Cornwall politics, where lies matter and stuff gets lost on demand

 Well here’s another report into your good ol’ dictatorship of Cornwall Council, in the far south-west of England, which may or not be part of England because nobody hears the voices here. In Cornwall noone can hear you scream, try space.

Our good old councillor chum Bob Egerton, the Cabinet member for Culture, Economy and Planning, has furiously denied reports involving an planning application submitted by the council. Planning documents and an Environmental Impact Assessment, both state 4000 homes to be built, so the council’s Conservative group leader asked, will there be 4000? Noo, says Bob, we only said 4000 because of funding issues and that planning permission has only been asked for 2700 homes. But this new report clearly states 4000 homes are to be built. Just ignore it, the council will.

On another but related subject, auditors have found £53m unaccounted for, supposedly spent on contracts, and another £2m which leads back to a John Betty. Nothing to do there, ignore it.

Elsewhere, the record keeping in Cornwall Council is the best there is. Words in meetings aren’t properly noted, two cases noted. At one meeting council officers denied all of the legitimate objections raised by the parish council, workers and residents. The reasons for refusing were ultimately tepid so they can possibly be overthrown at appeal. The minutes for this meeting on the council website are false.

Someone has asked, how do we report this behaviour and to whom? The council has already investigated itself and found itself not guilty, and thats true. Council officers regularly withhold information at meetings, to the point a Judicial Review was previously held which declared council officers must stop this behaviour. Guess what still carries on? The recent new bridge built at Tintagel had an 4 page report published about elements such as additional rock anchoring and supports would be needed because of the type of rock the bridge is on. Not mentioned at the planning meeting by the planning officer, and at the first storm the bridge faces during its completion, its shut to the public because of fears over the safety of the bridge. So don’t worry if the bridge wobbles when you walk over it, its totally safe.

So if you want to build a new house, come to Cornwall, where planners openly admit for a little bit extra you’re guaranteed to have your planning application approved, and any dodgy information can be arranged to go ‘missing’.