Newspaper column 20 January 2022 - Cleaning up our rivers

I can’t start this week’s column without touching on the numerous allegations around breaches in lockdown law at Number Ten Downing Street. I am thoroughly disappointed by such behaviour and can completely understand peoples’ legitimate anger and upset over these reports. The Prime Minister has done the right thing by apologising and I believe there needs to be a change of culture at No.10. I believe No.10 staff should have a degree of ‘real life experience’. That being said I will base my final opinion on this issue off the outcome of the independent investigation that is being carried out into these matters, and not on pieces of information apparently being drip-fed to a hostile media by a disgruntled former employee with an axe to grind."

As ever, I prefer to keep my focus on local matters, my service to you the people of Truro and Falmouth, and will be continuing my work on your behalf, which among other things has seen since my election, confirmation of a new women and children hospital in Truro, securing the money to progress with the plans to dual the A30 between Chiverton Cross and Carland Cross roundabouts, work which is now under way, and securing over £162m for various projects in our constituency, including Towns Fund money for Truro, funding for schools and tackling homelessness in Falmouth. It is my priority to continue to bring investment into Cornwall in order to improve the lives of my constituents.

Keeping our inland waterways, such as the Fal, clean continues to be a major goal to work towards and is one of the reasons I joined the influential Environmental Audit Select Committee in Parliament, a cross party group of MPs who work to consider the extent to which the policies and programmes of government departments and non-departmental public bodies contribute to environmental protection and sustainable development, and to audit their performance against sustainable development and environmental protection targets.

Last week I was pleased to see the release of a report from this committee that I have worked on, about the water quality in rivers. Getting a complete overview of the health of our rivers and the pollution affecting them is hampered by outdated, underfunded and inadequate monitoring regimes. It is clear, however, that rivers in England are in a mess.

Cleaning up our rivers is important for public health and vital to protect wildlife. The world is experiencing an extinction crisis and freshwater eco-systems are on the frontline. The build-up of excess nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen from animal waste and sewage is reducing oxygen levels in rivers and in severe cases can cause fish kills.

The report, which I wholly endorse, says that a step change in regulatory action, water company investment, and cross-catchment collaboration with farmers and drainage authorities is urgently required to restore rivers to good ecological health, protect biodiversity and adapt to a changing climate. Investment must be accelerated so that damaging discharges from water treatment assets including storm overflows cease and that any spills occur only in genuinely exceptional circumstances. Financial penalties for pollution incidents and misreporting must be set at a level that puts the issue on the agenda in water company board rooms.

To deliver real change and improve the state of our rivers, a wide range of stakeholders must come together including the Government, regulators and water companies. The Environment Act, which I sat on the Bill Committee for, signalled the first welcome sign of political will to tackle this issue from many governments of all political persuasions. I look forward on working with colleagues locally and nationally, to answer the calls from this Bill and build on the Environment Act to clean our rivers and waterways up, improving them for all.

As ever, if you need my assistance with anything then my team and I are here to help. Please get in touch with me by email at Cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk , or by telephone on 01872 229698. My regular constituency advice surgeries are held in a covid-safe environment at my office, so please do get in touch should you wish to meet me about any matters that I can be of assistance with.

Newspaper column January 13th 2022 - Fishing and Farming

Parliament has now been sitting for a week and we are all excited at being able to crack on with this year’s Parliamentary schedule. Last week already saw some big announcements that are of interest and importance to Cornwall, in our farming and fishing sectors, and I wanted to touch on those in this week’s column.

Firstly, the Government has unveiled the next stages of its plan to reward farmers and landowners for actions which benefit the environment, supporting sustainable food production alongside vital nature recovery and work towards net zero.

Two new environmental land management schemes will play an essential role in halting the decline in species by 2030, bringing up to 60% of England’s agricultural soil under sustainable management by 2030, and restoring up to 300,000 hectares of wildlife habitat by 2042.

The Local Nature Recovery scheme will pay farmers for locally-targeted actions which make space for nature in the farmed landscape and countryside such as creating wildlife habitat, planting trees or restoring peat and wetland areas. The Landscape Recovery scheme will support more radical changes to land-use change and habitat restoration such as establishing new nature reserves, restoring floodplains, or creating woodland and wetlands.

Taken together with the previously announced Sustainable Farming Incentive which supports sustainable farming practices, they are designed to provide farmers and land owners with a broad range of voluntary options from which they can choose the best for their business. The reforms are the biggest changes to farming and land management in 50 years with more than 3,000 farmers already testing the new schemes.

