1. Why was this search tool created?
Democracy works best when information is easy to find. Currently, many of Redruth Town Council’s past Agendas and Minutes are stored as scanned images. This makes it impossible to search for specific topics – like “allotments” or “budget” – without reading through hundreds of pages manually. This tool turns those images into searchable text.
2. Is this the “Official” Town Council website?
No. This is an independent archive maintained by Paddy Deakin. While the documents themselves are official public records, this search interface is a private initiative to improve local transparency and accessibility. You should always consult the official Redruth Town Council website for the “legal” version of any document.
3. Is it legal to host these documents here?
Yes. Under the Local Government Transparency Code 2015, councils are required to publish their data in a format that assists reuse under an open license. By making these public records searchable, this site helps fulfill the spirit of that law and the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
4. Why doesn’t the Council’s own website do this?
I have asked the Council several times to make their documents accessible and searchable. As of now, they haven’t implemented a search tool for their archives. I believe transparency shouldn’t be a request—it should be the default. Until the Council provides this service, I will maintain this archive for the community.
5. How accurate is the search?
The search results are generated using OCR (Optical Character Recognition). This technology “reads” the Council’s scanned documents to make them searchable and accessible.
While OCR is highly accurate, it is a machine-generated transcription and errors can occur (especially with older or faint scans). For this reason:
Verify the Source: You can always cross-reference these documents with the official Redruth Town Council website at redruth-tc.gov.uk/Council_Meetings_3277.aspx.
Check the PDF: Every search result includes a link to the original PDF record hosted in this archive for you to verify the exact wording.
6. Can I use the information I find here?
Yes. Under the Local Government Transparency Code 2015, all local authorities are required to publish public record information under an open license that allows for reuse.
As these are official records of Redruth Town Council, they are treated as being available under the Open Government Licence (OGL) v3.0. You are encouraged to use and re-use this information freely and flexibly, provided you attribute the source.
7. Can I request that information or a name be removed?
Your privacy is important to me. This archive is intended to help Redruth residents stay informed, not to cause distress.
The Nature of the Archive
It is important to note that this tool does not publish “new” or private information. Every document indexed here has already been published online by Redruth Town Council and remains available on their official website. This archive simply provides a way to search those existing public records more efficiently.
Because these are statutory documents of a public body, they are intended to be a permanent and accurate account of Council proceedings. Under UK GDPR Article 17(3), the “right to erasure” generally does not apply to records kept in the public interest or for historical archiving.
When we can help with a removal:
While I cannot change the official history of the Council, I will prioritise “Takedown Requests” in the following cases:
- Privacy Oversight: If the Council accidentally published sensitive personal details (like a private home phone number, a personal medical detail, or an unredacted signature) that should have been kept private.
- Official Corrections: If the Council has formally retracted or amended a document due to a factual error.
- Legal Requirement: If a court order or legal mandate requires the information to be removed.
How to make a request:
If you’ve found something that concerns you, please email [email protected] with the specific link. I will review it personally and get back to you as quickly as possible.
Please note: To maintain the integrity of the public record, I do not redact the names of elected officials or council staff acting in their official roles.
Privacy & Cookies
How do you handle my data? This site is built with a “Privacy First” approach.
- No Tracking: There are no tracking cookies, marketing pixels, or third-party analytics (like Google Analytics) on this site.
- Search Logging: To improve the search engine, the system logs what terms are searched for (e.g., “Clock Tower”), but it does not log who searched for them. We do not collect IP addresses or personal identities.
- Cookies: This site only uses “functional” cookies—small files that help the website work properly. They do not follow you across the web or build a profile of your behaviour.
Did You Know? Since 2018, UK law has required public sector websites to be accessible to everyone, including those using screen readers. Scanned images of text (like many of our Council’s PDFs) are often invisible to these tools. This archive is a step toward fixing that gap for Redruth residents.