2024/25 Annual Parish Council Report

We have had a settled team of councillors over the last 12 months and Craig extends huge thanks to all of them for their friendship and support throughout the year.

Likewise, we would like to thank our Divisional member, Cornwall Councillor Adrian Parsons for all his work, a lot of which is behind the scenes, and his influence is invaluable. Also attending our monthly meetings, fitting them in his busy schedule, is greatly appreciated and they would be very much poorer in his absence.

We are also delighted that in the last year so many members of the public have given their time to attend our meetings and again make invaluable contributions to sometimes challenge, but more commonly to help support the Parish Council effort. Thanks to all.

Our highlights in the past year:

-Have seen the completion of funding the Pipers Pool fibre broadband project which is a major community benefit.

-From past residential development in the parish the Community Infrastructure Levy grant funds we received from Cornwall Council allowed us to redesign the entrance to the public conveniences at Riverside. This now tidies the tenure of the site once and for all.

-At long last our efforts to take responsibility for the upkeep of the open space at Penpont View is nearing an agreement with Cornwall Council.

-We have applied to the Land Registry to assure the ownership of Altarnun War Memorial. This matches what was previously done with the memorial at Bolventor some years ago. Also, we are in course of the registration of the village green which has been under the parishes ownership for many years now.

Our ethic is one of continuous improvement and listening to the parishioners so that our efforts are by and large in sympathy with a collective desiderate. For example, trying to broker a way forward with the Methodist Circuit regarding the necessary remedial works to the chapel. They are proving helpful in liaising with the owners, albeit at arm’s length.

Planning engagements, as usual, maintained a high profile at our monthly meetings, and we are pleased to report that the council gave support to 93.1% of the 29 applications for which we were invited to make a consultee comment. The LPA generally followed suit.

Our support for safer highways continued and was eclipsed by the Safer Plusha Action Group with Adrian Parsons and Ben Maguire exercising significant influence over National Highways and central government. Much work and determination is still needed to force an upgrade to the A30 not only at Plusha but at other trouble spots and we very much thank all involved.

The council remains on a sound financial footing and recently steps have been taken to rationalise our operational costs and make our money go further and therefore will allow us to devolve more functions from Cornwall Council in future, if of course they are within bounds of compliance and capability.

We did ask for more public money to support our expenditure this year but are mindful that should circumstances prevail, this reliance can be reduced in future years.

In rounding off this leads to a special mention to Paul Smart for the many hours of hard work he puts in around the parish caring for and maintaining the landscape, the cemeteries, our footpath network, our defibrillator, and all our other assets.