffic has been predominantly caused by an increase in car ownership, not by an increase in housing.”
I recently read that Cornwall was building new homes at 3 times the rate elsewhere in the UK so it’s misleading to say “It is also true that more houses are being built in Cornwall each year, as they are across the country.”
Again I don’t understand why we’re building so much when our main hospital and other facilities cannot cope and the new jobs seem to be few and far between, let alone some of the appalling wages on offer. How do my grandchildren afford a new home worth £250k on a wage of £8-10/hour, especially when they’re first trying to battle their way to Truro and pay either expensive fuel or bus charges?
Can you explain to me what “control over housing” as well as “affordable homes”, because this doesn’t seem to sit very well with some new estates in Truro and Saint Austell which none of the locals wanted, and as for affordability, it seems that deposits required are astronomical, even if you do decide on the ripoff deals of shared/part ownership. It wouldn’t be so bad if more Council homes were available but these are all disappearing at giveaway rates whilst not being replaced.
On a separate issue, I have many close family and friends that have moved into new homes built by Wain Homes in Truro, Saint Austell and Penryn, and I can tell you that your statement “Having a Local Plan means that the Council can exercise some control over where housing is built, design of houses and estates, levels of affordable housing etc...” really doesn’t match reality as far as the very poor build quality is concerned.
For all your reassurances, Councillor Egerton, I’m afraid to say that the reality of the situation on the ground doesn’t at all tie up with your vision of things and I’m sorry to say that you seem to have had the wool completely pulled over your eyes, as far as all this building is concerned.
On that basis, I do feel that you and the other councillors have badly let us down, as a community and I’m really quite upset and angry about it because the harm that’s been done is so bad and so permanent. I just don’t recognise our living environment anymore and my village which was a joy to live in for so many decades has become a nightmare.
I guess you’ve confirmed my view that politicians still talk a lot but don’t achieve that much for their people and you’ve not really helped me restore my faith in the process.
Instead of a long list of excuses from you as set out below, I would’ve much rather had a one liner saying something like: “yes, you’re right, we’ve lost control, we’ve made a mess and for that I’m really sorry for my part”. I would have a lot more respect for you and your fellow councillors if that’s what you’d written.
Yours sincerely,
P. Lemon
From: Egerton Bob CC <bob.egerton@cornwallcouncillors.org.uk>
Date: 7 April 2019 at 16:52:10 BST
To: Per Lemon <perlemon@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Complaint
Dear Per Lemon
Thank you for your email. I will try to answer your points.
Yes, I am saying that car ownership has increased by far more than the increase in number of houses and it is the use of those cars that causes the traffic.
I am not saying that few of the new houses will have car owners. What I am saying is that the usage of cars is partly dependent on where the houses are located. If the houses are built in the countryside, a long way from facilities such as employment space and shops, then the mileage of those cars will tend to be high; if the houses are built close to employment space and shops and close to good public transport links, then the cars will not be used so much.
More houses are being built across the country. Cornwall has to build its share of the houses that are needed. Cornwall probably has built more houses pro rata than some other areas but I am not sure where the “3 times the rate” statistic comes from.
With regard to whether or not the hospital can cope, it is true that the NHS does struggle at times. The NHS is funded on a per capita basis. If the population goes up by 50%, then the funding for the hospital goes up by 50%. If the population went down, then the funding would go down. The real problem is that the funding per head is just not enough, but that is down to central government.
By “control over housing” I mean that our Local Plan is able to provide some control over where housing is built or not built.
The phrase “affordable housing” applies to housing that is rented at lower than market rents, typically by housing associations. But even affordable housing is still not cheap.
I agree that right to buy where council houses or affordable houses are bought by the tenants is wrong and has deprived councils and housing associations of significant numbers of houses. That, again, is the fault of central government policies and Cornwall Council cannot resist it.
Build quality is a problem. Central government has allowed building control to be taken over by private companies who undercut local authority building control services and do a not very good job. Hence, many houses are signed off that should never have been signed off.
I hope that this helps to explain some of the issues.
I am sorry that you think that Grampound is a nightmare to live in.
If you feel that I have done a poor job, that is your right to think so. There will be elections for the council in 2021 and you can see at that stage if there is someone who can do the job better than I have done.
Best wishes
Bob Egerton
Bob Egerton, Cornwall Councillor, Probus, Tregony and Grampound
Cabinet member for Planning and Economy
On 8 Apr 2019, at 21:25, Per Lemon wrote:
Dear Councillor Egerton,
Thank you for taking the time to respond once again.
I’m probably not clever enough to understand everything you write so I passed on your email to my neighbour’s daughter who goes to Falmouth University at Tremough. She shared it with one of her teachers who wrote back to her.
What do you think of his reply below?
He seems to have a fair point about the large numbers of houses being built in Cornwall being proportionally higher.
What’s your view here?
