Cornwall Reports

Lib Dem and Indy prevail in Penzance - Cornwall Reports By Julia Penhaligon Liberal Democrat Simon Reed and Independent Penny Osborne have been elected to represent the Newlyn and Mousehole ward on Penzance Town Council, triumphing from a field of seven candidates. Mebyon Kernow had entered two candidates but was forced to disown one of them, James Casbo...

Cornwall Council: no Conservative candidate for Falmouth by-election - Cornwall Reports By Julia Penhaligon The Conservatives have failed to find a candidate for the Cornwall Council Falmouth by-election. The Tories came second in 2021 and their failure to enter the by-election is a major embarrassment, particularly with the next full round of Cornwall Council elections now only 250 da...

Shop til you drop? Cornish retail park could become super-gym - Cornwall Reports By Lee Trewhela The “volatile” retail climate has been cited in a possible move to replace four large stores on a retail park with a giant gym. The company which owns units occupied by Halfords, Poundland, Carpetright and Pets at Homes at Pool has applied for a “lawful development certificate....

Police called to help eject Bodmin Town Council clerk - Cornwall Reports By Harold Callahan Police have been called to es**rt the town clerk of Bodmin Town Council from his office, after councillors voted to suspend him. Peter Martin refused to accept the decision but eventually left his office on Friday, following a request for uniformed “back up” by the town’s ma...

Pop-up “housing pods” again the focus of anti-social behaviour complaints - Cornwall Reports By Lee Trewhela and Anne North Perran Moon, who was elected as the Labour MP for Camborne and Redruth last month, has said it is “blindingly obvious” that Camborne has an urgent problem of crime, antisocial behaviour and addiction. Various people in the town, including its mayor, have spoken out...

Trefula House care home to be closed, forcing residents to move - Cornwall Reports By Anne North The Trefula House care home at St Day, Redruth, is to close.  The 22 remaining highly vulnerable residents will be moved to alternative accommodation over the coming months. Trefula House is owned by Cornwall Council and operated by Corserv. It has had a troubled history, having been ...

Cornwall Council is £1.3 billion in debt. What could possibly go wrong? - Cornwall Reports By Graham Smith It might not mean a crisis, but it is usually enough to raise eyebrows whenever the busiest group of local councillors is that group which is responsible for hiring senior officers. Cornwall Council’s chief officers’ employment committee has to meet three times in 17 days next mo...

Reflections on Cornwall’s “beyond top secret” 30-year affair with American nuclear weapons – which might just have an impact on plans to turn Newquay Airport into a housing estate - Cornwall Reports By Peter Tremayne The prospect of American nuclear weapons being stored at Newquay Airport has set pulses racing at Cornwall Council. As councillors fret that the ambition of their County Hall officials to turn the airport into a housing estate could quickly scupper the future of commercial aviation...

Airport privatisation: don’t do it, urges former council chief - Cornwall Reports By Julia Penhaligon A former Cornwall Council chief executive has said the proposed privatisation of Newquay Airport is a mistake. Paul Masters, who was County Hall’s acting chief executive in 2013, had a 40-year career in local government in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly before retiring in Jan...

Space is hard: rocket explodes on launch pad in Shetland - Cornwall Reports By Peter Tremayne The absolute need to study scientific and engineering detail when contemplating anything involving highly volatile chemicals was dramatically underlined last night when Britain’s next attempt to launch something into space exploded in a ball of fire. It happened during an engine ...

Date set for Falmouth by-election - Cornwall Reports By Julia Penhaligon Nominations close on Thursday (22nd August) for the Cornwall Council by-election triggered by the elevation of former councillor Jayne Kirkham to Parliament last month. Ms Kirkham resigned her Falmouth Penwerrris seat, and declined her £1,500 per month council salary, immediatel...

Mebyon Kernow sacks town council candidate three days before by-election - Cornwall Reports By Harold Callahan Mebyon Kernow has withdrawn its support for Penzance Town Council by-election candidate James Casbolt, whose name is on the ballot paper for a by-election due to be held on Thursday (22nd August.) National newspaper reports from 2015 describe how Mr Casbolt, from St Ives, was jail...

