Second home tax used for scheme
Money from council tax from second home owners in Cornwall is helping to create affordable housing in one of the country's most expensive areas. Twelve detached bungalows are to be built in St Minver, not far from the pricey seaside resort of Rock.
A community land trust has selected buyers according to strict criteria. North Cornwall District Council is providing a £544,000 loan for the initiative, funded by the second homes council tax. Each of the buyers has paid £50,000 for the plot with foundations and a timber frame and will then complete the homes themselves. The properties, on land at Penmayne Farm, will be freehold but they will have constraints to ensure they remain affordable. The scheme is another example of how funding from second homes council tax is essential in enabling the delivery of new affordable homes.
It is thought to be one of the first self-build schemes by a Community Land Trust anywhere in England and a second scheme is planned for Blisland early in 2008
 

Tintagel at centre of a Bomb scare

The Bomb squad were called out to Tintagel on Saturday 1st September, after they received a call from local resident Keith Turner. Keith, formerly the owner of the local Londis store at Tintagel, was digging in an area that used to be a outbuilding of the store, the building was being cleared to make way for a house, when he came across a WW2 bomb buried in the rubble. The Bomb squad arrived to discovered that the bomb was actually a smoke bomb which had not detonated. The area was cordoned off by the authorities until about 10.00pm and the smoke bomb taken away for disposal.
 

August Bank Holiday 2007

High summer has been a bit of a wash out for beach lovers, to say the least, but the past few days have seen an increase in tourists who are making up for the lack of rays earlier in August, with record numbers of holiday makers hitting the local beaches. And the good news is that the sunny weather is set to continue well into the week, giving folk the opportunity of an extended seasonal break. The sea is at its warmest at this time of year.

Boscastle gets hit by flooding again.  21st June 2007

Just has Boscastle was almost recovered from the deluge that hit the harbour village in 2004, it has been hit once again by flooding that has submerged properties in the centre of the lower village under 2-3 feet of water. Most of the flood defence work that was instigated by the 2004 deluge was nearing completion, but it would appear that the measures that were implemented have not been as successful as hoped.

Unitary Council for Cornwall - What do you think?
By now many residents of North Cornwall should have received a leaflet that gives a balanced view of both sides of the proposal. This was sent to 6000 homes randomly selected across North Cornwall. If you did not receive one of these the NCDC Leaflet can be viewed here, and you can also view the letter from the Chairman of the Council that was sent with the leaflet. The consultation period on the proposal will finish on the 22nd June. The Government are also keen to hear your views, you can email any comments you may have to:  structures@communities.gsi.gov.uk.

For more info go here.
 

A snapshot of North Cornwall in 2001:
There were more people over the age of sixty than there were under the age of 20. The average age in North Cornwall was 42 compared to 41 in the South West and 39 across England. There were slightly more women in the population than men. Just over 97% of the District described themselves as British White. More people worked in the Wholesale/Retail Trades/Repair of Motor Vehicles industry than in any other industry. Men worked longer hours per week than on average in the South West and England. Women worked longer hours per week than on average in the South West, but worked shorter hours per week than on average across England.
More people work at or from home than on average across the South West and England. More people are self-employed than on average across the South West and England.
Over 40% of homes in North Cornwall were owned outright, which was higher than on average across the South West and England. 8.2% of dwellings in North Cornwall were second homes, which was just over 350% more than on average across the South West, and over 1250% more than on average across England. Of people living in a couple, more people were married or re-married than on average across the South West and England. Less people considered their health to be good than on average across the South West and England, and more people considered their health not good in North Cornwall than on average across the South West and England.
More people in North Cornwall had no qualification than on average across the South West and England. 11% of people in North Cornwall provided unpaid care. More households in North Cornwall owned a car than on average in Cornwall, the South West and England.

Wedding venues in North Cornwall on the increase.

