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Left hand, right hand – bridge repair people now look to September before locals can cross the River Camel
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Scaffolders have today (Monday) arrived at the footbridge between Egloshayle and Wadebridge for what would appear to be 10 weeks of repairs which will force local...
- Rashleigh MacFarlane
- 27th June 2022
- 0 comment
Helland Bridge repairs delayed again, because Cormac failed to apply for planning permission
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Fed-up residents of a North Cornwall hamlet, hugely inconvenienced for six months by Cormac’s failure to repair a small bridge over the River Camel, have been...
- Rashleigh MacFarlane
- 24th June 2022
- 1 comment
For Sale: Either a 114-acre farm, or “an upmarket Butlins,” depending on the planners
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Plans for a holiday park in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty appear to have stalled, pending the sale of the site by its administrators. The...
- Rashleigh MacFarlane
- 20th June 2022
- 0 comment
Environment Agency probes river pollution
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The Environment Agency is investigating the cause of pollution which has killed fish and other aquatic life in two North Cornwall rivers. There have been incidents...
- Rashleigh MacFarlane
- 26th May 2022
- 0 comment
All bridge repairs are equal, but in Cornwall, some are more equal than others
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Repairs to a bridge between Wadebridge and Polzeath are due to be completed tomorrow (Friday) following strong lobbying from the tourism sector. The Grade 2 listed...
- Rashleigh MacFarlane
- 26th May 2022
- 1 comment
Cormac fails again to start repairs to the bridge which took only four days to build
By Rashleigh MacFarlane It took a television production crew only four days to build, but it now appears to have taken more than six months before Cormac can even...
- Rashleigh MacFarlane
- 24th May 2022
- 1 comment
How long does it take to repair a bridge in Cornwall? Another accident closes a road, forcing local residents to go the long way
By Rashleigh MacFarlane A second road in North Cornwall has been closed because of a single-vehicle collision with a bridge. Local residents fear they now face months of disruption....
- Rashleigh MacFarlane
- 16th May 2022
- 2 comments
Closure of Helland Bridge has been good news for breeding birds
By Rashleigh MacFarlane An historic road bridge in North Cornwall, badly damaged by a lorry in December, is now likely to remain closed until July following the discovery of...
- Rashleigh MacFarlane
- 5th May 2022
- 1 comment
The curious case of the giant concrete “shed” which now dominates the skyline in an Area of Great Landscape Value
By Graham Smith There are calls for an inquiry into how Cornwall’s planners approved a huge agricultural building currently under construction in the Camel Valley Area of Great Landscape...
- theboss
- 28th April 2022
- 3 comments
Royal Cornwall Show cancels poultry section because of bird flu fears
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The poultry and egg section of this year’s Royal Cornwall Show has been cancelled because of bird flu. The show is the biggest celebration of all...
- Rashleigh MacFarlane
- 27th April 2022
- 0 comment
Helland bridge, closed by lorry crash in December, likely to remain closed until at least the end of April
By Rashleigh MacFarlane An historic, narrow bridge in North Cornwall which has been closed since December could remain shut for months to come. Helland Bridge has long been used...
- Rashleigh MacFarlane
- 31st March 2022
- 0 comment
Storm Eunice is expected to bring a tidal surge, and flooding, to North Cornwall coast on Friday
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The Environment Agency is urging people living in flood risk communities along Cornwall’s north coast to prepare for flooding from a forecast tidal surge caused by...
- Rashleigh MacFarlane
- 16th February 2022
- 0 comment
A bridge too far: Cormac now says it can’t repair Egloshayle link until April at the earliest
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Plans to repair the footbridge which links Wadebridge with Egloshayle have been postponed until at least April. Work had been due to start on Monday (7th...
- Rashleigh MacFarlane
- 10th February 2022
- 2 comments
Who should pay to repair Port Isaac’s harbour?
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Port Isaac harbour wall is falling into the sea, raising the risk of tidal flooding but also posing questions about the nature of coastal life in...
- Rashleigh MacFarlane
- 8th February 2022
- 0 comment
Saints Trail – it wasn’t the first two-wheeled “omnishambles” and it won’t be the last: Any inquiry needs to ask the right questions if the same mistakes are not to be repeated
By Graham Smith Any inquiry into the multi-million pound Saints Trail fiasco, which on Friday saw the scrapping of a key part of a 19 mile off-road cycle path,...
- theboss
- 7th February 2022
- 2 comments
The future of leisure centres: price or value?
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The “beauty contest” to decide who will run leisure centres in Falmouth and Wadebridge is approaching its final stages, with councillors today (Tuesday) due to consider...
