Last
week was a bad week for the LibDem/Independent administration at Cornwall Council.
The BT Cornwall contract is headed for the courts and Falmouth residents turned up at County Hall to protest the closure of the Ships and Castle Leisure Centre only to be told that the leader had removed the item from the agenda.
The Cabinet then pressed the button for a surf tax
( linked to number of surf boards) with effect from the beginning of next
season.
This will:
*send the wrong message about Cornwall as a tourist destination
*may be dogged by legal challenge
*raises hardly any money after administration costs
*sets the Council up
as standing behind surf schools and how they conduct their lessons,
raising expectations which it is ill equipped to satisfy.
The Council is
now presenting the scheme as a necessary 'health and safety' initiative rather than their original purpose of making money.
However, those users of Council beaches would seem potentially more at
risk from swimming in sewage. When challenged on
that risk the Leader laughingly brushed it off as the responsibility of
SW Water (even though users are entering the water by traversing Council
beaches).
Well, neither are the
waves under the control of Cornwall Council. When it was pointed out
that the public are more at risk from hiring surf boards from businesses
which do not supervise their use, the Portfolio holder said that the
Council were looking at regulating that too!
Next stop; Building Control will be looking at the risks to the public from building their own sandcastles?
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