CLAY AREA NEEDS CLARITY ON ACCESS TO NEW COUNCIL

10.00.00am GMT Sat 10th Jan 2009

Stephen Gilbert, the Liberal Democrat prospective MP for St Austell & Newquay, which includes the clay villages, has said that "people in the clay area need clarity on where and how they will be able to access the services of the new Cornwall Council".

Stephen Gilbert was speaking at the last ever meeting of Restormel Borough Council's Clay Area Consultative Committee which was held in Fraddon on Thursday [January 8]. Restormel Council is set to be dissolved at the end of March when the new Cornwall Council comes into being.

22 locations across Cornwall, including St Austell, Newquay and Fowey, have been identified for one-stop-shops, with other areas in Cornwall likely to get a mobile service.

Stephen Gilbert said: "One stop shops will be a great innovation and give people much better access to the services of the new Cornwall Council. It's important though, that the clay area, which has very high levels of deprivation and so a clear need to be able to access council services, isn't left out."

"Over the last two years I've attended very many of Restormel's consultative meetings and the clay area meeting is always the best attended by the public."

Stephen Gilbert added: "There may be some merit to having a mobile one stop shop that can tour around the various clay villages, but time is marching on and we need to know what is proposed."