On Monday evening – with the exception of one Councillor who abstained and one was absent (who rarely attends meetings)  - Liberal Democrat councillors for Truro, and the only Tory councillor who is also on Carrick District Council, voted against increasing the local social housing target to 50 per cent.

This confirmed that the draft Truro and Threemilestone Action Plan – which currently has lower targets for affordable homes – is the product of cosy joint working by Liberal Democrat and Tory councillors in Truro.

Common sense and concern prevailed on Monday evening by 11 votes to 10, and the views of Truro residents who are not in support of the plan as it stands will now be heard.

The new draft plan is an improvement on the previous one and does reflect some of the views expressed at community workshops.

But there are real issues that need to be addressed including:

(1) Local transport – the objective is to improve accessible convenient public transport, but the plan would deliver increased car use.

(2) Housing need – there are no projections for local housing need and the 35 per cent affordable homes target is recognised by many as too low.

(3) Climate change - Truro City Council agreed to promote microgeneration but the draft plan is woolly in it’s commitment to renewable energy, meeting high sustainability standards for new homes (Code 6), and has no plan to reduce Truro’s carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions from current levels.

We have already responded to the consultation to voice peoples concerns.