Communities in the Falmouth and Penryn area have been awarded a total of £44,487 to help them run local services which they have taken over from the county council.

The grants have been agreed by the area’s Community Network Panel, using money allocated from Cornwall Council’s Local Devolution Fund. This has a total of £608,000, which has been divided between Cornwall’s 19 Community Network Panels. The cash can be used to support the devolution of Cornwall Council services and assets to town and parish councils, and other local organisations, or to support local partnership working projects.

The Falmouth and Penryn Community Network Panel have awarded grants to four town and parish councils. Falmouth Town Council will be using the money to support its devolution programme after taking on the management and running of the library service and the operation of the Falmouth One Stop Shop to create a single location for people to access local information and services.

Penryn Town Council will also use the funding to support the devolution of the library. The council are currently in discussions with Cornwall Council to manage and run the library service and to move its current office into the same building so that people can access local information and services.

Mylor Parish Council's allocation will be used to help support devolution of the toilets which it has operated and managed since April and Perranarworthal Parish Council will use the funding to support the maintenance and clearance of the stream which runs through the village. The parish council will work alongside Cornwall Council to make sure the stream stays rubbish free to help reduce the risk of flooding in the future.

John Bastin, Cornwall councillor and the chair of the Falmouth and Penryn Community Network Panel, said: “I am very pleased that the panel has been able to use these grants to support projects in our local areas which will help ensure essential services for local communities across the Falmouth and Penryn Community Network area.”

Grenville Chappel, mayor of Falmouth, added: "Falmouth Town Council have worked very hard to protect the services and community assets that our residents have told us are important to them. The devolution grant will assist us in managing the library locally and increasing its availability, as well as creating a true one stop shop to provide point of contact information services. Incidentally saving the former Post Office from undesirable housing development which I am very pleased about’.”

Penryn's mayor, Mark Snowdon, added: “Penryn Town Council looks forward to the challenge of running our local library. We are also moving our One Stop Shop and council offices to the library building and will be undertaking internal alterations to facilitate our move. The financial assistance we have been awarded will help get us through any transition period to a point where the library and our services are fully integrated and running smoothly, bringing greater value to our residents and enabling us to greatly increase the opening times.”