No content with paying out £1 million a week of bank interest, for ill-advised loans to build the new "garden village" near Chiverton Cross (the Truro Pydar Street development was already abandoned months ago!), Cornwall Council continues to lie down for developers up and down the Duchy, creating a mountain of problems for future generations of young and old Cornish families, with the rate of development accelerating away, since its record levels of ten years ago; if you'll remember, it was already 2.7x higher than the national UK average then. 

By the way, what was the point of a "Cornwall Plan" (2010-30), costing so much time and energy over some 8 years, to then completely ignore it by building twice the number of homes contained within said Plan?!! 

Cornwall Council's complete failure in its duty to provide simple and adequate services to the local population, by playing hard and fast with our cash to rub shoulders with national developers and attend dubious and questionable international events of little proven value, additionally sees it as a willing player in aiding and abetting unscrupulous corporate interests in turning Cornwall from a once rural place full of vibrant, close-knit and hard-working communities, into another city west of Plymouth, plagued by traffic chaos, under-performing schools, long waiting times at any and every surgery/hospital and the ongoing issue with a complete lack of adequate sewerage infrastructure; but don't let all that deter Cornwall Council chief, Kate Kennally, from pursuing her dual dream of concrete bliss and debt, the later of which she was already a journeyed pro at, when CFO at Barnet Council in London, a council which was on the verge of bankruptcy under her trusted financial leadership. How she ended up running Cornwall still baffles many of us. Maybe she liked the clean air and empty roads.... then changed her mind once she got here and had her mitts on a multi-0billion pound council tax budget!

Having vandalised Truro, Falmouth, Newquay and Saint Austell, Strategy Chief, Phil Mason, now has his sights on another Cornish killing field project further East:

Massive housing estate planned for Camel Valley Area of Great Landscape Value 
By Lee Trewhela

A proposed new garden village of up to 1,500 homes is being planned by the joint administrators of Camel Creek, the family theme park near Wadebridge.

The site, in the Camel Valley Area of Great Landscape Value, was formerly known as the Shire Horse Centre, then Crealy’s Adventure Park and after a long planning battle in 2015 became the Camel Creek theme park, developed by the late John Broome – the man previously responsible for failed plans to turn Battersea Power Station into a theme park.  At the time of the Camel Creek planning application, which had promised to create 997 jobs, local residents expressed fears that, in time, the site would become a target for housing despite its lack of adequate infrastructure.  Camel Creek went bust in 2023.

What will be known as Tredinnick Garden Village if approved would be built on fields next to the adventure park which has remained open.

Located south west of Tredinnick, the site sits east of the B3274 and has existing planning consent for development as a holiday park. The proposal seeks to build on this by “bringing forward a more sustainable and locally beneficial use of the land, delivering a new garden village designed to meet Cornwall’s pressing housing need.”

The project would provide between 1,200 and 1,500 new primary residential homes, along with a local centre, village hall, sports facilities, green spaces and starter commercial units for local businesses.

The development will also provide all the necessary infrastructure and financial contributions to support the new community, including upgraded utilities networks, schooling provision and healthcare.

A spokesperson told us: “Our proposals for Tredinnick Garden Village are still at an early stage and we are currently undertaking the first phase of public consultation to seek feedback on the vision for the site. No planning application has been submitted to Cornwall Council, we are currently anticipating a submission of an outline application in Spring 2026.”

They added: “Cornwall Council announced a housing crisis in February 2022 and, as of April 2025, 23,720 households were registered on Cornwall Council’s waiting list for a home. According to the Institute of Cornish Studies, in March 2022, approximately 29,000 homes in Cornwall were not lived in all year round.

“With the increase in the Government’s housing targets, the council now needs to deliver over 4,421 homes per year to meet local need, 1,714 more homes than under the current Local Plan. All areas of Cornwall will need to contribute to delivering this need, either through extension to existing communities or through development of new communities.

“Sustainability is at the heart of the vision. The garden village will include biodiversity enhancements and infrastructure measures including sustainable drainage systems, use of renewable energy and walking and cycling enhancements.

“The village will be supported by thorough technical assessments to ensure the project is designed to deliver high standards.”

In other news:

County Hall heading for another “pay more, get less” budget 
By Lee Trewhela

Cornwall Council needs to make savings of between £45m and £70m in order to reach a balanced budget next year.  T he news came during a cabinet discussion about plans to develop a budget and financial strategy for the next three years.

The meeting on Wednesday heard that planning the 2026/27 budget and a longer financial plan was proving difficult due to government delays. Cllr Adam Paynter, the Lib Dem / Independent administration’s deputy leader and portfolio holder for resources, said details of the government’s fairer funding review for local authorities would not be known until late October or early November.

