WINTER IS COMING SO BE PREPARED

Remember this, if not you need to be prepared for the winter sandbags or storm boards should be check for serviceability.  Next week there are some very high tides and i will be checking the weather forecast so if there is a possibility then i will warn those in the heart of the town.   The town council is getting prepared having already checked the Salt bins and those needing replacing and a refill will be done in the next few weeks.    You can help by making sure that local drains are not covered in leaves and report to the town council any problems in your area.  Take care and everything will be fine.

Armand

IS LONDON RACIST AGAINST THE REST OF THE ENGLISH

This is a question i have been asking myself for a long time now as it appears that as living in Cornwall we get very little in the way of services and infrastructure and really the prosperous world ends at Exeter.    Once you pass Exeter there is no Motorway, safe rail service and no well connected airport and some of the lowest wages in the country.   Yes the wages in SE Cornwall are below £14 k on averages for those who work in the area, whilst the averages in London is £28k (more in inner London), yes over double.   Take infrastructure in London the spend £2k per head of population yet in the South West the spend £19 no wonder London is booming and jobs created.   Will this change in the elections, I believe not as when our MPs get to the great city they change, the fight for us outside the M25 stops.  But why should this be, well look at the fact Londons population is 8.3 million of which 37% were not born in this country yep 3 million.  The total for the number of people living but born outside the uk is 7.5 million or 13% of the population a staggering figure.   The population of this country has grown 5 million since 2001 without the corresponding increase in services and infrastructure, no wonder the hospitals, schools and housing suffer with capacity issues.   The NHS relies on foreign workers because the country in the 80s and 90s failed to train the doctors, nurses and dentists to match the known vacancies that the baby boomers would leave vacant.   Most of these come from countries that are is desperate need themselves for the same people with the same skills, yet all we do is throw foreign aid to them costing us .7% of GDP and spent £11.4bn in 2013.   School in many inner cities have students that speak in some instances up to 100 different languages and with so many students with English as their second language you can see why they struggle.    As I have said above housing is now critical for so many people and housing standards for so many are sub standard.   With population growth as it is housing benefits are out of control, a lot of people making a lot of money out of the misery of so many.   Currently the country spends £16.94 billion (2013) supporting housing yet the investment in affordable and social housing does not match this.  In Cornwall housing benefit costs the government £187 million (2013) nearly the same amount as the cuts to local government over the next four years.   Is this the best way to use our taxes which appear to be recycled to those rich property owners?  How many people will be able to afford to purchase a home. the real truth is not many of them and by renting they can't save for a deposit as rents are to high.   A recent survey by Shelter showed that the added cost of renting over a lifetime is £600k to families.  

The government is critical of Education received in many parts saying that our educational standards are not good enough to get our children into work or training.  Yet it is parliament that sets the rules and standards, why keep our youngsters in education until they are 18 get them out in the world with a decent basic education and teach them trades to skill them.  No child should be allowed to not take up a trade, further education and university.  But to penalise them if the do go onto degrees the now pay £9k a year for tuition and many are now coming out with debts of 10s of thousands of pounds.  Simple idea if the country needs Engineers etc if they take those degrees they get the education for free, no doctor or nurse should pay but should be committed to the NHS.  

As i have said in a previous blog during election time we live in a promised land and at present the parties are out bidding themselves for our votes.   I ask you to vote but take care they will change and the party line has more pull then your local needs.

