As the Langarth debacle rages on, with the council now effectively turning itself into a speculative developer of mostly unaffordable homes by borrowing the first slice of the £600 million (already agreed £159m), we’re effectively promised a new town at Langarth, between Threemilestone and Treliske Hospital, which will initially accommodate some 10,000 people, just four to five miles outside Truro, in one of the most congested parts of the Duchy: Chiverton Roundabout.
Given that SWW have long said they can’t cope with any more mass development, restating again and again that there is no sewerage facility at Langarth (so expensive holding tanks will hold your waste until trucks regularly take it past Treliske on their way to the treatment works at Newham), that all the developers and retailers pulled out of the project years ago due to cost issues, except one: Inox; that the latter company does not actually have a development history (or any actual history, despite existing since 2008), but has somehow managed to lie about a “free” stadium, has not delivered the extra relief road to Treliske, has used land agents that have now been caught intimidating current and past residents off their land to accommodate said development, and that the government turned down any support for this scheme several times due to poor costings for the whole project, we ask again, why the folly of Cornwall Council borrowing off the Loan Board (favourable rates for now) to speculate and develop something Cornwall – and especially Truro – does not need nor want, risking even higher levels of traffic chaos and air pollution - Highertown in Truro has already been identified as one of the worst areas for nitrogen dioxide levels in the country, along with Holmbush in St. Austell – potentially sending Cornish Council Tax bills soaring to dangerous levels (for local families) for many, many years to come?!!
Cornish Solidarity wrote to Portfolio holder and enthusiastic supporter of ever more unaffordable homes: Bob Egerton. Below are the emails relating to this frustrating discussion, especially from a councillor that purports to having a green agenda:
On 18/07/2019 23:17, kevin bennetts wrote:
Dear Councillor Egerton
Thank you for your uncharacteristically expeditious response following this morning's email.
I will comment on each of your responses in order as necessary.
1. Your answer admittedly details the inner working of something that is obviously still functioning but it does not address the undesirable intimacy that is bound to exist between the planners and developers who meet on a regular basis when it is glaringly obvious that build standards have if anything deteriorated in the time this Private Developers forum has been in existence.
A. That does not belie the fact that searches by several colleagues at various times did not find the link you have kindly supplied, has it suddenly miraculously re-appeared as a result of the pressure implied by this question?
B. You do not give a satisfactory answer as to why there was never in the interests of balance fairness a facility for an equal and opposite forum which if granted may have prevented much of the suspicion and anger that has developed in the interim, Councillor Dwelly was particularly aggressive and scathing in his contempt for this request which seemed highly suspicious, the more so because his wife, a Cornwall Council Officer was involved which presented the potential for a conflict of interest.
C. I am sorry but that response is a cop out, the big corporate developers have been allowed to get away with murder which has impacted in a highly negative manner on the often hard pressed fully stretched purchasers of the scandalously high number of defective properties in question, while building control stood idly by, and Cornwall Council appeared to be in utter denial that anything at all was amiss while the law was being wilfully and repeatedly broken by the developers who were originally exposed by Cornish Solidarity.
D. On this one I make no apology for saying your response is a cop out, our opinions are diametrically opposed but the facts speak for themselves, despite a considerable sum of public money being vaporised, what resulted is an utter disgrace, nasty tat built down to a price rather than up to an acceptable standard given the sensitivity of this historic site that that clearly details the abysmal development standards Cornwall Council is prepared to tolerate, in a nutshell, in the heart of what is seen by most as the premier part of an iconic world heritage site, a golden opportunity to excel was squandered.
E. I have said it many times before but for your benefit I will say it again! Cornwall Council’s FIRST DUTY OF CARE SHOULD BE TO ITS COUNCIL TAX PAYERS not developers, whose greed and cutting of corners has repeatedly put innocent lives at unnecessary risk, it is that serious. Again thank you for the link you have kindly supplied, however I put it to you in the strongest possible terms that what is going on is not good enough and Cornwall Council is deeply involved in letting the same developers get away with these outrages time and again. Cornwall Councils actual first duty of care given these particular circumstances tends to suggest is toward the developers. Didn’t former Cornwall Council CEO Andrew Kerr say to the BBC that ‘’ the developers own us’’ just before he left his post, which is a truly appalling revelation made when a visibly squirming Mr Mason was present.
F. Once more a truly appalling state of affairs that nothing has been done about until the developers went too far, it is even more unforgivable that this was kept out of the public domain until the lid blew off because of the sheer scale of the problems as revealed by angry householders affected who seemed to enjoy no protection from any one.
