Meeting - November 2013

Forum administration
Councillor Steve Gray was welcomed, in absentia, as the new Vice Chair. This provided a useful cross-over between the Forum and the Town Council.

Forum purpose 
The revised purpose was tweaked and agreed as being:

'The Town Forum is a non-political, non-aligned, open, results-orientated forum which exists to assist the successful vitality, viability and sustainable growth of Falmouth. It brings together representatives of groups and organisations in the town – from the commercial, charitable and statutory sectors, and from community groups – to talk about strategic and current issues, share knowledge, and to explore and help deliver projects to the benefit of the future of the town. Being non-aligned, it has the freedom to explore ideas in ways which other organisations cannot.

'It is also a bridging body - a sounding board - and a channel of communication.'

As this hardly rolls off the tongue, members were invited to contribute alternative snappier versions.

Forum constitution
The chairman would lead a team with the aim of creating a constitution on one side of paper.

Proposed and actual cuts to Cornwall Council Budgets and their effects on the town
It was unclear what specific cuts were being proposed by Cornwall Council but Falmouth Town Council was already taking steps to pick up priority services. For example, they were planning, or looking at taking on:

• A long lease of the Town Hall
• The management of the six public toilets from April
• The costs of the core operation of the CCTV monitoring 

They were also in discussion about other areas of activity.

This work had caused the Town Council to look at its priorities:

• They had recently appointed Christina Hayman, an FU Events Management graduate, as events management assistant
• They had also dropped the idea of funding a Neighbourhood Plan
• They had commissioned a review of the seafront furniture so that areas could be targeted for repair

All agreed that the wider Cornwall Council agenda looked very bleak and there was a real chance that everything discretionary would have to go. The Town Council could pick things up, funded from an enhanced precept.

Everyone was encouraged to tell councillors what they saw as priorities.

Marine Issues
The report on the dredging trial was still awaited.

Cruise Ship calls were reportedly down for 2014. The main reason given was that larger ships were avoiding the port because of the inability to dock alongside and the problems of trans-shipment.

There was no further news on the proposed Special Protection Area.

BID Renewal
The manifesto and voting slips have been sent out. Early indications were that there is a good response. We will know the full picture after the ballot closes on 28th November.

Tall Ships 2014
Progress is reportedly being made.

Radio Signals
Thing seem to have improved recently following conversations with Ofcom.

Source FM are close to securing their new Transmitter. With thirteen days to run they are still about £1.2k short of their £4k crowd-funding target. Although they have won a £10k award from Santander, this funding cannot be used for their new transmitter.

Any other business
The Forum bank account is now empty.

The Civic Society has published their latest newsletter. They will be posting some more information about sustainable development and town extension onto their website. This is very relevant for a town seeking to grow as fast as is planned.

The Bickland Water Road planning application is with FTC.

The Local Development Plan is now being delayed until 2015 which is leaving the way clear for some pretty undesirable developments. The Town Council is promoting its view that the target for new houses for Falmouth and Penryn should be 4,000 rather than 5,000.

Penryn Campus has received planning permission for two new projects:

• The Heart project which will create a new, public, open space and involve landscaping to make the whole site link together much better
• A new science and engineering research support facility for the University of Exeter. This will be located at the top of the site close to the Environment and Sustainability Institute and adjacent to the Tremough Innovation Centre 

Both are planned to be completed in 2015 subject to funding being confirmed.

The Town Council:

• Is still discussing an application for a new cemetery 
• Did very well in the Britain in Bloom competition (in Cleethorpes in the rain), winning a Silver Gilt award. They have been encouraged to go for gold

Attending the meeting were:
Andy Coote (chairman)- Falmouth Business Club
Candy Atherton - Cornwall Council
Chris Smith - Falmouth and Penryn Community Plan
David Yelland - Falmouth School
Dick Stiles - Civic Society
Jackie George - Falmouth Watersports Association
Jilly Easterby - Falmouth Exeter Plus
Jonathan Griffin - National Maritime Museum Cornwall
Mark Williams - Falmouth Town Council
Mike Jenks - Civic Society
Neil Tinson - Churches Together
Sally Stiles - Age Concern