“We also now know that the Chancellor’s budget will be delivered on November 26. This is likely to have an impact on the timing of the local government finance settlement, which is expected towards the end of the year rather than in November as first indicated,” said Cllr Paynter.

“This makes planning for our next budget and financial plan more challenging and it’s likely that the draft budget presented to cabinet in December will be based on funding assumptions rather than firm allocations. Whilst that leaves us with a great number of uncertainties, there is plenty we can do to prepare.”

He added: “Indications suggest that the council will need to make significant savings and reduce costs in order to reach a balanced three-year budget. Unless there are significant changes to Government proposals we will not see a significant increase in funding.

“There will, however, be increased costs so it is likely that the council will need to make recurrent savings in the region of £45m to £70m in order to reach a balanced budget for next year, 2026-27. That makes it more critical than ever that our funding is directed to where it’s most needed.”

He said the council will work with its partners for better outcomes for Cornwall, focusing on prevention, ensuring services are priced to reflect their true cost, driving efficiency and reviewing the capital programme (the money the council spends on work projects and developments).

Cllr Paynter said that generally there was a good level of performance at the council within very tight budgets. “The exception is the provision of children’s services where fovernment lack of action has seen demands and costs spiral upwards despite our endeavours to limit those increases.

“In my view it was reckless of government to signal the introduction of a cap on the profits of non-local authority registered providers of children’s homes without an immediate or swift implementation of the cap. Not surprisingly this has resulted in providers hiking up their costs even more because, like us, they still have no idea if that cap is starting next week, next month, next year or at all.

“That’s the main reason why the council is forecasting an overspend of £3.4 million at the end of Quarter 1. In the continued absence of a cap, those cost pressures are escalating, with a forecast overspend in the Together for Families directorate at the end of July increasing to £7.7m.”

He said the council was currently reviewing where further savings could be made without dipping into reserves and with minimal impact on services.

Cllr Paynter added that the goal of the council’s strategy would be to ensure “visible improvements across Cornwall” whilst ensuring “long term financial sustainability and resilience”.

He said earlier this year that a maximum 4.99 per cent council tax increase is almost inevitable over the next three years.

And one way to raise more cash to pay its army of dubious officers as well as for its own vanity projects and white elephants: sell the farms! Here we have Tim Dwelly again, a councillor from out of town with a mixed record to say the least, but never far from controversy; how are people still voting for such useless, tried and tested tools?!!

Council cabinet splits over proposed farms’ sell-off 
By Graham Smith

Plans by Cornwall Council cabinet member Tim Dwelly, to sell some of the county’s 10,000 acres of publicly-owned farms to finance his faltering “economic development” portfolio, appear to be unravelling even before he can instruct consultants.

Independent councillor Dwelly, who represents the Penzance East division, has yet to persuade his cabinet colleagues that his idea is sound.  Cornwall Reports understands that at the moment only two other cabinet members might support councillor Dwelly and even they have doubts.

But next week a full council meeting could consider a cross-party motion which would introduce a number of crucial safeguards – notably insisting that any final decision should rest with the full council, involving all 87 members.

This would prevent councillor Dwelly and strategic director Phil Mason using “delegated powers” to sell off the farms estate, one piece at a time, so as to finance a new quango provisionally titled “Homes Cornwall.”

The pair, along with chief executive Kate Kennally, are keen to explore alternative sources of revenue in the event that they are eventually denied access to the government’s new National Wealth Fund.  The government has said that access to this fund is conditional on joining a South West Peninsula combined or regional strategic mayoral authority – otherwise known as “Devonwall.”

Having run out of the previous government’s Shared Prosperity Funds, councillor Dwelly’s economy department no longer has any credible function.  The creation of something called “Homes Cornwall” looks like a rather desperate attempt to keep the department going.  Councillor Dwelly has inherited a £1.9 billion capital programme - but no money.

The motion to next week’s full council is moderate, simply urging caution so as to “safeguard Cornwall’s farms estate.”

But it is political dynamite because of the ten councillors who have tabled it.

Far from coming from the opposite side of the council chamber to councillor Dwelly, the “Save Our Farms” campaign is coming from within his own ruling administration.

The motion’s supporters include two Labour councillors, six Liberal Democrats and two Independents.  One of those Independents is councillor Dwelly’s cabinet colleague and fellow Penzance member, councillor Jim McKenna.

The motion is led by Altarnun and Stoke Climsland Liberal Democrat councillor Adrian Parsons, himself a farmer.  It is seconded by Roskear and Tuckingmill Independent councillor James Ball.

With such strong political sentiment ranged against councillor Dwelly already – before including his more natural opponents from Reform UK and the Conservatives - the council chamber arithmetic suggests his assault on the farms’ estate is doomed to fail.