2. Given that you state ‘’that Cornwall Council has no powers to make developers up their game, are we to continue to see jerry building as an accepted way to build the houses imposed on us, effectively overpriced future slums that will always be problematic to their unfortunate occupiers, particularly after those developers responsible have trousered the loot and legged it. More significantly it is hopefully assumed that when Cornwall Council actually becomes a corporate developer in its own right it will build to higher more sustainable standards while remaining well within accepted affordability criteria. Can you give this assurance?
3. I do agree that there is a serious mismatch between the number of houses available and the number of jobs causing a daily commute that is a prime cause of congestion, I put it to you again in the strongest possible terms that another golden opportunity was squandered when our council sold off the Richard Lander site which it owned when it should have been building affordable homes for rental to those on lower incomes who are forced to commute into Truro. I further put it to you that cycles and buses are only part of this solution given that a high proportion of houses being built are being occupied by new arrivals who actually exacerbate today's unacceptable problems by adding to traffic levels, which your statement referred to, does nothing but exacerbate the irritation of those affected.
4. The Local Plan will be remembered in the idiom of an enormous cart being placed before the horse, I was there and a clearly biased inspector acceded to every demand the barristers and land agents representing the developers made. Cornwall Council’s team were an embarrassment, unbelievably weak and defeatist, the outcome led to a petition to have the Chief Planner removed for failing Cornwall, It was regrettable that it was of a personal nature but the gentleman concerned must appreciate that there must be a price to pay for his failure to protect Cornwall from what is currently taking place. Frankly there is far too much buck passing. Classic divide and rule ‘’nuffink to do wiv me guv’’ cop outs from far too many officers and portfolio holders, yourself included, are not acceptable when everyone concerned should be raising cane with Cornwall’s six MP’s who are up to their armpits in this disgraceful greed fuelled fiasco!
5. Again second homes are getting a far too easy ride which while making sympathetic noises is not doing nearly enough to deal with the curse of second homes on our social structure, the same could be said about unoccupied houses, the number of new builds flooding the market are seriously affecting the market for older properties which despite representing excellent value for money are not selling easily. To summarise the whole thing is an unmitigated mess that Cornwall Council is keeping very quiet about.
6. This can be left till verified facts are to hand because I agree that the figure seems very high however the situation is undoubtedly very serious.
NB. I was wrong to invoke smoke and fire and apologise unreservedly for doing so.
7. I was told about Marcel Venn by a trusted supporter who rekindled my memory of an elderly lady who was present when the outline Langarth application was passed, she was an old friend of my family who had recently lost her husband, she was in tears in the public gallery recounting how she was harassed and threatened by an Inox representative presumed to be Mr Saltmarsh, at the time she was too scared to complain so the matter rested until the Lys Kernow protest where I was approached by a supporter I had not previously met who said a friend had been harassed by an Inox director called Marcel Venn. This revived my previous recollection about harrassement. That evening I visited the first complainants bungalow at Langarth which straddles the boundary of the proposed stadium. The old lady being deceased I spoke to her youngest son as the occupier. He confirmed that what happened was true but he is still afraid of Marcel Venn and did not wish to get involved. The bungalow had been left jointly to himself and his two siblings who wished to cash in their shares. A deal had just been done with Dickie Evans personally who had agreed a price because he wanted the site for an access road. The son then told me of another retired lady who allegedly had been threatened and abused by Venn because she would not sell her large strategically suited paddock to Inox. I had a lengthy chat with her where she confirmed everything but was again afraid to go fully public on account of the threats made. The following are details about Venn from his linked in profile which is unlikely to be false, it reveals that he is a pretty big Inox cheese so it really is strange that you have not encountered him before. Perhaps Mr Mason has? Strangely enough when I went back to the first place to thank him for pointing me in the right direction he said he had just had a strange phone call insofar that the bungalow deal with the stadium was ‘’off for the time being’’.
If it turns out that this character has been committing the crime of abusive and threatening behaviour then that is a pretty serious offence and a police matter but doing business with people like that could inflict serious reputational harm on Cornwall Council.
7. I accept your explanation, we must agree to differ given that it is a matter for individual consciences.
On the Besore matter I felt that you were very reticent on the day, it is a very ticklish subject of which I have personal family experience that left me traumatised, it was the same for the young tractor driver who discovered the deceased with horrendous injuries. I await the inquest where I believe the statement I made about a conversation I had with the deceased some time before the tragedy will be given in evidence. Best to say no more at present.
