Meeting - January 2011

Membership
Pam Faulkner has resigned from the Falmouth and District Hoteliers Association to be replaced by Shaun Davie who was welcomed to the Forum.

Rotary International
John Pearce, Director General for the county described the work of Rotary and of the 41 clubs in his district. Rotary had supported major initiatives around the world such as polio eradication and disaster support of which Shelterbox was the shining example. Local priorities had included literacy – helping with reading in Falmouth schools – youth programmes, fundraising and help for the disadvantaged. The Youth Leadership scheme had involved apprentices from Pendennis Shipyard.

Student accommodation
The CUC/UCF accommodation strategy had now been presented to both Falmouth and Penryn Town Councils. The strategy had served to calm many of the fears and had been welcomed as a framework for the future. It was now due to go before Cornwall Council. If agreed by them then it would help enable developments in the towns.

Convergence and the Strategic Investment Framework (SIF)
The latest iteration of the SIF had now reported. Four projects had been agreed and were completed or in process:

• Truro - Falmouth rail link
• Watson Marlow Bredel factory extension
• Falmouth Harbour Masterplan
• Oyster card pilot project

Five more overlapping schemes had been agreed in principle and needed to be ‘oven-ready’ by the end of March:

• Marine workshops (incl CHP) Building projects in the Docks
• New quayside buildings in the Docks
• Kernick estate BID 
• Commercial Road BID 
• Bickland Water BID

It was important that some effort was put behind the last three to achieve the deadline. A meeting was being held on 28 January to give some impetus to them and champions were being identified.

Five projects had been transferred to other funding programmes:

• Bickland Water Business Park extension 
• Large diamond drilling company
• CUC Grow-on space on Kernick industrial estate
• Falmouth Business Park extension 
• Falmouth Marine School

All other projects had been put on hold until funding was available.

Port of Falmouth Masterplan
Negotiations to finalise the plan are still taking place. Once agreement has been reached, the proposals will go to public consultation, probably by the end of February. It was likely that some money would be available from Cornwall Council to help fund the dredging.

News was still awaited from the Marine Maritime Organisation on the proposal to dredge. Their decision would be taken on the basis of the potential impact of the work on the Special Area of Conservation. This decision had already taken seven months but was now due at the end of January. There were routes for appeal including Over-riding Public Interest (OPI).

Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP)
The LEP is the new ‘private sector-led’ public-private partnership to stimulate regeneration. Sir John Banham had produced some initial proposals which were available on limited circulation. He was proposing six special delivery vehicles which would be profit-making businesses pursuing themes of:

• Cornwall Real Estate Investment Trust (affordable housing)
• Cornwall Green Energy (fuel cells and combined heat and power)
• Falmouth Marine Developments
• Cornwall Small Business Services (support)
• Cornwall Village Life (Post Offices and mail deliveries)
• GP Management Services (the elderly)

Two issues arose from this. Firstly, there was something of a power struggle going on between the various fora around the county as to who best represented the views of the private sector; secondly, the question as to whether the ideas proposed were the most likely to stimulate economic activity. There were some concerns about the cost of the initial study and the profit-making nature of the proposals especially as two of them were essentially social projects not business ones. The inclusion of a specific Falmouth project was welcomed.

The main things that business wanted were:

• Measures to address the chronic shortage of finance for small businesses
• Freedom from restrictive process-driven legislation
• The ability to hire and fire people
• The inclusion of tourism and agriculture in the list of projects for Cornwall

Meetings are being held with stakeholders: Cornwall Business Partnership on 17th, Chambers of Commerce on 21st and CC Cabinet on 28th.

Connecting Cornwall 2030 – Local Transport (Implementation) Plan
The Strategy document had been published and the 3 year rolling Implementation Plan was now available for consultation.
This included a number of helpful items such as a proposal to dual the A30 near Temple, as well as a number of cycle and walking ways. The largest item in the area appeared to be £7.5m for the Truro east Park and Ride scheme.

A sub-committee would meet to respond in more detail direct to Cornwall Council before the deadline of 23 January.

Other transport issues
The 24 hour traffic management scheme had been introduced in the main street although the bollard would continue to operate only between 11:00 and 16:00.

