Hayle and St Ives
Floating offshore wind farms and that £9 million gamble: we haven’t made up our minds yet about another Newquay Airport shed, insists County Hall
By Peter Tremayne Cornwall Council today (Wednesday)insisted that no decision has yet been made about a £9 million “floating offshore wind farm co-ordination centre” to be built at Newquay...
Lib Dems win St Ives Town council by-election; Reform comes bottom
By Julia Penhaligon A town council by-election in St Ives last night (Thursday) saw the Liberal Democrats triumph with nearly 52% of the vote in a three-way contest, shaped...
No rest for the voters, as St Ives and Bude town councils hold more by-elections
Polling stations will be open on Thursday. St Ives town council has three candidates (Reform, Liberal Democrat and Green Party) while Bude town council is a straight fight between...
After Newquay this Thursday, voters will next week be invited to have their say in Bude and St Ives
By Julia Penhaligon Two more town council by-elections are set to test the grassroots’ strength of Cornwall’s political parties. Polling will be on Thursday 30th April in both Bude...
Gone for £1: what next for Cornwall’s big yellow undersea plug socket?
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Cornwall’s Wave Hub project, developed over nearly three decades at a cost to taxpayers of more than £42 million, has been sold for just £1. The...
That’s the way the money goes: final nail in the coffin for what was once Cornwall’s £40 million Wave Hub as the only local offshore wind turbine project sinks without ever generating any electricity
By Peter Tremayne The only floating offshore wind turbine project spawned by Cornwall Council and its wholly-owned company Celtic Sea Power has failed. Hexicon has repeatedly postponed deployment and...
Government grants £64 million for floating offshore windfarm hub – but in South Wales, not Cornwall
By Peter Tremayne Any lingering hopes that Cornwall might ever benefit from thousands of new jobs as a result of floating offshore windfarms in the Celtic Sea have finally...
Hayle Town Council by-election result completes a dismal night for Reform UK in Cornwall
By Julia Penhaligon Independent Caroline Muskett has beaten Reform’s Rob Heslington for a seat on Hayle Town Council. There were only two candidates. The result completes a fairly dismal...
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...
Horizon-scanning and trigger points: Cornwall’s floating offshore windfarm company gets one more year to demonstrate it knows what it is doing
By Rashleigh MacFarlane About nine months ago the newly-elected leader of Cornwall Council, Liberal Democrat Leigh Frost, promised a fundamental re-examination of County Hall’s labyrinth of arms-length companies. The...
The curious case of the £5,000 election campaign donation which found its way to Camborne and Redruth and what it tells us about the state of politics today
By Graham Smith The resignation of top Downing Street fixer Morgan McSweeney has drawn attention to political donations made by the Right-wing think tank with which he was closely...
Bomb disposal squad deals with WW2 shell at Portreath
By Harold Callahan Navy bomb disposal experts have detonated a World War Two bomb found in a stream at Portreath. Penberthy Road was closed and residents evacuated during the...
Another decision-day for Cornwall’s floating offshore wind company comes round again
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Cornwall’s floating offshore wind farm company, Celtic Sea Power, appears to be in need of a second “individual decision” by a council cabinet member only weeks...
Graham Coad, for many years the voice of Hayle, dies at 70
By Julia Penhaligon A former mayor of Hayle and Independent Cornwall councillor, Graham Coad, has died after a brief illness. He was 70. His final word, to his children...
Whatever happened to… the St Ives Old Vicarage flats project?
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Work to bring the Old Vicarage flats, St Ives, back in to use should resume soon after Cornwall Council intervened to redistribute funds allocated by the...
Ken Messenger, deputy mayor of St Ives, has died
Ken Messenger, a long-serving St Ives town councillor and the town's deputy mayor, has died suddenly. St Ives Town Council said the news was "devastating" and many community groups...
After more than 120 years, the St Ives Times and Echo calls it a day
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Tomorrow’s St Ives Times and Echo, the only independent weekly newspaper left in Cornwall, will be the last. Two weeks ago the paper’s owner and editor,...
Toni Carver, editor of St Ives Times and Echo, dies suddenly
By Graham Smith Toni Carver, editor and owner of the St Ives Times and Echo, has died suddenly. He was 77. Toni’s death poses a serious question mark over...
One flew over the flamingo’s nest
Frankie the flamingo, born and bred in Cornwall, looks set to spend the rest of her days in France. Having escaped from Hayle’s Paradise Park earlier this month, her...