I appreciate that you think I am vexatious and a confounded nuisance but I believe implicitly in the truth and will move heaven and earth to get to the bottom of any matter that is shrouded in potential untruths that may affect me or mine adversely.
I have grandchildren who I want to enjoy and benefit from Cornwall as much as I have over my 70 years and I will without fear or favour do anything legal to maintain that status quo given the threats that Cornwall currently faces due to the greed that stalks us.
That is what drives me to campaign relentlessly against unsustainable hyper development.
Your apology ref. Besore is accepted.
Yours very sincerely
Kevin Bennetts
From: Egerton Bob CC
Sent: 18 July 2019 15:20
To: kevin bennetts
Cc: German Julian CC; Mason Phil; Wood Louise
Subject: Re: An open letter to Councillor Egerton.
Dear Mr Bennetts
Thank you for your emails. I have tried to answer your questions as best I can below.
Question 1 There was (is there still?) a Private Developers’ Forum, which appeared, from published minutes, to be an incredibly cosy, dare I say biased talking shop where planners and developers met in congenial circumstances to discuss development issues?
Answer: The meetings of the Private sector Developers Forum are held in St. Erme Community Centre, they are used as a chance to share information about changes in planning legislation, new policies, emerging themes in Planning and addressing issues that both parties may be experiencing. These are attended by Councillors, Council Officers from different Services and are considered to be part of an important ongoing dialogue with the development industry. The recent meeting included a demonstration of the importance of Sprinkler Systems in new development, encouraging developers to install them in their schemes.
Question This issue in isolation begs several further questions:
A Why, when campaigners cottoned on to this forum, did it cease to publish any further minutes from that time on?
Answer: The Forum meetings are minuted meetings and those minutes can be found on the Council website at: https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/housing/private-sector-housing/private-sector-developers-forum/
Question: B Given the obviously highly favourable bias extended to the developers by affording them exclusive access to planners, why, given its professed commitment to transparency, openness and right of reply, did Cornwall Council not, as a matter of course, extend a similar democratic courtesy to objectors in order that they could articulate their counter arguments to what the developers were demanding?
Answer: These Private Sector Development Forum meeting are not to discuss individual applications, but to encourage good quality submissions and to make developers aware of the requirements of various Cornwall Council departments. There is a separate group called the Cornwall Planning Partnership, made up of representatives from Town & Parish Councils representing their communities, that helps to give the Local Councils/Community voice. That too is with Officers from the Planning & Sustainable Development Service and the Portfolio Holder. Many positive outcomes have come out of that group, including improvements to the planning process. Information about the Cornwall Planning Partnership and their meeting minutes can be found at: https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/environment-and-planning/planning/local-councils/planning-partnership-meetings/
Objectors are given opportunities to contribute comments on any planning application and afforded the opportunity to address the planning committee if a proposal is considered in that forum.
Question: C Why have Cornwall Council’s planners, and, by default, the Strategic Planning Committee and individual councillors who voted on these matters, allowed such appalling standards of construction and appearance in virtually all of the new builds, so totally at odds with the accepted Cornish vernacular?
Answer: We are committed to improving the design quality in new developments as we acknowledge that some developments have not achieved the standard that we would like. Work is currently taking place to refresh our guidance on design and this work is being undertaken collaboratively with our colleagues, such as the environment service and our highways teams, to ensure that our guidance is consistent and schemes can be well-designed whilst being delivered to appropriate standards. We encourage applicants submitting significant development proposals to make use of the Cornwall Design Review Panel, which is an independent panel with expertise in architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, historic environment etc, who will peer review schemes to provide constructive guidance to encourage design excellence. Officers and Councillors have had and continue to receive design training provided in conjunction with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the Chair of our Design Review Panel.
Question: D A glaring example being the ‘’POOL IS THE FUTURE – CULTURAL CANDY’’ Heartlands abomination which is effectively an insult to one’s intelligence, do tell me please who was responsible for writing this utter cobblers and who they expected to fool with it, given that what has been delivered is a large number of not so cheap, very nasty houses and a pseudo American agglomeration of fast food joints without adequate parking, or access, right on one of the busiest junctions in the Duchy?
Answer: You are entitled to your opinion on the merits or otherwise of the developments at Heartlands. I do not share your opinion on this matter.
Question: E Given the ongoing escalating controversy surrounding the build standard of Persimmon homes, in particular following the scandal of missing fire retardant barriers, a host of building control infringements and environmental destruction of hedges during the bird nesting season last year, despite these and a further host of known complaints, why has Cornwall Council’s enforcement regime been so feeble as to be laughable?
