Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

Without jobs we are condemning our young people to leave Cornwall or struggle to survive. A range of good jobs will allow communities to stay together and make homes affordable. I have supported projects that generate jobs such as the science park development at Loggans Mill that would produce 800 quality jobs, and the Wave Hub Renewables Park that would provide Hayle-based spin offs from the Wave Hub project. Major aims include the creation of more live-work units at the low end and the encouragement of larger projects such as a Marine Science facility on the South Quay. Even after five years of the Objective One programme, local wages are less than 80% of the national average -- and Convergence funding must be directed to improve this in West Cornwall.

There are some encouraging signs in Hayle.  Having recently lost Rowe the Printers from the Guildford Road Industrial Estate a new company has moved into the vacated building.  Rowe's employed around 30 people but the new company, Infoteam, already employs 70 and this could rise to 120 - mostly from the Hayle area and all quality technical jobs.  Infoteam provides warranty repair service to major companies, such as Sony, for the whole of Europe. The Hayle plant focuses on Sony Playstation 3 at present.

Why did this company open a facility in Hayle?  Originally, Infoteam was based in West London but decided to relocate to Cornwall with the help of a grant of £900,000 from the South West Regional Development Agency through the Selective Finance for Investment (SFI) scheme.

I will ensure that grant and business support agencies such as Cornwall Pure Business (inward investment), Cornwall Enterprise (county support for business), Enterprise Edge (market research) and Finance Cornwall (EU funding) continue to emphasise business development in Hayle.

Affordable Housing for Local People

I support affordable housing for purchase, part-ownership and rent for those with a local connection. We do not want to become a dormitory town by being the only location in Penwith that builds affordable homes. I proposed at Penwith that we require a contribution to affordable housing for all developments, whatever the number of properties. Affordable housing delivery has become too centralised, with top-down targets imposed on authorities with little sensitivity over local delivery, only a vague connection to local infrastructure and often a disregard of wider economic development.

Looking at Hayle’s population we can see that the growth targeted for the next 20 years is unprecedented:

1801 1,475
1901 4,549
2001 7,900
2009 8,400
2025 16,557

The last figure is generated from the Regional Spatial Strategy which calls for 3,250 dwellings to be built in Hayle by 2025. On average, there are ~ 2.51 residents per dwelling and there are about 3,300 dwellings in Hayle today.  I will fight to prevent Hayle from becoming a dormitory town.

Let Local People Determine How Many Houses are Built in Hayle

Proper Planning

Hayle Harbour
The regeneration of Hayle Harbour is long overdue and I continue to stress the need for its thoughtful development. However, a close analysis of ING plans showed an overemphasis on houses, fewer than required affordable dwellings, a loss of precious, protected greenfield sites, major problems with traffic, no immediate repairs to the worst damaged parts of South Quay – and no increase in jobs to support 1,039 new dwellings planned.

I’ve worked hard with PDC officers to address as many of these issues as practical, with the aim of achieving a development that the people of Hayle will welcome and that is still viable for ING. I voted for the project at Penwith’s final planning meeting but cited a large number of areas requiring further negotiation to ensure a satisfactory outcome. Penwith officers stated that my intervention, and that of other Hayle district councillors, had helped achieve a better solution for the people of Hayle.

I will continue to negotiate to get the best outcome for the people of Hayle.

Fire Station

Even without the growth from the harbour development and the Regional Spatial Strategy, Hayle needs a fire station, or at least a Hayle-based appliance, in order to provide reasonable response times to an emergency. In the summer it will take far too long for an appliance to reach the centre of Hayle from Camborne. I have asked the Fire Brigade for a copy of the detailed computer projections they have regarding response times and I continue to insist on a Fire Station in Hayle.  If elected one of my first actions will be to ask the new fire chief to set targets for attending call outs in Hayle. No targets have been publicly set yet – this is not acceptable.

Hospital Services

After the extremely well-supported march in August 2006, there have been significant improvements in the services provided at both St. Michael's and West Cornwall hospitals. We must still monitor services closely, however, as the excellent chief executive, John Watkinson, was suspended and then terminated, allegedly when he opposed moving some cancer treatments out of the county. Without the right leadership we will quickly return to the situation that triggered the march. I worked hard as one of the organisers of the march to help the people of Hayle show how they felt about the threat to St Michael’s. I will work just as hard again if there is any threat to our excellent hospital.  I am also opposed to moving any specialist services out of Cornwall without a proper review - as has just happened with Upper GI Cancer services which have been moved to Derriford in Plymouth against strong opposition.

Higher Education

I want to increase the provision of higher education in West Cornwall. Use Wave Hub, Renewables Park, Maritime Museum, Hayle Harbour and other initiatives to create a Marine Renewables Centre of Excellence. This would become part of the Peninsula Research Institute in Marine Renewable Energy - PRIMaRE.