Don’t go in the sea at East Looe, says government, as sewage pollution poses health risk - Cornwall Reports By Rashleigh MacFarlane An official government website is warning people not to go into the sea at East Looe because of health risks. It is unusual for beaches in Cornwall to be so badly polluted that they trigger such serious warnings. The SwimInfo website, maintained by the Environment Agency, pub...

Hands off our airport, Cornwall’s MPs tell County Hall - Cornwall Reports By Lee Trewhela and Peter Tremayne Cornwall’s newly elected MPs have released a joint statement condemning Conservative-controlled Cornwall Council’s decision to “sell off” Newquay airport without any public consultation. The move underlines the very serious political difficulties that Count...

Man badly hurt in accident at St Austell waste tip - Cornwall Reports By Peter Tremayne The Health and Safety Executive is investigating a serious accident at the St Austell Household Waste and Recycling Centre. Police say a worker was hit by a falling lamp-post.  He was badly hurt and needed hospital treatment. The accident happened yesterday morning (Sunday) shortl...

Ooh la la! C’est tres grande! French plan for solar panels between Truro and St Austell - Cornwall Reports By Lee Trewhela and Rashleigh MacFarlane The French government wants to build a large solar farm on 19 fields between Truro and St Austell. EDF Renewables, part of EDF Group and wholly-owned by the French state, says its Trelion solar farm would provide enough renewable energy to power the equivalen...

Are American nuclear weapons on their way back to Cornwall? - Cornwall Reports By Peter Tremayne Residents living near Newquay Airport have reported unusual signs of activity at the hardened bomb shelters once used to store American nuclear weapons. What appears to be construction work is fuelling speculation that the site is being prepared to once again house US nuclear weapo...

Interesting work if you can get it: Cornwall’s MPs reveal who helped pay for their election success - Cornwall Reports By Julia Penhaligon Members of Parliament have published their register of financial interests.  It reveals that some had plenty of money with which to finance their recent general election campaign, while others had practically nothing but got elected anyway. The MP with the  most treasure in his...

https://cornwallreports.co.uk/exclusve-airport-tapes-reveal-details-of-county-halls-secret-privatisation-plot/

Devolution: Cornwall is outside, looking in - Cornwall Reports By Julia Penhaligon Councils across the South West are talking to each other about submitting  “Combined Authority” bids for seats at the government’s new Council of the Nations and Regions, intended to manage devolution from Whitehall to local communities. The latest “loud voice” to emer...

Andrew George MP steps down as boss of Cornwall Community Land Trust - Cornwall Reports By Julia Penhaligon St Ives MP Andrew George is stepping down from his job as boss of the Cornwall Community Land Trust, a position he has held since 2015.  He will continue to be a member of the CCLT board. Steve Goulston is the new CCLT chief executive.  The organisation seeks to secure land, pa...

Glittering prizes: Cornwall’s A-level results compared - Cornwall Reports By Rashleigh MacFarlane The Ofqual interactive map shows how local authorities performed, by subject, at A-level.   Teenagers living in affluent parts of the South East were twice as likely as those in Cornwall to get top grades. Cornwall scored relatively well in subjects such as drama and media ...

Sit Vac: Tory leadership candidates face questions from Cornwall - Cornwall Reports By Julia Penhaligon Cornwall’s Conservatives are looking forward to a party leadership hustings on Monday 26th August. The long and complicated election process will not conclude until November, but at the moment all six candidates are still in the race. Hustings events will be run in North Cornwa...

Plans for 200-acre solar farm in North Cornwall rejected - Cornwall Reports By Rashleigh MacFarlane Planners have rejected proposals for a 200-acre solar farm at Canworthy Water, between Launceston and Bude. Cornwall councillors voted 7-3 to refuse permission. County Hall officials warned that the developers will almost certainly appeal and that costs will most likely be aw...