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

Meeting - January 2012

The meeting was devoted to a review of the year ahead, identifying areas where the Forum could make a contribution to the continued regeneration of the town.

Leadership

• Cornwall Council, Town Council and BID: the Forum will continue to support the main agencies working for the development of the town, building relationships and influence.
• The Falmouth and Penryn Community Plan: although recognised by some, the Community Plan is not referred to by others. The Forum will initiate a review and re-launch.
• Localism: the devolution of decision making to local areas is a real opportunity. The Forum will support the work that was going on to create a CIC to manage part of the town.
• Energy: good work is going on to encourage people to reduce energy consumption and looking at alternative energy sources. The Forum will support these 

Economics

• The LEP: the Local Enterprise Partnership is still forming its views on the priorities for Cornwall. The Forum will continue to contribute to the debate, seeking to maximise the benefit for the town including exploring the options for Falmouth becoming a Local Enterprise Zone.
• Docks masterplan: the Forum supports the development of the Docks and dredging, and will be following the developments with interest, supporting where necessary.
• Penryn River plan: the Forum welcomes the work taking place on this plan which is looking at what policies were needed to enhance the economic strengths of the Penryn River.
• Visitor economy: the Forum will contine to support work to enhance and improve the visitor economy of the town.
• Tremough Innovation Centre: the Forum will continue to work with the university campus to maximise the benefit of its new developments, especially Cornwall Council's Innovation Centre which is due to open shortly.
• Superfast broadband: it is unclear when this was due to arrive in Falmouth. Individuals can check on their own telephone number at a Superfast Cornwall website

The town environment

• The Mary Portas Report: this was influenced by the Falmouth BID submission. The report contained some useful pointers and ideas. The Chamber and Town Manager are working on implementation of some of these.
• Transport: transport issues remains a major cause for concern. The Forum will continue to do what it can to make the town safe and accessible, and to remove as much traffic from the main street as possible. Work is needed on traffic, car parking and Falmouth as a cycling demonstration area.
• Church Street car park: the Forum will continue to campaign to make this car park a pleasant community environment.
• Sainsbury’s development: planning permission has been agreed in principle. The Forum will work with the developers to limit the impact on the town's existing commercial businesses and to use the supermarket's presence to help enhance the town.

Policies/strategies

• Cornwall Core Strategy: this has recently been published and all are encouraged to read and respond to it. (The website is complex and it takes courage to find the main documents)
• Local Framework Plan: this had also been published. This is more specific to Falmouth and looks at potential areas of expansion of the towns of Falmouth and Penryn. The planning predictions are that the area will need to accommodate another 4,000 homes over the planning period. Elected representatives' response to the discussion paper is also available (scroll to the bottom of the page).
• Cornwall Marine Strategy: the consultation on this is closing on 18 January. There is a need for balance between economic use of the seas and coasts and the preservation of the environment.
• Finding Sanctuary: the work that was done in 2011 identifying a Reference Site in the River Fal had come in for considerable criticism both for the process by which it was arrived at and for the scientific grounds on which it was based. The Forum will do what it can to support a rational approach which does not prejudice the development of the town and its people.
• Falmouth by Design 2: the Forum supports the proposal to develop some design guidance to assist planning decisions in the town.

Those attending the meeting:
A & P Docks - Mike Reynolds
Civic Society - Dick Stiles
Cornwall Council - Mike Varney
Falmouth BID - Richard Wilcox
Falmouth Business Club - Andy Coote
Falmouth Chamber of Commerce - Jeremy Edwards
Falmouth and District Hotels Association - Shaun Davie
Falmouth Town Council - Mark Williams
Falmouth Town Manager - Richard Gates
Falmouth Watersports Association - Jackie George
Fal River Links - Tim Light
National Maritime Museum Cornwall - Jonathan Griffin (chair)
RIBA - Christopher Smith
Transition Falmouth - Lorely Lloyd
Transport Working Group - John Bottomley
Transport Worling Group - David Pollard
UCF, UoE and Tremough Campus Services Group - Jilly Easterby

Meeting - November 2011

Falmouth 350
Congratulations were due to everyone who made the 350th anniversary celebration of the Charter such a success. Thanks to the team which drafted the New Charter; a way would be found to get this into all the schools in the town. Special thanks go to Robin Dunseath who had inspired the event.

Marine Conservation Reference Zone and Dredging
A new Reference Zone had been proposed, quite unexpectedly and to almost universal horror, for part of Carrick Roads. Any normal activity would be banned in, near or around the zone and it would effectively destroy the commercial business of the Docks and the Carrick Roads in general. Representations were being made everywhere and, although it was fairly certain that the proposal would be withdrawn, the proposal was wasting a great deal of potentially productive time and building distrust between local interests and conservation bodies.

Letters should be addressed to the minister, Richard Benyon with a copy to Sarah Newton MP.

As far as dredging was concerned

• The Falmouth Harbour Commissioners had agreed with the Marine Management Organisation that they would carry out a £150k, 12 month study on a sample area. FHC would be seeking permission for this from Cornwall Council
• FHC was pleased to report that the fishermen who had originally been against any dredging had been reassured now that they understood that it would not involve wholesale dumping of spoil at sea
• The Docks company would not be taking up the option to develop the 290 berth marina until the future of the dredging project had been resolved
• Oliver Cramp was convening a meeting of interested parties to try to unlock the impasse over permission for the dredging.