POLITICIANS NEED MAJOR SURGERY TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENING IN THE NHS

I'm not sure if I am allowed to do this from my hospital bed but to hell with it I'm going to.   Last Sunday (29.3.15) I was admitted to derriford hospital for a double heart bypass operation not something I was looking forward to but something I definitely needed.      On Monday very early I was up showered and dressed in my hospital gown, then the checks begin name, dob address.  Into the pre op room putting in the lines to get the medication into me then Mr Allan the surgeon came in and made sure I was ok with what was happening, I said "yes fine the alternative is worse".   Shortly before eight the world stopped mid sentence, I can't say what happened I was there in body but not mind.    At about three in the afternoon I remember being told everything had gone fine and I was now in the Intensive Care Unit.   The nurse fussed over me and from my drug induced pain relief I remember how she told me exactly what was going on.   My wife and son came to see me and I must have been talking rubbish because one minute I was talking to Rayna the next to my son but they were sat in the same seat.   The drugs are great a taking away the pain but they do strange things to your mind and you see so many funning things.   I had to Stand up and march on the spot, deemed fit I was move into the next room The High Dependency Unit here I was to be until Wednesday morning.   Here again the nurses were lovely they fussed over us made sure we took our meds and i can not speak highly enough of the care these people give. On Wednesday I had the chest drains removed which was painful and this is when they realised i had a chest infection, a very strong course of antiboitics was prescribed.   Although fit enough to go up onto the normal ward "Clearbrook" i didn't feel to good and that night was the worse i have ever experienced.   About three o'clock Thursday morning i was still awake and in great pain but once again the nurses were at my aid and although i did manage a couple of hours sleep i did awake feeling slightly better.   As i felt better i started to notice that the nurses and carers on the ward were very busy all the time.  I also noticed that some of the cleaners did not do a good job and were lack lustre about the way cleaning was done.  As with all wards of this type people came and went so on Friday (Good Friday) there was a change around and three new patients came onto the ward.   H who had diabetes, N who was struggling and had a very fast heart rate (103) and D who had a lung function of 40% and had had a aortic valve replacement.  Although I felt much better i was still suffering with the chest infection and I have to admit I struggled at times.  This was probably the same in all the bays of the ward as a large percentage had been through the same experience as me.    By Saturday morning the problems seemed worse as D struggle with a heart rate of 197 and through the brilliant care of the nurse this was brought under control.   H still had hourly checks for his diabetes whilst N was still not improving, the nurse never stopped and was the same throughout the day.   This is when I started to walk a little and saw the notices below that showed that the nurses were short staffed on both the Saturday and Sunday of easter, no wonder they never stopped.

My question is that with a 50% reduction in staffing levels how can nurses cope with patients that still have great needs after such difficult operations.  In the times of elections clear promises need to be made about the safe staffing levels on our hospital wards, just to bring in expensive temps should not be an option.   I was discharged on Sunday and now at home making a slow recovery.   So what have i learned.

1.   I have the greatest RESPECT for the nurses, carers and doctors at Derriford Hospital they have given me the chance of 15 years of quality life.

2.   Some of the SERCO cleaners are not good enough, except the young Plymouth maid who did the job above and beyond and was such a lovely person.

3.   I am very proud to live in a country that has a NHS that cares for its residents.

4.   Since 2001 there has been a 7/8% increase in population in this country equal to 5 million people, yet there has been no corresponding increase in NHS services.   No wonder the staff and hospitals struggle.

5.   Please support them 

CAR PARKING CHARGES IN LOOE

CAR PARKING CHARGES

Today the results of the Cornwall Council  Car Parking charges which included the Millpool and Riverside car parks in Looe, both car parks have seen increases in charges.   This is even though, the town has put in a lot of effort in promoting the town with new events and bring a lot more visitors to the town.  For me this is a kick in the face and even though we have tried to show the council how hard we have worked they have taken no notice.   I have today asked to set up a petition on the Council website to ask for a review and debate for the new charges including the 56 car parks owned by the Council and are free for users.   The new charges are

PARKING ORDER

JUST A SHORT POST

Today I will be reviewing the new Cornwall Council Parking Order which will be very interesting reading because it affects a small number of towns plus Truro.   It appears that the cost of parking will be going up in many of the coastal resorts hitting our main industry and the local residents of the areas with council car parks.   I said this the last time they did a revision of parking charges "Added costs of parking does not mean that the council will get more from car parks".  They have about 56 car parks in Cornwall owned, repaired, lit and insured by the council that they do not charge for.   I will be getting the full list onto this blog soon.   

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Dear Reader,  I as a local councillor have campaigned for over ten years now with a number of submissions to enquiries into this subject and letters to the PM and MPs, but in all that time little notice has been taken.   Well not one to give up I again tried recently by e mailing 641 of the MPs with an idea, only two replied one to say I was not in his area and the other told me firstly to get the local authority to build more houses and then the Minister will look into it.    You may well wonder why they do not want to solve the problem that is costing the government £16.82 billion a year in the cost of supporting housing costs in both the private and social sector.   Well the reason is that a lot of people are getting very very rich in this sector and by not meeting the needs for housing in the country the costs of houses go up and the costs of rents follow.   Recently I had someone in my area tell me that they could not afford to take a Housing Association flat because they earned just over the benefits limit and the £500 per month was to much and would lead to her being in difficulties with money (i.e. poor).  This is a similar theme across the area with the working residents not earning enough to have decent housing and all the other bills that come with it, i.e. rates and utilities.   It has been said that Housing Associations made £3billion in profit last year and many of the chief executives earn more then the Prime Minister, not sure how that works but they now charge 80% of the local market rate.   This in a place like Looe means that the local rents are expensive because the open market is very limited and very expensive because being a tourist area homes can be let out for high prices and make better returns for owners.  

