Don't let time run out, vote Dolphin

As you may know, today it election day. There is not much more to say than please take this opportunity to go out and vote. Sorry I can't write more, but i'm out on the doorstep getting the vote out

Vote Dolphin!

Hard days campaigning

After a hard day of delivering leaflets and knocking on doors its always nice to pop into your local, have a drink and wind down.

Me having a hard earned drink at the Tree Inn in Stratton with Bob and Emma

On a serious note, we must support local business and friendly pubs are often at the heart of a community.

Keeping up the fight

I love fighting for our area and will not allow the bureaucrats in Truro to forget about our issues. We are far away, but that is why I have to shout the loudest!

Local people tell me that they want good services from the council, they don’t want their council tax to rocket every year and they want to be listened to.  I agree and that is why I will continue to fight for a fair deal.

Election pledges

I'm getting a really good feeling while out and about meeting people during this election.

I want to make 3 key pledges I make to the people of Stratton and Grenville ward:

• I will always put people above politics when representing you.
• I will continue to work hard all year around and get results.
• I will keep listening to your views and fighting for our area.

I want to carry on fighting for a fair deal for our area... Thanks for your support!

you are here->

Cornwall can’t afford to go on like this!

The Conservatives at Cornwall Council have left a shameful legacy.

They have threatened our services, but spend £1 million a month on consultants! 

They even hired taxis to ferry tea and coffee around council offices! Instead of cutting waste they have cut front line services.

Since running the council they have...

• Tried to close Bude Sea Pool
• Threatened our libraries 
• Let play areas fall into ruin
• Closed public toilets
• Failed to collect our rubbish
• Neglected our roads

We can't go on like this!

Thanks Clive

I'd like to thank Clive Vanstone for his kind words about me. It's nice to know that I'm making a difference.

 “Paula really listens to the views of local people. What I like most is that she is a really independent person who puts people above politics" - Clive Vanstone

Two horse race

Often elections are neck and neck between two candidates who are so far ahead of everyone else that voting for anyone in the pack behind would be a waste.
Well in my election on may the 2nd it literally is a two horse race. Voters in the Grenville and Stratton ward have a choice between a Conservative or myself.
Please do NOT let someone else choose for you. Go and Vote!

Looking back

Every now and again I like to look back at some of the thing I have achieved as a Councillor (it keeps me sane). I thought it might be nice to show you the range of things I get up to. I wont talk about any personal casework I get (and I get lots) because when people ask for my help I like to keep it private.

Here are just some of the things I have achieved recently:

• Together with local residents, won back weekend health clinics in Stratton
• Supported much needed local community groups
• Worked with you to improve road safety
• As a school governor, helped to ensure local education is delivered to the highest standards
• Consistently voted for services to stay in our local area

what always strikes me is the wide range of things a Councillor can do, if they work hard and try their best. Well the job doesn't stop so I better get on.. 

All the best

Standing up for you

Representing our area is a great honour to me and I do not take it for granted.
I feel it is very important to listen to local people’s views and to work all year around, not just at election times.

We are living in tough times with money being a concern for both local people and the council. It is more important than ever, at a time like this, that our area continues to have a local champion to stand up for it.
Working with the community has achieved many good things in a relatively short space of time and I would like to continue doing more for you!
I want to ensure we get better local services, and  put a stop to the council wasting your money on expensive consultants.
Most of all I want a fair deal for our area.

DevonWall Defeated

After a long and sometimes hard campaign, Tory plans to create a seat that combined Cornwall and Devon into one area has been defeated. This was a controversial plan on both sides of the Tamar and you could almost hear the sighs of relief after the announcement.

The big question that this situation throws up for me is, who is standing up for what the people of their area wants and who is playing party politics with historic boundaries. Well that became clear at the vote when all 3 Cornish Lib Dem MP's voted against the creation of a DevonWall seat and all 3 of Cornwall's Tory MPs voted for DevonWall.

It could not have been clearer what the people of Cornwall wanted THEIR representatives to do (keep Devon and Cornwall as two separate areas) and yet the Tories chose to do what best suited there own parties interests! In elections to come people will have the chance to show who much they care about their elected representatives acting on their behalf. I hope they remember DevonWall when they are in the voting booth...

Sheriff's of Nottingham

Please share this outline of what happened yesterday, when the people who are meant to be running Cornwall Council, got together to decide how much tax you should be charged next year.

Below is a press release about it followed by a few choice words from me!

