WITH her star firmly in the ascendant, Warwickshire singer Lucy Rose is making her own destiny and shaping her future like no other new artist and will play the Princess Pavilion in Falmouth on Friday, May 17.

A mixture of true grit, sheer dedication and an unshakeable sense of self has all led Lucy to the kind of status that most new artists dream of but can only achieve through record company support. Until her recent signing to Columbia Records, Lucy Rose had none of this, but her heart-stoppingly poignant songs and cracked porcelain voice saw her enter 2012 with YouTube hits, radio plays and crowds like nobody else out there. 

Such is her fan-base, she now sells out 500-capacity venues with ease, and at the tender age of 23, Lucy is being tipped by the great and the good as the one new British artist who may stick around longer than any of the other fly-by-night contenders.

"Gentle, folky, confidential tone, undershot by a coolness of intelligence and self possession" 4/5 The Daily Telegraph

"Miss Rose's unassuming charm ticks off everything on the How To Make Your Fans Adore You checklist" 7/10 NME

Tickets go on sale from Monday, February 11, at 9am and are available from See Tickets 0871 2200260 / www.seetickets.com or from the Princess Pavilion box office on 01326 211222.

BRITISH pop royalty will come to Cornwall in July when Jessie J headlines the Eden Sessions.

One of the hottest pop stars on the planet, Jessie will perform on Sunday, July 14.

As well as reaching number one in the UK with the massive tunes Price Tag and Domino, she's hit the top spot in the charts of 18 other countries around the world.

Jessie's been busy over the past year, appearing as a coach on the BBC primetime Saturday night talent show The Voice, performing at Buckingham Palace for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert, and taking centre stage at the Olympic closing ceremony for the biggest televised performance of her life.

She's also had a UK bestseller with her autobiography Nice to Meet You, and established herself as a fashion icon. Jessie has picked up awards from Glamour magazine and Harpers Bazaar, become the most talked-about star on the red carpet at this year's GQ Awards, was dressed by Vivienne Westwood for her Olympic closing ceremony performance and graced the covers of, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Grazia and most recently Elle magazine where she unveiled, 'Jessie the fashion reinvention' to the world.

What's On editor Lee Trewhela said: "With Jessie J's booking, the Eden Sessions 2013 will appeal to a whole new audience alongside the usual rock and indie fans. With Sigur Ros and The xx among the other headliners, this year's Sessions look set to be the best for quite some time."

Tickets are £35 plus £5 booking fee. They will be available exclusively to Inside Track members from 1pm today (Friday, February 8) and go on general sale at 6pm on Monday, February 18.

For more details see www.edenproject.com/sessions/line-up/jessie-j.php

A PARISH council's appeal against a controversial order forcing it to make safe dangerous mine features on its beach is to be considered by Truro magistrates.Lawyers acting for Perranzabuloe Parish Council will argue at the hearing on April that the abatement notice served by Cornwall Council is "unjustified and unreasonable."

In 2010, 11-year-old Eleanor Clarke fell to her death in a disused mine adit on the beach. The parish council installed steel grilles at the adit where she died and began issuing safety leaflets.

The abatement notice gave the council until March 13  to carry out urgent work to make three further mine features on Droskyn beach, Perranporth, safe or face possible legal action.

Cornish Pirates prop Alan Paver will make his 300th appearance for the club on Sunday as they take on relegation threatened Doncaster Knights at the Mennaye Field (2.30pm).

After a three week break from action the Pirates settle in for two successive home ties in the RFU Championship and have named a strong line-up to tackle a Yorkshire side with only two league wins under their belt this season.

Gavin Cattle will lead the side from scrum-half with the backs having a largely settled look about them. The only change sees Matt Evans make a long awaited return from injury as he bids to finally add to his seven tries so far this season.

Up front Darren Semmens gets the nod at hooker with Darren Barry partnering Gary Johnson in the second row. Phil Burgess, Kyle Marriott and Laurie McGlone make up a strong back row.

Also back from injury is wing/full-back Grant Pointer who is named on the bench but there is no place for new signing Ashley Smith.

