BELOW is a copy of a letter written by the three parishes, Tintagel, Forra­bury and Minster, and Trevalga, to Ellis Crompton-Brown of Spatial Planning, County Hall, Truro.

Re: Planning applications by South West Water for Trevalga and South Bossiney Sewage Treatment Works.

We write to you as three parishes who have come together to express our unanimous view that it is totally unreasonable that the deadline for letters in respect of the above planning applications be November 14.

All received the planning application on Friday, October 24 and as a result of this, basic information could only be forwarded to our councillors and parishioners from Monday, October 27.

This provided us with a time scale of just 15 working days to read, digest and analyse what amounts to a very comprehensive set of documents. We are now obliged to formulate our response to this complex document to meet the November 14 deadline.

The above period of time encompasses two weeks of school half-term holiday after the tourist season — a time when parishioners and councillors have family commitments and many are absent on holiday.

The planning application documents submitted to Cornwall County Council (CCC) by South West Water (SWW) have been compiled by a team of professionals, fully employed on this project for many months if not years. To ask that the three parishes, composed of voluntary unpaid members with limited secretarial staff, should attempt to disseminate this information to their communities and then produce a coherent response in just 15 working days is beyond the bounds of ­reason, commonsense or possibility.

SWW have been working towards a sewage solution for Boscastle and Tintagel for approximately six years, their initial plans being ­centred upon Boscastle. It was only two months ago that Trevalga and Tintagel became aware of further ­proposals for combined sites and how far these had ­developed. At no time did the Boscastle Sewage Liaison Group (BSLG) or Tintagel Against Inferior Sewage Treatment (TAIST) carry out any meaningful discourse with any of us on these matters.

It has been noted several recent changes in the ­proposed 'significant dates' on the CCC website have the effect of bringing these proposals before the Planning Committee with inappropriate haste. The dates have been brought forward over the past seven days and now indicate a committee date of November 27 rather than that originally proposed in January 2009. This could be interpreted as an attempt to limit public debate and impose a guillotine on their involvement in the proceedings. An activity that is neither democratic nor transparent and which would not stand up to the scrutiny of a Public Inquiry.

Previous applications at Hillsborough and Tresuck 2 have led to site meetings and it is essential that the same consideration be afforded in respect of the Trevalga and South Bossiney sites.

All three parishes (Tintagel,  Trevalga and Forrabury and Minster) have expressed serious reservations in respect of the unrepresentative bodies who have previously conducted negotiations with SWW. The BSLG and TAIST resigned within days of supporting a joint site at an August 1 meeting with SWW and it has not escaped our notice that the appeal on Tresuck 2 was withdrawn within three days of this meeting. During the past week the Chair of Forrabury and Minster Parish Council has also resigned. Hardly reasons to expedite the current ­planning applications.

Many voices are now ­calling for a public inquiry into the circumstances ­surrounding the current plans, those that preceded them and in particular the withdrawal of the Tresuck 2 appeal by SWW and the actions of local county ­councillors on the planning committee.

You will by now appreciate that there is a need for nothing less than absolute transparency in the handling of these planning applications and we would thus strongly request the ­following:

An extension of one month to the November 14 deadline for letters;

Site meetings at Trevalga and South Bossiney;

That no application be brought to the Planning Committee for a decision in advance of January 2009.

We trust that you will give this united request from all three communities your ­support and look forward to receiving your response by return.

Bob Flower, Chairman of Tintagel Parish Council.

Ian Dawson, Chairman of the elected sewage ­advisory group of Forrabury and Minster Parish Council.

Jacqueline M A Jarvis, Chairperson of Trevalga Parish Meeting.