LAST weekend I visited several venues for the Looe Weekender music event, which always has a great community atmosphere as traders start to wind down after the busy summer season.

During that time, I had a chat with police officers on patrol, as it is always good to hear about problems that are brewing.

On Monday, I attended the South West Water roadshow at Roadford Lake, Devon. The main subject of this event for stakeholders was nature recovery, but we had a short introduction by Carolyn Cadman, who spoke about the investment South West Water (SWW) is making to improve their infrastructure, in particular to reducing combined sewer outlet overflows which pollute our beaches.

I took the opportunity to speak to Simon, who is in charge of SWW’s councillor engagement, about the unsatisfactory response which I got re the Pelynt sewage works – with overflows still occurring despite major works which caused community disruption in the summer.

OFWAT have fined SWW £24-million, of which £2-million is to help nature recovery. SW Lakes Trust told us about their work, planting trees around the reservoirs and catchments, as well as controlling Himalyan Balsam, and preventing infestations of plants and crustaceans.

We also heard about the success of the Bidwell Brook Partnership, a community group set up to improve water quality and biodiversity on a tributary of the River Dart in South Devon. This group are now working with Plymouth University, who are developing a portable device capable of rapid monitoring of pathogens in water, using local volunteers to take samples and surveys.

We were asked how best the £2-million should be spent, perhaps with small grants to local community groups, or perhaps fund other larger organisations?

I also attended a scoping meeting to set up the small panel of councillors which will scrutinise the implementation of the County Farms Strategy, created in 2019. As a former Cornwall Council tenant, I am keen to inform this panel.

This clash of meetings and events meant that I was unable to attend the Liberal Democrat Conference, but a colleague who attended reports we passed a new policy which will bring thousands of miles of disused railway lines, canal towpaths and green spaces back into use. By unlocking disused routes and investing in nature and outdoor education, we can build a healthier, greener and more connected South East Cornwall.

Other good news from the conference included North Cornwall MP Ben Maguire passing a new policy on Access to Justice where community law centres in places like libraries and banking hubs will give access to free initial legal advice and end the legal aid deserts that Cornwall has.

There was also support for our hospitality industry to improve the skills and apprenticeship system making it a career with progression and to call on the Labour government to introduce a new lower NIC band for the portion of workers’ salaries between £5,000 and £9,100 to support part-time workers.

All in all, another busy week for Liberal Democrats in South East Cornwall making the Duchy a better place to live.