Civil weddings are now able to be performed at many unique locations throughout north Cornwall. The rise in popularity of this kind of wedding ceremony as seen many local public houses and restaurants has well as accommodation providers such as hotels and self catering establishments, gear towards catering for this growing market. Non-religious marriages are conducted by a local Superintendent Registrar and can take place in any approved venue licensed by the local authority.

Launceston poet's home acquired by trust
Charles Causley lived in the house for 50 years
Fans of Cornish poet Charles Causley have bought his Launceston home, Cypress Well. A loan from an anonymous donor helped the Charles Causley Trust buy the three-bedroom £125,000 terraced house in Ridgegrove Hill. Charles Causley, who died at the age of 86 in 2003, lived in the Victorian house for 50 years. Charles Causley Trust chairman Kent Stanton said the house would be turned into an educational centre. They are hoping to install a writer and residence and bring poetry to local schools and hold seminars for local people. The downstairs rooms will be kept as a time capsule to be opened to the general public. Causley was born and educated in Launceston, where he also taught after World War II. He started writing in the 1930s and published more than 50 books and collections of verses for adults and children. He was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 1967 and was made a CBE in 1986.

Boscastle village bridge plan dropped
The river burst its banks after heavy rainfall in 2004
Plans for a controversial modern bridge in a Cornish village have been dropped because of local opposition. (see below)
The Environment Agency wants to replace the original Elizabethan bridge at the mouth of Boscastle harbour after it was damaged by severe flooding in 2004. But its modern design proposal angered local people who said it was a "monstrosity" and "completely out of keeping" with Boscastle's character. A new plan will now be developed by the National Trust and Environment Agency. At a public meeting held earlier this month, hundreds of people objected to the plans which would have seen a curved steel and granite bridge being built. The river burst its banks in August 2004. Homes were flooded and cars were swept away when about 440 million gallons of water swept through Boscastle. The Environment Agency is widening and deepening the river, to increase its capacity when rainfall levels are high. The agency says Lower Bridge has to be replaced so that it does not obstruct swollen river water.

Wadebridge wetland a success.

The tidal wetlands that were created along the Egloshayle stretch of the river Camel on the outskirts of Wadebridge have been deemed a roaring success, encouraging all sorts of wildlife, flora and fauna to establish in this new wetland environment.

Boscastle village bridge plan opposed
The flood defence scheme will see the river Valency widened. Hundreds of people have objected to plans for a modern bridge in the Cornish village of Boscastle where river floods caused millions of pounds worth of damage. The Environment Agency says Lower Bridge in Boscastle needs to be replaced as part of a flood defence scheme under way at the river Valency. A petition against plans for a new curved steel and granite bridge attracted 600 signatures in three days. A public meeting is being held on Wednesday to discuss the bridge plans. Residents say the proposed new bridge will spoil the character of the village. The Environment Agency is widening and deepening the river, to increase its capacity when levels are high. The agency says Lower Bridge, near the harbour, has to be replaced so that it does not obstruct swollen river water. The river burst its banks on August 16th 2004. Homes were flooded, buildings demolished and cars were swept away when about 440 million gallons of water swept through Boscastle.
 

Top QUEEN tribute band in North Cornwall this summer.
A popular QUEEN tribute band who performed on the Charlotte Church Show are set to wow fans at an open air concert at Camelford in Cornwall in July. South London rockers. THE BOHEMIANS, were watched by thousands as they played out the credits on the Ch4 show last October. Now the four-piece are bringing their high-energy show to Cornwall and are due to take to the stage at Camelford FC's new ground, Trefrew Park, on Friday 27th July. Formed in 1996, The Bohemians perform all over the world and are fast becoming the UK's leading tribute band. They appeared on ITVs Queen Mania in 2005 and even supported former Queen guitarist Brian May in 1999. The concert will commence at 6.00p.m. with the gates opening an hour earlier. Top local entertainer MICHELLE PLUESS will start the proceedings with her lively rendition of many of your favourite songs from the
70's onwards. She will be followed by the inimitable JOHNNY
COWLING who, in many people's eyes, stole the show
in 2006. Johnny's voice, stage presence and personality make him a great favourite throughout Cornwall and he is surely destined for greater things. Johnny and Michelle are local legends and with Queen's classics pounding the night air it should prove to be another unforgettable occasion. Celebration Fireworks (Southwest) Ltd. will light up the skies after the last track to bring the evening to a memorable
conclusion". For more info GO HERE
 