All the environmental schemes will be voluntary and it will be for farmers to decide what combination of actions is right for them. Defra is designing them to be accessible, supportive and with fair compensation to incentivise high levels of uptake. The scheme will be adjusted and expanded as the pilots continue. The aims of the schemes will also be kept under review as long-term, legally binding targets are developed under the Environment Act.

I have joined the Cornwall Nature Partnership Board and have a keen interest in this area, and look forward to working with our farmers and the Government to make these reforms a success.

Last week I also highlighted a £75 million boost for the fishing sector announced by the Government, which will see Fishing communities across the UK benefit from better infrastructure, strengthened supply chains, new jobs and an investment in skills.

The investment will strengthen the sector’s ability to land more fish in the UK and take them to market faster. This will be achieved by improving the capacity and efficiency of our harbours and processing facilities while boosting the long-term sustainability of the fishing industry and supporting jobs, increasing opportunities for coastal communities and levelling up across the country.

A £65 million infrastructure scheme will be made available for projects such as modernising ports and harbours alongside increasing capacity and efficiency at processing and aquaculture facilities. A competition will be run to identify the best projects, prioritising those that reduce carbon emissions, helping increase the sustainability of the sector and contributing towards the UK’s commitment to reach Net Zero by 2050.

Up to £10 million will also be used to encourage new entrants into the processing, catching and aquaculture sectors, alongside training and upskilling current workers. We will do this by offering an improved package of training to people joining the industry and making it easier for people from coastal communities to progress through their career.

I look forward to working with our fishing communities in Truro and Falmouth to make sure we make the best of the funding that is available.

With both of these announcements it is good to see the Government continuing to support our crucial food producing industries as we move on from Brexit, as well as looking to help both operate more sustainably. As ever, I would encourage all of us to do our bit to support them too by shopping locally where we can and buying some of our delicious local Cornish food and drink produce, whether it’s produced from our fields or our seas.

As ever, if you need my assistance with anything then my team and I are here to help. Please get in touch with me by email at Cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk , or by telephone on 01872 229698. My regular constituency advice surgeries are held in a covid-safe environment at my office, so please do get in touch should you wish to meet me about any matters that I can be of assistance with.

Newspaper column 6 January 2022 - Looking forward

 

Well this is my first column of 2022, again written in December to fit in with newspaper print deadlines, and I wish you all a Happy New Year.

After spending my last column reflecting back on events and achievements from 2021, for this week’s edition I wanted to look forward to what we can expect for 2022.

I will be continuing to work with local NHS and colleagues in Government to bring forward the exciting plans for a new Women and Children’s Hospital at Treliske. These plans are now well under way and I hope to see them break ground on this site in 2022. This will provide important new facilities for women and children across Cornwall as well as take pressure off existing services.

The work has already started on the dualling of the A30 between Carland Cross and Chiverton Cross, and I look forward to this continuing at pace through 2022 with completion now on the horizon. Once this upgrade is completed it will completely change the face of travel along Cornwall’s main road, unlocking economical benefits and removing what is always a nightmare of travel for local people and visitors alike over the summer months.

I will also continue to work with the Department for Education and Cornwall Council on bringing forward the plans for a new secondary school in the northern part of the constituency to better service the Perranporth, St Newlyn East and Goonhavern communities. This has been long-needed and will take the pressure off schools in Truro where a lot of these areas currently feed into.

I also look forward to seeing the Towns Funds bid for Truro continue to bear fruit and work with local people, businesses and organisations, as well as Cornwall Council and the Government to bring these exciting plans which will transform our city, forward. As well as plans for Truro, it is important that Falmouth and Penryn does not get left behind and I will continue to lobby Government on bringing forward funding to truly level up these communities.

I will also be working with our police to understand the impact of the funding in Falmouth and Penryn to combat violence against women and girls and will be making the case for this scheme to be expanded across Cornwall, something which has the support of our Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez as part of her recently announced Police and Crime Plan for Devon and Cornwall.

These are just a few of the local priorities that I hope to continue to deliver for you as your Member of Parliament over the coming year and I look forward to continuing to deliver for you as your caring and compassionate constituency MP in 2022 and beyond.

My office has now reopened following the Christmas break. If you need my assistance with anything then my team and I are here to help. Please get in touch with me by email at Cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk , or by telephone on 01872 229698. I have now restarted my regular constituency advice surgeries, held in a covid-safe environment, so please do get in touch should you wish to meet me about any matters that I can be of assistance with.