Parish News - Latest Information

3rd October 2008

Battery Recycling Scheme

The Parish Council in conjunction with Cornwall County Council is setting up a recycling facility
for small household batteries (AAA, AA, C, & D as well
as button batteries used in hearing aids, mobile phones etc. )

Note - no car batteries or industrial waste.

A recycling tube will shortly be installed inside the Hammer 'n' Hoe - thanks to the Proprietor

 

2nd October 2008

Cllr Nigel Gilmore to run one full and one half marathons

Just thought I’d let you know that my New York Marathon sponsorship is going very well and, thanks to everyone’s support, I’m making good progress towards my target pledged to Health Unlimited, so a big thank you to everyone who has contributed so far, even though most of you do seem to think I’m crackers!

However, I am also running in the Great North Run on Sunday 5 October, again on a charity place, and this time I’m aiming to raise money for the World Cancer Research Fund. Again I would be very grateful for any contributions, but I am most definitely not asking you to contribute twice, merely trying to provide you with more choice!

If you would like to sponsor me for the Great North Run, the easiest way would be if you could let me know how much for and then to pop a cheque in the post.

For the New York Marathon, please either send a cheque or contribute on line at www.justgiving.com/nigelgilmore If you want to know more about Health Unlimited go to www.healthunlimited.org, or to www.wcrf-uk.org for information about the work of the World Cancer Research Fund..

I promise that having had a gap of 13 years from long distance running and fundraising, I will not be making a habit of this!

Thanks

Nigel Gilmore, Nansidwell Farm, Old Church Road, Mawnan, TR11 5HU. 01326 251122

 

9th June 2008

PUBLIC MEETING - 19th JUNE 2008

- A POSSIBLE NEW VILLAGE AMENITY

Back in October 2006, the restoration of the old village smithy commenced. With a budget of some £385,000, the Mawnan Anvil Trust has restored it to its former glory, and developed three Craft Workshops alongside it. The centre is now a wonderful tourist facility for Mawnan Smith, and with St Michael's Church, has really created a new heart to the village.

There is now a welcome opportunity to complete the development. The blacksmith's house, "Chy an Scol", could be made available for purchase, and converted into a village amenity.
With this in mind, the Anvil Trust and the Parish Council have held preliminary discussions with the current owner, and formulated tentative plans on how this building might be utilised to the best advantage, for the benefit of the community.

Ideas are still at a very early stage, but we would welcome opinion and discussion on how people feel about this possible development. There is no doubt that the Anvil Trust, and the village as a whole, could benefit from a cafe. One idea is to convert the downstairs, some 51 square metres, into a cafe and a craft shop. The garden, of approximately 460 square metres could be converted into a seating area for the cafe, with an arched entrance joining the Smithy and Craft Workshops to "Chy an Scol". The existing craft units are proving both popular and successful, and the house garage could be converted to become an additional craft unit. These facilities would all generate income.

Upstairs is an open book. At 36 square metres, there are several opportunities available. The Parish Plan demonstrated a requirement/desire for a reading room and an internet cafe.
There might be some room for a local history museum, as in the Tolman centre in Constantine, where artifacts and photographs could be exhibited.

If the parish agrees with our ambitions to purchase the property and develop it into a village amenity, a new charitable trust would be formed with representatives from the Anvil Trust and the Parish Council.

The new Trust would be looking to obtain grants from various funding bodies to the tune' of some £400,000 to cover the purchase of the property and the necessary conversions.

Whether or not any of this is possible is dependent upon attracting grant funding. Both the Anvil Trust and the Parish Council have had considerable success in the past, but we know that unless the village really buys into this initiative then it will not be successful.

We are, therefore, holding an Open Meeting at 6-30pm on Thursday. 19th June 2008. in the Memorial Hall, for anyone to put ideas forward. We should have an artist's impression of the exterior, and photographs of the existing property, to illustrate what could be achieved.

Above all, however, we want to hear your ideas. If we are successful then we can be proud in the knowledge that we will be helping to create a vibrant and dynamic village centre, protected against development for future generations.

If, for any reason, you are unable to attend the meeting, but have an opinion or idea which you would like to put forward, then please complete the attached tear-off slip, and return it to the Parish Council Office.

Dr Denis Gartside, Chairman, Mawnan Parish Council

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I am interested in the possibility of seeing further development alongside the existing Anvil Trust facilities.

Name:

Address:

Telephone:

Email :

Opinion / Ideas:

Clerk: Mr J Harrop, The Parish Office, Goldmartin Square, Mawnan Smith, TR11 5EP Website:www.mawnansmith.org.uk Telephone: 01326-251051
Email: clerk@mawnan.org.uk
Fax: 0871 7206404 Quality Status Registration: QC-ll-04-00095

4th April 2008

Wanted - Land for Allotments

Several parishioners have requested the Parish Council investigate the availability of land that could be used as allotments.

