Full News Report
20th September 2023
Widegates ‘Play Park’ meeting this Saturday
MORVAL Parish Council has co-opted a new member to replace Andrew Kennedy, who stood down earlier this year.
The vacancy was advertised before the council’s summer recess and, re-assembling at the Village Hall, Widegates in September for their regular meeting on the first Wednesday of the month, members unanimously welcomed Widegates resident Toni Patterson to their fold.
Cllr Patterson is already a member of the village hall committee and is keen to work hard for the benefit of the whole Morval parish.
Cornwall councillor Armand Toms noted that the new member had already attended many council meetings in recent months and joked about how she had cut the average age of the council at a stroke.
“More importantly,” he said, “we need young people to be involved going forward.”
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SLOW but sure progress continues to be made on the plan to provide a play area or green space adjacent to the Farriers Way development at Widegates.
A lease, drawn up to transfer the land from the Harding family to the parish council, is currently being checked by solicitors.
The council’s monthly meeting decided to arrange a public open session at the Village Hall, Widegates (Saturday, September 23; 10.00 am until 12 noon), when all ideas on how the space might be utilised could be discussed.
No firm decisions will be made at that meeting, and anyone who is unable to attend can still register their views by contacting the clerk, Sam Pengelly, by e-mail: clerk@morvalparishcouncil.org.uk.
The council is hopeful of attracting funding for the area’s development but needs public input to understand what equipment might be useful.
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AT the start of every council meeting there is an opportunity for public participation when residents are invited by the chairman to raise any issues.
Fifteen minutes is set aside for the public’s views (a time that can be extended at the chairman’s discretion) and each person is allocated a maximum of five minutes to address the council; a concession that Cllr John Kitson reminded his colleagues should be enforced.
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THE only other person allowed to address the council during the formal business of the meeting is Cornwall councillor Armand Toms.
He referred to his campaign to get the A38 upgraded on the grounds of road safety; the ongoing debate about the Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry tolls; the state of health services in East Cornwall, including calls for a new emergency care hospital, possibly in Bodmin, and also the county’s contentious decision to increase car parking charges.
Cllr Toms recalled how people were once able to apply for a residents’ card (from the former Caradon District Council), giving them parking at a concessionary rate, and he hoped that Cornwall Council would consider introducing a similar scheme.
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NO decision has yet been reached on the future of the parish council-owned field behind Trenode CoE School, Widegates.
An open parish meeting in July yielded a number of possible uses for the steep-sided parcel of land but the clerk (clerk@morvalparishcouncil.org.uk) would still like to hear from anyone else with suggestions.
One of the many proposals put forward was for some allotments to be provided, and those who might be interested in having a plot should also contact the clerk (without obligation at this stage) so that the popularity of such an idea can be determined.
Other ideas mentioned have included a mini-football pitch for youngsters, a nature reserve, dog-walking area, walkways with benches, a hide for bird watchers, a parish picnic field, school car park and even as a site for a future community hall.
The council bought the field for about £8,000 several years ago and, since letting it out, has received an annual income of a little over £1,000 a year.
Like land everywhere, its value probably increases year-on-year and one un-tested estimate has put its current value at around £140,000.
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THE council welcomed moves to promote the economic advantages of having Bodmin Moor registered as an International Dark Skies Landscape.
Having previously heard from one local tourism operator that anything to increase the ‘out of season’ holiday trade was desperately needed, the council decided to support in principle Caradon Observatory and Cornwall Council’s efforts to boost the local economy through the dark skies initiative.
The UK’s first Dark Sky Park was established in Scotland in 2009 and Visit Scotland chiefs now believe that the Galloway project is worth about £500,000 a year to the tourism industry.
Morval, of course, is only peripheral to the Bodmin Moor site but, since no financial involvement is required from parishioners, councillors felt that an expression of support and, therefore, a commitment to all business interests within the parish, was eminently appropriate.
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PARISH council chairman Andy Jackson is meeting with neighbouring parish councillors to press Cornwall Council once again for more road safety measures in the parish.
The renewed push follows yet another fatal accident on the B3252.
Cllr Jackson said that the police were keen to reduce the accident rate but neighbouring councils had also told him that Cornwall Council seemed reluctant to act.
Cllrs Stuart Hutchins and Graham Tamblyn both recalled how they had been fighting for years to get something done, including asking for ‘no overtaking’ double white lines or a reduced speed limit, but at every turn their views had been ignored.
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THE Council meets again at Widegates Village Hall on Wednesday, October 4 (7.00 pm).