What an extraordinary interview Lee Trewhela had with our town’s all but invisible MP last week!

She belatedly discovers that her own party’s off street parking charges for businesses constitute modern day highway robbery and then says she is “shocked”! Well, aren’t we all? Shocked to that she didn’t know.

Here we have a policy implemented by our Conservative County Council, forced to scrabble money from wherever it can because for 13 years her party in Westminster has sucked the life blood out of local government financing, and which then hypocritically criticises local councils for failing to deliver services adequately.

One case I know, a small business pays the equivalent of 6 weeks rent a year just to park their van in the open air. In my own case, a few hours attending a voluntary organisation recently cost me £4.50. Why does she think shoppers will pay this when they can park for free at out of town supermarkets?

But it gets worse. She then attacks the town council, and Labour councillors in particular, for implementing a policy put in place by, once again, her own party!

David Cameron introduced “Localism”, ground up decision making, the corner stone of which is the preparation of a Neighbourhood Plan by local people of all, and no, political persuasions.

After a gargantuan, lengthy process of research, consultation and hard work, many local people produced a document that is examined by and then approved by, you’ve guessed it, her own government!

After the Conservatives rubber stamped it, it was put to a local referendum and adopted by an extraordinary 93% majority, with only 7% against.

What does this plan say about the Church Street Car Park? That is should be put to other uses – Policy TC2.

So when she attacks this decision, it isn’t Labour councillors she is criticising, it is all the people of this town who put in long unpaid hours seeing through a key Conservative Policy.

Worth remembering that the previous Falmouth and Penryn Community Plan, also exhaustively prepared and consulted, also came to the same conclusion, namely that using prime recreation space for cars and tarmac and filling the narrow streets with polluting vehicles isn’t perhaps the best use of this asset.

All of this is a direct parallel with the Conservatives weird behaviour over ULEZ in London.

London’s Conservative Mayor, Boris Johnson, to great fanfare announces and introduces ULEZ to the capital.

Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan continues the roll out and the Conservatives pile in on him as though this is the worst idea ever.

I guess with a General Election looming we are going to get more and more sudden U-turns in policy as the Conservatives chase votes at any cost.

Christopher Smith

Ponsharden

Falmouth