Doncaster chief Clive Griffiths has made just two changes to his side's line up for Sunday's game

The first switch is only a positional move as Connor Braid makes his first start in the centres, partnering Will Simpson in the midfield.
The back three remain unchanged with Michael Keating looking to light up the backline under the orchestration of housemate Tom Luke who returns to outside-half.

Luke will be hoping to pull the strings in a similar manner as he did last season against his former club the Pirates in the ten jersey; lining up alongside Joe Bedford who has impressed since his arrival at Castle Park.

The only change in the pack sees Will Hafu preferred at openside flanker as Griffiths hopes his energy and skills can open the bridge between forwards and backs. Elsewhere the set-piece is unchanged as the Knights front eight look to continue their dominance on the road.

Cornish Pirates:- Davies, Mercer, Riley, Fatialofa, Evans, Hallett, Cattle (capt); Andrew, Semmens, Paver, Barry, Johnson, Marriott, Burgess, McGlone.

Replacements – Storer, Elloway, Prescott, Lyons, Maidment, Kessell, Pointer.

Doncaster Knights: Keating; Flockhart, Braid, Simpson, Lewis, Luke, Bedford; Davies, Buckley, Francis, Challinor, Parsons, Kettle, Hafu, Planchant.
 Replacements: McGovern, Cronin, Bergmanis, Smith, Pailor, Hallam, Lennard

Referee – M.Carley (RFU)

Shaun Sawyer has today been confirmed as the new chief constable for Devon and Cornwall Police.

The acting chief constable since the departure of Stephen Otter last year, his appointment was made official at the meeting of the new Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Panel today.

"I am absolutely delighted that the police and crime panel has confirmed Shaun Sawyer as chief constable for Devon and Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly," said Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Hogg.  "He was the outstanding candidate during the selection and interview process and has demonstrated a clear vision and strong leadership.

"We have already built an excellent working relationship, and I am now keen to build on that further as we develop our strategic policing plan for this area," added Mr Hogg. "This gives Shaun Sawyer the mandate to take his plans forward and I look forward to working closely with him."

For more see Saturday's Western Morning News.

GALE-FORCE winds which ripped through Newquay on Wednesday blew a "massive chunk" of a hotel's roof off.
Guests at the Barrowfield Hotel were evacuated around 10am when almost the entire roof was blown straight off.
Debris from the top of the on Hilgrove Road building landed on the site and guests of ten rooms were shipped over to the Sandy Lodge Hotel, where they spent two nights.
Newquay police shut the road for several hours until the roof was made safe and no one was injured during the incident.
Building contractors are now making the roof waterproof before they begin repairing it.
Hotel manager, Richard Cornish, said it was "lucky" that the contents of the roof landed on the Barrowfield Hotel site as it could have been "a lot worse".
He said the roof was covered by insurance.
"The wind took the roof totally off," he said. "A massive chunk anyway.
"We evacuated everyone from the third floor to make sure everyone was safe.
"People are on site now. I called Cornwall Council's building contractors in.
"Everyone has responded brilliantly and all the companies have helped us."
The hotel is open as usual and is full again, he said.

A COMPANY hoping to mine for tin along the Cornish coast is dismissing claims that it will have an adverse impact on the environment or threaten popular surfing spots and marine habitats.

Marine Minerals Ltd has submitted exploratory drilling plans stretching from St Ives to Perranporth to extract tin from the seabed.The first  public consultations, in conjunction with Marine Management Organisation (MMO), on the £15 million scheme ended today.

It was responding to concerns raised by Surfers Against Sewage (SAS)  and Cornwall Wildlife Trust (CCT) who feared the drilling would disrupt premier surfing spots and threaten marine habitats and wildlife. CCT said the drilling posed certain risks, including loss of habitat and species, disturbance of contaminated sediments, and noise.It also called for reassurances that the cumulative impact of its application for a 21 year license are considered.

In a statement Marine Minserals Ltd stated: "Our method will not, unlike traditional dredging extend over vast areas of the seabed in a short time because we will be simultaneously back filling as we draw up the sand, while filtering out the tin onboard. We will return almost all of the sand back to where it came from. Compared to the effect of storm waves on this coast, our impact will be insignificant."

