Dennis Harris - thanks for 40 years as a parish councillor

The members of St Enoder Parish Council have presented a crystal decanter to Dennis Harris, who recently retired from the Council.

A wonderfully kind man, he has given more than 40 years of service to his local community as a parish councillor over two periods.

​Dennis was also a founding member of Restormel Borough Council in 1973, served on the authority for 26 years, and remembers that his proudest proudest moment was his year as the mayor of Restormel in the 1988-89 year. When the Council was abolished, he was also made an Alderman of the Borough.

He was a Cornwall County Councillor for sixteen years and has been involved with numerous local groups.

I fully agree with Parish Council Chairman Cllr Andrew Waters who presented him with the award at a recent meeting. Andrew said: "I can't speak too highly enough of him. The members all thought we should buy him a gift to say thank you for all his hard work. He has done a tremendous amount for this parish over the last four decades."

Coalition need to rethink approach to economy

My latest article in the Cornish Guardian looks at the growing problems in the UK economy. It was as follows:

Headline after headline in recent weeks has painted a gloomy picture of the economic problems facing the United Kingdom, casting significant doubt on the wisdom of the British Government’s austerity drive.

I believe it was the economist John Maynard Keynes who said that “When the facts change, I change my mind".

Isn’t it time that David Cameron and George Osborne took his advice, admitted that circumstances are changing, looked again at the scope and depth of the cuts they are implementing, and found a new and different way forward?

The Coalition continues to make the argument that severe cuts to public spending will not damage the economy, and that job losses in the public sector will be more than compensated for by growth in the private sector.

But figures show that this assertion is false. The latest figures, for the three months leading up to June, show that 111,000 jobs were lost in the public sector during this period but that the private sector created only 41,000 new jobs across the UK.

Over a similar three-month period, unemployment figures show that 80,000 people joined the dole queue – taking the number of people out of work to above 2.5 million. This is a two-year high.

I consider that the Government’s approach is both wrong and counter-productive. It’s drastic spending cuts have reduced growth, as tax receipts from working people have fallen and welfare costs have increased. This makes no sense at all!

What is more, the International Monetary Fund has acknowledged that the UK’s economic performance is much weaker than anticipated, and has cut its growth forecasts for the UK economy.

It has advised the Coalition to consider slowing the pace of deficit reduction and, along with a number of economists, has stated that there is a strong possibility that the UK could fall back into recession – signalling the much feared double-dip recession.

As the cuts start to bite and people worry about the provision of public services in their local areas, it is not surprising that there is also increasing public dissatisfaction with the actions of the Government.

Recent polls are clearly showing that people think that the Government is cutting public expenditure unfairly, and that the cuts are both too fast and too deep.

Taking into account all the economic indicators being reported at the present, surely now is the time for the Government to think again and to reduce its programme of cuts, thereby safeguarding jobs and boosting economic activity?

I must admit the idea for using the Keynes quote came from an old Guardian article by Polly Toynbee. Thanks Polly.

A sad loss for Cornwall Council

It is sad to hear the news that Cllr Mike Clayton died on Monday. Mike was an extremely hardworking and committed councillor, who was respected across the council chamber.

He was an Independent and served Wendron Division. As well as being Deputy Leader of the Independent group, he was Chairman of the Electoral Review Panel, though his personal focus was planning matters.

Mike was the Council’s Planning Champion and he assisted me with the work of the Planning Policy Panel, for which he was Vice-Chairman. It was a real pleasure to work with Mike on a range of issues and, in particular, he lead initiatives to provide affordable housing for local people in rural areas.

Mike was a good friend to so many of us, he had real heart, and will be greatly missed.

Anti-incinerator group says Council's alternative costs are "a fallacy"

Anti-incinerator group StackAttack has today claimed that the Council’s estimate for an alternative option to the incinerator planned for St Dennis is “wildly misleading.”

StackAttack claim that Freedom of Information requests reveal a huge discrepancy between claimed and likely costs.

Spokesperson Oliver Baines has said: “It’s hard to conceive how they have got this so wrong. The Council claimed, in public, that not going ahead with the incinerator would cost Cornwall £322m. Information provided by the Council under the Freedom of Information Act has revealed a catalogue of errors in their calculations. Our realistic assessment is that their figure should be not £322m, but £132m.

“That’s a staggering discrepancy of £190m. The difference is so huge that we wonder how the Council managed to achieve it or whether it actively sought to mislead the public, or whether Councillors themselves have been misled. It obviously had in mind the cost of building the incinerator – £165m – as a target figure to exceed, to prove that not having the incinerator is more expensive than having it. What we didn’t expect was such a wild over-estimate. I wonder what Councillors will think about having the wool pulled over their eyes.”

Diana Padwick, one of StackAttack’s founders, has added: “The information reveals that the reality is the opposite of what the Council claims and that the cost of the incinerator, at £165m, will be £33m more than the alternative.

“It is scarcely credible that Cornwall Council can claim the alternative would be so massively more expensive when in fact it will be £33m cheaper.

“The only explanation we can see for this incinerator still being pursued is that Cornwall Council, having made a decision somewhere between 6 and 12 years ago to do so, entered a contract with SITA and has failed to see that the world has changed in the meantime. If it is to keep up with rapidly changing technologies, year on year reductions in waste and dramatic increases in recycling, it needs to look again at its calculations, urgently.”

Update on waste incinerator

I have been informed that Cornwall Council will today commence works on the access road to the proposed site for the waste incinerator near St Dennis.

This follows the decision of the Council’s Cabinet in July to push ahead with works “at risk” on the incinerator project – before the necessary revised project plan (and costs) have been agreed and before the outcome of the Section 288 challenge brought by local people is known.

I remain nonplussed by this decision. How can the Council start works on a project before it has taken the decision as to whether the increased costs, that will be outlined in the revised project plan, are acceptable?

You may recall that in an entry on this blog some two months ago, I reported on a meeting of the Council’s Waste Panel, when officers refused to tell councillors what the costs of the project would be, even though a likely contract price had been agreed between SITA and their preferred provider.

We were told that we would be told the cost when it was presented to the Cabinet for agreement in the Autumn!

I have since found out that in a letter written by the Council to the High Court in order to facilitate a speedy hearing of the Section 288 challenge included certain information about aspects of the costs, options on land, etc, that was not shared with the members of the Waste Panel.

The letter was written only three days after the Waste Panel and I have complained why such information was not made available to the elected members of the Council.

To say that I am jaded by what is happening would be a massive understatement. I do not like being kept in the dark and I will continue to challenge this process at every opportunity.