Even more good news

Even more good news.

Mrs Pz01, who was in town (Penzance) this morning noticed that Sorcha Cubitt Beauty had opened today, at the bottom of Causewayhead. Following on from my Blog from Tuesday about two other independents, one expanding and one opening in Penzance, this can only be even more good news for independent traders in Penzance and another good reason to visit.

I know Sorcha and am very pleased to see her return to the centre of town and wish her well.

Sorcha Cubitt on facebook

A little bit of good news

A little bit of good news, I popped into town yesterday (Penzance), Mrs Pz01 is on holidays so retail all the way.

 I was pleased to see that Lou’s Shoes in Causewayhead have moved. For those who don't know, Lou’s Shoes were based about halfway up Causewayhead, in what must have been the smallest shoe shop in the world, not anymore, they have taken over the old ETS shop at the bottom of Causewayhead and yesterday was opening day, it was full.

Great to see an independent trader prepared, and with the confidence, to expand in these difficult times. I wish them the very best.

Also I see that Olivers Photographic have opened in Market Jew Street, another independent willing to give it a go, again I wish them the very best.  

Just one more thing, I saw this as I made my way up Causewayhead and it just tickled my fancy.

Newlyn Railings. The right solution.

Nearly a year ago I wrote about some replacement railings that Cornwall Council planned to install in Newlyn.  Here……

On Friday, I received an e-mail from the contractor stating that following my intervention they had carried out discussions with local environmental groups and councillors, and that they now had a large amount of information and useful input, including images of railings historically used in Newlyn.  These have been invaluable in helping to select a more suitable railing system.

Not only are the proposed railings more suitable for the location, but they are manufactured locally.  This will ensure that they are both readily available if damaged, and, are fabricated using local Cornish labour.

The new railings will look something like the ones pictured below, from the same manufacturer. Although, the photograph shows a three rail system it does gives a good idea of the appearance. The proposed system for Newlyn will only have two rails with the lower rail being closer to mid-height.

I would like to thank the contractor and Cornwall Council for listening to the people of Newlyn and working to a solution that achieves the highways requirement, but also retains the historic appearance in this area of Newlyn.

Conservative controlled Penzance Town Council

I wrote a blog soon after the elections, on the political make up of the new town council, (here).

I stated that looking at the list of those elected and the parties they represent at first glance no Conservatives had been elected, when in fact in the 10 independents there were at least 3.

I was wrong; it would appear that there are at least 4 and very possibly 5, if I'm correct, then the Conservatives make up a quarter of the council. This makes them the equal largest group on the Council, with the remaining independents, but not one of them stood for council under their true colours.

Moreover, boy have they been busy, getting themselves voted in as Chairman of two of the committee’s, one vice chair and deputy mayor.

Normally politics does not play a big part on town and  parish councils, certainly that has been the case on Penzance Town Council, this always changes once the Tory’s get a few members, one way or another, they become very controlling.

Penlee Quarry

Last week (15^th May 2013) I was asked if I would write a piece for the Cornishman newspaper regarding the revived proposals for the development of Penlee Quarry, headlined in the paper last week, with the paper proposing to publish a piece both in favour and against. Knowing how people on social media like to be ahead of the game, I publish below the full text of my piece below.

As a ward member for Newlyn & Mousehole on Penzance Town Council, the Marina plans for the quarry in Newlyn that are again in the news, will I fancy be a issue over the coming years. The question is am I in favour, after some thought the answer is a guarded yes, guarded because as yet I have not seen the plans and no planning permission has been applied for. In principle I am in favour, I can remember when the idea first came to the town council what must be over 8 years ago and I was then in principle also in favour.

I have lived in Newlyn long enough to remember the quarry as a working quarry, with lorries rolling though Newlyn and white quarry dust covering everything on the road between Newlyn and Mousehole. The up side being the numbers employed, I would like to see a return of that employment, to that end, I think this could be the most important development in the area for decades.

In the early stages of the development there will be the employment generated by the building phases and as long as the workers for this are employed from the local area, where possible, as was part of the contract for the Olympic park, then this phase alone will bring a lot of work to the area over many years.

The one thing that Mounts Bay lacks is a true marina and the benefits that one would bring to Penzance and Newlyn are manifold. Yachting has been likened to ‘ripping up twenty pound notes in a cold shower’ and I would like to see those notes spent here, sailing boats bring a lot of jobs, real jobs, boat repair, electricians, sail repair, mechanics, riggers the list is endless. On top of this is an even longer list of secondary jobs in shops new and old, restaurants, hotels etc.

Marinas are themselves tourist attractions drawing visitors to an area. Mounts Bay is one of the finest sailing areas in the UK but walking along the prom on a summer’s afternoon the one thing you are unlikely to see are the sails of a fleet of yachts in the Bay as the facilities are not available in the Bay to support them.

Development in Penzance and Newlyn is constrained by the geographical layout of the towns so it makes sense to use what is available and there is nothing more brownfield than a quarry.

I also realise that the development faces areas that it must overcome before the go ahead is given, the major issue of concern I’m sure will be that of traffic, but I do believe this can be overcome. Others will complain about the housing to be built, second homes, in comers etc, the way that many people holiday has changed, we must also change to accommodate that, the building of what I thing will become a almost purpose built holiday village could be the way forward. 

The New Penzance Town Council

Well that’s it then, the people have spoken, the votes have been counted, Penzance Town Council has its councillors for the next 4 years.

Of the 20 councillors who make up the Town Council 8 are new to the job replacing 6 who stood down at this election and 2 who lost their seats.

