ST GENNYS Parish Council has been awarded £830 as part of Cornwall Council’s Devolution Fund, to repair the sinks and hand-driers in their public toilets, as agreed at the recent Community Network Panel meeting.

Taking place on the evening of Monday, April 11, Chris Sims, Community Network Manager (Launceston and Bude), and the community link officer for Bude, explained the details of the Devolution Fund to the councillors and members of the public at the meeting.

This is a fund that each parish can apply for money from towards community projects, such as taking on a play area or public toilets.

A total of £19,772 has been allocated to Bude and its 11 surrounding parishes, and those that attended the meeting last Monday were able to discuss where the money should be used.

Once a parish or council applies to use the funds to put towards a project, councillors are then able to make a collective decision on whether the application is eligible.

The parishes are given around six weeks to send in their applications, which Mr Sims assumed would be enough time. However, many of the councillors disagreed, arguing that there should be an extended date for applying.

The meeting discussed applications from St Gennys, Morwenstow and Bude-Stratton Town Council.

Morwenstow Parish Council applied for £1,562.64 to fund community broadband for their community centre, which would benefit groups for meetings and other organised events.

Currently, the set up and ongoing costs are being looked into, and Mr Sims explained how the council needs to be provided with more information as to why it is a partnership working.

He said: “It doesn’t meet the Devolution Fund at the moment, but potentially could. I think we need to see more evidence as to why it is a partnership working, and then we can consider the application in the future.”

St Gennys Parish Council applied for £830 to fund the replacement of the sinks and hand-driers in the public toilets, which, according to Mr Sims, are ‘in a clear poor state of repair’.

The final discussion surrounded the ongoing issues with Bude’s toilets. The funds would cover the legal cost of transfer and refurbishment costs, as well as the delivery of the service (including a van and protective clothing).

Many councillors expressed concerns that if this application was approved, the whole budget would be gone, which would leave no money for other parishes or projects.

Cllr Nigel Pearce, Cornwall?Councillor for Bude (Lib Dem) said: “Although I represent Bude, the money should be used on a whole basis; it’s not just about Bude, it’s about everyone.”

Councillors came to an agreement that the Bude and Morwenstow applications should be deferred until the next meeting.

St Gennys Parish was awarded the £830 they requested.

It was also agreed that a letter be sent to the Bude area parish councils, noting that the application closing date has been extended to July 1.