Padstow harbour re-opened  01/05/2007
The harbour at Padstow has been re-opened after the construction of a new wall costing more than £1.5m.
Parts of the original harbour wall, which dates back to the 16th Century, were starting to collapse. A new 112ft (34m) wall made from filled concrete pipes has now been built on the seaward side of the harbour. The original harbour wall was in urgent need of repair as it forms part of an important flood defence which protects nearby properties from water damage. A tidal gate which controls the level of the water in the harbour could not be operated during the construction work. As a result, the times when boats could enter and leave were restricted. The new wall will now be faced with stone which should be finished by July.
 

Gaia centre at Delabole gets new lease of life 16/03/2007
Delabole renewable energy centre is gaining a new lease of life by opening its doors to an educational centre which has moved into classrooms at the Gaia Centre. The Gaia centre went into administrative receivership in March 2003 and was forced to close three years ago. Since then it has seen little use. Cornwall County Council has leased the entire building, which was previously a visitor attraction that focused on the use of renewable energy technology. North Cornwall Education Out of School (EOS) is a pupil referral unit for up to 50 students which supports pupils who have been excluded from mainstream schools, Other uses for the buildings are being considered and include an exhibition hall and a cafe. EOS deputy manager James Smith said that the move to the Gaia Centre was a "very positive step". "Staff and students are very happy to be at the Gaia Building and appreciate that it is a special place to work" said Mr Smith.
"We have not forgotten its former role as the renewable energy centre and sustainability will form a theme to the work the students do here." Students at EOS study the core curriculum of maths, English, science, ICT plus other subjects such as art and catering. The new building means staff will now be able to provide access to other practical subjects such as CDT.

North Cornwall bus passengers hurt in collision.
Two passengers have been injured in a collision between a bus and a car at St Issey in north Cornwall.
Emergency services were called to the scene on the main road through St Issey just before 9am on Wednesday 7/3/07.
Two bus passengers on the single-decker coach, a man and a woman, were airlifted to hospital. The woman suffered facial injuries. The man suffered a broken collarbone. It amazes me that there are not more incidents of this nature considering the speed's that some of the local bus/coach drivers achieve.
The road had to be closed for a few hours but has now reopened. Do you have any stories relating to speeding public transport around our narrow lanes.
If you do e-mail us here at:  info@northcornwall.org
 

North Cornwall planners against Holiday park's turbines.
North Cornwall  planners are recommending that plans for wind turbines near a Grade 1 listed church in north Cornwall are refused. The plans for 30ft (9m) high, six kilowatt turbines to be used to power holiday lodges at the Treetop Holiday Park in Week St Mary, near Bude are being opposed because the site is so close to the church and an 11th Century castle in the village. The North Cornwall district council planning committee said that the plans were being recommended for refusal because of the impact it would have on the historic landscape. As well as being 164ft (50m) away from the church, the land borders a conservation area containing the small castle. North Cornwall District Council's planning committee says it has concerns the masts would stand out in the high and exposed area.

North Cornwall Residents offered free radon test
North Cornwall District Council, with the Health Protection Agency (HPA), is offering free tests for homes likely to have higher than average radon levels. Radon levels are higher in the South West than the rest of the UK
Radon is a colourless and odourless gas which exists naturally across the UK, but is found in much heavier concentrations in Cornwall. The test consists of placing two small plastic discs in a property for three months which are returned to the HPA. Residents will be informed of the results and if necessary given advice on how to reduce radon levels in their property. Cllr Linda Spear said: "Residents entitled to this free test will be sent a letter in the coming week and I strongly urge them to take up the offer to have their property tested." The council and the HPA will also be holding three advice and information events next week at Camelford Methodist Church, Launceston Town Hall and at the Westberry Hotel, Bodmin.