Oliver Cramp had carried out a survey on the use and possible replacement of Church Street Car Park. This had confirmed views that the car park should not be closed until there was a suitable replacement near the centre of town. The work would be put together with the survey work being carried out by Cornwall Council Transport Department which was expected shortly.

A recent study by Cornwall Council Transport Department had recommended new parking charges across the county. These had not been unanimously welcomed and their implementation had been delayed because of this, and a number of other factors. The Parking Panel would be meeting on Friday 14 January to review further.

Future of the Falmouth Tourist Information Centre (TIC)
The existing TIC will be closing at the end of March. Although some imaginative proposals for a replacement service had been made by a group convened by Nigel Carpenter, these had not yet managed to obtain funding. This was a significant loss and reflected a massive reduction in public sector commitment to the promotion of tourism in the town.

350th Anniversary of the Falmouth Charter
Work is progressing on a programme to celebrate the 350th anniversary, led by Rotary and Robin Dunseath. The main week of celebration was due to be 2nd to 8th October when a series of dinners and events was planned.

The Forum agreed to support the celebrations and had been asked to lead on the development of a new ‘Charter’ for Falmouth: a series of aspirations for the coming ten years. The beginnings of this would come with a Community Alive event on 21 May to which all were invited; the annual theme being energy.

Community Plan (Lite)
The handy version of the Community Plan is in its final draft and would be available directly.

Cornwall Council
Cornwall Council was due to meet with representatives of the MCA to discuss the proposed closure of the 24 hour Falmouth MRCC. There was unanimity that this was an unnecessary and undesirable step.

Cornwall International Male Voice Festival
This Festival, happening between 27 April and 2 May, would be the largest such festival in the world. Concerts would be held across the county and in Falmouth.

Town Manager
Christmas festivities: the new Christmas lights had been welcomed as had the expanded programme of events. Trading had been mixed with some retailers reporting better than average sales, others lower. It had certainly been a difficult December because of the poor weather.

Spring festival: plans were going well for the new festival which would start small but was likely to grow over time.

Chamber of Commerce
The Chamber was going through some soul-searching on it future and activities. There was a call for new members.

Those attending the meeting:
Mike Reynolds - A& P Docks
Mike Varney - Cornwall Council
Scott Sharples - Cornwall Council
Tim Light – Fal River Links
David Pollard – Falmouth Ambassadors
Richard Gates - Falmouth Town Manager
Jeremy Edwards - Falmouth Chamber of Commerce
Shaun Davie – Falmouth and District Hotels Association
John Langan - Falmouth Harbour Commissioners
Oliver Cramp – Falmouth Town Council
Mark Williams - Falmouth Town Council
Jackie George – Falmouth Watersports
Neil Tinson - Falmouth and Penryn Churches Together
Jonathan Griffin – National Maritime Museum Cornwall (Chairman)
Christopher Smith - RIBA
John Pearce – Rotary
Nigel Druce - Rotary
Lorely Lloyd - Transition Falmouth
John Bottomley - Transport Working Group
Jilly Easterby – UCF

Meeting - November 2010

Notes of the meeting of 10 November 2010. Any corrections or amendments to the chairman please.

Accommodation Strategy for Tremough and Wood Lane Students
Lucy Black, Campus Services Director of Tremough and Rupert Wyard of Campus Development Management, joined the meeting to explain the general strategy for future student accommodation in support of Tremough and wood Lane students.

It is very difficult to estimate the likely accommodation needs, especially given the recently announced changes in government policy, however estimates had to be made and the current prediction was that the number of students requiring housing would increase from around 4600 to around 5300 in 2015/16. Tremough already had 1637 units available and there were another 500 or so in the pipeline. This allowed them to predict that:

• There should be no further call on the private rented sector
• There was a shortfall, over the period of around 300 units but, with developers keen to invest, they were confident that the additional capacity would be available with the five year period

Additional units would ideally be:

• Within walking distance of the town centres
• Of greater than 50 unit capacity
• Fully serviced/managed
• Provided by the private sector with support from Tremough

It was agreed that there remained a problem at the ‘bottom end’ of the rented sector with some landlords providing a less-than adequate quality of accommodation which brought student housing in general into disrepute.