All change in St Ives: motorists prepare for raft of new traffic rules
By Rashleigh MacFarlane St Ives is counting down to the launch of an ambitious new traffic management plan. From Monday (17th November) an experimental traffic regulation order will bring...
Pretty flamingo: they seek her here, they seek her there – Frankie’s flight from Cornwall has the world twitching
By Graham Smith, Carthage, Tunisia When Frankie the flamingo hatched on 1st July few could have foreseen the flap she would cause. She was the first flamingo to be...
St Ives Times and Echo facing closure
By Rashleigh MacFarlane One of Cornwall’s oldest newspapers, the St Ives Times and Echo, says it is facing closure or radical restructuring. Launched it 1889 as the St Ives...
That’s the way the money goes: another story of winners and losers
By Lee Trewhela Cornwall Council has rejected claims of bias in the way £19.9 million in Town Deal grants were awarded in St Ives. Local businessman Erasmus Cloete alleged...
Gypsy and Traveller site for Carbis Bay?
By Lee Trewhela Cornwall Council has been approached concerning a plan for a Gypsy and Traveller site on land previously occupied by a holiday park in a Cornish seaside...
By the Left, quick march: Camborne to host first constituency-level meeting of Jeremy Corbyn’s new political party
By Julia Penhaligon It looks as if Camborne and Redruth Labour MP Perran Moon might be the first in Cornwall to face a challenge from Jeremy Corbyn’s new political...
Movies we have seen before: Cornwall Council’s new leader spends his first day promoting the offshore wind turbines which are unlikely ever to be built
By Julia Penhaligon Cornwall Council leader Leigh Frost spent his first full day in the job in Hayle yesterday (Wednesday) meeting industry minister Sarah Jone and talking up the...
Victory for St Ives Bay campaigners as “chemicals-for-carbon” project is deemed “commercially unviable”
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Campaigners in St Ives are celebrating after what appears to be the abandonment of plans to pump chemicals into the bay as a means of tackling...
Police probe Cornwall MP’s election spending
By Julia Penhaligon The UK’s elections watchdog has referred Camborne and Redruth MP Perran Moon to the Devon and Cornwall police over alleged irregularities with his campaign spending last...
Another councillor quits County Hall’s Conservative group and will seek election as a Reform UK candidate
By Graham Smith Hayle West councillor Peter Channon has finally left County Hall’s Conservative group. He now sits as the fourth member of the “Non-Aligned” group of former Conservatives...
St Ives hears planning squabble over Premier Inn
By Lee Trewhela Over 100 residents opposed to a proposal by Premier Inn to build a 90-room hotel overlooking St Ives packed a planning appeal meeting in the town...
Nixon Design to close after 30 years
By Rashleigh MacFarlane One of Cornwall’s leading creative design agencies is to close after nearly 30 years. Nixon Design, of Hayle, made the announcement last night (Thursday.) About half...
Please can we have another £2.5 million? Cornwall’s offshore wind farm company asks for more taxpayers’ cash, but still can’t say when it might generate any electricity
By Julia Penhaligon Celtic Sea Power, a publicly-owned company hoping to develop floating windfarms off the coast of Cornwall, has until June next year before it runs out of...
And then there were three? Conservative councillor stays tight-lipped about alleged Reform UK defection
By Graham Smith A curious “no comment” from Hayle West councillor Peter Channon when asked whether or not it is true that he is leaving the Conservatives to join...
Woman falls from Hayle South Quay
By Harold Callahan A woman is recovering after falling more than 16 feet from the South Quay at Hayle. Firefighters, paramedics and the coastguard attended. The tide was out...
Thumbs down for Hayle solar farm
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Councillors have voted to reject plans for nearly 200 acres of solar panels in the Cornish countryside near Hayle. About 185 acres at Lanyon Farm, to...
Linda Taylor quits
By Graham Smith The leader of Cornwall Council, Conservative councillor Linda Taylor, has told her party colleagues that she will not defend her County Hall seat at the 1st...
Shiny happy people: more solar farms on the way?
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The battle to protect Cornwall’s “best and most versatile” agricultural land against development returns next week with County Hall officials recommending that nearly 200 more acres...
When council leaders collide: St Ives now looks even more interesting
By Julia Penhaligon The Mayor of St Ives, town councillor Johnnie Wells, has declared he is to challenge Conservative Cornwall Council leader Linda Taylor at next May’s elections. Councillor...
Bird flu wipes out Cornish poultry farm
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The highly pathogenic bird flu virus H5N1 has been confirmed at a commercial poultry farm at Rosudgeon, between Penzance and Helston. All the birds will have...
