Notes of the meeting of 7 July 2010. Any corrections or amendments to the chairman please.
The first few items were dominated by the changes taking place as a result of the new government and the impact of required or predicted budget cuts.
Cornwall Council
Things are still changing on a daily basis. The Council has a budget of £1.3bn was already committed to making £100m savings over four years and has added another £13.6m in the current year to this. The aim would be to protect front-line services. It was likely that further redundancies would be necessary to achieve savings.
The new Business Plan has been published. Although this pre-dates the election is sets out a strategy for the future. Cornwall Council Business Plan
The government had announced that SWRDA was to be abolished and replaced with Local Economic Partnerships. Councillors did not want another quango and would like to take over control themselves, not combining with other counties.
The Falmouth Tourist Information Centre (TIC)
Visit Cornwall has said that there will be no money to support the TIC in the coming year and were looking for alternatives, preferably purchase by another body and transfer of staff. Options included the Library, the One Stop Shop, the Town Council, the BID (or equivalent) or a private sector body. There would be no money to support this. This was seen as typical of the sort of changes with which we would be faced as funding was cut and could lead to a loss of partnership working.
It was necessary to be clear about what we wanted out of a TIC. The service was never going to be a money-making venture and would need to be re-thought for the 21st century. Nigel Carpenter (VC Board member) would be leading the discussions. He was also seeking to protect the ca £300k that had formerly supported tourism in the town which was now being cut.
Convergence and the Strategic Investment Framework
The ‘rapid review’ was still going on. There was a real chance that, with the demise of SWRDA and other budget cuts, the necessary matched funding would disappear, limiting our ability to tap into European money.
Port Masterplan
A public consultation is to start shortly, probably with one preferred option, leading to the publication of the final plan at the end of September.
Church Street Car Park
The contamination report is still too secret to be put in the public domain but it is becoming increasingly clear from rumours that the site will never be a first grade development site because of the cost of repair of the land. An open space may be more realistic. As this is not formally ‘a project’ at Cornwall Council, no progress is being made, despite the priority given to it by the community as expressed through consultations and the Community Plan.
Local Transport Plan (LTP3)
Cornwall Council will be going out to consultation on the Local Transport Plan (LTP3) under the heading of ‘Connecting Cornwall 2030’ between 9 July and 17 September 2010. This document ‘sets out the transport vision and strategic proposals for transport in Cornwall for the next 20 years. The Community Network Managers will be supporting the consultation process by promoting Connecting Cornwall and the consultation questionnaire in their areas during the consultation period.
‘The document is the result of working closely with communities, stakeholders and members and takes into account the contents of the Parish and Community Plans and also the more recent Community Network consultation meetings that were held throughout the County to feed into the Local Development Framework (LDF) and Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS) review.
‘Further consultation on the LDF and SCS strategic documents will be taking place over the next twelve months. Connecting Cornwall plays a major role in supporting each of these strategies. We are working closely together throughout the development of all of these strategies to ensure a joined up vision for Cornwall in 2030.’
Other Regeneration Projects
A very helpful list of current projects had been produced by the Council’s Economic Development Service. While the Forum did not agree with some of the content, or sense of priorities, it was good to see such openness. Copies may be obtained from the chairman.
Bid and Town Manager updates
The new Falmouth website is progressing well and will be going live at the end of August, replacing VisitCornwall’s Discover Falmouth site using www.Falmouth.co.uk, by kind permission of the Forum. There will be a need to manage the relationship with other town websites with care.
The Falmouth brand is now available. Brand guidelines have been produced to explain its use.
Regular communication is taking place with stakeholders, despite the difficulty of reaching some people who do not have emails addresses. The BID AGM will be held on 20 September.
A national PR campaign is planned and an agency has been appointed to manage this.
The Shopper Bag is being funded by the BID to support the Falmouth discount card. The new bags will carry the new brand.
Floral displays, bunting and flags were now appearing in the main street. There were some problems with the furling of the flags but the place was looking much better as a result.
The empty Woolworth’s shop had been decorated with hoardings bearing the Falmouth brand. This had greatly improved the look of the main street. Another quick-fix option was being explored for other shops.