- Rashleigh MacFarlane
- 25th January 2022
- 0 comment
Covid-19: “black list” clusters now spreading across Cornwall putting more pressure on NHS
By Anne North Cornwall now has an average Covid infection rate of 1,117.1 new daily cases per 100,000 population, with four clusters in the new most dangerous “black list”...
- Anne North
- 9th January 2022
- 0 comment
EXCLUSIVE: Your leisure centre meeting is cancelled and you can’t talk about it, County Hall officials tell elected local councillors
By Graham Smith Cornwall Council officials have intervened to prevent people in the Wadebridge area from meeting to discuss the future of their local leisure centre. An extraordinary meeting...
- theboss
- 5th January 2022
- 3 comments
Who runs Cornwall Council? Why Wednesday’s cabinet meeting is about much more than four leisure centres
By Graham Smith Wednesday’s Cornwall Council cabinet meeting (15th December) will be a defining moment in the recent history of the authority, determining not only the future of four...
- theboss
- 12th December 2021
- 3 comments
Cornwall’s outdoor education service rescued by deferring closure decision – but leisure centres still face the axe in only three months
By Julia Penhaligon The threat to close Cornwall’s outdoor education centres has been lifted. Cornwall Council’s £55 million budget cuts included giving notice of redundancy to staff and earmarking...
- Julia Penhaligon
- 12th December 2021
- 0 comment
Providing leisure centres should be a statutory function of local councils, House of Lords tells Cornwall
By Julia Penhaligon Cornwall Council should be forced to maintain and run its leisure centres and not allow them to close simply because a private operator cannot make a...
- Julia Penhaligon
- 10th December 2021
- 0 comment
Cornwall’s leisure centres under renewed threat as County Hall officials sideline councillors and push ahead with closure plans
By Graham Smith The stage is set for a potentially explosive Cornwall Council cabinet meeting next week, as County Hall officials push ahead with plans to close four leisure...
- theboss
- 8th December 2021
- 2 comments
Scrutiny councillors face public questions before studying proposals to close four leisure centres
By Julia Penhaligon Cornwall councillors face eight public questions tomorrow (Tuesday) before they start scrutinising proposals to close four leisure centres and the St Austell hydrotherapy pool. The questions...
- Julia Penhaligon
- 6th December 2021
- 0 comment
Hands up those who want an inquiry into the future of Cornwall’s leisure centres! Six Tory councillors, under pressure from officials on one side and voters on the other, hold the key
By Graham Smith Any one of six Conservative councillors could hold the key to the future of Cornwall’s leisure centres when they take part in a scrutiny committee meeting...
- theboss
- 5th December 2021
- 2 comments
Cornwall’s leisure centres: County Hall braces for what looks like being a very long day in the council chamber
By Julia Penhaligon The stage is set for a day of political theatre at County Hall tomorrow (Tuesday) as Cornwall Council’s ruling Conservative administration comes face-to-face, for the first...
- Julia Penhaligon
- 29th November 2021
- 0 comment
Covid-19: now Padstow goes dark and joins the sick list
By Anne North Padstow has become the latest part of Cornwall to record dangerously high levels of Covid infectivity. The latest data shows Padstow has 804.1 new daily cases...
- Anne North
- 25th November 2021
- 0 comment
A brief window in time: 36 hours next week to question Cornwall Council about leisure centre closures
By Julia Penhaligon and Richard Whitehouse The agenda is due to be published on Tuesday (23rd November) for the next full meeting of Cornwall Council – which appears set...
- Julia Penhaligon
- 21st November 2021
- 2 comments
Leisure centres petition passes 5,000 names, forcing a full council debate
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Cornwall Council will be forced to debate the proposed closure of four leisure centres. A petition has easily garnered the required 5,000 signatures - it currently...
- Rashleigh MacFarlane
- 19th November 2021
- 0 comment
Leisure centre closures: petition to force full council debate nears half-way stage
By Graham Smith A petition designed to force a full council debate about the future of Cornwall’s leisure centres has attracted more than 2,300 names in only four days....
- theboss
- 16th November 2021
- 4 comments
Petition launched to force a full council vote on the future of Cornwall’s leisure centres
By Richard Whitehouse and Julia Penhaligon Cornwall’s ruling Conservative group of councillors are facing more embarrassment because of a new petition calling for the proposed closure of four leisure...
- Julia Penhaligon
- 15th November 2021
- 3 comments
EXCLUSIVE: “I would resign rather than accept the closure of my leisure centre” – Tories starting to lose their grip on County Hall as Launceston rebellion threatens their council majority
By Graham Smith The Conservatives’ threat to close four of Cornwall’s leisure centres, and the hydrotherapy pool at St Austell, is in turn posing a threat to their majority...