I will strive to get the Combined Universities in Cornwall to develop facilities in Hayle.

Schools

We are fortunate in the high standard of our primary and secondary schooling in Hayle but all of the schools are bursting at the seams. Plans take a long time to come to fruition and expansion is needed even under normal growth projections. Penpol School, for example, does not have a suitable hall for assembly of the whole school, and playgrounds and fields are inadequate. I will ensure that Hayle's schooling is kept at the top of the County's priority list.

If elected, I will seek a review of the harbour dredging license with a view to reducing the huge 80% that the licensee is permitted to sell.  I will also ask for a detailed review of the beach surveys being conducted by the University of Plymouth to determine if there is a measurable impact on our beach.  If so, I will fight for an immediate stop to sand removal and all dredged material must be returned to the beach.

For our future, and our children's future, we must move towards more sustainability.  Hayle is well placed for this providing we plan carefully.  A key component of sustainability is giving people the opportunity to live an work in the same area.  They must also be able to have a good selection of local shops and decent medical provision.  Top quality education should also be locally available and, for those services that are provided elsewhere, we should have good bus and train services.

The elements are all in place but planners in recent years have insisted on forcing a disproportionate amount of housing onto Hayle without providing additional employment opportunities.  The key is good planning and I will fight for Hayle to have balanced and acceptable growth - not become simply a dormitory town.  I will also insist on more trains stopping in Hayle.

QUANGOs: Regional Development Agency & Healthcare Trusts
It is vital that we have accountability especially for organisations that have large budgets. We are particularly at the mercy of the Regional Development Agency (RDA), which covers the area from Swindon and Gloucestershire all the way down to the Isles of Scilly. The RDA has been charged with disbursing the EU Convergence Funding, which is meant solely for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. This is an unelected body and I would like the Cornwall funds to come under the control of the elected Cornwall Council.

The Regional development agencies and the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill, Draft 2009 states:

“Most importantly, there needs to be a proper balance between RDAs’ business focus and the role of councillors in representing the views of their constituents. We are concerned that the proposals in the Bill about the relationship between RDAs and local authorities place too much weight on the views of RDAs and business interests, particularly during the drafting and agreement of the single integrated regional strategy. We call for the role of local authorities—and of the communities they represent—to be strengthened.”

I am in total agreement with this statement.

Similarly, we are all familiar with the mess that the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust got into a few years back which led to the huge march through Hayle (which I coordinated). Having made some important strides upon the appointment of John Watkinson we are now facing further struggles following his dismissal – allegedly for political reasons. Again, we need to bring this Trust under the control of elected representatives rather than the unaccountable appointees who now run it.

Play Areas, Open Spaces and Sports Facilities
The government has set out standards for open spaces and play areas and the distances that children have to travel to get to them. We have areas in Hayle where these standards are woefully unmet and I will try to remedy this situation as a priority. No new housing estates must be built without providing for safe play for our children.

One example of an underserved community is the area north of Water Lane including Ash Drive. Every inch of land has been built on and the nearest play area is impossible to reach without crossing major roads. As a minimum we must include speed bumps and signage in these areas to ensure children who are forced to play in the roads are safe.

I am a strong supporter of sports facilities in Hayle and have been behind grants to the Hayle Cricket Club, the Hayle Football Club and other facilities in the town.  I was a major force behind getting high fencing put around the lower field at Ellis Park so that children playing ball games would not be at risk if their balls were kicked into the road.  I will continue to ensure Hayle sports gets strong support.

Roads and Rail

Good connections with the rest of Britain are essential to keep Cornwall, and particularly West Cornwall, thriving.  I am a member of the A30 Support Group (and I set up their web site) which has been focused on dualling the A30 from St. Erth to Penzance but which also strongly supports the dualling of the entire A30.

I have also lobbied First Great Western and Virgin Trains to provide more services, to keep the sleeper service and to have more trains stop in Hayle.

I will continue to fight for the best transport links to Hayle.

Focus on Angarrack and Rural South Hayle
There are a number of issues that are specially relevant to the areas outside of the town of Hayle. These include:

Conclusion
Having served as a district councillor and a town councillor over the last four years, I know the issues faced by Hayle. I also have a clear understanding of how local government works - and how it has failed to work in some areas in the past.

If elected, I can start fighting for Hayle from Day One, as I already have experience of planning, licensing, fire service, schooling, roads and more. Candidates without this experience could take years to come to grips with these complex issues, wasting time that Hayle does not have.

My business and technical experience has also prepared me to deal with consultants, legal teams and government officers, all of whom have points of view that may not be in Hayle's best interests. I know how to negotiate and argue for Hayle - the Hawkins site and the Harbour development attest to this.

If you agree with my manifesto and believe that my experience

is relevant, please give me your vote on election day.