Work was progressing on a signage project in conjunction with Cornwall Council, attracting possible funding from Convergence.
Henri Lloyd Falmouth Week printed programmes have been delivered . More details are available on the website and Facebook/twitter pages.
The BID is aiming to help stimulate an active events programme, in particular a Spring Garden Festival for 2011.
Four new electric scooters and six wheelchairs, one power assisted, with bearing Falmouth branding are being delivered shortly.
The mural at Church Street Car Park is almost finished, Tragos have donated the paint and the artist has done this free of charge.
Richard Gates is making enquiries with Cornwall Council about what action can be taken with the Admiral Nelson derelict pub because of the poor impression it gives to the town. He has also persuaded the owners of the old Moorfield Motors site near the marina to clear a lot of the overgrowth.
The hoardings at Ponsharden, we were going to do some work with the schools to decorate them and have agreement but partially due to the communications with the landowner they have starting clearing up the site. We are waiting to hear if the remaining hoarding’s will be removed or not. If they are not then we will improve them in the future.
Community Alive
The event on 2 May had been a great success with over 180 people active on the day feeding, informing, and entertaining he public and each other for free. A report can be found here
All community groups in the area are encouraged to join the website either or with links to their own sites or by creating a page of their own.
Those attending the meeting:
Dick Styles - Civic Society
Mike Varney – Cornwall Council
Roger Radcliffe – Cornwall Council
Pam Faulkner – Falmouth and District Hotels Association
David Pollard – Falmouth Ambassadors
Richard Wilcox – Falmouth BID
Oliver Cramp – Falmouth Town Council
John Bottomley
Jonathan Griffin – National Maritime Museum Cornwall
Jilly Easterby – UCF
Thursday, 8 July 2010
Thursday, 13 May 2010
Meeting May 2010
Notes from the Forum's 12 May 2010 meeting. Any suggested amendments or omissions to the Chairman please.
Parliamentary election
The Forum congratulated Sarah Newton on winning the recent parliamentary election and looked forward to hearing what policies the government would be pursuing.
Falmouth and Penryn Community Plan
Chris Smith is summarising the 200+ proposals in the final Community Plan document into a more manageable list, balancing the ‘aspirational’ and general proposals against the achievable, action-oriented projects, highlighting the priorities. Comments on his draft were invited by the end of May. A revised draft would then go to the Community Plan Management Group during June for formal agreement.
Falmouth Town Council had already adopted the Community Plan. There would be a presentation of the plan to the Penryn Town Council at its next but one meeting.
Strategy Soup
A useful meeting had taken place with Tom Flanagan and Sandra Rothwell of Cornwall Council to discuss the many different strategies and plans which were being created. It was recognised that consultation could not happen on all of them separately and that a more holistic approach would be required. Some of these were required by central govenrment or necessary to provide a formal context within which investment could take place.
The main task facing the Forum was to add to the Community Plan with a broader list of strategic projects which had not been mentioned by the community: things like spatial use and economic development.
Town Development Framework
The next major local project was likely to be the Town Development Framework. Scott Sharples is co-ordinating the various Council officers to prepare an initial set of ideas. These would then be discussed with the Forum before anything was written. Matthew Williams would be leading this work.
Convergence and the SIF
Matthew Vowels helpfully update people on progress with the SIF. A list of projects had been prepared for Falmouth which had been agreed by SWRDA. Cornwall Council had then asked for a review to ensure that there was a suitable balance between work space development and other projects. There was a concern that the proposals were insufficiently transformational and that there were too few small projects.
He explained that work was continuing on all the projects although a number of people remarked that this was not their experience. There was some frustration that many proposals which had been derived locally were being delayed in the Council.
Church Street Car Park
The re-development of this space remained a priority for Falmouth and could be genuinely transformational for the town. It had been hard to find anyone prepared to take responsibility for the project. The environmental study, for instance, had never been published and there were divergent views as to what it contained.
Scott Sharples agreed to follow up with colleagues in Transport and Asset Management to try and unlock the project.
Falmouth Port Masterplan
This SIF project had started. Four options were being developed and an initial consultation event with key stakeholders was planned for 18 May. There would be a public consultation in June and a final report in September.