Do you have an area of land that you would be willing to sell for this purpose?

If so please contact Cllr Mrs Beth Lawry

More Information?

Visit the Blog site

Alex Roebuck, Rosedek, Carlidnack Road, Mawnan Smith,

Falmouth, Cornwall, TR11 5HA 01326 250 670

Allotments for the Parishioners of Mawnan

14th November 2007

Official Opening of Anvil Trust

See photos of opening ceremony

12th November 2007

Annual Remembrance Day Ceremony

Each year at 11.00 am on the 11th November, a short service of remembrance for those who lost their lives in the service of their country takes place around the Millenium Cross, not a war memorial as such, but an appropriate focal point for the village.

Photos courtesy of John Wright

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30th October 2007

THIEVES HIT MAWNAN CHURCHES

Sometime over the weekend of the 27th / 28th October, thieves struck and stripped lead from the rooves of Mawnan Parish Church and the Methodist Chapel, causing thousands of pounds of damage.
Anyone who saw anything suspicious should report it to the police.

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19th October 2007

October 2007 Quarterly Report

.pdf format

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21st September 2007

It was reported at the Council meeting last evening that

21st April 2007

Parish Council Annual Report

.pdf format

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1st April 2007

Footpath 16 resurfaced

Footpath 16 (alongside the Junior Playing Field) has been in need of resurfacing for more years than we can remember. Now after much chasing, the work has been completed. Cllr Mrs Briars recalls that this was a "need" she raised when she first joined the Council 35 YEARS AGO.

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Mawnan at War - Launch of DVD

20/12/06

"This is your story, it's about the role the village played in World War Two. It's taken over a year to produce and I hope you think it’s worth it" Those were the opening words of Dr.
Denis Gartside, Chairman of Mawnan Parish Council as he introduced the video "Mawnan At War". Over sixty five invited guests, members of local councils and MP for Camborne and Falmouth Julia Goldsworthy watched enthralled as the story developed.

From the escapades of the Home Guard, the bravery of the Special Operations Executive in the Helford River ferrying agents to and from occupied France, the build up to the D-Day landings from Trebah and the Latymer School evacuees, "Mawnan At War" is a nostalgic and personal story of the role Mawnan Smith played in the Second World War.
Using archive film and photographs provided by villagers together with contemporary interviews, the story is told through the eyes of residents and veterans - sometimes sad, sometimes amusing but always highly personal and provides this unique insight of the village during the war years.

The sixty minute video was funded by D-day Voices and Home Front Recall and will provide a historical record for future generations.

The DVD is now available free of charge (1 copy/household) from the
Parish Council office

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Donation - 15/12/06

The Parish Council is most grateful to the Helford Passage Car Park Trust for their kind donation of £250 towards footpath maintenance in the area

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Planters 4/8/06

Regrettable, because of the recent hot weather, the plants in some of the planters have suffered. Our thanks to those people who sponsored the planters and who tended them.

The Council has now replanted them with patio roses, and better arrangements have been made to ensure that these do not dry out!

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Council Admin Costs

Comments have been made recently about Admin costs of the Parish Council. In a random survey of Town & Parish Councils of similar "financial" size to Mawnan, costs, excluding staff, are a modest 9.4% of the precept. Last year was higher because of set-up costs
of the PC office.

Analysis of Parish & Town Council Admin costs - pdf format

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Best Kept Village Competition

Judges feedbak (.pdf format)

Update 7th Sept Aug 2006

Congratulations to our neighbours, Constantine, on winning through to the next round of the
Best Kept Village competition

A big "Thank You" to all the organisations and individuals who worked so hard to present the case for Mawnan. There have been tangible improvements made to many areas of the village, with floral displays, maintenance and improvements of hedges, and the general appearance of the village. Well done everyone - we can now look forward to next year!!

We will be sent a report in due course, indicating where we went wrong.

Thanks for your support

Charles Stimson

On behalf of the Parish Council I would like to thank all those individuals of represented organisations for the excellent effort in presenting our village life and activity in such a creditable way.

The judging was undertaken on the 24th of August and so many parts of the village looked wonderful. I would also like to thank those residents, shopkeepers and the Red Lion who greatly added floral colour to the village.

The final part was a collective description of many of our organisations, given in the Memorial Hall by 20 representatives, including our (sadly) retiring Vicar.

We await the results of our entry within the County and due next month. Good luck!