Cornwall Reports estimates there are already 51 councillors opposed, and that assumes that councillor Dwelly can eventually persuade at least eight of his cabinet colleagues to support him.

Many councillors have been upset by plans to sell at least five publicly-owned farm houses even before the consultants start work.

As Cornwall Reports noted last week, the sale of these properties devalues their surrounding farm holdings and makes it less likely that new tenants will be found.  The sale prejudices the coming body of research, which is intended to produce a formal “hit list” by March.

But councillor Dwelly wants to sign-off on the disposal of what he says are “surplus assets” this month.

A crucial part of the debate concerns the financial value of the farms’ estate.  Most of the 10,000 acres are pasture.  At today’s agricultural land prices, the entire estate is worth little more than £2 million.

To make even a modest dent in the council’s £1.4 billion debt, therefore, the land would need planning permission for residential development before it was offered for sale.

Last week Cornwall Reports also filed five Freedom of Information questions:

What progress has the council made on the appointment of consultants to research and draft a Homes Cornwall strategy?
What is the timetable for generating a register of council land and property assets, particularly in relation to the council’s county farms’ estate?
What methodology will be used to assess the value of the council’s farmland?
Councillor Dwelly claimed on 29th July that the sale of the farms’ estate would generate enough capital receipts to pay off the council’s £1.4 billion debt. Please explain the methodology used to arrive at this claim.
Will the full council be allowed to vote on any proposals to create Homes Cornwall?
There are many other questions which councillors are keen to ask next week – if they get the chance.  Council chairman Rob Nolan is under pressure from officials not to allow a debate, but to refer the motion to cabinet on the grounds that debate at this stage is premature.

This would be flatly contrary to the promise which councillor Nolan made when he was elected council chairman in May.

It will be fascinating to see if backbench councillors get their way – after more than a decade of complete control of the political agenda, senior council executives fear they might now be losing their grip.

Much of the anger which could be displayed in the council chamber next week reflects concern that given an inch, County Hall officials usually steal a mile in order to pursue their own pet projects.

But some councillors not only want to prevent any “wholesale” disposal of the farms’ estate, they also want a fundamental review of how the estate is currently used, asking if there might be a case for greater community involvement.
   

With friends like these....but councillor Tim Dwelly appears to have no shortage of enemies either, as he tries to win support for his "Sale Of The Century" disposal of what he calls "surplus assets."  Cornwall Reports estimates that at least 51 out of 87 councillors (including the 12 above) are already strongly opposed to the sell off of Cornwall's 10,000-acre farms estate.  The letter of instruction to the estate agents will be crucial to establish any "red lines."  There are striking similarities between the council's approach to selling the farms and its previous, doomed, Project Corduroy attempt to sell Newquay Airport.  Many councillors want the consultants to also examine more creative uses of the farms' estate, such as the Fentenfenna community project (below)

One example concerns the Fentenfenna project at Ruthvoes, near St Columb, which has become a community of micro-businesses, modestly claiming to make “the world a better place through circular economy principles, social values, and environmental enhancement.”

Others want some of the 10,000 acres to be turned over to community agriculture projects, stimulating more home-grown crops.

The future of the farms’ estate could, to all intents and purposes, be determined by whatever instructions are given to the consultants.

One senior Liberal Democrat councillor told Cornwall Reports:  “If Tim wants a silly answer from the consultants, all he has to do is to ask a silly question.  And if he’s asking me to just trust him, then he can go and take a running jump.

“My advice to Leigh (councillor Leigh Frost, Lib Dem council leader) is to announce publicly that there will be no further sales and kill off this farms-for-cash idea before it causes any further political damage.

“I don’t understand why Dwelly is in the cabinet anyway.  It certainly can’t be on merit.  The man’s a buffoon.”

Last week councillor Dwelly upset many Liberal Democrats, particularly in their power-base of North Cornwall, by suggesting that their Lib Dem MP Ben Maguire was about to join Reform UK.  Mr Maguire called councillor Dwelly “silly.”

Cornwall Reports is aware that many rank-and-file Lib Dem activists in North Cornwall are so appalled by the farms-sell off that they think councillor Frost should sack councillor Dwelly immediately, and pick a new cabinet member from any party or political group, as quickly as possible.

“Dwelly has no real base at County Hall,” said one.  “Even the Indies can’t stand him.”

Having spent much of the past four years attacking the former Conservative administration for what it was trying to do to Newquay Airport, councillor Dwelly is now trying to do the same to the farms’ estate.

But before the debate becomes more “technical” next week’s full council motion underlines one of the oldest rules of politics – learn to count.

Councillor Dwelly has embarked on his “Homes Cornwall” wheeze without first looking over his shoulder.  The knives are out.