Sunday, February 06, 2011
Monday, March 22, 2010
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Saturday, September 06, 2008
parish tram issue 22
Ty Pennington the Hollywood film and TV Star made quite an impression on the Portreath community in May. The end result of a manic week is a play park the village can be proud of.
The week started on the 12th May when the TV Company, TwoFour Productions rolled into the village in a huge Winnebago, which was parked up at the Portreath Arms. TwoFour worked from the vehicle and also based their HQ at St Mary’s Church Hall. Work proper started on the 13th with the arrival of Ty Pennington who made a grand entrance into Sunnyvale Road Playground and was immediately surrounded by the very excitable village kids. He finished the tour of the playground on top of the old climbing frame still surrounded by kids and promised that with the help of the community he would transform our well used but often flooded and very tired park into a much better area.
That evening work began and from that day until the 21st the park became a hive of industry. As well as local contractors, there were volunteers from the local community and Kerrier District Council officers beavering away day and night.
The project came to an end on the afternoon of the 21st with the unveiling of the park. Ty Pennington cut the ribbon accompanied by Captain Gordon Greenslade and Connie Trewella. The park was given its own name, chosen by public suggestions, of Greenslade Park. This is a very old local name and Gordon and Connie Trewella nee: Greenslade were both very touched by the tribute to their family.
At the cutting of the ribbon the Park was flooded by the local community, all equipment was well tested and the planting admired. Overall impressions were extremely positive.
Those of us involved in the project over the last 18 months are delighted that a project that was probably going to take years to complete has been accomplished in very short order, to a higher specification than we could have possibly thought possible.
There were so many people involved it really is impossible to name everybody. I think suffice to say, all involved, in whatever capacity, can be very proud of the achievement they contributed to.The TV Company and Ty were very impressed with the community spirit in Portreath.
A BIG ThankYou to all involved.
A list of contributors has been supplied by the TV Company; I hope all involved are mentioned. I will also publish the list on the Parish Tram web site, so if you wish to be mentioned please email me and I will add your name.
Chris Watts
Contractors and Contributors
auger& hammer, alterain fork li
Alan Mills - Cedar Shingles
B&Q - Slabs of Granite
Brandon Tool Hire - Large building equipment & tool hire
Bur-Mar Skips - Large builder skips + waste disposal
Burncoose Nurseries – Plants
Ben Cantellow – Shingle Roof Structure
Cardon Plant Hire - Generator &flood lights
Cob in Cornwall - Cob Wall build
Cornish Fixings - Wood, fixings, oil and many other items.
Cornish Timber - Supply of Green oak seats
Cornwall Wood Treatment Services Ltd - Treated Timber
Ellerslee Ltd. Mike Burke – Picnic Table
CWT - Timber edging for wet pour
DHL - Delivery of Turf
DMT - Labour
English Willow - Willow
Goovean Quarry - 9 tonnes of granite, 38 tonnes of 803,
5 tonnes 20mm to dust, 7 tonnes of aggregate and haulage
Gwel-an-Mor – Producon crew accommodaon
HSS - Generator for Ginsters
Illogan Womens Instutue – Party Food
James Eddy - Local arst - Grass steps, mounds and willow
Jewsons - Stand pipe& water bowser
Kerrier District Council – Staff me and equipment
Keyline - Drainage equipment
Lile Green Paint Co - Paint for mural, swings & fencing
Lizard Tractors - Shroma 204S, mini tractor with stone burrier and front loader
Contractors and Contributors
Mackerel bus designers - Park sign
Mark Harrod Ltd - Goal posts etc
Microcomms - Equipment
Mid Cornwall Landscaping - Ball Stop fence installaon
MMC - Sharp sand
Naonal Loery - Funding
Neil Hart - Sub soil, sand and top soil
Nicolas Rowell Haulage - Delivery of Red Clay
North West Turf - Stadium Turf
Portreath Bakery - Pases
Portreath Garden Machinery - Equipment
Portreath Parish Council - Funding
Portreath Improvements Commiee – Funding
Portreath Surf Life Saving Club -
Premier Signs South West - The zone sign
Proludic – Play equipment
Promenade Café – Tea and coffee for the whole week.