Charles Stimson

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19th Aug 2006

The final "formal" inspection by the panel of judges will take place on Thursday 24th August. This will take the form of a walk around the village followed by a brief get together in the Memorial Hall with a few representatives of village organisations. The overall time slot is 2 hours.

Good village support is being shown for this project and many groups within the village are undertaking various tasks with the Parish Council’s thanks.
May I encourage our Residents to maintain their road frontages and perhaps increase the colour display in garden walls? If there are areas requiring particular attention without owner ability, then please contact me. We might be able to organise a work party to help.
Casual litter is a constant problem. The Brownies, the WI and Mawnan Wives are concentrating on this for us. Footpath hedging within the village requires particular attention. If you can help whilst walking them, then please do so.

Carwinion Playing Fields
The entrance and car park is already receiving attention - the tree that was growing through the wall has been removed and the wall rebuilt. The trees on the boundary hedge on to Carwinion Road have been cut

Mawnan Playgroup have planted and will maintain 5 flowerboxes placed around the car parkand Clubhouse area. Thanks to those individuals who kindly sponsored these boxes AND the ones at St Michael's and Mawnan School.

The ‘Stocks’ have been tidied up. After much debate, the Millenium Cross area has been restored to its former status.

The wall by the Doctor's surgery has been cleaned up and planted.

Also, please contact Cllr. Charles Stimson – Telephone - 250710 if you have any bright ideas to consider.
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New Clerk appointed

With the retirement in March 2006 of our long serving Clerk, Mrs Sarah Mason, after more than 10 years service to the community, John Harrop has now been appointed as Clerk to the Council and will pick up the reins on
1st April 2006.

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To the residents of Mawnan Smith

After the success and interest shown by you all in The Landings Project we are proposing to create a book about the legacy of the war and effect that it had on Mawnan Smith and its residents.
This will be a book of stories, memories and images (photographs and original drawings) from 1945 through to the end of rationing.
Local writers will work with groups and individuals to help you write about the big events and the little every-day things that happened to you during this time.
We are also working with young people to find out their views and understanding of the period.
We are interested in hearing from all of you. Perhaps you lived through that time yourself or were affected by it in a more indirect way.

This is a wonderful opportunity to create something really special for the village.
If you are interested in this project, and have something that you would like to contribute to the book, or if you know of someone else who might have a valuable memory for us, please look out for dates of the meetings or tell Libby Reed, at The Sanctuary, Mawnan (250676) or Louisa Hughes (01209 860908) as they are co-ordinating this very exciting project.

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Best Kept Village

A decision has been made to enter the village in the "Best Kept Village" competition. This is seen as a "tidying-up" excercise rather than a "prettyfying" project. An initial meeting was held on 16th November 2005, when the idea received the support of village groups. A further meeting was held on January 11th at which several organisations and individuals pledged to assist with the tydying of specific ares of the Parish.
Judging is from mid May to mid July so action is required asap in order to have some impact.

Initially, efforts will be concentrated on short term improvements, with longer term planting being planned and funded.

Cllr Charles Stimson is leading the project

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Parish Council Office

The Parish Council has set up a small central office, where the public can discuss problems with Councillors (by appointment), and look at any plans coming before the Council. The office is in Goldmartin Square, in the premises of P Berry + Co, and is open to members of the public on Thursday and Friday mornings between 10.00 am and noon. The office will be manned at those times by the Clerk to the Council. A Councillor may also be present.

However, we would recommend 'phoning to ensure that there is someone in - they may be out on other business

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Public Toilets

The Parish Council has been working hard to improve the facilities in the toilets opposite the Red Lion. New windows have been fitted and interior fittings upgraded. A new cleaning contract is in place, and timelocks have been fitted to the doors.
Hot air hand dryers have been installed.
The toilets are open from 9.00 am to 8.00 pm.
The disabled toilet is available to key holders
24 hours a day.

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Traffic Speed Survey Results

Mawnan Parish Council

Report on traffic speed in Grove Hill, Mawnan Smith

This report takes the form of questions and answers in order to make presentation and understanding easier. The answers are backed by hundreds of different statistics which needed careful analysis in order to produce this report. Councillors are welcome to inspect the actual SpeedVisor results should they wish.

Q1. Is there a problem with traffic speed in Grove Hill around the school?

A1. In order to find out we used the SpeedVisor to monitor traffic speeds both northbound (coming into the village from the Bosveal crossroads) and southbound (out of the village towards the Bosveal crossroads). The northbound measurements were taken between 28 January 2004 and 18 February 2004. The southbound measurements were taken around March/April 2004 but the results were lost when the SpeedVisor was destroyed by a ‘hit and run’ driver.