Answer: The Council is seeking all possible means to improve quality and respond to issues of build quality. A focus has been the well publicised issues of fire barriers, and we have taken Counsel’s opinion as to both the Council’s duties as well as opportunities to support residents involved. It is important to record that the Council has limited powers as a result of the Build Act which was established in 1984 to open up the provision of Building Control to competition. The effect of this Act from that era is to effectively exclude Local Authority Building Control from the opportunity for enforcement when a developer has appointed a private sector inspector. The other effect of that Act was to allow negotiation between an inspector and a developer as to the number of inspections required during a development. Clearly that is an invidious position. We are making representation to government on these points through the Building a Safer Future consultation and would encourage you to make your own representations through this process (which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/building-a-safer-future-proposals-for-reform-of-the-building-safety-regulatory-system
Question: F Incidentally I do realise that building control can be overseen by private consultants. If this is the case what, if any, sanctions do Cornwall Council have at its disposal to enforce compliance with building control regulations, when the private consultants are found to be unlawfully lax or lenient?
Answer: The Council does not have any direct powers to intervene in such scenarios. That is also a key point of the consultation referred to above.
Question: 2 Given that Cornwall Council has recently declared a climate emergency, why are planners not insisting that every new home built in our Duchy is fitted with solar panels, full insulation and triple glazing? Will this be the policy on all future homes constructed by Cornwall Council?
Answer: We are unable to insist on such standards without the legislation or policy basis to do so. Our existing Local Plan policies support renewable energy in principle but do not go on to insist on solar panels on all new homes. However, as part of the Council’s Climate Change Action Plan the planning service has included a number of options that can be considered to respond to the climate change emergency, one of which is to look at the energy efficiency standards that would be required to help to achieve carbon neutrality which can be incorporated into future policies. For the Council’s own developments, we are developing a set of standards to meet the highest level of energy performance that is relevant to Cornwall’s climate. We are also seeking to establish a new review panel, similar to the design review panel that already exists, to encourage other developers to achieve standards in excess of building regulations minimums. It is unfortunate that the Government some years ago removed the opportunity for Council’s to set there own local policies in this regard.
Question: 3 You are on record for stating ‘’that houses don’t drive cars, people do’’. Given that people who live in all these houses do actually drive cars, do you in the light of experience, regret making that statement which, I suggest, is in reality yet another insult to council taxpayers’ intelligence?
Answer: What I have said on more than one occasion is that houses do not create traffic, cars do. I have said that where houses are built can affect the levels of traffic in certain areas. I have said, and will continue to say, that Truro’s traffic problems are caused by the mismatch between the number of jobs in Truro and the number of houses in the Truro area. There is a large level of inward bound commuting traffic in the mornings, and outbound in the evenings because a large number of people who live outside of Truro drive to work in Truro. By building homes in closer proximity to the jobs, we will be alleviating that problem rather than exacerbating it. You may disagree with me and that is your right to do so. We will have to agree to differ on this.
Question: 4 What, if any, contingencies do Cornwall Council have in place to deal with the inevitable consequences of these new builds, given the lag between delivery of the houses and the necessary infrastructure to cope with the significant population increase.
Answer: The preparation of the Local Plan included a wide ranging assessment of infrastructure requirements as set out in the Infrastructure Needs Assessment which can be found athttps://www.cornwall.gov.uk/media/10812614/A24-Cornwall-Infrastructure-Needs-Assessment-Overview-Report-Dec-14.pdf We are continuing to work on this evidence base with partners which will inform future iterations of the local plan. In particular we have established a joint resource with Health partners to help secure future contributions from development. We are pleased that we have secured government funding for certain projects to enable us to bring forward funding for infrastructure in advance of building the houses, e.g. at Carluddon with funding for the road and European funding for the workspace; at Langarth with funding for the road in advance of building the houses.
Question: 5 Given the constant mantra that locals cannot afford houses and the fact that these new houses are aggressively marketed nationwide and a proportion will be bought as second homes, why is Cornwall Council’s policy toward second home ownership so weak and floppy when second home owners enjoy exemption from council tax?
Answer: Second homes owners do not receive a discount on Council Tax. Council tax regulations are set by central government and therefore Cornwall Council does not have freedom to do as it wishes. A motion was brought to full Council in December 2018 was members resolved that they would prioritise the following proposals for discussion with Central Government and Cornwall’s MP’s as part of our Devolution Agenda:- (i) Holiday let properties registered as business premises and benefiting from the Small Business Exemption from Business Rates should be liable for Council Tax; and (ii) Local Councils should have the power to levy an additional Council Tax charge on second/holiday homes for the purpose of providing affordable housing.