A herd of cattle at Fentonadle are on 40 pints of beer a day.
A North Cornwall farmer is believed to be the first in the county to experiment with breeding beef cattle on beer.
The Limousin herd at Woodland Farm in Fentonadle get through up to 40 pints of local brew a day as part of their enviable diet. And they even get a massage to help produce the speciality Kobe-style beef, based on traditional Japanese production methods. Farmer Darren Pluess says the cattle are not harmed by the diet. "They are completely happy and they do like drinking beer," he said. "Beer is basically, hops, water and barley which is consistent with their diet anyway. "We have problems digesting it, but they are ruminants and it suits them better." True Kobe beef is produced in Japan, exclusively by the expensive Wagyu cattle, but outside of the country it the meat can be sold as Kobe-style beef. At Woodland Farm in North Cornwall, the beer, which is kept in 1,000 litre vats, is tapped into the sheds of the five Limousin cattle. Two of the recipients, Olly and George, named after actor Oliver Reed and footballer George Best respectively, appear to be enjoying the diet which is complemented by regular massages to encourage tenderness. Mr Pluess's wife Katy said that Saturday night could get a bit rowdy. "If they don't have enough and they run out, when we bring the beer in they get incredibly excited and run riot. "I don't think they're alcoholics because they do have water as well if they want, but they certainly do enjoy it." The result is fatty well-marbled beef with burgers from the herd fetching up to £40 each in London restaurants. "You can't really taste the beer, it just tastes like really, really good beef," said Mr Pluess.
 

North Cornwall drivers can ill afford this!

The government's proposal to introduce road pricing will mean you having to purchase a tracking device for your vehicle and paying a monthly bill to use it.
The tracking device will cost about £200 and in a recent study by the BBC, the lowest monthly bill was £28 for a rural florist and £194 for a delivery driver.
A non working Mum who used the car to take the kids to school paid £86 in one month.
On top of this massive increase in tax, you will be tracked.
Somebody will know where you are at all times.
They will also know how fast you have been going.
So even if you accidentally creep over a speed limit*
you can expect an additional fine with your monthly bill.
If you care about our freedom and stopping the constant bashing of road users,
please sign the petition on No 10's new website
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/traveltax/
This affects anyone who owns a car or motorcycle.
Its not limited to speeding.
They also know where parking restrictions etc are located.
And of course...you!
(Additional The No10 site has LESS than 100 thousand signed up to it.
There are over 30 million vehicles and drivers in this country.
Just to register 1% of those against this proposal there needs to be 300k signed up!
And the closing date is 20/02/07.
Did you know about this I didn't.
Add the weight of your voice! http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/traveltax/
Pass this information on to anyone who owns a car or motorcycle.

Living in a rural community necessitates the use of private vehicles just to conduct our day to day lives so you will be adversely affected by this if you use a private vehicle to get around.

So Sign up now! http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/traveltax/

Cornwall S.S.A.F.A Forces Help

S.S.A.F.A.-the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association was established in 1885 by an officer who appealed for funds to look after the families of soldiers fighting in Africa. Since then it has been helping service and ex-service people and their families. Today there are over 7,000 trained volunteers
working not only in the British Isles but also in many parts of the world where ex-service people have settled. The scope and scale of the work done is enormous, ranging from helping the elderly widow of an ex-soldier to coming to the aid of a young family which has got into difficulties. The S.S.A.F.A can give advice and if they cannot help they usually know a man who can! Much of the work involves finding grants to help with financial problems and showing people how to help themselves. Anyone who has earned a day's pay in the Armed
Forces, including reservists and the Territorial Army, is entitled to our help for himself or herself and their dependents. In Cornwall the S.S.A.F.A Forces and the Royal British Legion work very closely together to provide help and assistance. Their work is strictly confidential. It only needs a phone call and a caseworker will call and discuss the problem with a client. Even if it is only a chat that is needed, they are there to listen. In this area just call 01840 213794