Its operation, it added, would be no closer than 200m to the shore and that there was no evidence to show that it would prove detrimental to the marine environment, wildlife or surfing. It said: "If there are specific problems, in specific locations, or at specific times, we will investigate ways to avoid, minimise or mitigate them.  Such plans will be made public and will be open to scrutiny and consultation in our licence application, which we now expect to make early next year."

A plan to raise the amount of council tax people pay for policing Devon and Cornwall has been approved.

The Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Panel agreed to raise the policing part of the Council tax precept by 2%. This equates to an increase, on average, of £3.19 per household per year.

Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Hogg said: "We believed that not raising the police part of the council tax during the next financial year would have a major impact on policing in Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. It would have meant that officer numbers may have fallen to well below 3,000."

"We are working hard to maintain officer numbers at their current levels and there was a real need for the Force to increase funds to be able do this."

Rugby Football Union chairman Bill Beaumont believes Cornish Pirates should be given a fairer chance of winning promotion to the Aviva Premiership.

Former England captain Beaumont, who was appointed chairman of rugby's governing body in July last year, visited Cornwall on Thursday for an RFU governance meeting at Polson Bridge.

Supporters were given the chance to share their views on whether the RFU should modernise, but Beaumont also took time to speak to the Western Morning News about some wider issues facing Westcountry rugby. He would like to see Exeter Chiefs' success in reaching the Premiership replicated in Cornwall.

However, Pirates have been hindered by minimum standards criteria for Premiership rugby grounds, meaning promotion was never a possibility at Mennaye Field or without a suitable Stadium for Cornwall being built.

He said: "I think any club should have the opportunity of going up.

"It is Premiership Rugby who makes the decisions and we are hamstrung by it. It is one of their regulations and I do think you have to have some criteria regarding the ground.

"[Pirates chairman] Dicky Evans has had plans for a Cornish stadium in Truro, sharing with the football club, and it all sounded very exciting.

"It is tough because you want everyone to have the opportunity to go up but also you have to respect the Premiership rules as well.

"In football, for instance, Blackpool were promoted to the Premier League despite the fact their ground was not even one of the better ones in the Championship.

"Yet they were allowed into the Premier League on the proviso they did certain things the following year. If football can do it, why can't we allow clubs to gain promotion and then have a certain timescale to do something about their grounds?"

Beaumont also suggested changes to the way the community game – clubs playing below Championship level – is funded.

National League sides such as Redruth and the Cornish All Blacks – who play each other at Polson Bridge today – have struggled to meet the financial demands of running their first teams in recent seasons as support from the RFU has diminished. This, in turn, has affected participation in the clubs' other sides below first XV level.

Beaumont said: "If I wanted to win a popularity contest, I would bring the chequebook along and say 'here you are guys, get on with it'. I think that's what our predecessors probably did. A club like Launceston have probably gone from funding of £70,000 a year down to £15,000, just for travel.

"Running a National League team in remote areas is tough. It is a massive demand on the players too.

"It doesn't matter how much they are paid, it does not compensate for all that time they spend every other weekend travelling when they have a young family to take care of or weekend jobs. But at the end of the day, clubs don't have to play in that league.

"How much has gone into players' pockets over the years and how much is actually going into running the other sides?

"What perhaps happened at Launceston [and other clubs in Cornwall] is not unique and it has been replicated all over the country.

"I think that if there is funding, it should be conditional on things like facilities. Have you got floodlights? Can the RFU work with the clubs and get more all-weather pitches in so people can play all year round?

"There are ways, like that, in which we should start looking. One of the biggest problems in club rugby is the drop-off in players between the ages of 18 and 22.

"If we improve the facilities, could they play in a Wednesday night league [if they can't play at the weekend]? The DNA of English rugby is 15 players on a Saturday afternoon, but we might have to look outside the box a little bit to keep people playing rugby."

The Pirates, who have reached the past two Championship finals continue their push for promotion play-off spot at home to Doncaster Knights tomorrow.

