Falmouth & Penryn local news
Labour and Green Party triumph in Falmouth
The Green Party won in Arwenack ward, Labour triumphed in Penwerris. Town council contests are an indication of a party's grassroots' strength, with some reports suggesting that the Greens...
BREAKING: by-election news not involving Nigel Farage or Count Binface
By Julia Penhaligon Labour won last night's Falmouth Town Council Penwerris ward by-election, defeating Reform UK , the Green Party, Mebyon Kernow, the Liberal Democrats and an Independent. More...
Tourism: another “event” bites the dust
By Rashleigh MacFarlane One of the supposed “highlights” of Falmouth Week – a fireworks’ display - has been scrapped because of the hot dry weather. Falmouth Week is an...
Another long time in politics
By Julia Penhaligon Voters in Falmouth will this week get the opportunity to test the current prevailing political sentiment which suggests Labour is enjoying a “Burnham bounce” while Nigel...
Environment Agency objects to Falmouth docks redevelopment
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Plans for a £150 million redevelopment of Falmouth docks are hurtling towards the first anniversary of the government’s announcement that the project would be “fast tracked”...
Reform and Labour give Truro elections a miss
By Julia Penhaligon Neither Reform UK nor the Labour Party has been able to find candidates for two Truro City Council by-elections in which voters go to the polls...
Cornwall’s towns not cultural enough, says government
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Cornwall has failed to make the shortlist for the government’s first “Town of Culture” competition. Penzance, Newquay, Helston, Falmouth & Penryn (joint entry,) Redruth and Marazion...
The battle for Falmouth docks: councillors to vote next month
By Rashleigh MacFarlane One of the most consequential planning applications ever to come before Cornwall councillors is due for a decision next month. Proposals for a £150 million redevelopment...
The curious case of how Delabole found itself at the centre of the UK ship repair business
By Peter Tremayne Anyone driving along the narrow country lane between Delabole and Tintagel, glancing at the Gaia centre business hub next to what was once Britain’s first commercial...
By the Left, quick march: Jeremy Corbyn’s Your Party finally launches an official local branch in Cornwall
By Julia Penhaligon Nearly a year after talk started about a new Left-wing political party to be founded by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, his Your Party organisation is...
Cut the crap, says Cornwall, as surfers and others protest against South West Water sewage pollution
By David George Hundreds of people turned out at Falmouth’s Gyllngvase beach yesterday (Saturday) for the Surfers Against Sewage protest against the pollution of rivers and the sea by...
Starmer drama: never mind bond markets, interest rates and the cost of borrowing, it’s also all very Game of Thrones and great fun to watch
By Julia Penhaligon Truro and Falmouth MP Jayne Kirkham has been appointed a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) at the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – the...
We didn’t start the fire – but somebody did: council consults about possible beach blaze ban
By Lee Trewhela Cornwall Council is asking the public if fires should be banned on beaches in Falmouth. The public consultation is for a proposed Public Spaces Protection Order...
That’s the way the money goes: Ministry of Defence spent nearly £7 million to create a spectacular tale of the riverbank
By Harold Callahan The Royal Fleet Auxiliary, Argus, now rests sleepily in her new steeply-wooded deep water haven in the River Fal, close to the King Harry ferry, where...
Town Council by-elections: have you voted yet?
By Julia Penhaligon Polling stations are open today (Thursday) in Liskeard, Penryn, Redruth and Hayle for town council by-elections. The by-elections have attracted an unusual level of interest from...
Abandoned boats to be cleared at public expense
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Several wrecked or abandoned boats in Cornwall are to be dismantled at public expense. Most are in the Truro area. Demolition and removal costs are estimated...
County Hall spent £175,000, including security costs, to chop down Falmouth’s healthy trees
By Lee Trewhela It’s likely that the amount of public money spent to cut down three healthy trees on a Cornish street – including a controversial compensation payment to...
Sits Vac: Falmouth University seeks new boss
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Professor Emma Hunt is to step down as vice chancellor of Falmouth University. She took over in January 2022. In a message to staff, she said:...
