Cornish second homes battle

Council urged to back a crackdown

Cornwall council is being urged to make cracking down on second-home ownership a major part of its devolution deal with Government.

A motion is set to go to tomorrow’s full council meeting with cross-party support. It is being led by Labour councillor Cornelius Olivier. He believes County Hall bosses should discuss the proposals with the Government as part of its devolution deal which aims to bring powers down to local level from Westminster.

He said: “I want both the council leadership and Cornwall’s MPs, to have a clear message about what Cornwall wants from this process.”

Children are being forced to walk along unsafe, unlit, narrow roads and cross muddy fields to get to school due to a “rigid” following of national guidelines.

That is the view of Cornwall councillors who will this week call on the council to review its policy over walking routes to schools.

A motion will go before the full council meeting tomorrow tabled by Dominic Fairman, councillor for St Teath and St Breward.

It follows the well-publicised case of children in Delabole who have lost their bus transport to Sir James Smith’s School in Camelford because they live within three miles of the school.

Cornwall Council applied the national rules which state that if the walking route is considered safe then children are not entitled to free transport.

The issue has also been taken up by North Cornwall MP Scott Mann who has raised it in Parliament and called on Cornwall councillors to walk the route, which parents say is dangerous.

In his motion, which has cross-party support from councillors, Cllr Fairman calls on the council to review its policy.

He states: “A rigid adherence to national guidelines leaves many Cornish rural single-track roads deemed as ‘safe’ due to traffic flows despite a lack of any pavements or street lighting. Early school start times are also not considered and the use of unmade footpaths across ag- ricultural fields is considered acceptable.

“Parents, carers and local people take a more commonsense approach and are unwilling to allow children to share narrow unlit roads with lorries, delivery vans and tractors. The paid bus places offered to students are not guaranteed (and are an expense for larger families) which consequently leads to increased car use and congestion at school times.”

It continues: “After universal services, school transport is often the main reason that families have contact with Cornwall Council. The motion seeks a review of the pedestrian route assessment policy to acknowledge our rural local highway network and give parents and carers confidence that Cornwall Council has safety at the heart of their policy making.

“A recent assessment in Delabole resulted in 16 children losing their bus pass. An online petition against this ruling has attracted over 5,700 signatures and the parents’ ongoing media campaign represents a reputational risk to Cornwall Council.”

Cllr Fairman calls for a full debate to be allowed so that councillors can give their views on the issue and so that Cabinet members can hear all the concerns.

‘Early school start times are also not considered’

Councillor Dominic Fairman