How do we solve this problem of providing homes for people without them being to expensive at local wage rates and reduce the amount of money going to private and social landlords and reducing the countries debt for this.   Well for many years i have pushed the idea of a semi social house which is for local people only who are on the social housing register that are working in the area but can't afford open market house prices and private rents.  Well i will try and explain;

Councils own a lot of land and this should be allocated to be used for semi social housing, the return for this they would receive an income of £20 rent per week per for each house built in this ground and if later sold to the tenant it would be at the local rate for housing land and without discount.   This gives a return to the council for the land and gains the full future value of the land to rate payer in the local area, this income can be used for future provision or supporting the rates.   Any lease should be 99 year for mortgage purposes

The services and utilities should be brought to site at cost proportioned across all the properties on the site by the size of property in relation to the costs of provision.   The home should be modular in design and fabricated off site to reduce the costs and for speed of build.   Looking at the costs locally it should be able to bring in homes and flats for between £60k and £90k thus affordable to many local families and at mortgage rates that are affordable to local people.  These homes should be sold at cost-plus 5% to cover council costs and future projects.

These homes would be a solution to the affordability problems we face in Cornwall without the council having to fund the costs of the build.   It would provide an income for the council from assets it already has and reduce the pressure of local social housing which will in its current form can not solve the housing shortage.   My final two pieces to make this work and not effect the local housing market,  the houses should be given a condition of sale that means it can only be sold to someone else on the local housing needs register and if they default on the mortgage the home must be sold back to the council.  

I must again state that this is only an idea but with the country with its financial problems it has it is the only way to meet the need without penalising the tax payer to solve the problem.

I LIVE IN THE PROMISED LAND

I know i have not blogged for some considerable time but i feel with the elections coming in about 80 odd days it about time to start again.   Having listened to all the promises that have been made by all the political parties that are not costed or will cost us in the future i make the following proposal.   There is a major problem with Health, Social Care and Education that needs to be fixed quickly as without health you have nothing and without education you fail the test for the future of the country.   So how do we pay for all these without effecting the public purse and without putting the costs onto the future or our children's generation.   Well perhaps we should look at what we give away in foreign  aid which currently runs at .7% of GDP far more the many other countries such as France which gives .45 % of GDP.   So my suggestion would take half of the current foreign aid and put £3 billion into the Health Service, £1 billion into Social Care and £1billion into Education.   The is less the half of the £11.3 billion we give away in foreign aid now and bringing down the aid bill to around that of France.  This would remove the burden of the country where we currently have hospitals, a care system and education are in crisis.    The national debt has increased substantially over the last five years and we need to control debt because that is the future of our children we are playing with.

Next blogg about housing

REPLY TO A QUESTION ON OUTER HARBOUR

This is a reply to a question asked about the outer harbour, hope you find it helpful.  Armand


Subject: RE: Looe Harbour flood defence plans and proposed new outer harbour

Dear Alice, Sorry it has taken so long to get back to you but after being away on holiday there have been a lot of issues to be dealt with from the recent flooding. These effected many properties in the area and there has been some damage to the infrastructure which needed to be attended to urgently.

In saying the above the project that you wish information becomes even more important for the town and it's residents. Back in the 90s the EA did some tests in the harbour to construct some form of flood defences for the town, probably lock gates which was strongly apposed by the towns Harbour Commission and Fisherman. It was thought that what was proposed would make entering the harbour dangerous, as an ex trawler owner and skipper i can confirm this. This idea was dropped and no further work was done in respect of any flood defences until a chance meeting early one morning with a member of the EA and myself (as a local councillor). When we discussed the continued flooding in the town its affects on the businesses and residents and the potential for serious damage to the infrastructure. We talked over the past schemes and the possibility of moving something new forward. After a meeting with the towns Harbour Commissioners the EA promised to put in a substantial sum of money if any community solution would elevate flooding. Since then there has been a series of meetings with the EA and even a meeting with Dan Rogerson the flooding minister who supported this approach. The basic idea is that the town develops its own plan for flood defences that will include elements of regeneration to bring more visiting craft and renewed vigour to the fishing indistry. This is being lead by the Harbour Commissioners who have so far got outlined permissions to used Duchy, Crown Estates and Cornwall Council land for any scheme that comes forward. The next stage is for the Commissioners to get down some basic ideas on paper and take them to the towns organisations and residents so that any plans for the future development of an outer harbour, breakwater etc come form and with the agreement of the town. Any plan must be put forward as part of the Town Plan which will be voted on by the town.