Fire destroys historic wooden ketch just weeks before relaunch
By Rashleigh MacFarlane A 1913 Lowestoft wooden sailing boat, the Keewaydin, was destroyed by fire yesterday (Thursday) at Sailors’ Creek, Flushing, near Falmouth. The vessel had been undergoing restoration. ...
£150 million Falmouth docks redevelopment proposal runs into planning snag over “highly explosive” fertiliser
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The Health and Safety Executive has advised Cornwall Council to revoke a planning consent allowing the storage of highly explosive fertiliser at Falmouth docks. The advice...
Falmouth’s trees were chopped down without the approval of council’s top lawyer
By Graham Smith Cornwall Council leader councillor Leigh Frost has revealed that County Hall’s senior legal officer was not involved in the secret deal which saw three healthy street...
A very peculiar practice: after this morning’s dawn raid in Falmouth, is any tree in Cornwall safe?
By Harold Callahan It’s not every day that Cornwall Council and its Cormac company, assisted by a private security firm, turn up before 6am, in pitch dark, to start...
Cormac’s chainsaws, aided by private security firm, launch dawn raid to fell Falmouth’s trees
Outstanding citizen journalism from Zoe Young livestreamed this morning's (Monday's) standoff between protestors, security guards and police as the three healthy, mature lime trees which have graced Trelawney Road...
Falmouth’s trees LIVE: it’s all kicking off in Trelawney Road
By Harold Callahan UPDATE: 0800 Protestors can only stand and watch as the trees are felled. Local councillors have spoken to police and private security contractors but to no...
Santas Against Sewage protest goes ahead as South West Water triggers discharge on the beach
The heavy rain has triggered scores of sewage discharges across Cornwall, with South West Water dumping sewage into rivers and on to beaches. One of the beaches affected today...
The battle for Falmouth’s trees is going to court in last-ditch bid for injunction against Cornwall Council
By Harold Callahan A judge will be asked to halt Cornwall Council’s “illegal” felling of three mature lime trees in Falmouth. The solicitor who helped save-the-trees protestors in Plymouth...
Not so fast, Wildlife Trust tells government, lodging a formal objection to its “bonfire of regulations” at Falmouth docks
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Cornwall Wildlife Trust has lodged a holding objection to the government’s decision to “fast-track” the £150 million Falmouth Docks redevelopment. The environment campaigners warn that the...
We’ve made mistakes, but we’re still going to chop down your trees, council tells Falmouth
By Lee Trewhela A senior Cornwall Council officer has admitted that the local authority has made mistakes concerning the controversial felling of three much-loved street trees, which is due...
We have to cut down your trees because we said we would, council tells Falmouth
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Around 100 people attended a public meeting in Falmouth last night (Wednesday) to hear Cornwall Council strategic director Phil Mason explain why Cormac’s chainsaws will be...
Council tells its tenants to take responsibility for their own litter and dog mess
By Lee Trewhela Cornwall Council’s Liberal Democrat-Independent administration has just stepped in something nasty – leaving dog mess all over its housing estates. Once famed for their “pavement politics”...
It ain’t what you do it’s the way that you do it: County Hall insists its felling of Falmouth’s trees is lawful and promises to try harder with future “consultations”
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Cormac’s chainsaw gang is scheduled to make another attempt to fell three of Falmouth’s trees sometime after 8th December. Cornwall Council says it has already prepared...
Falmouth’s trees: we might comply with the law in future, says council, but not yet…
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Cormac’s chainsaw gang is preparing for a third attempt to chop down Falmouth’s Trelawney Road trees, after Cornwall Council’s Liberal Democrat councillor Dan Rogerson sought to...
Cornwall Council’s planned felling of Falmouth’s trees “unlawful” says barrister
By Rashleigh MacFarlane A leading environment barrister has warned Cornwall Council that its planned felling of three healthy trees in Falmouth would be against the law. Paul Powlesland, founder...