The northbound results (in monitoring mode – ie no flashing sign) showed that the average speed of traffic overall was 31.9 mph which does not sound too bad, but 9.0% of traffic was exceeding 40mph (342 vehicles in all or nearly 50 each day) and all told 62% was exceeding the 30mph speed limit – that is 2350 vehicles or 335 each day. Remember, these vehicles are approaching the bend in the road above the school, the Shute Hill junction, the entrance to Abbeyfield and the footpath to the Junior Playing Field. They cannot see round the bend from the point their speed was measured so cannot see school children crossing the road, or traffic emerging from Shute Hill or other hazards further down the road.

It is also worth keeping in mind the facts about pedestrian survival in the event of being hit by a car. At 30mph a pedestrian stands an 80% chance of surviving being hit by a car. At 40mph a pedestrian stands only a 20% chance of surviving. Put in context with some of the statistics above it can be seen that nearly 50 times a day there is the potential for a collision with a speeding vehicle to leave a pedestrian with less than a 20% chance of surviving.

Q2. Traffic calming measures were introduced in the summer of 2004. Have they improved matters?

A2. In order to find out the SpeedVisor was brought back to monitor northbound traffic (ie coming into the village) between 23 November 2004 and 15 December 2004. Northbound is the only before and after comparison we can make because of the loss of the Southbound data to the ‘hit and run’ driver.

In general the traffic calming measures had a negative effect – that is to say traffic speeds increased. The average speed (in monitoring mode – no flashing sign) rose from 31.9mph to 33.5mph and the percentage of traffic exceeding 40mph rose from 9.0% to 11.4%. The percentage of traffic exceeding the 30mph speed limit is difficult to compare due to changes in the way the information has been presented but it would be reasonable to say that there has been an increase probably to around 70%.

So, to put absolute numbers on the results from the second SpeedVisor measurements:

555 vehicles were exceeding 40mph (nearly 80 each day)
3400 vehicles were exceeding 30mph (over 480 each day)

Q3. All the statistics mentioned already were taken with the SpeedVisor in monitoring mode (no display of ‘30mph Slow Down’). When the display was switched on, how much difference did it make?

A3. The display does make a difference but in some respects only a marginal one.

Looking at the northbound results again, the display reduced average speed in the first measurement period from 31.9mph to 31.7mph and in the second from 33.5mph to 31.7mph.
It increased those complying with the speed limit from 37.3% to 41.3% (first measurement period) and from 29.5% to 32.5% (second measurement period).
It does seem to alter the behaviour of faster drivers more significantly, reducing the over 40mph drivers from 9.0% to 6.3% (first measurement period) and 11.4% to 4.8% (second measurement period).

The southbound results show much the same improvements:

Average speed dropped from 30mph to 28.9mph.
Those complying with the speed limit increased from 51.7% to 55.3%.
Those exceeding 40mph dropped from 3.2% to 1.2%.

The statistics do show that when the display is switched on behaviour can be changed quite dramatically, but it doesn’t last more than a couple of days before speeds creep up again.

Q5. Does traffic speed vary by time of day?

A5. From about 7am through to around 4pm speeds are fairly constant. After 4pm speeds increase and at 9pm to 10pm one third of traffic exceeds 40mph and average speed (northbound) increases towards 40mph. Southbound results are much less dramatic.
Even so, at 8am/9am when the children are going to school around 10% of northbound drivers are exceeding 40mph and between 3pm and 4pm the figure is around 7%. Average speed northbound at these times is 32/33mph. The fastest 15% of drivers are exceeding 38mph at these times.

Southbound drivers are averaging about 30mph at these times with only 1 or 2% of drivers exceeding 40mph.

Q6. What do we do now?

A6. It is proposed that an Action Plan be drawn up and agreed by a number of parties including the Parish Council, the Police and the school. Any other interested parties could also be included. The results from the Parish Plan questionnaire also need to be factored in.

Grove Hill is not the only traffic issue in the parish. Boskenso corner needs consideration (bad visibility) as does the traffic speed through Penwarne which is being monitored by PC Whyte. There may be others.

During its preparation the plan needs to be discussed with Cornwall county Council Highways Department and County Councillor Neil Hatton.

Ultimately, decisions will need to be taken about what traffic calming measures (if any) are possible/affordable/desirable and how/who will implement them.

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First Responders

Five people from the village have almost completed a training course to become medical First Responders, who will be able to give help to heart attack victims in the precious few minutes before the ambulance arrives.

Now Operational !!

Advice - if you need to call out an ambulance, make sure that you tell them where you are - this can save precious minutes.

In the day, get someone to stand by your gate;

At night, put all your house lights on

 

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