Dormouse scuppers Morrisons plan for Wadebridge

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. This is the important principle which looks as if it's going to become a crucial factor in the "battle of the supermarkets" currently raging in Wadebridge, where Sainsbury's and Morrisons are racing to develop new sites to the north of the town and Tesco is seeking expansion to the south.

Morrisons wants to build on the existing Wadebridge Football Club ground. Part of the deal is a new football site outside and to the west of the town at Bodieve. The proposed new football site is due to come before planners on Thursday and is a "make-or-break" element of the supermarket project: no new football club, no Morrisons.

The 10.5-acre site at Bodieve is currently agricultural and - possibly - home to a handful of dormice. Dormice are now so rare that they are on the list of European Protected Species and it is against the law to disturb their habitat. No-one has seen any dormice on the site but that doesn't matter - they have been seen just over a mile away and so there is a risk that they might take offence at the construction of six football pitches, floodlighting, changing facilities and 70 car parking spaces.

And so, notwithstanding what planning officer Gavin Smith sees as the community benefit of a new sporting facility, which is supported by both Sport England and the Football Association, he is recommending a refusal of permission:

"In the absence of the opportunity for the planning authority to consider the impact on a protected species as a material consideration, I am of the opinion that permission
cannot be granted to this application."

Supporters of the proposed new football site are now desperately hoping that a dormouse survey, due to be completed by November, will prove that no dormouse will be harmed by the project.

Meanwhile planners are soon to consider the Sainsbury's application, just yards from the existing Wadebridge Football Club (where Morrisons wants to go), at Higher Trenant. The proposed Sainsbury's site is on land owned by Cornwall Council.

Those councillors who are keen to sell to Sainsbury's, and cash in on a surplus asset in order to benefit Cornwall's council taxpayers, might now discover a new interest in nature conservation in general and the protection of dormice in particular.

Bill Jenkin remanded

Just heard that Cornwall councillor Bill Jenkin, facing sexual assault charges, has been remanded on bail by West Cornwall magistrates until 2nd September. No plea taken at this morning's hearing.

Neil Plummer quits Independent group for MK

Cornwall councillor Neil Plummer has resigned from the Independent group and joined Mebyon Kernow. I suspect it's unlikely that he'll resign his Stithians seat and fight a by-election under his new colours, but it's nevertheless a move which might have some knock-on effects on committee memberships and appointments to outside organisations. Neil says he found himself increasingly out of step with the Independent group, claiming some senior members "appeared to want to control the way I voted."

Who on Earth can he mean?

Miliband-the-younger vows to save Cornwall

If Ed Miliband becomes leader of the Labour Party next month, we can expect "the Cornish question" to move up the political agenda, even if only slightly.

Miliband was on BBC Radio Cornwall this morning saying he supported "absolutely" the campaign to maintain whole Parliamentary constituencies within Cornwall and would therefore be voting against the coalition government's Parliamentary Voting and Constituencies Bill.

Only a cynic would suggest that Ed's distaste for this Bill has anything to do with the fact that it would also abolish many of the smaller constituencies which just happen to be, currently, safe Labour seats in the north of England. You can read the Bill here.

We don't yet know how the other Labour leadership hopefuls feel about constituency boundaries, but I suspect that on this issue they all speak with one voice. I am less confident when it comes to forecasting how Cornwall's six coalition MPs will vote.

The Cornsh Zetetics blogger has an interesting post on the subject. I wonder if any mischievous Parliamentary troublemakers will table the sort of "hands off Cornwall" amendment which he suggests:

"At present paragraph 9.3 (1) of Part 2 of the bill reads - Each constituency shall be wholly in one of the four parts of the UK (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland)

This sentence needs amending to read

Each constituency shall be wholly in one of the five parts of the UK (England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Cornwall)"

An important number in the weeks ahead will the one which tells us the size of the Tory rebellion. Enough to bring down the coalition?

Cornwall's Conservative MPs are generally in favour of the constituency boundaries part of the Bill but opposed to that part of it which seeks a referendum of the Alternative Vote electoral system. The Lib Dem MPs want a change in the voting system and a review of boundary changes. But both Conservative and Lib Dems have said they want to save Cornwall and so are opposed to boundary changes which would effectively sell Saltash and Torpoint to Plymouth.

If there is a form of words which will deliver all of these things, in a single Bill, to both sides of the coalition, I can't imagine what it looks like. Any suggestions?

Welcome, Councillor Mary McWilliams

Congratulations to Lib Dem candidate Mary McWilliams, who polled 427 votes in a Redruth Town council by-election to beat the only other candidate, Labour's Linda Moore, who got 139.

Mary is almost certainly the first ever black woman to get elected as a councillor in Cornwall. In one of the least racially diverse parts of Britain, where black and Asian people still account for less than 1% of the population (2.3% average in the South West and 9.1% in England), Mary's achievement should not go unrecognised.

Perhaps not quite as historic as President Obama now leading the United States of America but a milestone nonetheless. Incidentally, African Americans make up 14% of the population in the USA.

Nick spills the beans about Dave's Cornish holiday

With Downing Street still characteristically "secret for security reasons" about the Prime Minister's holiday plans, it's the Deputy Prime Minister I have to thank for telling me when David Cameron will visit Cornwall.

Hansard records that Nick Clegg told the House of Commons:

"The PM will take his vacation in the second half of August."

Mr Cameron told us in early July he would soon be returning to Cornwall for his holiday. Two years ago the Cameron family spent their vacation near Harlyn Bay, Padstow. I understand the Prime Minister has booked two weeks' leave and I expect he will once again spend his holiday on Cornwall's north coast. Samantha Cameron is due to give birth in September.

Nick Clegg is currently spending his family holiday in Spain but will be back in the UK, ready willing and able to "hold the fort" (his words) while Dave is making sandcastles on the beach.

Quarterly headcount stats: jobs freeze starts to bite

My thanks to Cornwall Council for the latest batch of statistics:

Total headcount March 31 2010: 20,963

Total headcount June 30 2010: 19,970

Headline fall: 993

After a slow start, the freeze on recruitment now seems to be having some impact - with 1,077 fewer employees now than at the end of September 2009. I suspect there may be quite a time lag between staff departures and the collation of the statistics. A literal interpretation of the most recent quarter implies people are now leaving at the rate of 330 per month,or about ten per day. That would be quite a stampede. In any event, getting headcount down to below 20,000 marks a significant milestone.