Council leader scraps airport and car park plans

The new cabinet at Cornwall Council is set to scrap the planned sale of Cornwall Airport Newquay and the transfer of council-owned car parks to a private company.

Leader Leigh Frost was speaking at the new council's first cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

He said the cabinet was scrapping the two proposals put forward by the previous administration. Frost said the council would also be reviewing the council's relationships with its companies as part of "three key announcements".

He said: "Reversing these decisions protects our airport and car parks for the benefit of our communities, our economy, and our future."

He said: "This is about common sense, getting back to basics and making sure our public assets work for the people of Cornwall."

"I am pleased to say that we are overturning two previous decisions made by the last administration," he added.

The car park plan involved transferring 19 council owned car parks to Corserv Solutions Ltd.

"These vital community assets will remain firmly in Cornwall Council's hands, not handed off or lost to local control," Frost said.

The airport plans involved negotiations to secure a private commercial partner for the airport last year, and Frost said that deal was now "off the table".

Councillor Tim Dwelly, portfolio holder for resources, said the airport was "vital for keeping Cornwall connected".

"These assets belong to the people of Cornwall, and we have a duty to protect them," Dwelly added.

"Passing control of them to outside organisations would have risked losing local oversight and public trust."

More than 1,000 people previously signed a petition in a bid to stop the previous administration from privatising car parks.

Councillor Dan Rogerson, portfolio holder for transport, said car parks were important for helping towns "thrive".

He added: "By keeping them under council control, we can focus on what matters to people - fair prices, good services, and decisions made in the best interest of the residents of Cornwall."

The review of the council's relationships with its companies was announced following the appointment of former councillor Louis Gardner to a senior role at the Spaceport, from which he resigned and later apologised for breaching the authority's code of conduct, Frost told the meeting.

John Brown, chief executive of the Cornwall Chamber of Commerce, said: "We've always been clear, explore options thoroughly and effectively and if it works for Cornwall great, if it doesn't then move on decisively so we can all work together on making the most of this unique and outstanding asset.

"Now that a decision has been made, let's not rest on our laurels."

He said "everyone should be utterly focused" on ensuring a Public Service Obligation - in which Cornwall Council and the Department for Transport would provide financial support if required to ensure the service was maintained - was "in place for another term and enhancing our connection into London".

"We look forward to working with council, MPs and colleagues to ensure this happens," he said.

Both policies on the airport and car parks were ultimately driven by Cornwall Council's finances.

One would have seen a private company shouldering some of the £4m subsidy the authority currently spends on the airport.

The other would have led to ANPR cameras installed in car parks and aimed to bring in additional revenue through better enforcement.

They proved divisive however - even among the previous Conservative administration.

Now the new Liberal Democrat-Independent coalition has decided to scrap them in a bid to show they are listening to residents' concerns.

The challenge for them now is to show they can attract more private investment into the airport estate to reduce that subsidy.

And, can they come up with a car parking strategy that can be properly enforced and supports ailing town centres? By ditching both of these proposals they inherited so swiftly - they obviously believe so.

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