This is just a brief outline of what is happening

Regards



Armand Toms cc
Looe East and St Martins
01503 264823

A NEW WEEK MORE PLANNING APPLICATION

Dear All,   Some new planning applications to be considered, antsy comments to atoms@cornwall.gov.uk or 01503 264823.    Armand

Looe

(Looe East

Electoral Division)

Tremayne House Sandplace Road St Martin Cornwall

Construction of domestic garage with workshop over

(Resubmission of application PA13/08415) - Mr K Eason -

PA13/11021 (Case Officer - Davina Pritchard)

Looe

(Looe East

Electoral Division)

8 Rame View East Looe Looe Cornwall PL13 1DR

Loft conversion and construction of new rear dormer with

balcony. - Mr And Mrs Keith Bonaker - PA14/00246 (Case

Officer - Sarah Stevens)

Looe

(Looe East

Electoral Division)

Unit 1 Fish Quay The Quay East Looe Looe Cornwall PL13

1DX

Change of use from B1/B2 business/general industrial - marine

engineering unit to A3 fish restaurant and A5 hot food

takeaway. Alterations to entrance steps and provision of

kitchen extract. - Mrs T Hicks (With Tanners Holdings & Tamar

View Fruiterers) - PA14/00336 (Case Officer - Jonathan

Luker)

NEW PLANNING APPLICATION

Dear All,   Below is a new planning application, any comments to atoms@cornwall.gov.uk or 01503 264823.  Regards Armand

Looe

(Looe East

Electoral Division)

Chough Rock Plaidy Lane East Looe Looe Cornwall PL13 1LF

Demolish existing house and erect new house set down lower

into the cliff - Guild Of St James - PA13/11294 (Case

Officer - Jonathan Luker)

New Planning Applications

Dear All,   New applications in this week, have resolved problems with getting these now.   If you have any comments let me know at 01503 264823 or atoms@cornwall.gov.uk.       Armand

Looe (Looe East Electoral Division)
Land At Shutta Hill Shutta East Looe Cornwall
Redesign of dwelling to existing approval, installation of new
access, driveway and associated works. - Mr G Stevens -
PA13/10143 (Case Officer - Davina Pritchard)

Looe (Looe East Electoral Division)
Adjoining Looe Comprehensive School Barbican Road East
Looe Looe Cornwall PL13 1EU
Construction of 22 dwellings constituting a partial re-plan of
Phase 1 (99 dwellings approved by planning permission
reference PA12/04367) - Mr N Lush - PA13/10664 (Case
Officer - Mr Stephen Kirby)

Looe (Looe East Electoral Division)
Land Adjacent To Glebelands Looe Cornwall PL13 1NP
Residential development to provide 13 affordable rented
dwellings, public open space and a children's play area on
vacant land. - Ms Michelle Richards - PA13/10810 (Case
Officer - Victoria Regan)

Looe (Looe East Electoral Division)
Barratt Homes St Martins Road East Looe Cornwall
Screening opinion for the construction of 22 dwellings
constituting a partial re-plan of Phase 1 (99 dwellings approved
by planning permission reference PA12/04367) - Mr N Lush -
PA13/11093 (Case Officer - Mr Stephen Kirby)

1. 

NEW PLANNING APPLICATION

Dear All,  New appication any comments to me asap at 01503 264823 or atoms@cornwall.gov.uk    Thanks Armand

Looe(Looe EastElectoral Division)

The Fellery Shutta East Looe Looe Cornwall PL13 1LS

Replacement of single glazed windows and doors with double

glazed UPVC windows and doors - Miss Rosalind Benton -

PA13/08728 (Case Officer - Sarah Stevens)

Submission into the extra charges for the Tamar Tag

TAMAR BRIDGE AND TORPOINT FERRY

Dear Mr Boother, Thank you for giving me the chance of making a submission regarding the issue of raising payments paid by those with the Tamar Tag system. I do hold a tag as well as being a local councillor which represents a division in an area that will be affected by the surcharge. Having spoken to many people over the issue of raising this fee i would like to submit this to the committee.

The charge will affect those with jobs that need to use the Tamar Bridge especially those who cross from South East Cornwall to work in the areas economic centre Plymouth. It will also add to the costs of local business and thus reduce the benefits of having an employment centre West of the bridge. Currently the wages of the South East of Cornwall of those people who live and work in the area are the lowest in Cornwall at 14k which is 2k lower then all other areas of Cornwall. Plus the average of the wages of all working groups only raises with the impact of those working in Plymouthto 3rd out of 6 areas of Cornwall. So by increasing the charges to locals working in Plymouth will have a great impact to them and the local economy.