Former St Ives MP Sir John Knott dies
By Julia Penhaligon The former Member of Parliament for St Ives, Sir John Nott, has died. He was 92. Sir John, a barrister who lived at St Erth with...
Cornwall’s economy: another tourism business goes bust
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The Una resort at Carbis Bay, St Ives has gone into administration. Staff say they have not been paid wages and there are doubts over whether...
Government’s £22 billion “carbon capture” gamble leaves St Ives Bay wondering what the future holds
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The government’s £22 billion investment in the controversial “carbon capture” sector has sent mixed messages to campaigners hoping to prevent chemical experiments in St Ives Bay....
Here we go again: Carbis Bay hotel launches another bid to retain some of its illegal “G7 Summit” development
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The Carbis Bay hotel is making yet another attempt to retain some of the illegal development undertaken in 2021, despite the subsequent refusal of planning permission,...
Another property developer goes bust in Cornwall
By Peter Tremayne Blakesley Estates (Hayle CT) has filed for administration, posing questions over how it will complete a development of apartments and houses at Hayle. The firm’s website...
As I was going to St Ives I saw a warship quite a size
By Peter Tremayne One of the world’s largest warships has spent the weekend at anchor off St Ives. The £3.5 billion Portsmouth-based aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales has...
Recognise Palestine now, says St Ives MP Andrew George
By Julia Penhaligon St Ives MP Andrew George has added his name to an Early Day Motion in Parliament calling for the recognition of Palestine as an independent state....
When the wind blows: why Cornwall still faces a long wait for the Green Industrial Revolution
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The government’s announcement that it wants to build thousands of offshore wind turbines might – might – finally produce some results in Cornwall. Most of Cornwall’s...
Hayle property developer declared bankrupt
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The property developer who tried to turn Hayle’s North Quay into a luxury housing complex has been declared bankrupt. Simon Wright, 57, has been ordered to...
Tories offer Camborne another £20 million election bribe
By Julia Penhaligon The Conservatives have promised Camborne another £20 million if they win the general election on 4th July. The Tory pledge includes Camborne as one of 30...
It’s that man again: Rishi Sunak hunting votes in Cornwall
By Julia Penhaligon Only three months after his last visit, Rishi Sunak arrived back in Cornwall this morning (Wednesday) hoping to save the marginal St Ives constituency (majority: 4,200.)...
Reform UK makes it six out of six in Cornwall
By Julia Penhaligon The first day of the general election campaign has brought a significant boost to the chances of Cornwall electing a Labour MP for the first time...
St Ives Labour candidate “developed a deep affection for Cornwall through frequent visits”
By Julia Penhaligon The Labour Party has completed its slate of Parliamentary candidates for Cornwall by selecting Dr Filson Ali to contest the St Ives constituency. She is a...
Tear it down, planners tell Carbis Bay Hotel owner (and their own officials) as bid to retain some of the illegal G7 development are thrown out
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Cornwall’s planners have this morning (Monday) voted 11-0, with no abstentions, to refuse permission for the Carbis Bay Hotel to retain works started without permission in...
Don’t dump chemicals in St Ives Bay, say protestors
Scores of St Ives residents staged a protest yesterday (Sunday) against plans to test "carbon capture" chemicals in the North Atlantic. The government is poised to approve an experiment...
Planning in Cornwall: how it works
By Julia Penhaligon Cornwall’s planning officers look set to defy public opinion – and a large number of elected local councillors – by recommending approval of an application to...
Stop the clocks: it’s end of an era in Camborne
By Julia Penhaligon There is deep gloom and foreboding in Camborne’s Commercial Street. A sense that things will never be the same. They used to say that if the...
Water Research Centre clears the way for “carbon-sink” chemical tests in St Ives Bay
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Plans to pump chemicals into St Ives Bay as a means of tackling climate change have been assessed as “low risk” by the Water Research Centre,...
Fixing the holes where the rain gets in
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The government is giving Falmouth’s National Maritime Museum £499,000 for a new roof. The waterside building, which was opened only 31 years ago, has been prone...
Hot air: taxpayers to fork out £3.2 million so that Celtic Sea Power can keep talking about offshore windfarms
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Cornwall’s still-not-built offshore windfarms are going to cost local taxpayers £3.2 million over the next four years without any evidence that they will ever generate a...
Second homes: St Ives battles to defend its “locals first” policy
By Lee Trewhela A councillor has accused a “greedy developer” of using a legal loophole to sell aparthotel flats as second homes and holiday lets. Planners voted 9-0 to...
