NEWS FROM YOUR PARISH COUNCIL
Towednack Parish Boundary
The Parish Council often gets calls from residents with queries about all sorts of matters, highway
problems, streetlights not working (or working for too long), problem dogs, hedges, ditches,
footpaths, planning etc. Sometimes we are unable to deal with the matter directly, as it is not actually
a Towednack PC matter. Often, as the parish boundary divides our community and, in particular,
Nancledra village, the matter needs to be dealt with by Ludgvan PC. Residents often forget that they
reside in the parish of Ludgvan to whom they pay a proportion of their council tax, because they feel
more ‘connected’ with Towednack parish. This may be because the church or school they attend is in
the parish of Towednack, or that they know that Towednack PC meetings and events take place in the
Gilbert Hall, or just a feeling about where they belong. Frequently we want to help, and indeed do
help, but we have to be careful to ensure that Ludgvan PC is happy with any action we might take.
Ludgvan is a large parish which includes the area of Long Rock and, of course, has many more
facilities to manage than Towednack PC. It is not surprising if the north boundary of its parish tends
to get less attention than perhaps its residents would like.
Towednack Parish Council is considering the possibility of applying for a boundary change. This is
not a straightforward process and could involve an Act of Parliament, but the Parish Council
considers that it is worth exploring to see if it could benefit our community to include a small
additional area of land to the south and eastern edges of the existing parish boundary. Obviously there
will need to be a lot of consultation about this as maybe not everyone would be happy with the idea.
The Parish Council is at the preliminary stage of investigation of this possibility, but it would
welcome any thoughts you may have, or difficulties we may not have considered. Please contact the
Chairman or the Clerk.
Dark Skies update:
Zennor Parish Council and Towenack Parish Council are making steady progress with the project to
register West Cornwall & The Isles of Scilly with the International Dark Sky Association for full
protective status.
There has been plenty of support for this project from organisations such as CPRE (Campaign for the
Protection of Rural England) Cornwall AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), Caradon
Observatory/Exeter University and Climate Vision. Derek Thomas MP has offered his support and is
assisting in sending out a questionnaire as part of his own wider survey of West Cornwall and Scilly
households ( a survey/questionnaire is a registration requirement of the International Dark Skies
Association).There is now a Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/darkskies2016westcornwall.
So, if you want to know more, get involved, or just want to support your Parish Council in getting
official Dark Sky status and protection for the parish AND the whole of West Cornwall please have a
look and maybe even show your support by ‘liking’! There are some wonderful images to look at, just
to remind us all how fantastic our night sky is here; we are so lucky to be part of the few communities
that get this awesome spectacle on every clear night, we are sure you will agree that it is really
important that we do everything we can to protect it for future generations to enjoy.
There will be future events linked to the project to raise awareness (and hopefully, enthusiasm!) and
make sure that all the communities involved feel well informed about what this project means to
them. I have to say it again…watch this SPACE!
Hedges, Ditches and Footpaths
With cuts to Cornwall Council’s budget, it is likely that the Parish Council will have a greatly reduced
budget to deal with footpath maintenance in the year ahead. We ask for you to assist us, by letting us
know when you are aware of a footpath getting out of hand and also by taking a pair of secateurs out
with you when you are off on a walk around our footpaths. At this time of the year brambles seem to
be able to grow a couple of feet almost overnight and it will help a lot to keep the paths accessible if
walkers can ‘snip ‘ as they go!
If you are a landowner whose hedges and verges and ditches are alongside the road, please be sure to
cut back/clear these as appropriate, to keep our lanes safe for pedestrians and drivers. You will have
noticed that Cornwall Council now do very little work on the village lanes, and at the moment the
Parish Council has not been given any extra funding to deal with this.
Landowners have responsibility for keeping their hedges and verges in good order and also to make
sure that invasive species are kept at bay. If you are a landowner who has a problem with species such
as bamboo and Japanese knotweed along the roadside, then please contact the Clerk who will be able
to pass on advice regarding who to contact/how to deal with this. It is worth remembering that, if a
plant like bamboo gets under the road surface, it can a lot of damage for which the landowner will be
liable.
Thanks for all your help in the above matters, it is much appreciated.
Big Lunch with the Trustees of the Gilbert Hall:
This event, held on Saturday June 18thin Cledry Meadow was a great success and you can read more
about it elsewhere in Cledry Calling
Meetings
The Parish Council welcomes all residents to the monthly Parish Council meetings. There is a 15
minute period, at the start of each meeting, which is set aside specifically so that residents can voice
any concerns they have on any parish matter. After this period they may choose to leave, or stay and
listen to (but not join in) council deliberations.
The Parish Council needs to know residents views on parish matters to enable it to make balanced
judgements and sound decisions on the important matters that affect our community.
The Parish Council meets on the last Tuesday in the month at 7.00pm. The meeting dates for the next
three months are: 30th August, 27th September, 29th November
Contact
You can contact the Parish Council by email at: [email protected]
or by ‘phoning the Clerk, Margaret Taylor: 01736 740931 or
by contacting any member of the Council:
Mr W L Hollow
01736 741350
Mr K Hughes
07923383149 (Chairman)
Mrs J Evans
01736 740858
Mr M Harandon 01736 740012( Vice- Chairman)
Mr Jonathan Brookes 01736 799492 [email protected]
Mr D Carr: [email protected]
Mrs A Philip: [email protected]