Set this against the 60m that is due to be spent on duelling the A30 it may well drive economic growth North as there will be no toll on this road for both business or tourists. There is a lot of talk about how the recession has hit the number of crossings yet to do what is proposed will hit it even further. To put up the charges will have a duel impact reduce the number of crossings and affect the economy. The main impact on the Bridge would be for the A38 to be duelled from Saltash to Bodmin to provide the economic growth to bring more business and tourists to the South and South East of Cornwall.

My major worry is that the councillors for Plymouth see the bridge of a lost opportunity for business and economic growth as what stays East of the Bridge helps them. The residents of my area are not happy with the proposal

Regards

Armand Toms cc
Looe East and St Martins

MARITIME ORGANISATION BAN PIBs FANTASTIC NEWS

Below is a press release from the International Maritime Organisation regarding the ban on the chemicals that killed so many seabirds, great news and very quick, 

Seabird death chemical to be banned

Wildlife charities have welcomed the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) swift action to ban ships across the world from discharging all forms of high viscosity polyisobutylene (PIB) into the sea during tank cleaning operations. PIB was the chemical responsible for the deaths of over 4000 seabirds on the south west coast earlier this year.

The tragedy, the largest marine pollution incident of its kind in the region since Torrey Canyon, shocked thousands of people.

At a meeting of the IMO’s working group on the Evaluation of Safety and Pollution Hazards of Chemicals (ESPH) in London today, it was decided to change the classification of high viscosity PIBs to require full tank prewash and disposal of all residues at port and prohibit any discharge at sea from 2014. This will also apply to new “highly-reactive” forms of PIB, which are currently being transported un-assessed.

The recommendation to do this had been made by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) on behalf of the UK Government, following vigorous campaigning by wildlife charities and the public.

Alec Taylor, Marine Policy Officer for the RSPB said; “We are delighted with the action taken by the IMO. The global trade in PIB products is increasing and with it the risks to our precious marine environment. Today’s global ban on the deliberate discharge of high viscosity PIBs into our seas is a real step forward and one that we hope will end this particular pollution threat to seabirds and other marine life.”

Between February and April this year over 4000 seabirds, of at least 18 species, mainly guillemots, were washed up on beaches from Cornwall to Dorset in two separate incidents. The majority were dead, but some were alive and taken for treatment by the RSPCA at their West Hatch Centre. The subsequent MCA investigation revealed that the birds had been smothered with high viscosity PIB. The same substance was also responsible for the deaths of hundreds of seabirds off the Dutch coast in March 2010.

RSPCA senior wildlife scientist Adam Grogan said: "We welcome this decision. Our staff worked around the clock washing and treating these poor birds in January and April and it was heartbreaking seeing the pitiful state they were in.  Hopefully this will help stop incidents like these happening again, and save wildlife from suffering and dying like this in the future.”

Joan Edwards, Head of Living Seas for The Wildlife Trusts, said:  "We welcome today's ban. The thousands of dead and dying seabirds witnessed earlier this year were the most visible victims of mismanagement. Impacts on other parts of marine life support systems may have been just as widespread, and more serious. Not to mention the impacts on tourism of dead seabirds on the beach - particularly pressing in south-west counties which rely so heavily on summer visitors."

Peter Burgess, Devon Wildlife Trust's Conservation Advocacy Manager said; "This is an important decision for wildlife. It's pleasing to see how quickly the IMO has acted and heartening to hear that local people's concerns have helped build momentum towards achieving this. However, we do see the PIB incidents of 2013 as a wake-up call. Dead and dying seabirds washed up on some of the south-west's most popular beaches were hard to ignore. But how many unseen and unreported activities are damaging our precious marine wildlife in undersea habitats that are almost completely unprotected by law?"

The public response to the tragedy was significant, with more than 25,000 people signing petitions organised by 38 Degrees and Avaaz calling for a ban on the discharge of PIB.

Alec Taylor from RSPB added; “There was a lot of hard work by RSPB, other wildlife charities and the MCA, with support from several MPs on the south west coast. But the huge support we received from members of the public, many of whom experienced the effects of this pollution first hand as they walked the beaches, was perhaps the clinching factor in achieving such a quick decision to prevent discharges of harmful PIBs.”