Government warns of “imminent” flood risk at River Hayle
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Homeowners close to the River Hayle are watching anxiously as levels rise to the point where flooding becomes almost inevitable. The government has warned that “properties...
And then there were none: St Ives town council loses its last Conservative
By Lee Trewhela There are now no Conservatives left on St Ives Town Council in Cornwall after deputy mayor Kenny Messenger resigned as a Tory councillor at a meeting...
Definitely not Groundhog Day in St Ives
Some town councillors just love the chance to dress up. The St Ives Feast Day passed without incident yesterday (Monday) and despite “health and safety” fears the silver ball...
Thumbs down for Leedstown housing plan
By Lee Trewhela The leader of Cornwall Council has been accused of acting “illegally” in connection with a plan for housing she opposes near where she lives. Councillor Linda...
Major Hayle housing project faces uncertain future
By Peter Tremayne Another major house builder in Cornwall has gone bust. Moorfields Corporate Recovery is now trying to find a way of restructuring Corinthian Homes and other firms...
Climate change means Cornwall is getting smaller – and at least one coastal car park will have to move
By Lee Trewhela Details have been received by Cornwall Council to move one of Cornwall’s busiest beach car parks due to coastal erosion. The National Trust says if the...
Camborne-Redruth: the constituency where at least two Parliamentary candidates have problems with total recall
By Lee Trewhela The prospective Labour candidate for the hotly contested Camborne-Redruth-Hayle seat has denied he has knocked on doors dishonestly claiming to be a “local councillor” while canvassing...
Silver balls and chocolate coins: an everyday story of life on St Ives Town Council
By Lee Trewhela An attempt to make one of the oldest traditions in Cornwall ‘safer’ by replacing pennies thrown to children with chocolate coins and a silver ball with...
St Ives ponders how to wage war on motorists without declaring war on motorists
By Lee Trewhela Plans to minimise the number of cars entering St Ives town centre, including measures to restrict access in peak hours, were among plans exhibited in the...
Sunak’s Greek tragedy is a gift to St Ives Liberal Democrats
By Julia Penhaligon The Prime Minister’s difficulties with his Greek counterpart over a 2,000-year-old stone artwork risks undermining one of his own MPs in Cornwall. The Parthenon Sculptures, also...
St Ives prepares for planning battle over Premier Inn proposals
By Lee Trewhela A group of “concerned citizens” from St Ives have started a fundraiser to get professional advice in their bid to fight plans for a Premier Inn...
Starting next week: tap-in, tap-out digital train tickets finally find their way to Cornwall
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Nearly 40 years after Ken Livingstone’s Greater London Council revolutionised the way public transport passengers could pay for buses and trains, Cornwall is about to see...
More losers than winners as government sprinkles £450,000 on only six leisure centres
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Only six of Cornwall’s leisure centres have been awarded a share of nearly £450,000 from the government’s £20.3 million Swimming Pool Support Fund. All of them...
Is your business all at sea? The Marine & Maritime Launchpad might help
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Maritime companies in Cornwall are being urged to compete for a share of £7.5 million to help their businesses grow. Cornwall is included in a south...
Are we nearly there yet? Quest to use holiday camp for Cornwall’s homeless families crawls towards the finish line
By Julia Penhaligon Up to 20 homeless families are about to move in to a holiday camp bought nearly two years ago by Cornwall Council. In January 2022 County...
St Ives faces test of “homes for locals” policy as planners recommend relaxing rules on new apartments
By Lee Trewhela Residents of Carbis Bay in Cornwall say they feel “duped and deceived” after newly built apartments, which were approved as being the main residence for people...
Conservative-run Cornwall Council is “deluded, out of touch with reality and living in cloud cuckoo land” – says the last Tory town councillor in St Ives
By Lee Trewhela Just days after the Mayor of St Ives resigned from the Conservative Party, claiming membership was a “hindrance” and “becoming an issue,” his deputy says he...
Mayor of St Ives quits Conservative Party
By Lee Trewhela The Mayor of St Ives resigned from the Conservative Party. Johnnie Wells, who had been a Tory councillor since 2020, quit at a town council meeting...
Emergency ambulance gets parking ticket in St Ives
By Lee Trewhela A traffic warden who slapped a parking ticket on an ambulance attending an emergency in Cornwall this week has been dubbed a “plonker.” Other residents have...
Planners approve controversial 60-home development at Hayle
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Controversial plans to build 60 homes at Hayle, despite objections from the local community and town council, have been approved by six votes to three, with...
