At the last parish council meeting Brenda suggested that I might describe the work of the parish council, what we do, what happens at our meetings and our responsibilities.

Our meetings happen every month apart from August. Agendas are posted on the village notice boards at least a week prior to the meeting. If parishioners have matters they wish to bring to our attention then this can be done by contacting a councillor by phone or email. In addition the first fifteen minutes of each meeting is dedicated to a community public clinic. Our county and district councillors attend the meetings, as does our community police officer. We welcome your views and concerns and will endeavour to discuss them in the main part of the meeting. If this is not possible then the issue will move to the next months meeting as an agenda item.

We are all volunteers and bring a wide range of expertise to the business of the council. We have an excellent and very experienced clerk who deals with all of our administration and correspondence.

One councillor is responsible for the village footpaths; he checks them regularly to ensure they are passable and tidy. A report is made to each meeting and the council decides on necessary action for clearing and seasonal cutting. From time to time councillors organise litter-picking sessions in the village, we are investigating options to possibly employ a litter-picker!

The council monthly reviews environmental matters relating to the village, this includes traffic and roads and pavements, litter and waste, dog fouling and bins, the playing field developments and CRAG, and matters relating to damage and vandalism. A few years ago we took on the responsibility for the Pound Field and building, slowly we have developed the field, there is still much to do and the building has been cleared and renovated. The next stage is to look at how this site might be further developed into an environmental resource for the community. A major part of our discussions is dedicated to the United Mines Landfill site and recently the odours emanating from the site. We have been very active in raising the alarm over the smells ensuring that our complaints are officially lodged with the Environment Agency, Julia Goldsworthy MP, SITA and both district councils. The site is due to formally close in October 2010 although the site will continue to be managed for a further 25 years. The parish council is aware of previous controversial planning applications for the site and with our county and district councillors maintain a watching brief to ensure last minute applications for further extensions do not occur. We do urge you complain about any odours and contact details are listed below.

The allotments fall under our jurisdiction although the site is managed by Kerrier District Council and the allotments committee. The parish council regular receives requests for equipment and support for the allotments, which we are happy to fulfill where possible.

An important part of our work is that of regeneration. Over the life of the previous council a great deal of effort was put into discussions and meetings relating to the Mining Villages Regeneration and the Mineral Tramways project. Both provide much needed funding and expertise in the development of initiatives to improve village facilities and enhance footpaths and re-instate tramways for walkers, cyclists and horse-riders. All the mining village trail leaflets including that for Carharrack have proved very popular indeed.

As a council we fund the parish magazine but maintain the belief that the magazine should ‘be in the hands’ of parishioners. We know it is a challenging task to edit and get the magazine to the printers on time and the council is very grateful for the work of Les and Brenda Moulson.

The council regularly receives requests for financial support and we aim to provide financial grants where possible, especially for village-based projects such as the playing field development, the new youth club, the Mills Hall and others.

Each month the council receives copies of planning applications made to Kerrier relating to the village. Like yourselves we are invited to give our views, we do not make the final decisions, that is the work of Kerrier. As I have said before sometimes our views are ‘heard’, on other occasions they are not.

I hope this has been a useful but brief description of our work. There is still much to do and we are in the process of attempting to produce a development plan, which we hope you will be able to contribute to by completing the questionnaire in the middle of the magazine. Each councillor has a specified delivery round for the parish magazines and our view is that this is their ward! My phone number and email address are listed below but please do feed back concerns, issues and even praise either to your delivery councillor, your nearest councillor or myself. We may not have all of the answers, we may not be able to solve all of the problems but we will try.

May I wish you and your families a very Happy Christmas, may it be peaceful and relaxed wherever you may be.

Richard Carter
Chair – Carharrack Parish Council