The strategic approach was welcomed by the Forum. The uncertainties made things difficult and this was a topic on which the Forum would like to be kept up to date. The proposals are now being taken to the Falmouth and Penryn Regeneration Group, and the two Town Councils.

Strategic Investment Framework (and Convergence)

A meeting was planned for 18 November when Cornwall Development Company would be reporting on its recent re-assessment of all the bids. Rumour had it that Falmouth projects were in line to receive a significant share of the money.

Port of Falmouth Masterplan

Negotiations are taking place between the various partners in the Docks. These are believed to be positive and it is hoped that the final document will be published before the end of the year.

A further request for some dredging had been made and an answer is expected shortly.

Abolition of SWRDA and creation of the Cornwall and IoS Local Economic Partnership (LEP)

Cornwall and IoS had been granted a LEP. This is being led by the Economic Forum who have appointed Peter Hardaker as interim chairman charged with creating the organisation. The LEP will be eligible to apply to the Regional Growth Fund for money to support projects.

The position over SWRDA’s assets after its abolition in 2012 is not yet clear. There are a number within Falmouth and it is important that these remain available in future.

Connecting Cornwall 2030 – Local Transport Plan consultation

The Forum had submitted a response to this strategy document, making a number of practical points eg about the unlikelihood of cycling and walking being practical alternatives to cars in future and the poor quality and lack of availability of public transport. The Town Council had endorsed the submission. 

The next step will be a consultation on the 3 year implementation plan which is due to start shortly. The Forum would contribute thoughts on this.

Church Street Car Park

The Transport Department had been carrying out a public research study. Preliminary indications were that, if Church Street Car Park were to be closed, a high proportion of people would move to other car parks or find off-street parking. A minority would switch to public transport, cycling and/or walking and shopping in another town. The full results were expected soon. 

The car park is contaminated. Cornwall Council is doing a study on options and costs for its repair. It might turn out to be a good thing for the community if the space is unsuitable for building work as the natural alternative was public open space.

The bollard

The Transport Department were also keen to extend use of the bollard to 24 hours as the Traffic Order was due to run out shortly. The Forum felt strongly that anything that reduced traffic flows in the main street was a good thing, however a proper consultation exercise with local traders was needed before any change of regime, especially pertaining to the bollard, and that adequate arrangements should be in place for signage and management of rat-running through Church Street Car Park in advance of any change.

Falmouth Oyster/Mussel Card

The pilot scheme for the Falmouth Oyster Card had produced interesting and useful results, showing that there was merit in the scheme which had the potential to enhance usage of public transport. The card was of particular appeal to visitors to the area. A fuller scheme is planned for the future, entitled the Mussel card (which offered scope for plenty of puns). 

Future of the Falmouth Tourist Information Centre (TIC)

Discussion is still continuing on other solutions for the TIC and a meeting was being held by the Town Council on 29 November. There was a general reluctance by the private sector to pay for the TIC through a levy and questions were raised about the viability and nature of the service which appeared old-fashioned in style.

350th Anniversary of the Falmouth Charter

Robin Dunseath of Falmouth Rotary is coordinating work on a programme to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the Falmouth Charter. The Forum endorsed this activity as a good thing and worthy of support. Ideas included:

• A Charter Celebration lunch organised by Falmouth Rotary Club
• An exhibition/talk about “Falmouths around the World”
• A presentation of a Falmouth Sword of Honour
• An “unsung hero” award
• A competition to bake the official birthday cake
• A presentation of town memories and history in general
• A “Big Sing” night
• A photographic competition
• A Fringe Luncheon
• And any ideas you could contirbute to robindunseath@hotmail.com

Community Plan (Lite)
The easy-to-read version of the Community Plan is at design stage and should be available before Christmas.

Cornwall Council and CCTV
Cornwall Council is seeking to harmonise the CCTV provision around the county. This had an impact on the contribution being sought from Falmouth Town Council and could lead to a reduction in levels of service.

Cornwall Council budget
Cornwall Council is facing a severe budget reduction. Cuts would need to be made immediately and over the next four years. Some £90m had already been saved by efficiencies although a further 7-800 staff redundancies were anticipated.