Prop Alan Paver is set to make his 300th appearance for the club after serving his four-week club ban for an incident in the Pirates' Championship match with Bristol on New Year's Day.

Pirates coach Harvey Biljon was full of praise for Paver's achievements since his arrival at the club in June 2002.

The front-row forward, who won the EDF Energy National Trophy final at Twickenham in 2007 and the British and Irish Cup in 2010 with Pirates, is currently celebrating a well-deserved testimonial season.

Biljon said: "Phenomenal is the only word you can use to describe Alan. He has been such as great servant to the club on and off the field.

"As a coach, you always turn to your senior players and Alan has been a great help to us. I hope there will be a couple more people there to help celebrate his achievements with him."

Pirates also welcome back wing Matt Evans, who is their top try-scorer in the Championship this season, and this week's on-loan signing from London Welsh, Ashley Smith, is named on the bench.

Cornish Pirates: Davies; Mercer, Riley, Fatialofa, Evans; Hallett, Cattle (capt); Andrew, Semmens, Paver; Barry, Johnson; Marriott, Burgess, McGlone. Replacements: Storer, Elloway, Prescott, Lyons, Maidment, Kessell, Smith.

A special get-together has been organised in honour of prop Alan Paver's 300th game for Cornish Pirates this weekend. The Yacht Inn, Penzance, will host a live band, hog roast and an auction, starting at 6pm tomorrow.

Brisk February winds whip across the beach as ice-white waves hurl themselves on to pristine sand. Even on the chilliest of days the views across Watergate Bay are spectacularly beautiful.

Overlooking the bay stands the Fifteen Cornwall restaurant, where diners absorb the unique setting while scanning the menu for delectable temptations.

Since its opening, it has built up an enviable reputation for fine food and drink while training some of the county's most disadvantaged youngsters in the restaurant industry.

Today, staff are gearing up for the grand re-opening tonight following a brief closure for its half-a-million-pound revamp.

Builders ripped out the bar, kitchen and the entire restaurant interior, including the ceiling and floor – even the restaurant's trademark pink graffiti wall has been swept away.

The face-lift has been relatively rapid, with the restaurant having shut down in mid-January. Step inside the welcoming warmth of the restaurant now the changes are immediately apparent. In the dining area the restaurant's recognisable pinks and greys have vanished to make way for a more glamorous palette of white, greys and metallic silver, with the merest trace of orange. However, upon closer inspection, the faintest whisper of Fifteen's original pink lingers among the new decor.

A new addition includes an antipasti bar where customers can be waited on under a shimmering chandelier. The elaborate adornment was created with 38 individual lights, each one made of hand-blown glass, reflected in a wall of antique mirrors.

The kitchen remains open-plan, but has been opened up even more to give the 17 professional chefs and 20 apprentices extra space to work.

Diners will now have an even better view of the team busily working their culinary magic amid an orchestra of boiling pans and shining knives chopping and slicing.

Jamie Oliver gave the overhaul his blessing.

"Fifteen Cornwall has been open now for six wonderful years, and so it was definitely time to give it a bit of a face-lift and put some love back into the four walls," he said. "The guys have created a brilliant place for our apprentices to learn, develop and hone all their skills and, of course, there is nothing else like it in the South West. I'm ridiculously proud."

There were a number of reasons for the overhaul, as chief executive Matthew Thomson explains...

"It's important to secure growth for the business for its long-term stability.

"Tourism-wise Cornwall had a difficult 2012 because of the recession, the weather and the Olympics. Like lots of other restaurants we saw fewer customers coming through the doors.

"Also since we launched more top-quality restaurants, including Nathan Outlaw and Paul Ainsworth, have opened up so there's obviously an element of extra competition.

"If people are travelling to Cornwall on holiday and maybe having two or three special meals out then we want to be one of those two or three."

The new kitchen cost three times the amount of the old one and should last the restaurant 15 to 20 years.

"It's the Rolls Royce of kitchens," enthuses Matthew.