Question: 6 In a similar vein, it has recently been reported that in Falmouth around 75% of properties (the highest in the UK) enjoy council tax exemption because they are student houses, can you kindly advise me the sum being lost in council tax in the Falmouth catchment due to this anomaly?
Answer: I don’t yet have the definitive information on this question, but I would be surprised if the figure of 75% was correct. I will check with the council tax department to see if they can shed some more light on this statistic.
Question: 7 Does the name Marcell Venn ring any bells with you?
Answer: No, it does not ring any bells with me. To the best of my recollection, I have never met anyone with that name. Google searches no doubt reveal some information about a person with that name but whether it is accurate or not, I cannot judge. I have no idea if Mr Venn has any connection with Mr Betty. Mr Betty is no longer employed by Cornwall Council and so I cannot check with him. I do not comment on statements about smoke and fire.
Question: 8 What is your view of this statement, ‘’The day that an elected representative or employed government servant begins to view the electorate as something to be ridiculed or ignored is the day that he or she ceases to be fit for office.
Answer: The people of my electoral division are the ones who have decided whether or not I am fit for public office. Some of them may agree with my views; doubtless others disagree with me on a number of issues. I have never expected everyone to agree with me. It would be a strange world where I received universal approbation from the electors. Frankly, I would be concerned if I did. Only in places like North Korea do politicians receive 100% of the vote.
With regard to your other questions/concerns:
I apologise that you did not receive an answer to your question about Besore Farm that you asked at Cabinet last year. I thought that you had been sent an answer but, on checking, it seems that it may not have been sent to you.
There was some sensitivity about the issue of Besore Farm because of the circumstances around the deceased tenant. I am checking what the current situation is and I will get back to you with the information that I am able to give without compromising the confidentiality issues.
With regard to my not meeting the demonstrators prior to Full Council last week, I was not deliberately avoiding them. I had to take my wife to an appointment at Treliske at 10.20 a.m. on that day. I came into the Full Council meeting late at about 11.30 a.m.
I hope that this helps to answer your questions.
I will respond as soon as I can on the issues of Besore Farm, and Falmouth HMOs.
Yours sincerely
Bob Egerton, Cornwall Councillor, Probus, Tregony and Grampound
Cabinet member for Culture, Economy and Planning
Tel: 01872 322571
Mobile: 07785 748844
Meanwhile, back in the real world, which Cornwall Council still struggles to understand, some have added the following comments:
“When I joined Penwith Council Planning in 1988, a housing embargo applied because sewerage in the district was completely inadequate (and discharged largely untreated raw sewage into the sea). That embargo was not removed until SW Water completed their massive resewering project several years later.
With current housing plans in place, Cornwall is to suffer a six-figure population increase in the next 11 years, but we have inadequate sewerage to cope with that; inadequate reservoirs; inadequate roads; inadequate healthcare and dentistry; inadequate rubbish disposal; inadequacy in just about every service you can think of. So, WHY has no housing embargo been imposed?”
“If Cornwall council had half a brain, a spine and less morally bankrupt officers and senior councillors, they would’ve called a legally enforceable moratorium on large scale house building a long time ago whilst they investigated all infrastructure deficits as well as the dubious and ever increasing Local Plan numbers...
Sadly we’re run by a team of misty parachuted ambitious careerists - at both officer and councillor level - who have little knowledge, feel, understanding, passion or care for Cornwall...
The result is, in the hapless Phil Mason’s own words, a “mess”! Welcome to the world according to Cornwall Council... Let’s hope new leader Julian German can turn things around and get some logic back into proceedings...”
“Once upon a time in Cornwall, planning permission for development was declined because of the vast subterranean tunnel system left behind from the mines... I wonder how many of these new developments lie right on top of the tunnels, and I wonder how long it will be before the ground starts swallowing them up?”
“Did you see Spotlight?
Here's Ms Tudor on Cornwall Council spending ££millions on flower planting to counteract climate emergency ....... while granting planning permission to cover hundreds of acres with concrete! Lack of joined-up thinking!?”
“Maybe the fact that the chief officers pay goes up a band every time the population increases by 50,000 ish, could be a reason the council are happy with the currant rate of house building!”
“Well sadly most of the Cornish hedgerows are being knocked down for housing developments... Maybe we should all write to the Duchess of Cornwall expressing our views of how Cornwall is being ruined by development!!”