- theboss
- 14th November 2021
- 2 comments
Leisure centres’ closures is “the death of democracy in Cornwall” – says former council leader
By Richard Whitehouse and Julia Penhaligon The way in which Cornwall Council is dodging scrutiny of plans to close four leisure centres has been criticised by a former council...
- Julia Penhaligon
- 13th November 2021
- 2 comments
Not a good look: Cornwall Council struggles to answer public questions as battle intensifies over the future of leisure centres
By Graham Smith Cornwall Council leader Linda Taylor has told leisure centre campaigners to “wait and see” after fielding 17 questions from members of the public at this morning’s...
- theboss
- 10th November 2021
- 2 comments
Leisure centre campaigners force closure proposals onto the agenda of today’s council cabinet meeting
By Julia Penhaligon Cornwall Council’s ruling 10-member cabinet today (Wednesday) faces a picket-line of hostile questions about its proposals to close four leisure centres. The closure plans were originally...
- Julia Penhaligon
- 10th November 2021
- 0 comment
Town Council rejects County Hall’s leisure centre consultation as “deeply flawed” in blistering attack on “closure decisions already made”
By Richard Whitehouse and Julia Penhaligon Wadebridge Town Council has refused to respond to Cornwall Council’s “public” consultation over County Hall’s proposals to close four leisure centres. The town...
- Julia Penhaligon
- 2nd November 2021
- 1 comment
The curious case of Cornwall Council’s decision to give GLL an extra £6.73 million, three months after the company asked to close four leisure centres
An extract from page 45 of a 46-page Appendix, this document was approved by Cornwall Council's cabinet on 22nd September - the same day that County Hall confirmed the...
- theboss
- 29th October 2021
- 3 comments
Covid-19: Padstow joins the critical list
Covid-19 has now killed at least 660 people in Cornwall since the pandemic started, according to the latest data. Two more Covid-related hospital deaths were announced yesterday (Thursday.) Meanwhile...
- Anne North
- 29th October 2021
- 0 comment
Covid-19: Cornwall’s infection rate falls below 500 cases per 100,000 population
Cornwall’s Covid infection rate continues to fall: now 496.2 cases per 100,000 population, compared with 524.4 in Devon and an average for England of 484.1. Worst affected is the...
- Anne North
- 28th October 2021
- 0 comment
“If you tolerate this, then your leisure centre will be next” campaigners tell councillors
By Richard Whitehouse and Julia Penhaligon Leisure centre campaigners are planning to protest in Saltash on Saturday (30th October) to draw attention to Cornwall Council’s closure plans. County Hall...
- Julia Penhaligon
- 28th October 2021
- 0 comment
EXCLUSIVE: If you don’t want to know the result of Cornwall Council’s “public consultation” over leisure centres, look away now
By Julia Penhaligon Cornwall Council will today (Tuesday) issue a tough message to leisure centre campaigners that it is rejecting the opinions it has heard during its “public consultation”...
- Julia Penhaligon
- 26th October 2021
- 1 comment
EXCLUSIVE: This is what happens if you ask a silly question – how what was supposed to be a wide-ranging review of Cornwall’s sports and leisure facilities triggered the current crisis
By Julia Penhaligon The terms of reference for a consultants’ report about Cornwall’s sport and leisure facilities were substantially changed between February and July, Cornwall Reports can reveal. The...
- Julia Penhaligon
- 23rd October 2021
- 3 comments
Inside the room: GLL boss reveals why County Hall’s broken promises are now threatening leisure centres
By Richard Whitehouse and Julia Penhaligon The man responsible for managing Cornwall’s leisure centres has said he was “surprised” when Cornwall Council’s cabinet rejected a funding plan which would...
- Julia Penhaligon
- 23rd October 2021
- 0 comment
North Cornwall development embargo: planners think they have found a way to make progress
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Cornwall’s planners have produced a calculator to help developers make progress with applications which have stalled because of an embargo on new building in the River...
- Rashleigh MacFarlane
- 22nd October 2021
- 1 comment
Rescue services save four from car roof as Storm Aurore floods St Kew ford
By Peter Tremayne Rescue services were called to the St Kew ford last night to help recover four people trapped by floodwater on the roof of their car. The...
- Peter Tremayne
- 21st October 2021
- 0 comment
Cornwall’s leisure centre management company is “a bad and exploitative employer,” says union, as workers vote 94% in favour of strike action over unpaid wages
By Julia Penhaligon The leader of Britain’s biggest trade union has condemned the company which runs Cornwall’s leisure centres as “a bad and exploitative employer.” Unite general secretary Sharon...