While a team of innovative British designers from Gloucester-based Space drew-up the blueprint and installed the kitchen, the pièce de résistance is a £90,000 French-made oven called an Athanor suite.

But it would be inaccurate and unfair to simply describe it as an oven – it is in fact a 20ft long "hot island" in the middle of the kitchen. The island has a gas oven, hot plates, two hobs and a pasta boiler.

Head chef Andrew Appleton had a major say in the new design and regards the centre-piece is an absolute godsend.

"Everyone can work around the hot island, which creates a better workflow around the kitchen.

"It's so much better for the apprentices because they've got more space to stand next to one of the professionals to learn and watch what's going on.

"It's even more open-plan than before, so customers can enjoy the theatre of the kitchen."

The new kitchen has taken a year in the planning and allows staff more space to work.

"Don't get me wrong – I've worked in some terrible basement kitchens in London with hardly any room – the old kitchen we had at Fifteen was not the worst I've worked in by a long chalk.

"But it was pretty cramped and equipment was beginning to break down and had to be replaced, which could prove costly. It's a bit like when things start to go wrong with a car and you have to keep having work done to keep it running. After a while you're just throwing good money after bad and it's better to buy a new one.

"One of our old ovens kept breaking down and it became a bit of a nightmare.

"There were times when we were left with only one gas stove to work on and 150 people booked in for lunch, which was no joke.

"But because we're an open-plan kitchen we just had to carry on as if everything was totally fine and keep smiling.

"Somehow you get through it – you just have to work with what you've got."

But his particular pride and joy is the new charcoal-fired £10,000 Spanish-built Josper oven – essentially an indoor barbecue.

"We're well-known for our fish dishes, but I really want to start pushing beef further up the menu.

"The restaurant is growing up and we're going to offer more choices."

With one of the busiest nights of the year just around the corner, staff will test the new kitchen to the maximum.

"We've got Valentine's night coming up soon and it will be great to be in a new kitchen – it's been brilliant watching the whole project come to life from early designs to installation."

Detailed plans to prevent wind farms being built too close to homes and beauty spots have been revealed in Cornwall.

The council could be on course for a costly showdown with powerful energy companies by creating buffer zones of almost 1km around residential properties and areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONB).

One of the more extreme options under consideration would represent an almost total block on any new planning permissions for large-scale wind farms – due to the Duchy's narrow land mass and scattered population.

But campaigners against the technology claim it is standard practice for developers to routinely exclude sites closer than 800m to properties in other areas and argue that enshrining exclusion zones in planning law would simply be correcting a long-standing anomaly.

Scott Mann, councillor for Wadebridge who was recently selected to stand as a Conservative in the North Cornwall constituency in the General Election, is leading a working group on the issue.

To illustrate the effects on the landscape officers have modelled detailed maps based on minimum distances to be set at 320m, 820m and 920m.

Mr Mann said there has been a clamour for action by local people, many of whom have never joined any previous protests.

"What I am hearing from people is that they are very keen on this, and it is coming from people who have never objected to a wind farm before but are very concerned about the effects on AONBs and tourism," he added.

"It seems that the very nature of Cornwall means that if we are to operate a policy like other councils have we shouldn't have any large wind turbines.

"I could see it turning into judicial review but it is in place in other places and works in those areas."

Experts in planning policy who have battled to halt developers say the legality of local authorities creating such policies will be tested by a legal case later next year.

They say a judicial review of a decision by Milton Keynes Council to create a separation zone of 2km between turbines and homes could be a landmark.

A recent report by industry body Regen South West urged councils not to bow to pressure from campaigners to create buffer zones.

Nevertheless, many areas are pursuing policies as supplementary guidance rather than hard and fast policy.

The move has won backing from the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).

Bob Barfoot, North Devon CPRE chairman and a veteran of "many dozens of battles to oppose turbines in sensitive areas", said the authority should not be "frightened".

He added: "If they tried to impose a 2km exclusion zone around single turbines they may find themselves in the High Court, but there is nothing wrong with adopting standard practice for wind farms of 800m.

"If a lot of wind farm developers work on an 800m zone in other parts of the country then why should Cornwall be any different?"