The axeman cometh: County Hall again has Falmouth’s trees in its sights
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Cornwall Council appears to be preparing for another attempt to chop down three healthy trees in Trelawney Road, Falmouth. Signs have gone up warning motorists to...
Cornwall’s hot air fails to turn floating offshore wind turbines
By Peter Tremayne Cornwall’s prospects of an economic boost from Floating Offshore Wind (FLOW) development in the Celtic Sea do not appear to have been enhanced by the announcement...
Police say cause of Falmouth pub fire “suspicious”
The derelict Boslowick Inn, Falmouth, recently granted planning permission for residential development, burned down on Tuesday night. Police said: "At the moment the cause of the fire is being...
Whatever you want: Falmouth without its Trago Mills?
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The impact of online retailing on Cornwall’s High Streets has been dramatically underlined by the possible closure of the Trago Mills store in Falmouth. A town...
Fire destroys former Falmouth pub
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Fire has destroyed a derelict pub in Falmouth. Flames ripped through the Boslowick Inn last night (Tuesday.) Several fire crews were called to contain the blaze....
The tide is high but I’m holding on
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Flood warnings are in place for some coastal areas due to high tides this afternoon and tomorrow morning (Thursday.) Fowey, Lostwithiel, Polperro and Looe are among...
The curious case of the Lord Lieutenant’s clerk who paid one of her deputies a secret out-of-court settlement for alleged tree root damage – and then promised to chop down the trees, even though they are in a Conservation Area, without due process
By Rashleigh MacFarlane It’s always the same. Cock-up followed by cover-up. Cock-ups can be forgiven. But cover-ups cannot. That is why cover-ups so frequently have the potential to end...
Cornwall’s countdown to Corbyn
By Julia Penhaligon Plaid Cymru’s defeat of Reform UK at the Caerphilly by-election on Thursday, and the humiliation of the Labour Party - which lost there for the first...
Government boast of “bonfire of regulation” could threaten Falmouth’s marine environment
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The government has signalled its encouragement for a major redevelopment of Falmouth docks, in a move which will alarm environmental campaigners. Defra last night (Monday) announced...
It’s not easy being good: what’s the first thing you think of when you think of Falmouth’s King Charles the Martyr church?
By Julia Penhaligon The impending visit to Cornwall of former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn looks set to revive a campaign for the removal of a Church of England...
Tanker accident blocks roundabout near Devoran
A road traffic accident involving a sewage tanker and two other vehicles caused long delays on the A39 near Devoran today (Tuesday.) The collision blocked one of the exits...
Corbyn’s Cornwall? Let us pray…
By Graham Smith The Church of King Charles the Martyr at Falmouth has seen countless christenings, weddings and funerals. Now the 360-year-old place of worship has been chosen as...
EXCLUSIVE: the curious case of the trees and the chainsaws – why Falmouth thinks County Hall is guilty of a cock-up followed by a cover-up
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The long-running saga of Falmouth’s trees has turned another page. Cornwall Council has now dropped plans to chop them down next month. The three healthy, mature...
What next for Falmouth hospital?
By Anne North Health bosses are preparing for a grilling by councillors next week over the future of Falmouth hospital. The hospital’s 20-bed Boscawen ward could be at risk...
What’s your poison? Docks’ scheme would bring 200,000 extra tourists to Falmouth by 2030, claim developers (and they say this as if it would be a good thing)
By Lee Trewhela This week has seen members of Ocean Rebellion stage a protest at Falmouth harbour, wearing gas masks to symbolise what they say is the toxic threat...
Falmouth’s tree campaigners lawyer-up to challenge County Hall’s chainsaw gang
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Stop The Chop! tree protestors in Falmouth have launched a fundraising campaign to finance a legal challenge to Cornwall Council. The council plans to chop down...
We’re going to chop down Falmouth’s trees, and it’s in your own interests that we don’t tell you why, says council
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Cornwall Council has come up with a new reason for refusing to explain why it wants to chop down trees in Falmouth – “public safety.” Cornwall...