BID update
The BID is really getting into its stride. Highlights include:

• The new website at http://www.falmouth.co.uk/
• The Falmouth BID Twitter page at http://twitter.com/FalmouthBID
• The appointment of Excess Energy to manage press cobverage, which they are doing rather well
• Painting of the 60m hoarding at Ponsharden
• Visuals installed in third vacant unit: the former Threshers site
• Fal Week – BID support realised a visitor and business event survey, new family activities on The Moor, the commissioning of a Fal Week video, new late night Moor activities
• Support for events and festivals such as Love Parks week (Kimberley Park in August); Oyster Festival (Discovery Quay in October); Cornwall Film Festival (Phoenix in November)

Key next steps:

• Promotion of the website and social media sites using SEO and public relations
• Commissioning of new photography using Matt Jessop
• Creation of new Shopper Bag which shoudl be delivered before Christmas
• Work on a signage and interpretation project
• Public seating competition: schools are being given a brief for a competition starting in January to design new seating for the main street. Installation expected within this financial year
• Major Christmas campaign working with Town Manager
• Commissioning new promotional literature that will incorporate: 10 street banners, advertising on bus shelters, A4 posters for trade promotion, A5 flyersand e-guide to Falmouth Christmas for website
• Support for a new Spring Gardens Festival in conjunction with Event Cornwall. A working group has been established for a festival 25 March – 3 April 2011

Forum funds
The Forum had some £3k in its bank account which was not doing anything useful as meeting costs were nil. Suggestions were invited as to how this money, much of which was originally collected for signage in the town, might be spent. Current suggestions included a piece of equipment, support for an event, a sculpture or something to mark the Charter anniversary.

Local Development Framework (Late entry)
The Local Development Framework is a statutory requirement. It identifies areas for potential expansion of the towns against a range of factors. Cornwall Council is currently carrying out the study work for this and is in discussion with the Falmouth and Penryn Mayors’ Regeneration Group. The results of the work would be available for consultation in the new year.

Those attending the meeting:
Lucy Black - Tremough
Rupert Wyard - Campus Development Management
Mike Reynolds - A& P Docks
Sally Stiles - Age Concern
Dick Stiles - Civic Society
Mike Varney - Cornwall Council
Paul Wickes - Cornwall Marine Network
David Pollard - Falmouth Ambassadors
Nigel Carpenter - Falmouth BID
Richard Wilcox - Falmouth BID
Jeremy Edwards - Falmouth Chamber of Commerce
Pam Faulkner – Falmouth and District Hotels Association
John Langan - Falmouth Harbour Commissioners
David Stedman - Falmouth Marine School
Oliver Cramp – Falmouth Town Council
Mark Williams - Falmouth Town Council
Neil Tinson - Falmouth and Penryn Churches Together
Jonathan Griffin – National Maritime Museum Cornwall
Christopher Smith - RIBA
Nigel Druce - Rotary
Lorely Lloyd - Transition Falmouth
John Bottomley - Transport Working Group
Jilly Easterby – UCF

Meeting - September 2010

Notes of the meeting of 8 September 2010. Any corrections or amendments to the chairman please.

Convergence and the Strategic Investment Framework (SIF)
A ‘rapid review’ was being carried out by Cornwall Council and the Convergence team looking at all the remaining projects proposed in SIFs. It is clear that the total value of projects exceeds the money available. The aim is to arrive at a list of projects across the county which are transformational. The idea of allocating a notional sum of money to each area had been dropped.

It was expected that the review would conclude that funding should be provided for projects in the Docks and in support of the innovation centres surrounding CUC and in developing the industrial estates. This was in addition to money already provided for Watson Marlow and the rail passing loop.

The Convergence Programme Management Committee was meeting in October to take decisions.

Port of Falmouth Masterplan
This work is being funded by Convergence. Work is reaching a conclusion and it is hoped that the plan will be published for public consultation in October.

It was noted that the Docks have received approval to place concrete blocks on the sea bed to create the new marina. They are now seeking finance for the development.

The Local Economic Partnership (LEP)
SWRDA is being abolished and everyone has been asked for expressions of interest for ‘private sector driven’ LEPs. Cornwall Council has submitted a bid for a LEP covering Cornwall and the IoS under the heading of Empowering Enterprise, one of 56 across the country. LEPs would be able to bid for the £1 billion available in a new Regional Development Fund (less than was available to the old RDAs).