Falmouth Marine School
David Steadman explained that he would be taking over as Director of the Falmouth Marine School. His first priority was obviously the curriculum which is growing, especially in marine sciences, but that re-location loomed large as well as the existing buildings were tired and sub-standard. A waterside location would be ideal.
Events programme
This was going ahead well. The Fal River Festival was due to happen over the May Bank Holiday, thanks to King Harry’s Cornwall. Richard Gates had taken on chairmanship of the Falmouth Week Shoreside Committee and the Oyster Festival was being planned for October.
Transport issues
Cornwall Council had recently agreed to stop work on the Avenue Road/Melvill junction following protests from local people and the Town Council. They have gone away to explore whether a mini roundabout or pedestrian crossing would solve the safety problems which the Forum welcomed.
The Council is also to continuing to plan work for the Kimberley Road junction.
It is also working on the Local Transport Plan 3 (LTP3). Nothing had been heard as yet although discussions had taken place with the elected representatives, explaining the thinking behind the Treluswell Park and Rail.
Business Improvement District
The BID was getting into its stride. Two new benches had been installed in the main street and a series of floral/flag displays displaying the new Falmouth logo would be appearing shortly. Progress was also being made on the new website.
Shop fronts continued to be a concern. No 1 Market Street would shortly have vinyls in its window. A number of other shops were under consideration or were close to signing contracts to return into beneficial use.
Community Alive 2010
A community event was planned in the area of the Moor on 22 May. There would be free information, entertainment and refreshments. More information
John Slaughter
The Forum formally thanked John Slaughter, its former chairman, and wished him well in his future in Cardiff.
Attendance:
The following attended the meeting:
Jonathan Griffin - National Maritime Museum Cornwall (chair)
Cliff Brown - 81 Employers Group
Mike Reynolds - A& P Docks
David Steadman – Cornwall College/Falmouth Marine School
Scott Sharples – Cornwall Council Community Network Manager
Tim Light – Fal River Links
Neil Tinson – Falmouth Churches Together
Kay Lambkin - Member of the public
John Langan - Falmouth Harbour Commissioners
Matthew Vowels – Cornwall Development Company
Dick Stiles - Falmouth Civic Society
Pam Faulkner – Falmouth and District Hoteliers Association
Oliver Cramp - Falmouth Town Council
Mark Williams – Falmouth Town Council
Richard Gates – Falmouth Town Manager
Sally Stiles - Falmouth Residents Association
Jackie George - Falmouth Watersports Association
John Slaughter - Independent
Chris Smith - RIBA
Lorely Lloyd - Transition Falmouth
John Bottomley – Transport Group
Jilly Easterby - University College Falmouth
Parliamentary election
The Forum congratulated Sarah Newton on winning the recent parliamentary election and looked forward to hearing what policies the government would be pursuing.
Falmouth and Penryn Community Plan
Chris Smith is summarising the 200+ proposals in the final Community Plan document into a more manageable list, balancing the ‘aspirational’ and general proposals against the achievable, action-oriented projects, highlighting the priorities. Comments on his draft were invited by the end of May. A revised draft would then go to the Community Plan Management Group during June for formal agreement.
Falmouth Town Council had already adopted the Community Plan. There would be a presentation of the plan to the Penryn Town Council at its next but one meeting.
Strategy Soup
A useful meeting had taken place with Tom Flanagan and Sandra Rothwell of Cornwall Council to discuss the many different strategies and plans which were being created. It was recognised that consultation could not happen on all of them separately and that a more holistic approach would be required. Some of these were required by central govenrment or necessary to provide a formal context within which investment could take place.
The main task facing the Forum was to add to the Community Plan with a broader list of strategic projects which had not been mentioned by the community: things like spatial use and economic development.
Town Development Framework
The next major local project was likely to be the Town Development Framework. Scott Sharples is co-ordinating the various Council officers to prepare an initial set of ideas. These would then be discussed with the Forum before anything was written. Matthew Williams would be leading this work.
Convergence and the SIF
Matthew Vowels helpfully update people on progress with the SIF. A list of projects had been prepared for Falmouth which had been agreed by SWRDA. Cornwall Council had then asked for a review to ensure that there was a suitable balance between work space development and other projects. There was a concern that the proposals were insufficiently transformational and that there were too few small projects.