Seasides town regeneration bid
The BID-led proposal for £75k from the joint Cornwall Council and central government fund had not been successful. This was a great disappointment as an enormous amount of effort had been put into the bid and significant match funding had been committed, including from the Forum. The winners and losers, many of which sounded remarkably similar to the bid’s proposals, had been:

Winners: Par (beach nature reserve and the bike hub); Bude (sea pool development); Looe (seafront enhancement and walking route signage, podcast and leaflets); Hayle (improved visitor experience); Newquay (harbour regeneration); Perranporth (destination for people with disabilities); St Agnes (bolstering St Agnes).

Losers: Falmouth and Penryn (visitor hospitality and workforce development); Looe (low water landing stage and events kit); Newquay (street environment); Padstow (lobster festival); Perranporth (Perran trail); St Ives (Guildhall regeneration).

Church Street Car Park
Oliver Cramp had obtained support from Falmouth Town Council for his proposal to give up a few parking spaces and install seating on the edge of the car park. He felt strongly that some change was better than nothing in the car park. The task would now be to raise the necessary £100k. A possible source was the Sainsbury money.
Mike Varney reported that the contamination study on the car park was now available on the Cornwall Council website [Google cannot find it]

Planning issues
MV reported that the proposal, with the Section 106 proposals, would be going to the November Planning meeting. If agreed, this would release money which could be spent in Falmouth. Penryn could not benefit as its shopping area was not sufficiently developed to be hit by the appearance of the new store. A key project would obviously be a contribution to the walkway along the waterfront which could be on a larger scale than envisaged in OC’s scheme.

The nitrate zone around the Docks was being reduced and, as a result, the planning blight on the area was going to be listed, allowing developments such as the Lord Nelson site to go ahead.

Localism
There had been little progress since the presentation by Ray Tovey of Cornwall Council. Officers were elusive. There were opportunities for the local community to take control over services within the town. The Forum believed that it would be preferable for an arm’s length body, or bodies, to take these on rather than the Town Council whose priority appeared to be to take on little more than responsibility for the Town Hall. Alternative management solutions ranged from the Town Manager, to BIDs to newly created Community Interest Companies (CICs).

There appeared to be no appetite for a single comprehensive solution for Falmouth, it was therefore believed better to go ahead with smaller initiatives rather than wait for a single major devolution of activities. The Tourist Information Centre had already been devolved and King Harry Ferries were keen to take on the whole of Prince of Wales pier. There was an immediate imperative as building work was being done in the area and the builders had offered to help out with environmental improvements. There was talk of the possible devolution of responsibilities for car parks in the longer term. 

Falmouth Energy Partnership
The Partnership was going ahead well. They would be launching their draft report at a meeting at the Poly at 19:30 on 17 November. The aim of the meeting was to discuss the creation of an integrated renewable energy plan for local wealth and resilience. The Partnership welcomed engagement and information.

Cycling feasibility study
A surprising discovery had been the proposal by Cornwall Council to let a £30k consultancy study on the feasibility of Penryn as a cycling destination. This had already been commented on in the Forum’s response to the Transport Strategy and a new cycling route had already been opened linking Tremough, Penryn College and Penryn town centre.

Falmouth Enterprise Zone
At the meeting with the Chris Pomfret of the Local Enterprise Partnership, it had been suggested that Falmouth might develop a proposal for a Local Enterprise Zone of its own, following the Newquay model. The LEP was committed to help if it thought the idea had legs. There was a real need for development and grow-on space on the industrial estates to house the successful companies coming out of the new buildings on the Tremough campus such as AIR and TIC. Andy Coote would gather some like minds to discuss the idea and work up a proposal.

Falmouth by Design
Mike Jenks and others wished to update the work done by the Falmouth by Design group as a way of providing a better quality living and working environment in the town. There were now many electronic tools which could be used to engage a wider circle of consultees and to visualise the results. This was very relevant given the re-drafting of the Planning Policy Framework that was taking place. It also tied in with the proposals for Neighbourhood plans, falling below the core Strategy and Local Development Framework, and he would be discussing this with Sarah Newton MP. It was believed that the Town Council had similar aspirations.

Town and gown committee
A committee had been set up, chaired by Kevin Ayres, to discuss common issues. This brought together representatives of the educational establishments, town councillors from both town and student representatives. Current discussions included the need to raise standards in Houses in Multiple Occupancy (HMOs). The committee met once a term.

Penryn River Study
A project was under way to look at the usage and development of the remainder of the Penryn river as a follow-on from the Port of Falmouth Masterplan. Led by CDC, the aim was to provide guidance on the usage of space both on and off the water.

Other updates:

• Local Development Framework: a public consultation on the expansion options for the two towns was expected during November
• Anyone who had travelled on the Maritime Line and suffered from over-crowding should write to Julian Crow at First Great Western as he was in the process of putting in a bid for more rolling stock
• The Olympic torch would be visiting Falmouth on 19 May 2012
• The BID team, with Richard Gates, had met Mary Portas at Westminster recently, as part of their campaign to improve high streets throughout the country
• The Christmas edition of Fathom was now out with the programme for activities up to Christmas. Copies could be obtained from Richard Gates
• Mike Varney is now Planning Champion as well as Chair of Strategic Planning, on Cornwall Council

Those attending the meeting:
Age Concern - Sally Stiles
Churches Together - Neil Tinson
Civic Society - Dick Stiles
Cornwall Council - Mike Varney
Falmouth Business Club - Andy Coote
Falmouth and District Hotels Association - Shaun Davie
Falmouth Harbour Commissioners - John Langan
Falmouth Rotary - Nigel Druce
Falmouth Watersports Association - Jackie George
Falmouth Town Council - Oliver Cramp
Fal River Links - Tim Light
National Maritime Museum Cornwall - Jonathan Griffin (chair)
RIBA - Chris Smith
Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society - Mike Jenks
Transition Falmouth - Lorely Lloyd
Tremough Campus Services - Jilly Easterby