Thursday 15 March 2012

Meeting - March 2012

Falmouth Energy Partnership
Charmian Larke and Nick Swallow joined the meeting to report on the work of the Falmouth Energy Partnership. Supported by a grant from the Department of Energy, the Partnership had been exploring the possibilities of the local Falmouth area achieving zero carbon emissions and the implications of this.

Current climate change predictions were that a change of 2 degrees C was the lower limit and that this would raise sea levels by around 10m, inundating much of the Fal area. We were already past peak oil and therefore energy costs were likely to continue to rise as well. The matter was therefore doubly urgent.

The highest use of energy locally is in oil for transport and home heating, and gas in the home. Key areas for reduction are the use of oil and emissions from the production of electricity. A mix of renewable sources could provide 75% of the power required in the area.

It would be possible to achieve local self-reliance with an increase in renewables and:
  • 50% less demand for transport
  • 35% drop in demand for electricity
  • Better heated homes
Growing sufficient food locally to provide a traditional diet. To meet these long term energy resilience targets would take an investment programme of £8m pa which is the equivalent of about £200 per person per year.

In discussion it emerged that:
  • There had not been a change in the sea level on the Penryn River over the last 100 years
  • Cornwall Council are planning for a 1m rise in sea level over the coming 100 years
  • There are currently only 90 wind turbines in the county. If replaced by larger ones, this could be reduced to 30
  • It could be made mandatory that all new build should include pv cells but this made the houses uneconomic
The team was congratulated on their work and encouraged to start with small achievable projects. There was a risk of scaring people with the big picture. The key was in allowing people to make individual economic decisions which helped move towards a sustainable future.

The Falmouth Energy Partnership was holding a meeting about wind turbines at 19:00 on Friday 16 March in the WI. The launch of the initiative was to be at 19:00 on 28 March at the Poly at which it was intended to launch a social enterprise which would carry out a range of demonstration projects.

Anyone who wished to get involved should email.

Localism and the Prince of Wales Pier
There had been some concern that the creation of a CIC for the Prince of Wales pier had begun to head off in the wrong direction, being limited to a contract to run a series of events. Mike Varney confirmed that this was not the intention and that a management agreement was needed. Cornwall Council would retain its responsibility for the fabric. Further progress would be made once the Community Network Manager returned from leave.

Sainsbury’s
The Sainsbury development had signed a Section 106 agreement. The community funds arising from this would be managed and spent by a new group which would be mostly filled by community representatives. If that group were to obtain match-funding then it would be necessary to limit the number of councillors involved.

Neighbourhood Framework
The consultation on the Core Strategy and Local Development Framework had now closed. The Town Council had responded. There was still a feeling amongst some people that the proposals were still to top-down and not sufficiently derived through an assessment of local needs.

The question of a Neighbourhood Plan was discussed. The Town Council was not yet convinced this was necessary although other advice was that it was essential if planning generally were to be harmonised in the town as a Neighbourhood Plan could be a material consideration in planning applications. If one were to be produced then it should not be done in a hurry (eg by November when there was an opportunity to put it to a referendum) but should be carefully considered (eg by May 2013). It was not essential that the Town Council be involved but this was obviously desirable given the need to engage the local planning committee. A revision of the Community Plan would not go far enough; a document with wider scope would be needed.

Mike Jenks would discuss this with Town Council and report back with a view on what role the Forum might play in the future.

BID priorities for the year
The BID had a prioritised list of projects for the year ahead:
  • To continue to make Falmouth.co.uk the most exciting and innovative website in Cornwall
  • To continue to work with Cruise ships
  • To continue the active pr campaign, especially in support of the many events happening during the year
  • To make those events happen, especially the Spring, Arts and Food and Drink Festivals
  • To continue work on the signage project which had failed to be fully funded under the Seaside Towns initiative in 2011. A possible bid to a new Coastal Communities fund was being considered
  • To continue the free parking project
More details from the website.

Falmouth events programme for the year
A full list of a very active events programme was available from the website (download 2012 events here)

Falmouth Town Council update
  • The Parish Meeting had been held on Monday evening
  • The future of the Regeneration Group had been in doubt following the creation of a new Strategy and regeneration Group but it had been decided to keep the existing Regeneration Group with slightly changed Terms of Reference
  • Geoffrey Evans had been selected as mayor-elect for a further year
  • The refurbishment of Kimberley Park was a Council priority for the year
  • A joint meeting between the Forum and the Council was proposed as a way of ensuring closer working in the future
Truro Park and Ride
The Eastern Park and Ride had now been approved by the Planning Committee after a fairly stormy meeting. The idea of a southern Park and Ride between Truro and Falmouth was back on the agenda but it was highly unlikely to be at Treluswell.

New Falmouth guide
A new Falmouth guide was in production supported by the BID. This would contain 17 pages of public transport information so no one would have any excuse of not knowing when the No 37 bus came past their front door.

Those attending
Charmian Larke - Falmouth Energy Partnership
Nick Swallow - Falmouth Energy Partnership
Civic Society - Dick Stiles
Cornwall Council - Mike Varney
Falmouth Age Concern - Sally Stiles
Falmouth Chamber of Commerce - Jeremy Edwards
Falmouth Churches Together - Neil Tinson
Falmouth Harbour Commissioners - John Langan
Falmouth Packet - Jonathan Millar
Falmouth Town Council - Mark Williams
Falmouth Town Council - Oliver Cramp
Fal River Links - Tim Light
Federation of Small Businesses - Caroline Robinson
National Maritime Museum Cornwall - Jonathan Griffin (chair)
The Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society - Mike Jenks
Transition Falmouth - Lorely Lloyd
Charlotte MacKenzie