-------- press realease -------

Cornwall Tories: Divided, Disruptive and Endangering Services say Lib Dems

Cornwall’s Liberal Democrats have slammed a divided and disruptive cabinet which is endangering essential services in Cornwall. The move comes after a full council meeting during which members of the administration were regularly arguing with each other.

“The Conservative led cabinet couldn’t agree among themselves about council tax benefit and they couldn’t agree about the budget,” said Cllr Jeremy Rowe, Leader of the Liberal Democrat group on Cornwall Council. “Cornish residents will rightly be asking what on earth is going on.”

“On the budget itself, it is clear that Cllr Ferguson, despite being the cabinet member responsible for the budget, does not agree with it. It appears that she will be proposing a wholesale change.”

“We are forced to ask how Cllr Ferguson can remain in the cabinet when she disagrees so completely with major aspects of Cornwall Council policy, including those within her own portfolio. Given that it is the Leader himself who is now writing and promoting the budget it may be that he could save some money by sacking Cllr Ferguson and using her special responsibility allowance to avoid some of the cuts.”

During today’s debate on council tax benefit, Fiona Ferguson, the cabinet member for finance, proposed an amendment that would draw money from the higher education bursary. This move was promptly rejected by Neil Burden, the cabinet member for schools, who apparently hadn’t even been consulted by his colleague.

Commenting on the proposal to strip funds from the higher education bursary, Cllr Geoff Brown, Lib Dem spokesman on Education,said:

“This is sheer madness. The bursary scheme was introduced to assist those young people from the poorest areas of Cornwall to access quality courses and thereby enhance their education and potential for a more prosperous and successful adult life. This is an investment in the future of Cornwall and brings to the scheme many millions of pounds of European funding. To plunder this scheme is like robbing Peter to pay Paul with the added negative matter of losing Cornwall a huge EU investment and I am delighted that Council saw fit to roundly reject it."

The lack of consultation extended far wider than simply among cabinet members. The Leader was forced to admit that he had talked to no organisations representing people affected by his proposal to slash council tax benefit, nor to any individuals likely to be affected. Cllr Fiona Ferguson complained that she “knew nothing about these people”.

Cllr Alex Folkes, Deputy Leader of the Lib Dem group, who proposed the amendment that would have protected council tax benefit said:

“Before Christmas I invited both Cllr Ferguson and Cllr Currie to come to Launceston to meet with people likely to be affected by their council tax benefit cut. Cllr Ferguson refused to come and Cllr Currie didn’t have the courtesy even to reply. I think that says a lot about the Conservative attitude to the least well off families in Cornwall.”

“The Liberal Democrat amendment would use the new income from cutting second home and empty home council tax loopholes to ensure there is no need for council tax benefit cuts. This amendment was narrowly defeated but we will be sticking to our position of protecting the poorest families in Cornwall and not trying to take money that they just don’t have.”

----------------- End of press release --------------

I will say to you what I said to them at full council on Tuesday: 

Having lived in Brazil, I have seen what happens when money is taken from people who don't have enough to get by, they become desperate and have nothing to loose. This causes is an increase in crime rates and violence among other things. I will not let that happen to my country, my electors, or to Cornwall! 

Checking up on developers

Yesterday at the Audit Committee meeting, I know it sounds boring, but its important you read on, (Click to see the agenda Item) we discussed section 106 agreements. These are a way in which the council can get some payback given to the community for allowing planning applications.

I want to draw your attention to a problem that I believe need fixing quickly and you can help get money back for our community.

My understanding is that in Sep 2012 the external auditor picked up that there was a risk that developers were not paying the council their agreed section 106 payments. That the council did not have a good control on what had been approved vs what has been built vs what was due for payment. 

This was a manually looked after process and some section 106 agreements might have fallen through the gaps. This is unacceptable.

I am glad that Cornwall Council are now taking the necessary steps to fix that situation, but I do not want any former applications in my patch to be missed.

I urge people in the Bude, Stratton and Grenville areas to contact me if they suspect any planning application in the past five year that this may have happened with. If you remember a section 106 agreement on a planning application but think it might not have happened come forward so I can check that we have collected the money (please not older then 5 years).

Watch full council live

I'm off to Truro again today to stand up for our part of Cornwall and try to bring some common sense to the Full council meeting. We will be discussing the Governance review - how the council is run. Cornwall local Plan - how many houses we should build in the future and the Strategic Partnership for Support Service - should we part privatise some of our services. 

