House prices hit home for Cornish MP

Cornwall’s house price problem hit the headlines again today, with news that local MP Stephen Gilbert can’t afford to buy a house in his constituency. Mr Gilbert, MP for St Austell and Newquay, put his PR skills to good use by using his own circumstances to highlight the problems faced by locals who have no hope of saving for a [...]

Cornwall investment wins local support

I’ve been working with the HCA and Cornwall Council over the last week to plan the announcement of an investment in Troon, near Camborne. We announced yesterday that the agency is to invest up to £900,000 in vital work to protect housing from subsidence caused by a derelict mine in the village.   The investment will fund safety engineering work to stabilise 4 ha [...]

My three top snaps from 2010

Having good quality photography to support our work has been tough to come by for much of this year, thanks mainly to a spending freeze which has virtually stopped all work from being commissioned by the agency. But there has still been the occasional great image to use, often generated by partners who thankfully see [...]

Town hall tweets bring budget straight to public

Cornwall Council’s emergency budget meeting last week identified millions in savings, and interest in this was understandably high. Public sector communicators often wrestle with the question of how best to inform the public about key decisions which impact on the services they receive.

Cornwall’s comms challenged by flood crisis

Cornwall’s floods will have posed a huge challenge for the county’s public services and the communication teams that support them. They will have needed to revert to crisis procedure, with a clear focus on getting vital information and services to areas that most need them, whilst responding to rapidly changing events.

Time for local leaders to join new homes debate

The Government’s consultation over its proposed New Homes Bonus should lead to an interesting debate over how local authorities can lead the development of housing in their communities. It is the first step on the road to delivering the pledge to provide incentives to local authorities to deliver new housing that people of all ages need. This is welcome, and not least because it [...]