QMS - Line markings
Selwood - Skip loading mini dumper
Steve Kendall – Gate construcon and installaon
Snow Timber - Wood for gate
SucliffePlay – Play equipment
The Stone Yard - 320 x Granite ses
Travis Perkins - Sand, aggregate, chippings and cement
TraxGroundworks - Works for drainage of five-a-side pitch
Trevenson Moor Garden Centre - Plants
Trewithen Nursery - Plants
West Frogwell Farm - Straw bales
Petition to allow Cornwall to have its own Centre of excellence for cancer surgery.
In November 2007 Cornwall county council approved the transfer of some cancer services out of Cornwall removing the choice from cancer patients to get treatment close to their homes families and friends.
This means that;
A. Upper gastro-intestinal cancer surgery
B. Head and neck (including ear, nose and throat, oral
and facial) cancer surgery
C. Complex gynaecological cancer surgery
Can be withdrawn and moved to Exeter or Plymouth.
A cancer centre should be provided in Cornwall not only in Devon.
Government and N. I. C. E. (National Institute for clinical excellence) guidance will allow this.
It is difficult enough dealing with cancer, without the stress of travelling 100 miles away to receive treatment. Please sign to keep cancer care in Cornwall.
We want a first-rate service in our county.
This petition is organised by “The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly cancer patient and carer group”
c/o Rose Woodward, The Bungalow, West Cliff, Porthtowan, TR4 8AE
The petition is available to sign in the Post Office until Friday 18th July
Keep cancer care in Cornwall
Oil Burners Unite
Many properties in Portreath use oil for central heating and hot water. With the oil prices spiralling as they are it makes sense to buy in bulk. I am forming a collective group to do this and the savings are worthwhile.
Based on a collective of 20 customers with a delivery of 500 litres each the savings would be 3.5p per litre, a saving of £17.50. More members more savings.
The only disadvantage would
be co-ordinating the fuel deliveries. All collective members
would have to take delivery in
the same week, so good communication and tank monitoring
Felicidades’: Portreath top Spanish school
IT’S a huge “felicidades” – that’s congratulations in English – to Portreath School who have just been named Spanish School of the Year.
The school was visited by two representatives of the Spanish consulate on Thursday, after being shortlisted as one of five for the title. The visit proved highly successful, with the school declared the winners.
Head teacher John Whetter was thrilled. He said: “We’re all very excited and very proud of the achievement. It’s a fantastic accolade. The two ladies who visited were really impressed with what they saw.
“We introduced Spanish into the curriculum a couple of years ago.
“All schools have to teach a modern foreign language by 2010 and we decided to start it early. The children love it.
“This year we’ve had several staff go to Malaga for training. Several staff have been to Spain on Spanish learning courses.”
As a result of the achievement, two of Portreath teachers will travel to the Spanish consulate for the presentation
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Letters to the Editor
How stupid does Mr Haslam of Gwel an Mor, think the people of Portreath are! You can buy some of the people but not all of the people.
How dare he in a recent article say he knew of no opposition to his proposed development?
He knows full well of the growing anger a lot of local people are feeling who are decidedly against his plans.'
Why is he being given so much free publicity in local papers? Is this another form of brainwashing?
Does he think we care so little about our village that we will let him ruin it with a plague of out of character chalets reminiscent of Butlins?
A noisy tower block dominating the hillside, and even more noise and light pollution from the ski slope, which I believe to be a red herring.
As we all know if you want 500 chalets apply for something ridiculous like a ski slope,
when it's turned down you end up with consent for 500 chalets which you would not normally be allowed to build,
locals think they have triumphed & Mr Haslam continues to scatter chalets
all over the farm land he is busy buying up, more people noise and light pollution.
The jobs he offers are not real employment, some workers will be kept on through the year but the majority will be laid off after 5 months
at the end of the season as Gwel an Mor has no more to offer than many any other places who struggle through off season months.
It is quite clear Mr Haslam does not care for our village or its people; if he did he would not put this proposed blight on us.
We are just another investment opportunity which when finished will be sold for many millions leaving us as always the poorer.
If you feel as passionately as I do about this CALL KERRIER PLANNING NOW. It's no good moaning later!
Pamella Christ
Dear Editor
The active PR machinery for the developer of Gwel an Mor, has meant that he has received a large amount of free advertising and publicity in the local media. Unfortunately, the worries of those people who have doubts about the proposals for the development of Feadon Farm have not been given equal attention by the media. Reading the PR publicity gives the impression that all is on course, and that every one thinks the planning proposals are wonderful. However, there have been so many doubts, objectors, reports called for on 'grey' areas, etc, that discussion of the plans at a Planning Meeting has been delayed until at least November, although the application went in to Kerrier in April.