Jeremy Corbyn’s new political party about to announce its presence in Truro
By Julia Penhaligon The establishment of Jeremy Corbyn’s new political party in Cornwall looks set to take a significant step forward tomorrow (Tuesday) at a meeting in Truro. This...
Stop the Chop: pressure grows on County Hall to end the secrecy behind its chainsaw plans
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Campaigners trying to save a row of healthy mature lime trees in Falmouth have repeated their call for more transparency from Cornwall Council. The “Stop The...
Swanpool dead fish mystery puts global warming in the frame
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The Environment Agency is investigating the deaths of fish in Falmouth’s Swanpool nature reserve lagoon. The EA thinks the cause could be a rare case of...
Why are we keeping secret our reasons for chopping down Falmouth’s protected trees? We’ll get back to you on that, says County Hall
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Cornwall Council’s refusal to provide evidence for the destruction of three healthy, mature and protected lime trees in Falmouth is now being tested by Freedom of...
EXCLUSIVE: beyond top secret – County Hall refuses to disclose any evidence to support its felling of protected trees
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Cornwall Council has used a little-known loophole in Freedom of Information laws to justify its withholding of evidence about Falmouth’s Trelawney Road trees. The council wants...
Cornwall’s Corbynistas getting really quite excited about their new political home
By Graham Smith Supporters of Jeremy Corbyn’s new political party are getting close to staging their first meeting in Cornwall. The former Labour leader has promised a national launch...
Cornwall continues only very slow progress on refugee resettlement
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Cornwall Council is going ahead with the purchase of a house in Falmouth to resettle an Afghan refugee family. The property is one of 11 across...
Falmouth’s trees: County Hall statement was “clumsy at best, and arguably aiming to mislead,” says councillor
By Rashleigh MacFarlane A Falmouth councillor has challenged County Hall’s explanation for why it wants to fell three healthy, mature trees in the town’s Trelawney Road. Labour councillor Laurie...
The plot thickens: Falmouth’s “Stop The Chop!” campaigners say County Hall is still failing to tell the whole truth, putting every street tree in Cornwall at risk
By Rashleigh MacFarlane It’s not what you do it’s the way that you do it. Pretty much the only thing we know for certain about the Trelawney Road trees...
How much will it cost to pay rail passengers to visit Newquay? “No meaningful calculation is possible,” says County Hall
By Peter Tremayne The number of rail passengers shuttling between Newquay and Par will have to quadruple within three years if local taxpayers are to be spared the burden...
Falmouth’s trees again facing the axe, as Lib Dems pick up where the Tories left off
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Cornwall Council has insisted it must chop down three healthy, mature lime trees in Falmouth’s Trelawney Road. Previous attempts to send chainsaw-wielding Cormac teams were abandoned...
Will Cornwall Council’s new regime now help Penryn see through the purple haze of County Hall secrecy?
By Rashleigh MacFarlane As the dust settles on the 1st May Cornwall Council elections, residents in Penryn are again asking what is to become of a huge purple student...
When the wind blows: Falmouth finally sees some economic benefit from offshore renewables drive
By Peter Tremayne The first “real” jobs in any future offshore wind industry in Cornwall are finally on the horizon at Falmouth. After years of “research” and lobbying, costing...
Cormac’s chainsaws: what next for Falmouth’s trees?
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The battle to save Falmouth’s Trelawney Road lime trees is still not over, despite the local town council now firmly supporting “Stop The Chop” campaigners. The...
Tourism: do you remember the one about the Trelissick House car park?
By Rashleigh MacFarlane One of Cornwall’s more contentious “tourism vs locals” planning applications appears to be stuck in the system. National Trust proposals for a new car park at...
Quiz-time for cabinet
By Julia Penhaligon Only four public questions have been tabled for the first cabinet meeting of the new Cornwall Council administration. “Stop The Chop” campaigner Debs Newman, who has...
