Greening Cornwall

In Cornwall today to meet up with the Programme Director for Green Cornwall at Cornwall Council, Steve Cirell. Steve and me go back 15 years and shared many platforms and projects over the years in his time as Head of the Public Sector Unit at Eversheds. Steve has always been passionate about his work and I remember him as a leading voice in local government during the battles over CCT, his expertise on Trading and Charging, PFI and more lately on Best Value.

To say he is embracing this new venture with enthusiasm would be an understatement. He has developed plans for an energy saving company to generate solar, wind, biomass, heat, electric cars, hydro and wave / tidal power. The plan is for the Council to own all of this and my head was spinning with the possibilities this creates for not only Cornwall but for Councils across the country.

This is definitely the future and it takes pioneers like Steve to change thinking and get things moving on an agenda that's time has come.

The trip also gave me a chance to catch up with Arthur Hooper, Cornwall’s Head of Highways who told me about a quarry they have just bought in order to ensure they have a sustainable supply of materials.