Hands up if you would like to be Labour’s Parliamentary candidate in North Cornwall or St Ives
By Julia Penhaligon The Labour Party has started the process for selecting Parliamentary candidates for the next general election in North Cornwall and St Ives constituencies. Both constituencies are...
A 60-minute romp through the cultural history of Zennor
Some say The Archers is just an every day story of country folk. But some have never been to Zennor. If you think rural Cornwall is in any way...
18 months later, Cornwall Council’s holiday park is still empty
By Lee Trewhela A holiday park which was bought by Cornwall Council as emergency accommodation for homeless families affected by the housing crisis is still empty 20 months later....
People-power in St Ives succeeds in saving the Edward Hain hospital, seven years after Cornwall’s health chiefs closed it
By Anne North The Edward Hain hospital, St Ives, is to become a wellness centre offering a range of health and social care services after a local campaign to...
Here it comes: softly, softly, the Tories are starting their general election campaign
By Julia Penhaligon Cornwall might be seeing more of two of its MPs over the next 12 months, following a new strategy drawn up by Conservative Central Office to...
Something in the air: the Carbis Bay Pong again baffles South West Water
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The Carbis Bay pong has returned, prompting Cornwall Council leader and local councillor Linda Taylor to question South West Water. The stench of raw sewage has...
Back to the future? St Ives regains control of some assets for the first time in nearly 50 years
By Lee Trewhela and Julia Penhaligon St Ives looks set to take control of a swathe of public buildings and spaces – including its lucrative Sloop car park –...
Tories select Connor Donnithorne as Parliamentary candidate for Camborne, Redruth and Hayle
By Julia Penhaligon Cornwall councillor Connor Donnithorne has been chosen as the Conservative candidate to fight the Camborne, Redruth and Hayle constituency at the next general election. He was...
State-owned solar farm planned for west Cornwall (but not the British state)
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Another huge solar farm is planned for Cornwall. The Speedwell solar farm is intended to cover 195 acres of Gwinear, near Hayle. The panels would be...
Gamekeeper-turned-poacher: a former member of Cornwall’s inshore fisheries authority awaits sentencing for illegal catch
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Cornwall’s inshore fisheries officials are preparing to reveal full details of an illegal “electro-fishing” operation involving a member of their own authority. The Cornwall Inshore Fisheries...
Conservatives in Camborne, Redruth and Hayle prepare to choose their champion
By Julia Penhaligon Conservatives in the Camborne, Redruth and Hayle constituency are closing in on the selection of their prospective Parliamentary candidate to fight the next general election. George...
Councillors seek to reap what they sow, as they queue up to say nice things about farmers
By Lee Trewhela and Julia Penhaligon Cornwall Council has passed a ‘landmark’ motion to support farmers by committing to proactively sourcing produce – particularly meat and dairy but also plant-based products...
St Ives to explore “voluntary” tourist tax
By Julia Penhaligon St Ives Town Council looks as if it might become the first minor local authority in Cornwall to consider a tourist tax. The town’s mayor, Johnnie...
Liberal Democrats take 71% of the vote to win St Ives Town Council by-election
By Julia Penhaligon The Liberal Democrats won a St Ives Town Council by-election last night (Thursday) with 71% of the vote, beating an independent by 547 - 223. Lib...
St Ives Town Council by-election
By Julia Penhaligon Voters in St Ives go to the polls today (Thursday) to elect a town councillor in the Lelant ward. There are only two candidates for the...
Hayle harbour wall collapses into the sea
Part of the south quay wall collapsed at Hayle harbour yesterday (Monday) forcing its closure to vehicles and pedestrians. The cause of the collapse is not yet known. Engineers...
Don’t dump “carbon capture” chemicals in St Ives Bay, urge protestors
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Dozens of protestors took to the beach at St Ives yesterday to demonstrate against plans for a huge experiment which involves dumping chemicals in the sea....
Proud to be a Tory? St Ives MP on TV personality’s “naughty list”
By Julia Penhaligon Only one of Cornwall’s MPs fails to mention the Conservative Party in his Twitter profile. Derek Thomas, Conservative MP for St Ives, makes no mention of...
The government, and Elon Musk, plan to pump chemicals into St Ives Bay in a bid to combat global warming
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The government has chosen Cornwall for a major climate change experiment to see if the Atlantic ocean can be turned into a massive “sponge” to soak...
How Cornwall plans to blow a million pounds a year, without turning a single turbine
By Peter Tremayne Cornwall’s taxpayers look set to spend £1 million a year on an offshore wind farm company which has never produced any electricity – and which is...