ENDS

HARBOUR ELECTIONS ON THE 17TH OCTOBER, 2013

Dear Electorate,   I once again but myself forward for the Harbour Commissioners Elections on which i have acted as a commissioners since 2001.   Having been a commercial fisherman for 25 years working from the port, this part of my life is something that i have always not only enjoyed but is part of my families history going back 14 generations in the area.    The harbour is the heart of the community and it is why so many people wish to come to visit and live in Looe, it is governed by an Act of Parliament.  It is an important part of Cornwall's fishing community and a jewel in the crown of South East Cornwall.    As such it is a major economic driver for the area and helps sustain many local jobs, the harbour and it's success is important to the people of Looe and the area.

When i first became a commissioner it had depleted funds and some poor infrastructure and buildings.   Over that period i have been very proud to play my part in the regeneration of much of the harbours fabric but the success of many of the towns fishermen and decommissioning of some of the fishing fleet the numbers of working boats has decreased.  Recent discussions have, i believe put in place the seeds for a bright future for the towns fish market, which i hope will bring new boats to the town and it's market.  Also the new development in West Looe The Quayside Centre (Mally's Shed) has brought new vigour to the business of West Looe and a asset for the town and it's people.

What will the future bring, well some of the quay walls are in need of some works to keep them safe and the Sardine Factory needs some major works.   With it's sound finances the harbour is well placed to assist the town in holding and helping with events to bring people and business to the town.  The key element  for the future is looking at an outer breakwater or harbour to aid with the flood defences and economic growth for the town.   It is necessary to develop plans and consult with the residents so we leave a town that is not to succumb to a storm as it did in the 1840s and why the Harbour Commissioners were formed.   People often believe that they can become a Harbour Commissioner and change the way the harbour is run but the commissioners are governed by a Act of Parliament and Port Marine Code so what you can do is somewhat restricted.   But i have always put the town, it's people and the economy of it at the forefront of my involvement.

Just to give you a flavour of why to commissioners were formed i am including an abstract from the Corporation  Chronicles for East Looe

Shortly before 1848 East Looe was threatened with destruction by an irruption of the sea, which disturbed by the erection of wharves within the mouth of the river, had made a large breach in the shore at Churchend.   The harbour was injured in many places by boulders and rocks in it's bed, the quays were inconvenient and dilapidated, and the narrow time eaten bridge of fourteen arches, with the steep approach from West Looe, has become ruinous and dangerous.   At this time the place had to depend on the exertions of it's inhabitants and neighbours for existence and improvement.  Mr J Buller, of Morval and his family, always evinced an interest in it's welfare, and with his advise and that of his nephew, the member for Liskeard and the Rector of Lanreath, it was decided to seek Parliamentary powers to improve the port Under the Act which was entitles "the East and West Looe Harbour and Bridge Act" thirteen commissioners were elected, viz;- The Mayors of East and West Looe and Liskeard, the Treasurer of the Looe and Liskeard Canal, six persons of Looe, St Martins and Talland, and three from Liskeard.  The board caused a breakwater to be constructed at Churchend and a groin at the mouth of the river, and this fully repaired the former injuries from the sea.   New and convenient quays were built and others repaired and altered.   The harbour was deepened by removal of rocks and stones from the bed, in consequence of these improvements much material prosperity was experienced by the inhabitants.

This abstract shows that the protection of the town relies on the harbour being maintained and kept in order, whilst getting this right in the future it will assist with the problem of flooding and drive the local ecomomy.  

Thank you for reading this and i hope it helps making your choices for the forthcoming election

Regards Armand Toms

PROMISES AND AFFORABLE SUSTAINABLE HOUSING

PROMISES AND AFFORDABLE SUSTAINABLE HOUSING

With the greater part of the party conference season over it has become clear that we live in the promised land and no wonder so many people want to come to live in this country.   Our party political system is geared to making promises that are in the main not costed or undeliverable and in truth will do nothing to support the normal working man or woman of this country.  How can i say this because take the minimum wage for years they have kept this at the true level of poverty as without the benefits system to back this up they would be in poverty.   For many of these people it would be better for the family finances if they left work and were on the dole, so it is clear that all the political parties do not understand how to make work pay.    Now they go onto the saga about the living wage and this is more of a comedy then the minimum wage, they claim that this is £ 7.20 per hour times 40 per week = £288.  Now take rents at £100 plus per week add rates, electric, gas, water and natural living expenses they still need the benefits system to keep them where they can live a normal existance.   How is it that we keep people on such low wages and then need to top this up with public finances to help them survive, wouldn't it be cheaper to remove all payment of income tax until they earn above a true living wage which in truth is around £400 per week.  The saving in the tax, tax credit and benefits system would cover the costs of the shortfall in lost tax, as someone who has helped people fill in forms i know how complicated they are and how over administered the system is.