“Insensitive, but not a crime” – police verdict on Mylor parish councillor could prove tricky for County Hall
By Harold Callahan Police say they will take no further action against the Mylor parish councillor whose comments about Hitler and the Holocaust triggered more than 100 complaints to...
MPs should tell councillors how to behave, says MP who used to be a councillor
By Lee Trewhela One of Cornwall’s Labour MPs has called for more robust measures to tackle “egregious behaviour” by councillors. Jayne Kirkham’s comments in Parliament came on the same...
Voting works: eco-democracy saves Falmouth’s trees
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Falmouth Town Council has swung decisively behind the campaign to save three mature lime trees in Trelawney Road, after multiple failed attempts by Cornwall Council and...
“Holocaust” councillor reported to police
By Harold Callahan County Hall officials have reported Mylor parish councillor Peter Lawrence to the police over his comments, caught on video, seeking to downplay the Holocaust of the...
“Holocaust” parish councillor refuses to resign despite censure
By Lee Trewhela A parish councillor in Cornwall condemned across the world after footage of him saying the Holocaust was “massively over-exaggerated” went viral has refused to resign. He...
Stop The Chop: campaigners facing a wall of silence over Falmouth’s trees
By Rashleigh MacFarlane A confrontation between Falmouth tree protestors and chainsaw-wielding Cormac workers in March appears to have its “roots” in a three-year-old planning consent to repair a boundary...
“Farmer Pete” accused of bringing parish council into disrepute following holocaust distortion rant
By Lee Trewhela An extraordinary meeting will be held in a Cornish village next week to discuss assertions that a parish councillor has brought his council into disrepute by...
Church of England again urged to relocate Falmouth slave trade memorial
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Five years after Cornwall Reports first drew attention to it, the Diocese of Truro is still considering what to do about a 325-year-old marble memorial to...
Labour upset as Red-Green progressives win Falmouth Town Council election, in a contest shaped by the future of Trelawney Road’s trees
By Julia Penhaligon “All politics is local,” they say. Politics don’t get much more local than town and parish council elections, and in Falmouth the voters have sent a...
Falmouth offered a “unique chance to connect” as Cornwall’s long-lost Celtic cousins get ready to pay a visit
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The streets of Falmouth can expect to be paved with gold next week when the town hosts this year’s “Celtic Forum” – an attempt to stimulate...
Starmer repeats call for investigation into death of Cornish aid worker, killed by Israeli Defence Forces in Gaza
By Julia Penhaligon Truro and Falmouth MP Jayne Kirkham used her position in Parliament yesterday (Monday) to question the Prime Minister about the death of Jim Henderson, an aid...
A jobs’ bonanza for Falmouth? Maybe: Crown Estate triggers what it hopes will be a wind-rush in the Celtic Sea
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Falmouth has been shortlisted as a potential manufacturing site for huge floating wind turbines that might one day be anchored off the coast of Cornwall. The...
Game over: Penryn rugby league side The Choughs call it a day
By Peter Tremayne The Penryn rugby league side known as The Choughs are abandoning their remaining league fixtures and closing with immediate effect. A statement on the Cornwall RLFC...
Falmouth’s trees saved until after Cornwall Council elections
By Lee Trewhela Following two public protests which postponed work to cut down three trees in a Falmouth street, Cornwall Council has announced that their removal will be paused...
CHOP STOPPED: Falmouth’s trees survive for at least another week as Cormac puts its chainsaws away in the face of large protest
By Rashleigh MacFarlane A row of healthy, mature lime trees in Trelawney Road, Falmouth, has again been reprieved – for the second time in two weeks – as protestors...
Falmouth police threaten arrests unless “save the trees” protestors leave Trelawney Road
One of the "Stop The Chop" protestors hoping to save three mature, healthy lime trees in Falmouth is refusing to come down. Police have given the protestors until 9.30am...
Business as usual in Falmouth, as Cormac arrives with chainsaws and the trees face the chop
0747: Cormac workers are erecting fencing around three mature, healthy lime trees which Cornwall Council plans to chop down today (Wednesday.) About 20 protestors are at the scene at...