Yours sincerely,
PL
Begin forwarded message:
Date: 8 April 2019 at 16:02
Subject: Re: Complaint
I'm surprised that Councillor Egerton states rather vaguely ... "More houses are being built across the country. Cornwall has to build its share of the houses that are needed. Cornwall probably has built more houses pro rata than some other areas..."
Is a fair share of a generally rising number of houses being built in Cornwall and why just 'probably'? I've checked the most recent stats from the DCLG and ONS which take us up to 2017. The net addition to stock (LT 122) tells us that in 2015-16 the Cornish figure was 1.37% that of England. In 2016-17 it was 1.41% and in 2016-17 it was 1.54%. Yet the MYEs inform us that Cornwall's population in 2015 and 2016 was 1.00% that of England and in 2017 it was 1.01%. That means that pro rata 37% more houses were built in Cornwall than in England in 2015. In 2016 that rose to 41% and in 2017 to 52%.
It's clear from this that in Cornwall we don't have anything like a fair share of the extra housing, but an excessive share that is increasingly out of proportion with every year that passes. I might add that Cornwall continues to have the highest rate of housebuilding in the UK when compared with unitaries, counties and metropolitan districts in England, local councils in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Given his position surely Cllr Egerton is well aware of these statistics.
On 10 Apr 2019, at 20:07, Egerton Bob CC wrote:
Dear Per Lemon
Thank you for your email. With regard to the numbers provided by one of the staff at Falmouth university, I think that the figures that he/she quotes in relation to new build in Cornwall vs. England as a whole are correct although I have not examined the same raw data that they have researched.
Whether one considers the performance of Cornwall in house building to be bad news or good news is a subjective opinion and people are free to make up their own minds. I think that it is good news. You are perfectly entitled to think the converse if you wish.
Best wishes
Bob Egerton
On 11 Apr 2019, at 08:30, Per Lemon wrote:
Dear Councillor Egerton,
Thank you for your email although I’m stunned by your reply.
I was at Treliske with one of my younger kids on Saturday and after a relatively “short” 4h wait at children’s A&E in a packed room, we left via the main A&E waiting area which was not only standing room only, but had a registration queue out the main door and round the corner. I’m told this is now a daily thing! As for parking charges, I was gobsmacked!
How can you think it’s a good thing to see so many more houses when our infrastructure seems to have been completely left behind?! Especially when so many seem so expensive yet of such poor quality!
I just don’t understand your answer. I don’t get your thinking.
Grampound is suffering from incredible and dangerous new levels of traffic and the road to Truro and St. Austell is now constantly packed.
Your response and your active call for ever more cars in Cornwall is all the more disappointing a day before a major global study on asthma in kids from car pollution was released:
“A study, in The Lancet Planetary Health journal, by researchers from George Washington University, looked at levels of nitrogen oxide (NO2) as an indicator of traffic pollution.
It found that four million cases of childhood asthma could be caused by air pollution from traffic - around 13% of those diagnosed each year, a global study suggests.
Current pollution guidelines may need changing because most children developing asthma live in areas within recommended levels, the authors say.
Experts say urgent action to protect children is required.
NO2 is just one element of air pollution, which is also made up of particulate matter, ozone and carbon monoxide. Together they are known to be harmful to health and particularly damaging to the airways and lungs, increasing the risk of asthma and other lung diseases.”
Your ambitions for Cornwall seem to run against all the car and air pollution science and if I’m honest I really don’t get it.
When all my neighbours in the village moan about traffic all the time, I wonder how your views for more will be received.
I’m extremely shocked and disappointed by your views here, Councillor Egerton, and really, really fail to understand them.
Yours sincerely,
Per Lemon
On 11 Apr 2019, at 20:32, Egerton Bob CC wrote:
Dear Per Lemon
I am sorry that you do not understand my answer.
I have nothing more to add to my previous attempts to explain my rationale.
Best wishes
Bob Egerton
On 12 Apr 2019, at 09:41, Per Lemon wrote:
And I’m very sorry that you are unable to properly justify your wish to see ever more housing, cars & traffic jams, hospital queues and poor air quality in your own villages.
You really disappoint me, Councillor Egerton.
Given your views, I don’t understand your position at the council, as you seem to be swimming against the tide of local opinion, and failing to provide a service to your community. If you fail to do that, what’s the point of you “serving” us??
Yours sincerely,
Per Lemon
On Sat, 13 Apr 2019 9:24 pm Per Lemon, wrote:
Dear Councillor Egerton,
I’m angry that councillors keep blaming central government for our extraordinarily large housing numbers when in fact you’re the one that obviously positively encourages it.
Hypocrisy and bad faith seem to be the motus operandi of the Council when it comes to blaming others re. the chaos unfolding all around us in Cornwall today.
As my councillor, I’m very disappointed with some of your views in our exchanges earlier.
Yours sincerely,
Per Lemon
Grampound