It was great to visit Davidstow Creamery recently to see the results of investments by Saputo and the Getting Building Fund. This increased capacity is helping Davidstow cheese get exported to new markets around the world. Production has increased by thousands of tonnes to accommodate this increase, and plans are in place to reduce CO2 emissions by thousands of kilos. More cheese exported around the world means more employment here in North Cornwall, and more business for our local dairy farms and their supply chains. The factory has increased the number and range of jobs on site and thousands more people are employed or benefit directly or indirectly across the area. I was also pleased to see the results of a much-needed significant and ongoing investment into water treatment facilities at the site. This should reduce the risk of environmental incidents in the future.
Last week my Cornish MP colleagues and I sat down with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Sajid Javid. We discussed the challenges that Cornwall faces with health care provision and I was able to brief him on feedback from my constituents. I also briefed him that the x-ray department at Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust’s, Launceston hospital has reopened following a £400,000 investment. X-rays are once again available at the hospital from Monday to Friday and Sunday (but not bank holidays) between 8.30am and 5pm. The unit’s Sunday service will return on 20 February 2022 between 8.30am and 5pm. The investment paid for a digital x-ray machine and installation work, which began back in November 2021. The work saw the replacement of the hospital’s 20-year-old x-ray machine. “The availability of x-ray services within most of the county’s community hospitals is a great example of how we integrate with our main acute hospitals to deliver local community services close to where people live. I'm very pleased that this project has been delivered and I would like to thank all involved for their hard work. The availability of these high-quality services in North Cornwall is something my constituents have asked for and I have been keen to support. With the completion of this work there are plans to upgrade the scanning services at Stratton which I fully support.
Road safety was again at the top of my list as I had an excellent meeting with Councillor Philip Desmonde, the council’s portfolio holder for Transport. We discussed the need for some areas in North Cornwall to have better measures to ensure that constituents are kept safe. My team was able to brief him on many of the cases that people have brought to our attention over the past couple of years and I look forward to updating you again in future as we make progress.