The proposed development is outside the village 'envelope' – a reason previously used many times by local planning authorities to reject immediately any domestic applications to build. Why should Mr Haslem's project be treated differently?
If the building of these holiday lodges is allowed to go ahead then a precedent will be created that could open the floodgates for further holiday developments on local green field farmland. Too much development of this kind will mean that the peaceful, unspoilt countryside and beautiful rugged charm of Cornwall will be lost, cancelling out the reasons that holiday makers come here. Does the village community really want Portreath to become an exploited place of second homes and holiday development, all at prices too high for local people to afford?
In his own publicity the developer has described the village of Portreath as uncommercialised, historical and peaceful- yet he proposes to commercialise Feadon Farm with an all year round holiday attraction, unsympathetically sited within an area that has just been given World Heritage status. The historic Tram route, the Incline, Feadon Woods and Illogan Woods, will all be swallowed up inside his development, which is criss-crossed by public footpaths and bridleways that are popular with local people. There have not, as yet, been adequate archaeological surveys on the area covered by the development.
The high density of the existing lodge development can already be seen from the road approaching Portreath along North Cliffs, from Green Lane, Lighthouse Hill, Forth Vean, Belerian Road, and Treleigh. If the development goes ahead the number of lodges will be doubled to 120. An 'observation tower' the height of a four-story building is planned to go on the proposed conference centre. The development will have a visual impact on the village which the aerial views of the plans does not make clear. (This was the case with the present development- the plans we all saw did not mention that some lodges would be built on top of platforms to give them a sea view – which means that they overlook homes and invade privacy)
The developer's publicity plays down the impact of the extra traffic that will be generated by his holiday guests and daily users of the golf course, fishing lakes, ski slope, conference centre and equestrian centre. The surrounding roads are narrow, and the connections with the A30 imperfect. A report on the Kerrier planning web-site shows that Highways & Transport Officers have reservations. Portreath Parish Council has asked that more consideration is given to the safety and visibility of the entrance shown on the present plans, which also serves 19 private residential homes. Even the existing signs make it appear that these privately owned properties are part of Gwel an Mor.
Another report on the web-site raises questions about flies. The public footpath goes past the 'runs' for the pet hotel. The planned stables will be very close to the other planned facilities and the existing lodges. There will be a lot of manure from thirty horses! The developer has said that he plans to use the Tram and the Country Park to give riding lessons. (The Plans show less than the recommended amount of grazing per horse) The horses may also use Portreath beach. At the moment dog-owners are fined if they do not clean up dog mess. There are no rules for clearing horse mess.
The proposed ski slope will have a huge environmental footprint. Natural land will be covered with plastic, which will have water continually pumped around it to keep it damp. This will affect the natural drainage flow. There will be a chair lift and floodlighting. The slope ends on the perimeter of Illogan Woods, which has many varieties of wildlife. The only consideration of local wildlife seems to be to exploit them as an added attraction with invasive video cameras relaying pictures from bat boxes and badger holes etc. to the lodges.
Most of the jobs promised at Gwel an Mor will be seasonal and/or part time. Camborne & Redruth will change out of all recognition over the next few years because of all the planned building of affordable homes, housing estates, and commercial opportunities. CPR Regeneration already has solid plans for hotels, leisure and sports centres and conference facilities that will bring a sustainable employment base into the community. All these extra people in the area will, no doubt, want to access the facilities of Portreath and its beach. The difference will be that, as local residents, they will be helping to pay for the infrastructure of the area through Council Tax and Water Rates etc.!
The expansion of Gwel an Mor is a huge commercial project. It will affect the whole village community of Portreath. Obviously, the quality of life will change most for those of us who live closest to it. We have already suffered more than three long years of the mess and noise from the development of 60 lodges. Fields surrounding our properties have been used to store building materials, and to site caravans for the immigrant workers. Constant movement of delivery lorries, trucks and 'plant' vehicles has meant that our access has been alternately a sea of mud and a dust bath. Promises made for weekly road cleaning and for car-wash vouchers have not been kept. The thought of another 4yrs of construction is not a happy one. If the plans go ahead we will find ourselves owning homes that are sited in the middle of a holiday attraction.
If this scheme is allowed to go ahead, the character and charm of Portreath will change for ever. It is not too late to write to Kerrier with your Planning objections.