After looking at the wage structure they need to look at the housing problems which are much of the cause of why we need such a high benefits structure in this country.  We all know that when they started to sell council houses it was the start of a big problem for the country as the failed to reinvest the money from those sales into building new homes.   This has caused a shortage of social housing which created both larger markets with social landlords and private rented housing.  It is clear that with the lack of investment by government in true social housing (the old council homes)  the private sector is now in control of the public finances in this area.  Look at it this way because there is a lack of social housing and an ever increasing demand it pushes up the prices of housing.   As the price of houses increases the so does the need to meet the greater investment costs by increasing the rent to meet the social need the costs are spiralling out of control.  With a million people on council social housing lists waiting for homes and increasing by the day the costs of rents will go up and the costs to the nation in housing benefits will increase also.  Since the last election the government has cut the money given to councils (outside London) for the provision of social housing but without this investment the costs to the welfare system are increasing.   But thats where i started this conversation, politicians making promises that are not costed, unaffordable and not sustainable, with a get rich quick (or richer) side to the polices they have.   Many will be the same as me i bought my home for £56k in 1991 and it is worth £180k now, great for me but is it really ?  If i sell i have to live somewhere and although i could choose to move somewhere smaller and cheaper i would gain out of it, i'm not so sure.   But then again i could wait for old age and let the state take it for my social car (another blog another time).    

For nearly 11 year i have been involved in council work and it is clear that the system is broken and what needs to be done is put councils of a sustainable footing to meet the demands for housing needs of it's area.   I have an idea but it's no good sharing that without a council and bank/building society that are brave enough to look at it.   Some years ago i put an idea to Cornwall Council and i wasn't even asked to the committee meeting when they discussed it, so no luck trying there again.  Are you able to help, do you work for a bank or mortgage company and would they be willing to try something if so get in touch   Armand Toms 01503 264823

DO WE CARE ENOUGH ?

Getting older sometimes give you an insight into what the future holds as your elder peer group are where you will be in such a short space of time.   I remember when I started work many of those who i worked with were fit strong men, they worked hard and enjoyed life to the full.  Now many of them are in there 70s and 80s not so mobile and some in the need of help to stay within the community.   As the age demographic in Cornwall changes so will the difficulty to meet the demands place on it by the increasing numbers of people needing adult social care.   To show this look at the figures, in April 2010 there were 3238 service users then come forward to April 2013 and that figure has increased to 4766 not far off 50% increase.    You will know that costs have not gone down in the same period which will also impact on the budget, yet the current coalition government have place further cuts into the system.   My question is and will always be how do we continue to provide a service whilst the money to meet the increased demand is not there, a question that has no easy answer and places enormous pressure on those in charge of social care.  So far social care services in Cornwall have managed by taking out management costs and removing or reducing costs to services on the edges but there is only so much you can do to meet the extra demand.

Talking to local people they want to keep public conveniences, bus routes, repair roads whilst cutting car parking charges but they say very little about social care.    Perhaps much of this is about them not knowing what social care does and will only know when they need it or one of their family needs it.  So how does the Council meet all the demands of the public to keep services and meet demand, well the truth is that they will not be able to do so.    Unless council tax goes up to cover this or the government realises that the cuts they have introduced will hurt local people and reverse them, but i don't think either of those will be allowed.  In 10 years of being a councillor i have never known a time like it, you can reorganise, reduce, cut and shed staff but there becomes a point that to go further will hurt people.    I believe that we are at that tipping point when the balance of services in social care are such that demand will exceed the available resources.   Please don't get me wrong the decisions to be made in the next couple of years will be more then difficult, some will be life changing for the people of Cornwall and the Council.  

This financial year Adult Social Care needs to save £18.5m to keep pace with demand, next year it will be £13m and this from a total budget of £140m this on the back of three years of tough budgeting.  Everyone who works in social care do so because they want to help and support the community, yet with savings to meet such as those above it is near impossible to do what is needed for clients they meet.   I have at first hand seen how hard those involved have worked to improve the services provided in Cornwall yet are we helping them with such budget constraints ?

It is for all the people of Cornwall to make our voices heard to make sure that Cornwall gets a fair share of funding to meet the basic demands on services, so write to your MP and councillor to make your views known.  My feelings are that those in London don't see Cornwall as a priority, our road, rail links are poor and our funding per head of population is less then the city.  We get European funding because of the inequality we have with the average european living standards why does our own government not care about us.

