We have reached the end of this 4-year cycle of the Councils throughout Cornwall. All Town and Parish Councillors are up for election, as are all Cornwall Councillors, and the election is on 1st May 2025. All those who have chosen to vote by post will get their forms in mid-April after the nominations have closed. Please be aware that to vote in person you will need personal identification.
This past year has been ‘different’. Certain planning applications have caused some anger with residents and Parish Councils—the Solar Farm at Canworthy Water, the wind farm at Cold Northcott (Laneast), and the proposal for a Geo-Thermal power plant at Tregath near Camelford have all been very eventful for me. And to top that off, we had the road closure in Camelford for 5 weeks during July. I received several angry phone calls from people—but the numbers were withheld. None were threatening, but quite disturbing, to say the least.
Over the last year, I attended 35 Cornwall Council meetings in Truro or Bodmin. I attended one virtually. On top of that, I joined two online training meetings every month. I sit on the East Cornwall Planning Committee, the Audit Committee, the Standards Committee, and the Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Committee. I have 13 parishes in this division, and I attend as many Parish and Town Council meetings as I can—which works out to between 2 and 3 every week. From Advent to Warbstow, Boscastle to Tresmeer, and St Gennys to St Clether—and everything in between—which, as you can imagine, keeps me quite busy. But I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting so many lovely people. People who work hard for their communities. Volunteers who give their time freely and without any complaints. To you all: a very big thank you. In these very troubling times, we need you.
Over the last year, I have travelled over 16,000 miles, and about 90% of those were on council business—not necessarily attending meetings, but visiting people in their homes to help with planning issues, damp walls, neighbour problems (very few of them, thankfully). Speeding is a very big issue everywhere, and I find it unbelievable that some drivers just don’t care about other road users. Pedestrians, cyclists, and horse riders are all targets for these very selfish people. They are very few and far between—thankfully—but it only takes a few seconds to cause a massive accident that takes lives or causes serious, life-changing injuries.
Another big problem I get is potholes, and the damage they cause to vehicles. I find it difficult to understand the attitude of some Council officers when they deny compensation to an affected driver. I am still working on one for a resident, but I don’t hold out much hope. As Councillors, we have to be very careful how we talk to officers because they become easily offended—and I’ve had two slapped wrists recently! And now, with the election looming, we have little or no recourse.
For the last 4 years, we have had £3,000 a year as a Community Chest to donate to local groups. Over the last year, I’ve used that to support:
- Little Otters Children’s Centre
- The Old Bank, Camelford
- Boscastle Community Interest Company
- Sir James Smith School
- St Clether Parish Meeting
- St Clether Church
- Camelford & District Bowls Club
- Otterham Short Mat Bowls Club
- Forrabury & Minster Parish Council for their play area
Over the last 8 years as a Cornwall Councillor, I have been able to grant £20,000 to this community to help with their projects.
Over the last 2 years, with the CLUP and SPF funding, I was able to get over £450,000 into this area—Camelford Leisure Centre, The Old Bank (which helps so many people), Nourish Kernow, Marshgate (for the new café), and many more. Now, hopefully, another grant for Boscastle, which I will know more about very soon. So in total, this area has benefitted greatly—but compared to the amount of money lavished west of Bodmin, we get very little. Mainly because we are such a rural area.
But I will never give up the fight to get more funding and support for our beautiful area of North Cornwall. We must keep protecting our green and pleasant land from overdevelopment. We do need houses that are affordable to buy and rent, and that must be rigorously controlled by the Council. Affordable means affordable—£1,200 a month to rent and £250,000 to buy is not affordable. We must make sure that local people have the chance to live well, to grow in a community that cares, and not one governed by greed.
If you have any comments, or would like any help or information—if I don’t know, I’ll know someone who does—please don’t hesitate to contact me:
📧 cllr.barry.jordan@cornwall.gov.uk
☎️ 01840 230048 (home)
📱 07799 790813 (mobile)
If I’m not available, please leave a message, and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