Feadon Residents Group
c/o 3 Marina Court
Dear Editor
Mr Haslam from Gwel an Mor has promoted his development in the last edition of the Tram and has had numerous reports in the local papers and on the radio. Although there has been many letters sent to the papers, only twice has anything been printed against the development.
No-one denies that the builders and the interior designer have done a magnificent job, the impact and density of the lodges is the problem with the site at present. They can be seen from the road along North Cliff, Green Lane, Lighthouse Hill, Forth Vean, Belerion Road, Treleigh and the sea. Nothing can be done to change this but if there is more development in this part of the countryside it will be spoilt for ever.
The ski slope and some of the proposed buildings may not be seen but others will be visible. The height of the conference centre makes it visible for miles. The proposed buildings are outside the village 'envelope' – if these holiday lodges are allowed there will be no reason to stop anyone building holiday accommodation outside the 'envelope' – do we want Lighthouse Hill and Green Lane etc. spoilt in this way?
Employment is needed in Cornwall but our young people need and want more than the tourist industry, they need skilled careers, manufacturing etc. Businesses do not have to be in big cities with the technology of today. Cornwall is becoming saturated with holiday sites which mean that the reasons visitors come to Cornwall are fast disappearing. Cornwall is rugged, beautiful, unspoilt countryside, beaches and peace – once this has gone it can never be replaced.
Some regular visitors who have seen the plans, the site and the various articles have said that Portreath will no longer attract them if the development goes ahead; the village in all publicity is described as uncommercialised, historical and peaceful. This will no longer be the case.
The ski slope will not provide alternate interest to holiday makers – if it rains people want to be inside. Also the ski slope will affect the natural habitat and water dispersion in the area; even though the surface is not solid it will still stop the water soaking into the ground so well therefore affecting the houses in Primrose Terrace.
So much development would change the wildlife activity in the area where they have been free to roam for years, you can't tell a badger, sloe worm, or fox not to worry – the buildings will be finished in a couple of years and then it will be peaceful again!
If the conference centre is used to the capacity required to make it viable, the increase in traffic all around the village will be tremendous, Cot Road, Penpraze, Tregea Hill, Beach Road and Penberthy Road are dangerous enough at present.
A mini bus to take the residents to the beach is fine in theory but if it rains and there are 30 people on the beach – all 30 want to be away – how would the remainder be looked after?
The first bar/restaurant is now open on the site – this will take business away from the village, grocery deliveries are from Tesco/Sainsbury again not helping the village. There are two golf courses within 6 miles of the site.
The plans have stabling for 30 horses – our bridle ways have not been laid out for this amount of horses – or their manure. The pet hotel - as the dogs will have to be outside some of the time the barking will echo around the valleys, this is not the same as the cows mooing, a couple of donkeys having a neigh or the cockerels crowing.
Please consider the future of Portreath and ask the Council not to allow these plans.
Yours sincerely
Some of the Residents Against Gwel an Mor
The Editor,
I would like to take the opportunity to use the tram to give Portreath an update on our plans at Gwel an Mor and to comment on a few of the wild rumours that appear to be circulating.
Firstly the rumours, the planned dry ski slope will not be swooping down into the village as someone complained to me recently, for anyone that saw our plans when we revealed them at the Consultation weekend you would have seen clearly that the slope is nestled into a small valley in one of the grazing fields of the farm, in fact we do not believe its possible to view the slope from any where in the village.
The second rumour I heard was that we planned "hundreds of holiday homes" on the site. Firstly this is not the case our plans are for sixty in total and I really can't see why commercially we would want more, we believe that with our planned activities that this number of lodges will still keep the peaceful and spacious feel our first customers have all approved of so much.
We have worked very hard with Kerrier planning on various research and consultancy reports dealing with everything from Bats, Badgers and Owls, Woodland and Nature through to Traffic and Highways all of which have come back in support of our plans and ideas. Yes there are objectors, maybe some of whom are starting these rumours, there are some that regard us as competition and of course some genuine people concerned quite rightly for their village, but we have also collected 700 signatures, letters and notices supporting our plans from the local community.
Please let me assure you all, we intend to build a business that Portreath will be proud of, the Conference centre, Golf, Equestrian Centre and other activities are necessary to build a business that will provide all year round income and in doing so would also provide all year round jobs, we have very few bookings for November, and January, a conference centre would change this dramatically.
