Steve Gray was welcomed to his first meeting as vice chairman.
Mark James, Community Network Manager is the Community Network Manager for Falmouth, Penryn and the surrounding area and is thus the first point of contact for issues relating to Cornwall Council.
The Council is still facing some huge cuts. The door is is still open for people to propose ideas on how services might be operated or delivered more effectively. These can be fed through Mark.
Property, which had formerly been a difficult area, was on the agenda for transfer as well. Discussions were taking place over the transfer of the Falmouth Town Hall. Some areas, and the Watersports Cente was quoted, were having more difficulty engaging with the Council. It was suggested that the latter should be taken up through Councillors (Geoffrey Evans in this case).
Matters arising from the previous meeting
A new one-liner definition of the Forum's work was available elsewhere on the website.
The Source FM crowd-funding scheme had been successful and a new transmitter is being bought. The old one would be going to Redruth.
Falmouth in 2014
The economic indicators seem to suggest that the UK will grow more in 2014 though not yet at pre-recession levels. As one of the key tasks of the Forum is ‘to strive for the ongoing prosperity and well being of Falmouth and its community’, it was interesting to hear specific plans from members and to find ways assist where we feel the Forum can make a difference in maximising opportunities and confronting issues that may arise.
The biggest challenge for the town was likely to come from the cuts in public sector financing. Cornwall Council have already made cuts and deeper and more wide-ranging ones are in the pipeline.
Falmouth Town Council is being pro-active in seeking to pick up the services which it believes are essential to the town. It recently agreed a precept which involved an average increase of £26 per household. This would be used to fund things like the management of buses, cctv and planting. Unfortunately the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) had spotted this diversion of funding and threatened to cap town councils' precepts. A final decision on this is due in February, an 'absurd' six weeks before the beginning of the financial year. The cap might be put off for one year. Under the DCLG cap proposals, FTC would have to to hold a referendum to break the cap which would cost about £20k funded by FTC.
As far as the toilets are concerned, the plan was to remove the pay barriers on 2 April when the Town Council takes over.
The Town Manager and BID Manager had very big plans for the year with activity in the town centre, for events and for tourism activity. The event calendar would be going out at the end of the week, featuring the most major event - Tall Ships - which was shaping up well.
The Town Manager now had part-time support to help grow Moor events and a programme was being developed which would include things like Moor games - a day over half term - activities by dance groups, additional flags and so on.
The International Shanty Festival was also shaping up well with over 50 groups already booked. More enquiries were coming through as the town activities grow and Falmouth is increasingly seen as an 'event town'.
The BID would be continuing following the successful re-ballot. There had been a 60% turnout with an 87% 'Yes' vote which was very high in the country. A five year renewal brochure had been produced which was very much based on ideas that had been contributed by the town. There were now six BIDs in Cornwall of which this was proving the most successful.
They would be unveiling their detailed plans in the next few weeks.The AGM, to which all were invited, was planned for 18:00 on Thursday 13 February at the NMMC.
The plans for A&P Docks for the coming year were:
- To maintain a viable business and a establish plans for growth to be realised in 2015 and beyond
- To continue to fully employ 245 permanent staff and as many other full-time equivalents as possible
- To support the local community where possible including staging the Tall Ships even in August
Planning issues
Cornwall Council has agreed a new figure for housing which would go into the Core Strategy. At a minimum of 47,500 this was just below the previous suggestion but was not as low as some Councillors had been looking for. Encouragingly, existing planning permissions plus known developments would account for about one third of this figure. The Falmouth and Penryn figure had also been revised downwards to 2,600 with about 500 for the rest of the Community Network Area. CC had established a new policy that any public land that was sold for housing would have to contain 50% affordable housing. It remained to be seen if these new targets were going to be acceptable to DCLG.
The draft Local Development Framework for Falmouth and Penryn would now go forward. It was helpful that 'the University' was planning to build accommodation on its own land as this would take pressure off the towns. There were still concerns that the new build would only provide housing and would not be truly sustainable developments with proper supporting infrastructure.
Transport issues
The Town Council intended to revive the Transport and Infrastructure Working Group as there was a gap in dialogue between the town and CC following the closure of the previous group and the demise of the Mayors' Regeneration Group. This would be chaired by David Saunby. Tim Light would represent the Forum on the group. First Buses were interested in attending.
A range of issues was discussed:
- The benefits, or not, of out of town parking and how that is both controlled and managed
- Buses and bus routes. There is a need to investigate what passengers actually needed and how assets could be used more effectively. There is also a need to service the outlying villages effectively
- Traffic pressures, especially at peak hours in places such as Bickland Water Road
- The lack of progress on the idea of creating cycling demonstration towns
- Car parking, especially Church Street Car Park which was still partly barricaded off
Other Issues
The Falmouth Bay Residents Association was welcomed as a new member of the Forum. The Association is involved in many groups in Falmouth and is not just a local lobby group. It runs a computer club, holds garden parties and raises funds raised go to local charities. Its catchment area is specific - the Gyllyngvase side of Melvill Road - but anyone can join as an associate member.
There was an active Penryn and Falmouth Foodbank who are always in need of both volunteers and donations. They would be invited to a future meeting to talk about the practical aspects of their work.
A new Falmouth Bay CIC was being created to deal with issues in that area including the removal of seaweed, enhancement of the benches, shelters and general area. Anyone inclined to help or join was encouraged to have a word with the team.
A group of local residents were starting work in the Tregoniggie area, repairing woodland with help from Cormac.
Attending the meeting which was held on the 15th were:
Andy Coote (chairman)- Falmouth Business Club
Steve Gray - Vice Chairman
Candy Atherton - Cornwall Council
Dave Saunby - Cornwall Council
David Yelland - Falmouth School
Dick Stiles - Civic Society
Jackie George - Watersports Association
Jeremy Edwards - Chamber of Commerce
Jonathan Griffin - National Maritime Museum Cornwall
Mark James - Cornwall Council
Mark Williams - Falmouth Town Council
Mike Jenks - Civic Society
Neil Tinson - Churches Together
Sally Stiles - Age Concern Befrienders
Shaun Davie - Falmouth Hotels Association
Richard Gates - Town Manager
Richard Wilcox - Falmouth BID
Tim Light - Fal River Cornwall
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