He explained that work was continuing on all the projects although a number of people remarked that this was not their experience. There was some frustration that many proposals which had been derived locally were being delayed in the Council.
Church Street Car Park
The re-development of this space remained a priority for Falmouth and could be genuinely transformational for the town. It had been hard to find anyone prepared to take responsibility for the project. The environmental study, for instance, had never been published and there were divergent views as to what it contained.
Scott Sharples agreed to follow up with colleagues in Transport and Asset Management to try and unlock the project.
Falmouth Port Masterplan
This SIF project had started. Four options were being developed and an initial consultation event with key stakeholders was planned for 18 May. There would be a public consultation in June and a final report in September.
Falmouth Marine School
David Steadman explained that he would be taking over as Director of the Falmouth Marine School. His first priority was obviously the curriculum which is growing, especially in marine sciences, but that re-location loomed large as well as the existing buildings were tired and sub-standard. A waterside location would be ideal.
Events programme
This was going ahead well. The Fal River Festival was due to happen over the May Bank Holiday, thanks to King Harry’s Cornwall. Richard Gates had taken on chairmanship of the Falmouth Week Shoreside Committee and the Oyster Festival was being planned for October.
Transport issues
Cornwall Council had recently agreed to stop work on the Avenue Road/Melvill junction following protests from local people and the Town Council. They have gone away to explore whether a mini roundabout or pedestrian crossing would solve the safety problems which the Forum welcomed.
The Council is also to continuing to plan work for the Kimberley Road junction.
It is also working on the Local Transport Plan 3 (LTP3). Nothing had been heard as yet although discussions had taken place with the elected representatives, explaining the thinking behind the Treluswell Park and Rail.
Business Improvement District
The BID was getting into its stride. Two new benches had been installed in the main street and a series of floral/flag displays displaying the new Falmouth logo would be appearing shortly. Progress was also being made on the new website.
Shop fronts continued to be a concern. No 1 Market Street would shortly have vinyls in its window. A number of other shops were under consideration or were close to signing contracts to return into beneficial use.
Community Alive 2010
A community event was planned in the area of the Moor on 22 May. There would be free information, entertainment and refreshments. More information
John Slaughter
The Forum formally thanked John Slaughter, its former chairman, and wished him well in his future in Cardiff.
Attendance:
The following attended the meeting:
Jonathan Griffin - National Maritime Museum Cornwall (chair)
Cliff Brown - 81 Employers Group
Mike Reynolds - A& P Docks
David Steadman – Cornwall College/Falmouth Marine School
Scott Sharples – Cornwall Council Community Network Manager
Tim Light – Fal River Links
Neil Tinson – Falmouth Churches Together
Kay Lambkin - Member of the public
John Langan - Falmouth Harbour Commissioners
Matthew Vowels – Cornwall Development Company
Dick Stiles - Falmouth Civic Society
Pam Faulkner – Falmouth and District Hoteliers Association
Oliver Cramp - Falmouth Town Council
Mark Williams – Falmouth Town Council
Richard Gates – Falmouth Town Manager
Sally Stiles - Falmouth Residents Association
Jackie George - Falmouth Watersports Association
John Slaughter - Independent
Chris Smith - RIBA
Lorely Lloyd - Transition Falmouth
John Bottomley – Transport Group
Jilly Easterby - University College Falmouth
Strategy Soup?
The Strategies (we think) that are currently under way in/for Falmouth include the following:
Completed
Completed
- Falmouth and Penryn Community Plan
- Cornwall Council Economic Strategy White Paper
- Strategic Investment Framework - a bidding document for the Convergence programme
- Community Network Programme - a sumamry of local community plans
- Local Investment Framework
- CC Sustainable Community Strategy
- CC Local Development Framework
- CC Local Transport Plan (LTP3)
- Port of Falmouth masterplan
- Industrial Estates masterplan
- CC Car Park strategy - about 12 months form completion
- Church Street Car Park development options
- CC Green paper for Cornwall
- Town Development Framework - an input to the Local Development Framework
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