This Thursday sees voters go to the polls in Wendron for the Cornwall Council by election caused by the sad death of Mick Clayton.

Wendron division, although named after the small area we all know as the home of Poldark Mine, is actually one of the biggest wards geographically in the whole county. The boundaries stretch from the edge of the Camborne South and Troon and Beacon wards right up as far as Helston taking in pretty much every village and hamlet inbetween and across to the Falmouth road!

The Lib Dem candidate is popular local man John Martin, who having previously worked as a lecturer at Cornwall and Falmouth colleges, now works at Flambards in Helston. John’s hobbies include photography and playing guitar, one or the other of which has led him to be a familiar face to many people in the ward already.

I’ve been out knocking on doors with John for several weeks now and despite not being elected yet, he has already taken up many local issues on behalf of residents – from speeding motorists to planning issues, giving a voice to the smaller parishes and Conservative cuts to vital local services like rural buses and public toilets.

If you live within the ward, then remember that a vote for John will elect a hard-working and dedicated councillor who will put Wendron first.

Those living further afield who would like to lend a hand, please just drop me a line – we’d really appreciate your support.

Shop of the Week this week is a real stalwart of Camborne’s high street – Polladras Pet Supplies.

I used to visit this shop to buy food for my hamster when I was at school, so that gives some indication of how long Polladras has been serving the public in our town!

Having recently inherited a friend’s cat while he works abroad for a while, Polladras Pet Supplies has become a regular feature on my weekly shop once more.

Even several years after my first visit, it’s still a fun Aladdin’s Cave of treats for all different kinds of pet, plus the very reasonably priced loose pet food to buy by the kilo.

Friendly service and little touches make this another one of Camborne’s quality independent shops.

Shop of the Week this week is the new greengrocers “5 a Day” on Trelowarren Street.
Like most Camborne residents, I was really pleased to see a store selling fresh fruit and veg opening up again in our town centre. Even better some of the store assistants from the previous business have been given their jobs back.
The shop has been bustling every time I’ve been in there since the re-opening so fingers crossed we will now have a greengrocers in business for a long time to come.
Make sure you find the time to pop in this week as their Halloween display is particularly impressive!

It’s the end of another very damp day on the campaign trail and it seems like the weeks have flown by since the Camborne North by election for Cornwall Council was called at the beginning of December, after the resignation of Conservative councillor Bill Jenkin.

Thursday 13th will see voters go to the polls to decide who their new Cornwall Councillor will be.

Myself and the team have been working hard, talking to local residents and delivering lots of leaflets to let people know where I stand on opposing cuts to community services such as libraries and adult social care.

It’s been hard work, but also a lot of fun. There have been some sad stories as well, of fears of job security, council services being cut and ordinary people just not getting a fair deal from the council in its present state.

It has been an honour to represent the ward I grew up in on the Town Council and the former Kerrier District Council. With your trust and support this election day, it would be a privilege to also become the county councillor for Camborne North.

Although I am currently struck down with the dreaded lurgy, I am trying to look back on the more positive aspects of the past year!

2010 began with a cold snap and plenty of snow, but this didn’t stop myself and the South Hams team campaigning, leading Tony Barber to victory in the Ivybridge Filham by election.

From one extreme to the other, then I was off to a Tinchy Stryder concert for my sister’s birthday!

March held some sadness, as one of Camborne’s great men, Brian Lessiter, sadly passed away. The church was standing room only for his funeral. Despite suffering health problems, Brian was one of those wonderful people who always had a bright smile and and kind word for everyone.

As many of you know, I was the Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for South West Devon for this year’s General Election.

It was a pretty busy time, combining full-time work in St Ives, with living in Camborne and being a Camborne Town Councillor, whilst travelling up to Plymouth for the candidacy role, whilst helping out Cornish colleagues such as Julia Goldsworthy, Terrye Teverson and Steve Gilbert campaign here in the county in their own campaigns.

I’m not going to pretend it wasn’t exhausting, but I had the great privilege to meet many new friends and colleagues from all political persuasions and walks of life. March, April and May saw me taking part in debates with the other prospective MPs, campaigning against an incinerator, meeting with local residents, businesses and charities and taking part in a charity 10k run. All in all, a wonderful experience.