- Julia Penhaligon
- 21st October 2021
- 1 comment
Council saves leisure centres (in Devon)
By Julia Penhaligon Another neighbouring local council has taken steps to ensure that its leisure centres remain open and meet the needs of local communities. Torridge District Council, which...
- Julia Penhaligon
- 21st October 2021
- 0 comment
Leisure centre closures: council committee faces 17 questions in 15 minutes, all of them from Wadebridge
By Julia Penhaligon All 17 of the public questions to tomorrow’s (Tuesday) Cornwall Council scrutiny committee have been submitted by people disputing County Hall’s proposals to close the Wadebridge...
- Julia Penhaligon
- 18th October 2021
- 0 comment
Death of 17-year-old Gillian Davey underlines why the dangers of Padstow’s Doom Bar need to be better appreciated, say marine accident investigators
By Peter Tremayne Marine accident investigators have made a number of recommendations after investigating the capsize of a motor cruiser in the Camel Estuary, off Padstow, last year. A...
- Peter Tremayne
- 14th October 2021
- 0 comment
EXCLUSIVE: Cornwall Council has spent months preparing its leisure centre closure hit list
By Julia Penhaligon Cornwall Council has disclosed that it has known for months that its outsourced leisure centre operator is seeking major revisions to the contract it signed only...
- Julia Penhaligon
- 14th October 2021
- 1 comment
Campaign to save Cornwall’s leisure centres given new urgency by council’s attempt to dodge scrutiny and force a decision by 15th December
By Julia Penhaligon Cornwall Council officials are trying to rush through a decision before Christmas about plans to close four leisure centres. The leisure centres under immediate threat are...
- Julia Penhaligon
- 14th October 2021
- 2 comments
Covid-19: Wadebridge is the new infection capital of Cornwall
The latest infection figures show that Wadebridge is now recording 1,016.1 cases per 100,000 population, higher than anywhere else in Cornwall. Overall, purple clusters on the Covid map are...
- Anne North
- 13th October 2021
- 0 comment
County Hall sharpens its axe, adding St Austell’s council offices to those it wants to chop
By Richard Whitehouse and Julia Penhaligon Cornwall Council is considering basing most of its office staff at three locations in Truro, Bodmin and Camborne - which could mean that...
- Julia Penhaligon
- 13th October 2021
- 0 comment
Hands off Cornwall’s leisure centres, says swimming star Ruby
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Another swimming star has added her voice to calls to save Cornwall’s leisure centres. Ruby Griffiths, 15, from Looe, began her career with the Caradon swimming...
- Rashleigh MacFarlane
- 10th October 2021
- 0 comment
No answers from Cornwall Council at its first leisure centre meeting, as Tories warm to a formal inquiry
By Graham Smith Cornwall Council staged the first of its “public consultation” meetings last night (Wednesday) to gauge reaction to the proposed closure of four leisure centres. About 30...
- theboss
- 7th October 2021
- 2 comments
Covid-19: Something is happening and we don’t know what it is, as Cornwall’s infection rate races ahead of the neighbours
By Anne North Cornwall’s Covid infection rate is continuing to race ahead of other areas. The latest “new cases per 100,000 population” figure is 430.6 – compared with Devon’s...
- Anne North
- 6th October 2021
- 0 comment
Cornwall’s Liberal Democrats launch campaign to “Save Our Leisure Centres”
By Julia Penhaligon Cornwall’s Liberal Democrats have launched a campaign to “Save Our Leisure Centres.” An online petition seeks to secure at least 5,000 signatures, which would force the...
- Julia Penhaligon
- 30th September 2021
- 0 comment
Cornwall councillors on the “watchdog” committee have only three meetings to save the leisure centres
By Graham Smith The future of Cornwall’s under-threat leisure centres depends on a committee of 11 councillors being prepared to question and challenge County Hall’s ruling cabinet. The approach...
- theboss
- 29th September 2021
- 2 comments
Drive for 30 minutes before going for a swim, says council, as it lays out its case for closing four of Cornwall’s leisure centres
By Julia Penhaligon Leisure centres at Falmouth, Saltash and Wadebridge will close on 31st March next year unless local communities in those areas can think of plans to save...
- Julia Penhaligon
- 22nd September 2021
- 1 comment
Promotion for St Austell and Newquay MP Steve Double in this week’s government reshuffle
By Julia Penhaligon St Austell and Newquay MP Steve Double has been promoted in the latest government reshuffle. He becomes an Assistant Whip, an unpaid post, and joins North...
- Julia Penhaligon
- 18th September 2021
- 0 comment