While delighted that Cornwall had made its mark, there was a feeling that the whole bid was too public sector orientated. The process had been hurried and almost invisible with poor levels of consultation with the private sector, difficult though it was to reach this.

An LEP White Paper was expected from the government in October.

Transport issues
There had been a good meeting of the FTC/PTC Regeneration Committee recently which received some plain speaking about local transport issues. The big news is that the Treluswell Park and Rail scheme looks as though it has been parked. Some sort of eastern park and ride is likely to be developed for Truro but this will be much closer to Truro and is likely to involve buses.

Connecting Cornwall 2030 – Local Transport Plan consultation
A draft of the main strategic document has been published and comments are invited before 17 September. This is a very general document. The real meat will be in the local three year action plans which will be published in the autumn.

The Forum agreed to convene a sub-committee to respond to the strategic document consultation, drawing on the Community Plan. They would also work with the Transport Department on the action plan, prior to the consultation on that plan in November.

Church Street Car Park
Church Street Car Park is now on the Council’s radar as ‘a project’. They are carrying out research to explore the impact of the bollard on transport and are beginning to think about ways of improving the management and presentation of this central car park There is still a desire in the Transport Department to introduce 24 hour usage of the bollard.

There is a feeling that the various elements of Cornwall Council – Economic, Transport and Public Health are still not being terribly joined-up in their approach to the site.

Future of the Falmouth Tourist Information Centre (TIC)
It was noted that Visit Cornwall are no longer able to provide the ca £80k net funding required to run the TIC each year and are seeking partner(s) willing to take on the service. Alternative strategies were discussed. The meeting concluded that it would be better to bite the bullet and close the existing service and find a modern alternative rather than trying to find a partner able to take on such a staff-intensive service.

Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs)
This is a current priority for the FTC and its Planning Committee. A sub-group bringing together the education establishments in the towns, councillors and local planners was working on a general strategy.

350th Anniversary of the Falmouth Charter
2011 is the 350th anniversary of the Town’s Charter. Robin Dunseath is canvassing support for a series of celebrations and is approaching the usual suspects.

Community Plan (Lite)
Chris Smith is arranging an easy to read version of the Community Plan which should be available before Christmas

Town Framework Plan
Work was starting on this document which would replace the Local Plans and become the main planning document, setting out the main spatial strategy. The target was to complete it within 12 months. The FTC/PTC Regeneration Group would be leading on this. A future meeting of the Forum would discuss this in more detail.

Local news
Falmouth Week had been a great success with an active programme of shoreside events, especially the Red Arrows and Carnival which had raises £2,000 for charity.

The Oyster Festival and Christmas events were being planned. The latter would include a Santa run on 11 December.

The Poly was sorting itself out and was looking for 2000 new members to help secure its future

The Vospers hoardings at Ponsharden are shortly to be painted with the Falmouth brand to improve their look.

The planning appeal about the Admiral Nelson would be heard shortly

BID news
The AGM is to be held on 4 October

The new Falmouth website will be launched shortly using the domain www.falmouth.co.uk (grateful thanks to the Forum)

A PR company has been appointed and was already obtaining good coverage in major national media promoting Falmouth

Other news
The Chamber of Commerce is working with students of Plymouth university to carry out a user’s-eye-view of Falmouth as a tourism destination. This would be a year-long project. They are also linking in with the St Malo Chamber of Commerce which would require some visits.

UCF is opening its new £15.4m Performance Centre in a series of events 28 – 31 October.

Those attending the meeting:

Mike Reynolds - A& P Docks
Dick Styles - Civic Society
Scott Sharples - Cornwall Council
Paul Wickes - Cornwall Marine Network
Jeremy Edwards - Falmouth Chamber of Commerce
Pam Faulkner – Falmouth and District Hotels Association
John Langan - Falmouth Harbour Commissioners
David Stedman - Falmouth Marine School
Sally Styles - Falmouth Residents Association
Oliver Cramp – Falmouth Town Council
Richard Gates - Falmouth Town Manager
Jackie George - Falmouth Watersports Association
Neil Tinson - Falmouth and Penryn Churches Together
Jonathan Griffin – National Maritime Museum Cornwall
Rob Homewood - RIBA and Rotary
Jilly Easterby – UCF