New Planning Applications

Dear All,    Two new planning applications, comments to atoms@cornwall.gov.uk or 01503 264823   Thanks Armand

Looe

(Looe East

Electoral Division)

Pixies Holt Shutta Looe PL13 1JD

Demolition of existing artist studio (restricted C3 Use class)

and construction of single storey dwelling. - Mrs C Eastley -

PA13/07584 (Case Officer - Jonathan Luker)

Looe

(Looe East

Electoral Division)

Pixies Holt Shutta Looe PL13 1JD

Application for conservation area consent for demolition of

existing artist studio - Mrs C Eastley -

PA13/07585 (CaseOfficer - Jonathan Luker)

Three New Planning Applications

Dear All,   Three new planning applications this week, any comments to atoms@cornwall.gov.uk or 01503 264823   Thanks Armand

Looe

(Looe East

Electoral Division)

2 Sunrising Looe Cornwall PL13 1NA

Proposed new dwelling - Mr Paul Penhaligan -

PA13/06708

(Case Officer - Julie Mitchell)

Looe

(Looe East

Electoral Division)

Barbican Sports Field And Premises Barbican Road East Looe

Looe Cornwall PL13 1QQ

Proposed replacement clubhouse, additional parking and pitch

levelling - Mr B Horsfield -

PA13/06739 (Case Officer -

Julie Mitchell)

Looe

(Looe East

Electoral Division)

Barbican Sports Field And Premises Barbican Road East Looe

Looe Cornwall PL13 1QQ

Conservation Area Consent: Proposed replacement clubhouse,

additional parking and pitch levelling - Mr B Horsfield -

PA13/06740 (Case Officer - Julie Mitchell)

Joint working between Health and Social Care - First part letter to newspapers

Letter

Dear Editor,     After four years as the portfolio holder of Adult Social Care for Cornwall Council I have had a great insight into the effects of the governments spending review has had on service provision.   I feel very honoured to have worked with so many hard working people from the director to care worker who contributed to delivering a more efficient department and finding savings in many areas.   Over a 9 month period last year the demands on Social Services in Cornwall grew 4% month on month which has added immense pressure on the workload of the staff and a budget overspend which will in my view not decrease in the future with Cornwall's demographics.  In the next spending review the pressure on Council spending will get even greater and this will exercise even greater pressure on their spending power which will add to a pressure on the spend on Social Care.   

With the local health service it is no different, the proposed call 111 line did not happen, there have been delays at A and E cancelled operations etc etc.  It is obvious that they system is under great pressure yet health and social care deal with the same people every day and there should be greater links between the services and an integration of the money and services available for Cornwall.  It's about time integration of health and social care become a reality to deliver a single budget and service for Cornwall that meets the demands places on it for all the residents.

But where to start, with a budget of over a billion pounds across all the organisations but are we getting the best use of this money and are we using the available staff and buildings to maximise output of services.   Are they delivering value for money and delivering services needed closer to home and in a way that uses resources in the best way.  Currently we have great capacity in our community hospital for services to be delivered including operating theatre capacity.    The following are my views and should be considered as a starting point

Firstly i would have a joint telephone system across all the services in Cornwall that delivers directly triage calls to the right place and department, delivering the person to GPs, Hospitals and Social Care in an efficient manner 24 hours a day 7 days a week(including the current out of hours Serco contract)   This should also include Cornwall's charitable and voluntary sector who provide many services not available within the area such as befriending etc.  The current Serco out of hours service should be integrated with PCH and delivered from Community Hospitals and include an out of hours GP service with active support to the current MIU services.  This would take the pressure from A and E during the evenings but there needs to be an added radiography support for breaks and fractures.  With the best outcomes coming from keeping people out of the acute sector this would give our main hospitals the focus on delivering life saving acute services for emergency situations.  

Cornwall has been a leader in Tele Health and Care systems which is delivering assistance to people within their homes.   This needs to be taken further with video links in homes of patients to allow health and care to be monitored and provided.   Just think of someone at home during the day without transport having the ability to access a GP to take advice.   If your Care provider does not turn up and you want a back up service or a link to a out of hours service outside working hours without the cost of having to find transport especially in our rural areas.   The possibilities are endless, communications with patients with mental health problems or mobility problems phobias etc etc.  Or take it further with the provision of services from the charitable or voluntary sector, befriending, carers, bereavement and many others.  

A process that has a single assessment system, assessment form and IT delivery that allows for skilled people to access the right information about patients to provide the right services.  Reducing form filling and making staff more productive will deliver a more efficient and cost effective service for all.

The management of this would be from a board, who would manage the money from a pooled budget to meet the pressures and demands placed on it.    These people would be the current directors of the trusts and social care who would still have to meet their own responsibilities within their organisations but have the authority to move money around the system to provide the best outcomes.