Congratulations to Vision Group for Sidmouth (VgS) for organising last night’s hustings, in a particularly civil atmosphere, thanks to the VgS Chair, Dave Bramley.
All candidates standing in Sidmouth and Sidford Wards, for election to East Devon District Council, had been invited. ONLY ONE current District Councillor, Christine Drew, turned up, making the absence of all the others appear all the more reprehensible.
Candidates who did take this opportunity to engage with the public were: Dawn Manley (East Devon Alliance Independent,iEDA, Sidford Ward); Matt Booth (iEDA, Sidmouth Town Ward);Cathy Gardner (iEDA, Sidmouth Town); Marianne Rixson (iEDA, Sidford);Christine Drew (Conservative, Sidmouth Rural); David Barratt (Independent, Sidmouth Rural); John Dyson (Independent, Sidmouth Town).

A broad range of topics were raised, including affordable housing; interaction between Town/ District/ and County Councils; current EDDC management style: neighbourhood plans, etc. All were thoughtfully addressed.

Hats off to the iEDA Independents,for their positive message of how together they could improve the way things are done at District Council. Their pooled knowledge of local issues, and individual expertise in such things as sources for grants; tourism and marketing; and most urgently, the importance of encouraging neighbourhood plans, was impressive.

Next VgS hustings, for Sidmouth Town Council candidates, is at Sidmouth College, 6pm, on Tuesday 21 April. Wonder how many candidates will take advantage of this pre-election platform offered to them? We’ll see.