It’s back: the Falmouth chainsaw massacre
By Lee Trewhela Cornwall Council is going ahead with its plans to chop down three healthy, mature lime trees in Falmouth. The chainsaws are expected to arrive in Trelawney...
Gendall Design to close after 39 years
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Another long-established creative design company in Cornwall is to close. Gendall Design, based in Falmouth, has traded for 39 years offering branding, marketing and website design....
Hello, hello, hello – would you mind putting that chainsaw away? Police in Falmouth act to stop the chop and save the trees
By Harold Callahan Police have intervened to stop Cornwall Council chopping down a row of healthy mature lime trees in Falmouth. Protestors met Cormac on site at 7.30am amid...
Falmouth chainsaw massacre: council plans to fell healthy trees, despite protests
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Time appears to be running out for three healthy lime trees in Falmouth, due to face the axe tomorrow (Monday) despite a campaign by local people...
Penryn’s Kernick Carbuncle: no future in sight though the purple haze of council impotence
By Lee Trewhela The ongoing saga of a huge purple student block, which was abandoned three years ago without anyone ever living in its 528 units, appears to be...
Cornwall’s unsung local government heroes set to storm the House of Lords
By Julia Penhaligon Cornwall’s minor local authorities, often overshadowed by the big-spending County Hall, stand an excellent chance of recognition at February’s National Association of Local Councils awards’ ceremony...
Falmouth “compost” fire took more than a month to extinguish
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Firefighters have described how it took weeks to deal with a slow-burning compost blaze in October. The green waste site known as Greenspot, Higher Kergilliack Farm,...
Now and Then: government U-turn on women’s pensions “a betrayal” say campaigners
By Graham Smith Labour MPs have been left wrong-footed by the government’s decision to abandon its pre-election pledge to compensate women born in the 1950s over changes to the...
When the wind blows: why Cornwall’s floating offshore jobs bonanza has still not arrived
By Graham Smith Some of the challenges involved in turning Cornwall’s plentiful supply of wind into thousands of renewable energy jobs have been thrown into sharp relief during a...
Truro City football club and Penryn rugby league side The Choughs go their separate ways
By Peter Tremayne The future of rugby league in Cornwall is about to start a new voyage following sale of Penryn-based club The Choughs to Ken Stone, a professional...
The complete and utter history of why water privatisation has been a disaster, in only 29 minutes
By Julia Penhaligon MPs have been given a graphic account of South West Water’s repeated dumping of sewage onto Cornwall’s beaches, including details of how a three-year-old child became...
Planning policies and bolted horses: Falmouth college roof will have new mobile phone aerials despite conservation fears
By Lee Trewhela Planners have backed a proposal to double telecommunications equipment on a college roof to provide 5G coverage, despite concerns that the aerials would be “visually harmful”...
Mid Cornwall Metro means no trains to Newquay for the rest of the month
By Peter Tremayne The railway line between Par and Newquay closes today (Monday) so that engineers can lay new track for the Mid Cornwall Metro, hoping to improve the...
No trains Par-Newquay next month as work continues on Mid Cornwall Metro
By Peter Tremayne The Par-Newquay branch railway line will be closed for two weeks next month to allow for laying new track for the £60 million Mid Cornwall Metro....
Sewage on the streets of Cornwall: we told you this would happen, says everyone
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The eruptions of raw sewage onto the streets of Newquay, and then Penryn, in recent weeks have become commonplace throughout Britain as private water companies neglect...
Sewage on the streets of Cornwall: new Water Commission will consider all options (except nationalisation) promises government
By Julia Penhaligon Environment Secretary Steve Reed has told MPs the new Water Commission he announced yesterday (Wednesday) would consider all options for raising money to fix South West...
Select committee role for Truro and Falmouth MP Jayne Kirkham
By Julia Penhaligon Truro and Falmouth MP Jayne Kirkham has been elected by her Labour colleagues to serve on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs select committee. The committee...