Although in the past the political make up of the council has never been a factor in decision making, the make up of this council is quite interesting being a bit like Noah’s Ark we have 2 Liberal Democrats, 2 A Future For Penzance, 2 Greens, 2 Labour, 2 Mebyon Kernow and 10 Independents, what no conservatives you may ask? Trust me there’s at least 3 in there.

Of the 8 new councillors I really only know 2 of them, with a nodding acquaintance with 2 of the others. None as far as I can tell have ever held political office before.

I have read all the leaflets and the Facebook pages of those candidates that have them and sadly some are in for a bit of a shock when they actually get down to the work of being a town councillor.

Town Councils have limited amounts of money and even more limited resources, we are not free to do what we want or even what the Town may need, sadly a lot of our time over the past few years has been spent trying to get Cornwall Council to do the right thing and this has been getting increasingly harder as budget cuts bite ever further into spending.

Planning, is probably the area new councillors have the biggest problem getting to grips with, but fundamentally if there is not a ‘Planning Reason’ for objection you can’t object, well you can but it wont get you anywhere.

All in all I'm looking forward to working with the new councillors who will I'm sure bring new ideas to the council, I just hope that their enthusiasm does not get smothered by the rules and regulations within which we do have to work and of which so many people are blissfully unaware.

Penzance its future.

Does Penzance turn down development?

I have read much on social media and in the press claiming that Cornwall Council doesn’t care about Penzance and why is there no development going on in Penzance,  The reply most often heard is that Penzance turns every thing down. Just looking at the recent past this is obviously not the case,

Application to build Hotel, retail outlets and office space at old Gas Works Site.  PzTc in favour.

Application to build Supermarket at Eastern Green. PzTc in favour.

(There is no such thing as a planning application to close a business i.e. The Heliport, that is a commercial decision for the owner. As to the supermarket there are no planning grounds on which to refuse the application)

Application to build 60 retirement flats at Old Gas works Site. Not in Favour.

Application to build Route Partnership Harbour scheme. Not in Favour.

Alternative Harbour schemes. PzTc in favour.

Re-development of Truro & Penwith College. PzTc in favour.

Re-development of St Johns Hall. PzTc in favour.

Skateboard Parks at the Rec. PzTc in favour. At Wherrytown (own scheme) PzTc in favour.

With the exception of the 60 Retirement flats also opposed by Cornwall Council, Penzance Town Council has not opposed any large housing scheme in Penzance.

Alexandra Road, Ocean Blue, Lescudjack Heights etc.

If you believe that the Town Council turned down M&S please read Urban Myth Here.

As can be seen from the above it’s actually a bit of a mixed bag, tending more to development than against, so why are more developments not coming forward. Rather that the presumption that Penzance likes to say no, I think that’s more to do with the fact that Cornwall Council and developers don’t know what Penzance is or wants to be.

From Cornwall Councils point of view, it’s a big town, in the far West that can not be pigeonholed.

If you look at other large towns in Cornwall it’s easy to see what they are and possibly where they are going.

Truro, it’s the administration centre, the courts are based here, offices. Retail. Cornwall Council.

Falmouth, it’s the Docks, University, Boats & Sailing.

Bodmin, mid-Cornwall, distribution.

Newquay, tourism.

Redruth, Pool & Camborne. Manufacturing, industry, offices.

A little simplistic I know but these are the core activities taking place in these towns.

That leaves two large towns St Austell and Penzance both facing similar issues and problems.  Both are suffering from a decline in the core businesses that helped them grow, in St Austell it’s the decline in the China Clay industry, in Penzance its more complex.

Penzance was a large Market Town providing services to the far west of the county, it had the courts, Penwith district council, Hospital, HMRC offices, The Cornishman was printed here, sea & helicopter link to Scilly, Newlyn had the fishing, quarry, Mousehole had fishing and tourism.

But sadly many of these activities have now gone and the rest are much reduced. With the loss of these core activities, the secondary activities of the town also come under pressure with the courts gone there is no requirement for the solicitors and court staff, P.D.C has now become a One Stop Shop and staff levels have fallen from 450 to 190 with this number to be reduced further, West Cornwall Hospital is a shell of its former self, without these jobs the number of people needing the town centre has declined leading to the closure of shops and those business servicing them.

So what is the future for Penzance, it has much to offer, it has a very strong Arts & Culture industry, it is still the principle retail centre for West Cornwall with two streets of independent retailers any town should be proud to have in Causewayhead and Chapel Street. It has three leading public Art Galleries, a Public Park and Garden in the centre of town.

A further presumption is that towns such as Falmouth have overtaken Penzance in retail space, this is not true as can be read here.

Its cafes restaurants and night time economy are strong. It has a large modern College. Its location, architecture and (dare I say it) climate are all extras.

So what are the problems and solutions?

First I think it’s the message, its has to be one message from the same hymn sheet, facts over perceptions.

The town is open, it does want to take part, it is forward looking, it is a great place to be. It has to put out a positive message, not the constant knocking from some quarters, just read some of the election leaflets going around town. 

It must look to the new industries that it can serve and encourage those it has, it is ideally placed to be a centre for design, it needs to encourage and develop its leisure sailing and maritime industries, and by this I don’t mean a bit of a fiddle with the existing harbour, which in truth is too small for its current use, why not push for a brand new Harbour arm doubling the size of the harbour. Support the development of the Quarry into a new harbour space. Look at the positive elements of the town and promote those, think cup half full not half empty.

Does Penzance have problems? Yes it does, can it solve these? Yes it can, the biggest asset the town has is the people who live here, the vast majority of people here are positive, so stop knocking it, promote the Town, shop in its shops and look to the future.