Life got back pretty much to normal as May went on, although there was time to see Tom Stubbs elected to Truro City Council towards the end of the month, a hard-working Cornish lad who thoroughly deserved his win.

June passed by with enjoying the sunshine and getting fit for July’s Turkey Trot race with a group of friends. If you’re ever thinking of doing the race yourself, just be warned that it entails running up Merritt’s Hill in Illogan! Took a while to recover from that one.

At the end of July Mary McWilliams won a seat on Redruth Town Council, a great victory for a lovely lady.

August saw a staff social at my workplace at the fab Maize Maze in Hayle – hours of fun!

In September I began a management course with Truro College, on which I had the opportunity to meet businesswomen from all around Cornwall – a fantastic experience.

October saw more work-related successes – with the hotel scooping a sustainability award at the Cornwall Tourism Awards and I also got accepted on to the Tourism Business Excellence programme, where I’ll be learning tons of new skills to help tourism small businesses in the South West.

As 2010 drew to a close, notice of another election came with the resignation of the former councillor for Camborne North on Cornwall Council. This is the ward I represent  on the Town Council and where I was elected on the former Kerrier District Council, so it seemed a logical step to bid to win the privilege of representing that area at county level.

This meant much battling through the snow, ice and chill in December to do as much campaigning as possible – many thanks to all those who have helped me so far and to all the people I met met during the campaign.

Polling Day is not until January 13th, so this final post of 2010 is  to be continued…

Wishing you a happy and healthy New Year.

Shop of the Week this week is Warrior Warehouses in Chapel Road, Tuckingmill.

It’s reassuring to have a shop that has survived since my childhood in Camborne (especially as these are becoming worryingly fewer in number).

Growing up in Dolcoath, a trip to Warriors with my parents or grandparents seemed to take the whole afternoon to wander round the household emporium. Now I’m a bit bigger, thankfully, it doesn’t take quite as long!

Warriors stocks pretty much anything and everything you could need for the house and home – from fire grates to cheese graters! Today it was some sink unblocker I was after and as usual, Warriors came up trumps (and was open on Bank Holiday with plenty of staff on duty).

If you’re looking for household bargains, you would do well to put Warrior Warehouses on your list.

To those within the Camborne North ward and around our great town of Camborne; I wish a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Anna Pascoe

Cornwall Council has recently announced that it is no longer willing to fund the provision of CCTV in Camborne Town Centre.

At the last Town Council meeting, councillors received figures suggesting that Camborne could pay more than double other local towns, such as Helston and Hayle, to continue receiving a reduced-hours CCTV service in the future.

The proposed charge to Camborne town taxpayers is £9,300 a year – a huge amount when you consider that popular large-scale events such as Trevithick Day usually receive a grant of around £5-6,000 from the town council.

I’d be interested to receive residents’ views on this matter. Does the amount represent value for money or is it too much? How many crimes does CCTV actually prevent or help to solve? Would such a large sum of money be better spent on something else in the town, or perhaps a part-time Town Patrol officer?

Shop of the Week this week is Arkwrights, on the corner of Park Road and North Roskear.

Anyone who lives in the Wimpey, Rosemellin or North Roskear area will be familiar with Arkwrights – it’s one of those shops that never fails to have an array of bargains on sale!

This week they are selling fresh winter veg – carrots, cauli and cabbage – at 50p a bag. Given that Camborne’s last greengrocer has now closed, as I reported in a previous post, it’s good to have somewhere that you can still buy fresh.

The staff are friendly and helpful despite it always being busy. Arkwrights is definitely one of those places that keeps neighbourhoods going.

Many of you may have noticed that what was once the closed down petrol station by Glasson’s Garage (leading up to the Fire Station) has recently been refurbished.

The smart new premises is called the Coffee Spot and run by a local young proprietor, Lee.

I finally got chance to drop by there to sample the wares last week and will definitely be back for a return visit.

Loads of nice coffees and hot chocolates, made with fresh frothy milk. Free wi-fi and a range of papers to chill out with.

Whether you’re just there for a pitstop or fancy a light lunch, there are yummy muffins, pastries, cakes, sandwiches, panini, you name it!

Do try the Coffee Spot out soon if you haven’t already and support this new start-up business in our town.