As ever If any of you wish to discuss our plans or meet me personally I am happy to arrange this if you call Gwel an Mor on 01209 842354 our staff will arrange it.
Kind regards,
Bill Haslam
Gwel an Mor
Thursday, August 16, 2007
PHOTOGRAPHS AND ARTEFACTS EVOKE BYGONE AGE
Memories were jogged as Portreath turned back the clock to mark its industrial heritage.Villagers searched their homes and dusted off hundreds of pictures and artefacts from a bygone age as part of a celebration of the mineral tramways dotted around former mining communities.
The memorabilia was displayed at Millennium Hall, Portreath, during a special three-day exhibition that ended on Sunday.
While several of the old photographs evoked an era when the harbour was packed with sailing ships, one conjured up memories of a familiar sight during the late mining years.
Taken in the 1950s, it captured the Isleman, the last Portreath boat to sail out of the harbour with stocks of tin and copper.
At the weekend, its former captain, Gordon Greenslade, now in his mid-90s, attended the exhibition to remember his time on the Bain-owned vessel.
Groups including King Edward Mine and the Trevithick Society lent various items to the parish council, which ran the display and a festival of other events.
The exhibition also featured 150-year-old canon balls that once formed part of the village's armoury against invaders at its former gun battery.
They were discovered by Robert Hamer after he bought Battery House, the turreted, hill-top property that overlooks Gull Rock out at sea.
Doug Coates, one of the festival's organisers, said one collection of old photographs had certainly got tongues wagging.
Mr Coates said: "Kate Shaw's father, John Martin, had collected pictures of the characters and people of Portreath - and they created a huge amount of interest. Former and present residents of the villages were fascinated."
The appeal for photographic slices of village history first went out 12 months ago, with the final two pictures donated on the opening day of the exhibition.
In the run-up to the event, Portreath staged a series of mining demonstrations and workshops, including two run by West Briton photographer Colin Higgs.
Mr Coates said he and his fellow organisers were delighted to have seen up to 400 visitors at the three-day exhibition. "The village has given us absolutely tremendous cooperation. We now have World Heritage status which is a boost for tourism. This was a fantastic way of getting the story over."
LIFE-SAVERS THROW WEIGHT BEHIND £28M EXPANSION
09:00 - 16 August 2007 
Portreath's biggest club is throwing its support behind £28 million plans to expand a holiday village.As planners prepare to determine the proposals for Gwel an Mor, surf life-savers said they believed the project would boost fortunes for the holiday village.
The planning application earmarks a dry ski slope, a major new conference facility, a nine-hole golf course, an equestrian centre and more holiday lodges.
Bill Haslam, who owns Gwel an Mor, joked that a few local opponents had described the proposed development as "hell and more" when the master plan was unveiled earlier this year.
Now Portreath Surf Life Saving Club has countered the concerns by formally writing to Kerrier Council in favour of the scheme, with chairman Rob Phillips collecting supporting signatures from the club's 300-plus members.
"We like to think we are as much at the heart of the Portreath community as anybody and we are absolutely convinced that the opponents are a very small number indeed," said Mr Phillips.
"I cannot recall speaking to anyone who is actually against it.
"We have studied this scheme very closely and have had extensive talks with Bill Haslam and we feel certain that it will be a major boost for the area in so many ways.
"The range and quality of the facilities proposed are way beyond whatever we are likely to have proposed for Portreath by anyone else, and I would say 95% of the village is right behind it.
"We are a fast developing club and we are very confident that we can continue to grow in tandem with Gwel an Mor."
Mr Phillips said residents of the holiday village would soon be able to log on to scenes of the beach as part of a web-cam initiative that aims to promote Portreath on the Internet.
Mr Haslam says his development would create up to 120 new jobs and provide a £3 million boost for the local economy.
The first phase of Gwel an Mor, including 28 holiday lodges and club house, opened last year. A further 32 lodges are being built.
In June, Portreath Parish Council supported the latest expansion proposals, subject to various conditions.
At its meeting, a handful of local residents said they believed the planned development would blight the appearance of the village.
Mr Haslam said: "I am hoping for early planning approval so that we can start work on the project by the end of the year and be up and running by 2010. It involves a range of all-year-round facilities that will offer something for everyone - with a tremendous boost to the local community and its economy."
The plans are expected to be considered by Kerrier Council next month.