Looking forward to hitting the doors

There is lots to do as a Councillor, but nothing is as important as getting out in your patch and asking if anyone has any issue they would like my help with. I have just had some new cards printed with my contact details on, so if you get one through your door in coming weeks its cause I called. I know we are fast heading toward Christmas and if you are too busy to talk just say so, I will not mind. On the other hand if you have a mince pie and a cup of tea going spare don't be afraid to invite me in ;-)

Independence day part one

I am often out on the doorstep speaking to people about their issues and campaigning for my community. At election time I am knocking on doors asking for your support and occasionally people mention "Independent" candidates. I thought it might be interesting to lift the lid on "Independents". First you might notice that I use Inverted commas when referring to this elusive bread of politician, why is this? Well there are many reasons which I will go into over time, but the first is that the "independents" at Cornwall Council are a group! let me say that again, there is an independent group at Cornwall Council. If it wasn't so misleading to the public it would be funny. The best bit is that 29 out of 31 "independents" are part of this group which has a leader and deputy. The other two are known as stand alone independents, which is what I thought they were all meant to be.

It's time people know the truth about this lorded and "honourable" breed so there is more to come on this subject

We must stop DevonWall

Conservative plans are still in place to have a new parliamentary seat combining Cornwall and Devon (Bude will be part are this plan). I am working hard with my Lib Dem colleges to stop this, not because I don't like Devon (Devon is lovely), but because Devon and Cornwall are separate places with separate issues. They must be respected and have there own representation.

This is a case of the Tories playing politics with boundaries that have existed from time immemorial and they must be stopped. I will be talking to Dan Rogerson our local MP about this issue and I suggest you do the same.

you can email Dan on contact@danrogerson.org to let him know how you feel about Cornwall and Devon being kept separate!

Lib Dem Bloggs

As a Liberal Democrat I feel its really important to keep the electorate involved in what I'm doing. I really enjoy keeping local people up to date with some of the things I am doing as their Cornwall Councillor. It is only possible to post about a small fraction of what I am doing, I would not want to spend to much time blogging and not enough time working for my community :-)

If you would like to see what the Leader and Deputy leader of the Cornish Lib Dems are up to look here:

Cllr Jeremy Rowe Blogg - Leader of the Lib Dems
Cllr Alex Folkes Blogg - Deputy leader of the Lib Dems

SERCO's false data

I am disgusted and outraged that a company who are supposed to look after the health interests of local residents like us have admitted providing false data to the NHS to serve its own ends!

This is a scary example of a private company putting profits above people and it should not be allowed to happen. Click to read "SERCO false data" on the Guardian website

This leaves me even more concerned about the plan by Conservatives on Cornwall Council to privatise more of of our Council services. They are pushing this though despite it being deeply unpopular and at what cost to the local taxpayers!

SERCO are leaving our area short

I have been working alongside other local Lib Dem councillors,Nigel Pearce and David Parsons, to fight to get back proper out-of-hours medical cover for our area. 

SERCOs decision earlier in the year to move the emergency doctor away from Stratton to Launceston left a lot of people facing real problems. Constituents who were having problems with the service, including

slow response times, misdiagnoses and long distance travelling late at night to see a GP, contacted us. I was concerned that the areas I represent were receiving an even worse service than the rest of Cornwall and we have been fighting their cases alongside trying to undo this terrible decision.

More than 200 people attended a public meeting and SERCO’s bosses were pressed to reconsider their decision, so that patients needn’t go all the way to Launceston or Bodmin to get out-of-hours care.

After a few meetings with SERCO, we agreed a 3hrs clinic Saturday and Sunday, but this is only a step forward. We want to make sure that we get the best possible local services. Nigel, David and myself are working with MP Dan Rogerson to monitor the service to ensure that we are getting an adequate cover out-of-hours for the area.

Supporting local community projects

Every year as your Cornwall Councillor I am assigned a pot of money (£2,195) to be
spent on local Community Projects. Recently I have helped the following groups:

Kilkhampton: Grenville Rooms Management

Poughill: Bude Life Centre, Bude(Mencap) Gateway Club and
Friends of Bude Sea Pool

Launcells: Launcells Mens Skittles Club and Launcells Parish Hall

Morwenstow: Morwenstow Mens Institute, Morwenstow Pre
School, Morwenstow Methodist Church and Woodford Methodist
Church

Marhamchurch: Marhamchurch Playpark Ass., Marhamchurch
Village Hall, Marhamchurch Revel Committee and Marhamchurch
Youth Club

If a group you are involved with has a capital project that needs some financial support please get in touch so I can help you complete the forms.