The Forum
- Chris Smith has stepped down as Chairman of the Forum and Jonathan Griffin has taken over
- Councillor Mike Varney has joined as the Cornwall Council representative
- The Chamber of Commerce and BIDs were to be invited to send representatives to future meetings
The loss of a pro-active champion for Falmouth at the local level was, to a large extent overtaken by the changes at County level.
Cornwall CountyThe County had now held elections and Councillors were settling in to their new jobs which brought greater responsibilities and wider scope than in the past. In Mike Varney’s view, the new structure and operations were likely to take up to 18 months to bed in.
The strategy for the Council had yet to emerge. Some projects facing them were:
- The need for major budget cuts both following the re-organisation and in the light of the likely funds coming from central government. £9m had already been saved but more needed to be saved
- There was likely to be another round of redundancies as things settled down
- There were some big issues eg waste disposal where United Downs is due to close in 2010 and yet no alternative had yet been agreed; and some services which needed major overhauls
The Cornwall Development Company had been created as the delivery arm for economic activities. Colin Jarvis (ex Head of Transport at CCC) is the Acting Chief Executive. The exact role of the Company was unclear: whether it was a pure service unit or whether it had strategic control of economic development.
Visit Cornwall (part of CDC) has appointed a new Chief Executive who those in the know said was a ‘good appointment’.
Events programme and Falmouth weekThe Falmouth Events Committee last met on 25 June and was progressing with the aim of making an event programme a central part of Falmouth’s offering. A programme has been mapped out and discussions are continuing with both VisitCornwall and the BIDs group on funding.
Falmouth Week had been particularly successful and thanks were due to the Shoreside committee and all the sponsors. Highlights included:
- The Wednesday evening with the Red Arrows and fun events when the road had been closed and the town had been heaving with people
- The Thursday evening Parade of Sail
- The Friday fireworks which kept many people in the town despite the weather
- The activities on the Moor which had attracted 600 children and another 500-600 in the evening
The bollard and the shuttle busThe bollard in the main street had become operational on 21 July. There had been a predictable reaction from some quarters. The Forum could take credit for having worked to achieve this as a way of reducing traffic.
There were teething problems with the bollard and David Pollard is working closely with Cornwall Council Transport Dept to resolve these:
- The delay time had been extended from 40 seconds to 60 seconds
- New signage at the entrance to Market Street is to be installed
- The cameras cannot currently be used for enforcement
- There is too much rat-running through the car park
- Some high vans have got stuck at the exit to the car park
The Shuttle bus has been operational since 1 July. A charge of £1 for all day use had been introduced which had reduced the number of people using the service. About 50% of passengers were using bus passes. There was sadly no money for promotion of the service but David Pollard is looking for sponsors.
Business Improvement District (BIDS)
The BIDS company had had an AGM and elected its first Board of Directors under the chairmanship of Nigel Carpenter. The purpose was to give business generally a stake in developing the commercial centre of the town.
The company had set up six working groups covering: external environment, branding and marketing, public relations, website, events, fundraising. The intention was to transfer http://www.falmouth.co.uk/ domain to the company.
This project had been initiated by the Forum.
Conservation Area Management PlanCornwall Council was completing a revision of the Conservation Area Management Plan for Falmouth which had been started by Carrick District Council. The consultants had held several excellent discussion groups in the town and had circulated some postcards seeking additional views. They had now gone away to write up their conclusions which were expected in September. While many of the ideas had not been new, they had approached the project in a very consultative manner.
David Pollard will seek to ensure that members of the Forum have access to final document.
Falmouth & Penryn Community Plan
The Community Plan consultation had been carried out through the May edition of Fathom (16.5k copies). While the absolute numbers of responses received had been mildly disappointing the general thrust of the proposals had been approved by those that did reply. Some 12 proposals received less than 75% support; the majority received >90% support.
The results had gone back to the Topic Group leaders who had tweaked and re-arranged some of the proposals to make them more coherent. Ray Tovey, the project manager, was now writing up the results for agreement by the Community Plan Management Group. The final document is expected in October.
Once completed, the Plan would be submitted to the Town Council and Cornwall Council. Debate was continuing on how this should be done and exact approval needed.
The project had been initiated by the Forum.
Convergence and the Strategic Investment Framework (SIF)The Cornwall Development Company (Georgina McLaren) had taken on the writing of the SIF which will include a range of projects which might be funded out of the ca.£10m ‘available’ for Falmouth and Penryn,.
With the agreement of the Town Council, a group under the chairmanship of Tim Light is seeking to influence the content of this. Once agreed, CDC (Jackie George) will be responsible for delivering (getting them through planning etc) the projects.
Projects known to be being considered include: workspace on Kernick estate; a Port Master Plan; and an Economic Development Framework for Falmouth and Penryn; an ESCO (Energy Service Company).
The nature of the process was felt to be in stark contrast to the consultative approach used by the Conservation Area consultants but it was hoped that the final range of projects would meet the brief of ‘realising economic potential of place’ and be the sort of thing which could be supported by the community. Proposals were expected at the end of September.
Church Street Car Park development
The Carrick Design team had been working on a brief to define the parameters around which development might take place on Church Street Car Park. The team was still in place within Cornwall Council and, although it was not yet a formal project, were doing what they can to finalise the proposals. This was essential as the ideas would be an input to the discussions surrounding the Strategic Investment Framework.
Roger Radcliffe would report the likely completion date.
Youth Forum
The Youth Forum was aiming to produce a new website with funding from Cornwall Council and the Community Plan.
Attendance
The following attended the meeting:
Mike Reynolds - A&P Docks
Neil Tinson - Churches Together
Dick Stiles - Civic Society
Roger Radcliffe - Cornwall Council
Mike Varney - Cornwall Council
Cliff Brown - 81 Group
Pam Faulkner - Falmouth and District Hotels Association
John Langan - Falmouth Harbour Commissioners
John Slaughter - Falmouth Marine School
Sally Stiles - Falmouth Residents Association
Falmouth Rotary - Keith Collings
Jackie George - Falmouth Watersports Association
Jonathan Griffin - National Maritime Museum Cornwall
Chris Smith - RIBA
David Pollard - Town Manager
Lorely Lloyd - Transition Falmouth
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