Campaign against delaying dualling of the A30

A campaign group has been formed to fight a decision to delay the dualling of 2.5 miles (4km) of the A30 from 2008 to 2016 at the earliest. At a recent public meeting on, the South West Regional Assembly said the plans for Bodmin Moor would be delayed because they were not high priority. Residents and councillors say the delay will make the road even more dangerous and stifle the local economy's growth. The assembly said it would review its road priorities in 18 months' time. More than 50 people attended the public meeting Cardinham Parish Hall to express their concerns about the postponement. The A30 from Temple to Higher Carblake across Bodmin Moor is the last stretch of the single carriageway across the moor, and is a well-known bottleneck.
The chairman of Blisland Parish Council, said the change in priority had angered many people and promoted the plan for a campaign group. The S.W.R.A. Transport Policy Manager defended the decision, but admitted that it would not be looked at for some time.
He said: "We have a problem that we only have a certain amount of resource and we have to decide where that resource will go."
"We carried out some discussion with stakeholders in the region and there was a regional event."
"Given that we were only given a few months to carry out this prioritisation process, we did what we could and we looked at all of the issues, and it is truth is that some of the areas with issues will remain unresolved."

Flood defence scheme turned down
Plans for flood defence scheme in a Cornish town have been turned down due to lack of funding.
The £2m scheme in the Flexbury area of Bude was one of a number of flood prevention projects being considered by the Environment Agency. The agency has announced it cannot afford to carry out the Bude work from the £28m it was granted for south west schemes over the next two years.
Schemes at St Ives, Boscastle, Padstow and Plymouth are set to continue. The last serious flood in Bude was in 1999 when 25 properties were affected, and part of the problem was a lack of capacity in the Crooklets Stream. The agency proposed putting in culverts and defences to prevent streams getting blocked by debris.
The last serious flood in Bude was in 1999.

MI5 check the vulnerability of our water supplies 12/12/06

Security service personnel from MI5 have visited the South West to investigate how vulnerable the region's water supplies are to a terrorist attack. A group of about 20 agents from MI5 and Scotland Yard looked at reservoirs and drinking water works operated by South West Water (SWW) and Wessex Water.
The visit was to see if supplies could be poisoned, but was not in response to a specific threat.
Meanwhile..... Cornwall County Council officials fork out £160'000 for bottled water ??? The contract, for £40,000-a-year over four years, comes as the council is cutting the adult social services budget by £2 million.

The councillor in charge of corporate support, Brian Higman, said that bottled water could actually save the council money.

He said: "What if the water that came out of the tank was contaminated? That would cost us much more than the water itself. Do they know something we don't ?????

Fields flooded for wildlife haven
Channels are being dug through flood defences on the River Camel Work has started on one of the largest habitat restoration schemes ever seen in Cornwall.
An area the size of nearly 25 football pitches near Wadebridge is being flooded to help bring back species such as the otter and the kingfisher.
The project on the River Camel is costing about £100,000, and most of the work will be completed within weeks.
Four channels will be dug through flood defences and drains widened in the area which is already a wildlife haven.
Quick differences
The flood defences have been in place for about 150 years to protect prime agricultural land from flooding caused by the river. Under the scheme - which is being funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs - four landowners will be compensated for 20 years for the loss of the land. Once the area is opened up and seawater comes though the flood-banks for the first time in more than a century, the land will revert to saltmarsh and mudflats.
Passers-by on the nearby Camel Trail will soon notice the differences soon, but the area will not be opened up to the public straight away because of the sensitive nature of the new habitat.
 

St Piran's Day 5th March