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Improved facility for boat owners
After 18 months hard work fund-raising by Looe Boat Owners Association, the slipway at the Millpool has been extended which gives greatly improved access to the water above half tide. Major funders of the extension are Awards for All, Viridor Credits (Caradon) and West Looe Town Trust. The Boat Owners’ Association has also worked hard holding several fundraising activities and individual members have made donations totalling £1,450. The Millpool slipway is free for private boat owners to use for non-commercial purposes and good parking is available close by in the Millpool car park. More.   
www.looe.org - news - Feb & May 2007
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Visit the LBOA's new website - click here

Arsonist at large in Looe & Polperro area
On 14 March 2007 fire crews from Looe, Polruan, Lostwithiel and Liskeard extinguished eleven static caravans which had been set on fire in the storage area of Tencreek Caravan Park between Looe and Polperro. The Fire Brigade used eight sets of breathing apparatus and four hosereels in dealing with the fire. The fire brigade suspect the cause of the fire to be arson and the police are investigating. The caravans were in storage and belonged to people from all around the UK. So severe was the fire that initially at least the Ten Creek management were not sure how many caravans had been destroyed. On 17 February the fire service were called to Talland Caravan Park to deal with a caravan which had been set on fire, arson was suspected in this case too. In 2005 the beautiful, medieval Church of St Ildierna, Lansallos was severely damaged by fire caused by arsonists, damage amounted to many hundreds of thousands of pounds and many irreplaceable features were destroyed forever. Whether the incidents are linked is not known, but there is certainly a popular belief amongst local people that the culprit is known to them and to the police and there is puzzlement as to why the police have not taken action to end this spree of arson and fears that if not checked soon people may lose their lives as a result of further incidents.
www.looe.org - news - 20 March 2007

Heritage Coast Holiday Village appeal
In April 2006, and despite the views of more than 100 objectors, Caradon Council approved the redevelopment of Talland Caravan & Camping Park into an up-market Holiday Village of 42 permanent houses, despite its location on the Heritage Coast and in the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. No sooner was the ink dry on the planning permission than the owners applied for permission to build another 4 houses in the most visually sensitive positions (houses which they had deleted from the original application in order to get it through). Caradon Council at last saw sense and turned down the supplementary applications, but now the owners have appealed against this refusal and a Public Inquiry is to be held. in February 2007.Objectors have until 25 March to make their views known to the Planning Inspector - visit the Talland website for details - click here (see news page on Talland website). (February 2007)


Ombudsman disqualifies complaints
A number of objectors to the Talland Holiday Village scheme have complained to the Local Government Ombudsman about the way the planning application was dealt with by Caradon Council. The Ombudsman has informed the complainants that because they do not own property in the immediate vicinity of the Holiday Village he cannot investigate their complaint. Given that there are currently only 3 residential properties anywhere near the site this means that practically no-one is eligible to complain about this matter. So much for the importance of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Heritage Coast designation (both of which are supposed to safeguard places of national importance). (February 2007)


Train company juggles resources
As one of the many results of what appears to be inept resource planning, First Great Western, has had to transfer rolling stock from places such as the Looe Valley line to try and make good severe shortages in railway carriages on some of its busy commuter lines, especially in the Bristol and Bath areas. Users of the Looe Valley line have to make do with substitute bus services and there is concern that this could be a foretaste of economy measures which the train company could find attractive - those concerned with safeguarding the train service to and from Looe will be watching what happens very carefully indeed. The train company says things will be back to normal before the end of January -we will see!
www.looe.org - news - January 2007

New Cycling Club for Looe
Don't be a couch potato - get on your bike! Local man Jon Puckey is the brains behind the idea of launching a cycling club for Looe. Intended for cyclists of all abilities, ages and types it is hoped that the new club will emulate the rapid success of Looe's recently formed running club - the Looe Pioneers. More

Looe Pioneers making their mark 12 members of Looe Pioneers running club ran the Cardiff Half Marathon and one ran the Full Marathon. The event was a first for many of the club members which was only formed last year. More photos and info (Autumn 2006)

"Freshest fish" accolade in BBC TV series In an episode of the BBC's major series on the British coastline, Looe and its fishing industry - the second largest in Cornwall - were featured and the programme explained how its "day boat" system of fishing means that the fish landed at Looe are the freshest obtainable anywhere (In most other fishing ports the boats are at sea for days or weeks at a time and the fish are chilled or frozen). The programme showed how much of the catches go to London and to Europe, commanding premium prices, but of course there's no better place to eat fresh Looe fish than in Looe itself. (Autumn2006)

Holiday Village - permission refused for more houses in Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
   The developers of Talland Holiday Village have been refused planning permission to build another 4 permanent houses in the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The sites proposed were visually intrusive ones where they were forced to drop proposed houses from the original application - but 42 others were approved in April. With millions of pounds of windfall gains at stake will every local caravan site owner be on the same band-wagon to convert their sites to the upmarket holday village concept where properties can sell at anything between £100,000 and £0.5m? - More
www.looe.org - news - 20 September 2006


"You can't complain unless you live here" - Objectors to the building of 42 new houses which are to replace a caravan and camping park on the Heritage Coast and in the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty at Talland Bay (between Looe and Polperro) have been told by the Local Government Ombudsman's office that the Ombudsman cannot investigate their complaints about the way Caradon Council planning officials handled the planning application because they don't live or own property in the vicinity of the proposed Holiday Village. At present there are only 4 houses close to the site and there were more than 150 objectors to the scheme, many of them regular visitors to Talland Bay. Many objectors believe the Planning Department is guilty of maladministration in recommending the Council to approve the building of permanent houses in the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty - which the Council is supposed to protect. More

"It's the best fish in the world"  
   So says top chef and restaurateur Rick Stein in his television series 'Food Heroes' - "Where better to experience superlative quality fish than Looe - my favourite market". Rick explained that Looe's fishing boats are all quite small ones because of the nature of the tidal harbour - they are day boats which go out in the morning and come back in the evening - "whenever you get fish from Looe it's dead fresh and that to me is the best fish in the world - it's the fish we seek out in our restaurant".
Food Heroes, Rick Stein, BBC2

This page last updated 13 August 2007