Giving waterways bathing status means the Environment Agency has to test them for pollution during the summer months, putting pressure on water companies to stop dumping sewage in them.

Twelve rivers are among the new sites. There are three river areas in England designated for swimming, far fewer than in many other European countries. In France, for example, there are more than 570 river bathing sites.

Bathing status is no guarantee the waters are safe to swim in, however. Last year, testing by the Environment Agency found that England’s three river swimming areas all had “poor” status due to pollution. This means people should not swim in them and risk getting sick if they do. Sewage spills and agricultural runoff mean swimming sites can carry E coli and intestinal enterococci, which could make swimmers ill.

The water campaigner and former Undertones singer Feargal Sharkey told the Guardian: “Every single stretch of river in England currently tested carries a ‘do not swim’ advisory. This lot will simply join that ignoble, floundering list of failure.

“It’s clearly not a strategy to deal with the decaying state of our rivers, it’s simply panic from a decaying government, it’s making excuses all before exiting stage left in the run-up to a general election.”

Water companies were criticised for record sewage discharges into England’s waterways last year. Recent data showed raw sewage was discharged into rivers and seas for more than 3.6 million hours, more than double that in the previous 12 months.

Bathing sites are only tested in the summer months but the government has promised a consultation later this year on proposals that would include extending monitoring outside the bathing season, as some people use the rivers recreationally all year.

The water minister, Robbie Moore, said: “The value our bathing waters bring to local communities is incredibly valuable – providing social, physical and positive health and wellbeing benefits to people around the country – and I am pleased to have approved a further 27 new bathing water sites for this year.

“These popular swimming spots will now undergo regular monitoring to ensure bathers have up-to-date information on the quality of the water and enable action to be taken if minimum standards aren’t being met.”

The chair of the Environment Agency, Alan Lovell, said: “The importance of England’s bathing waters for residents and visitors alike cannot be overstated, which is why the Environment Agency provides rigorous testing to ensure that bathers can make informed decisions before swimming in one of our 451 sites.

“Overall bathing water quality has improved massively over the last decade due to targeted and robust regulation from the Environment Agency, and the good work carried out by partners and local groups. Last year, 96% of sites met minimum standards, up from just 76% in 2010 – and despite stricter standards being introduced in 2015. We know that improvements can take time and investment from the water industry, farmers and local communities, but where the investment is made, standards can improve.”

The new bathing sites

Church Cliff beach, Lyme Regis, Dorset
Coastguards beach, River Erme, Devon
Coniston boating centre, Coniston Water, Cumbria
Coniston Brown Howe, Coniston Water, Cumbria
Derwent Water at Crow Park, Keswick, Cumbria
Goring beach, Worthing, West Sussex
Littlehaven beach, Tyne and Wear
Manningtree beach, Essex
Monk Coniston, Coniston Water, Cumbria
River Avon at Fordingbridge, Hampshire
River Cam at Sheep’s Green, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
River Dart estuary at Dittisham, Devon
River Dart estuary at Steamer Quay, Totnes, Devon
River Dart estuary at Stoke Gabriel, Devon
River Dart estuary at Warfleet, Dartmouth, Devon
River Frome at Farleigh Hungerford, Somerset
River Nidd at the Lido leisure park in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire
River Ribble at Edisford Bridge, Lancashire
River Severn at Ironbridge, Shropshire
River Severn at Shrewsbury, Shropshire
River Stour at Sudbury, Suffolk
River Teme at Ludlow, Shropshire
River Tone in French Weir Park, Taunton, Somerset
River Wharfe at Wetherby Riverside, High St, Wetherby, West Yorkshire
Rottingdean beach, Rottingdean, East Sussex
Wallingford beach, River Thames, Berkshire
Worthing Beach House, Worthing, West Sussex

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East Devon: District Council votes in Cllr Eileen Wragg as its new vice chair

Years of serving the community across East Devon and the county has propelled a former Exmouth mayor into the position of vice chair of the district council.

Local Democracy Reporter eastdevonnews.co.uk

Long-serving public servant Eileen Wragg, from Exmouth, has been voted in as vice chair of East Devon, writes local democracy reporter Bradley Gerrard.

Councillor Wragg (Liberal Democrat, Exmouth Town) has been a Councillor in some form for 28 years, and will now sit alongside Councillor Eleanor Rylance (Liberal Democrat, Broadclyst), who has been re-elected as chair for another term.

The Exmouth-born Councillor who was educated at Exmouth Grammar School, and later studied at the University of Plymouth, graduating with a BA Combined Honours degree in 1995, replaces Councillor Sam Hawkins (Independent, Cranbrook) as vice chair.

[Cllr Sam Hawkins now holds the finance portfolio – see below]

Cllr Wragg joined Exmouth Town Council in 1996, serving until 2015, during which time she held the role as mayor for two years between 2005-2007.

She was first elected to Devon County Council in 2005, losing her seat in the 2017 election, but is in her third term at East Devon, having been elected in 2015, 2019 and last year.

Cllr Wragg was nominated for the role by Councillor Sarah Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat, Broadclyst).

“Cllr Wragg has taught me a huge amount about being a councillor since I started in 2019, and she has been a councillor for many years and so has a wealth of experience and skills within all areas, and I think she would be perfectly suited to the role,” she said.

Exmouth peer Councillor Olly Davey (Green Party, Exmouth Town) seconded the nomination, commenting on Ms Wragg’s superb knowledge of local issues.

“Some of you will be aware that Cllr Wragg has had a few health problems recently, but having given her a lift here today, her mind is as sharp as ever, and she’s as feisty as ever, and I’m sure she’ll keep us all in our place if required,” he said.

Cllr Wragg thanked her colleagues for the nomination, quipping that she would “be back and fully operational as soon as the spare parts arrive that are being made now”.

EDDC cabinet members and portfolio holders, following annual meeting

Held by	Position at the council
Councillor Eleanor Rylance	Chair of the Council
Councillor Eileen Wragg	Vice Chair of the Council

Cabinet members

Each member of the Cabinet takes responsibility for a Portfolio.

Cabinet members	Role / Portfolio
Councillor Paul Arnott	Leader
Councillor Paul Hayward	Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Economy and Assets
Councillor Geoff Jung	Portfolio Holder Coast, Country and Environment
Councillor Marianne Rixson	Portfolio Holder Climate Action
Councillor Sarah Jackson	Portfolio Holder Communications and Democracy
Councillor John Loudoun	Portfolio Holder Council and Corporate Co-ordination
Councillor Nick Hookway	Portfolio Holder Culture, Leisure, Sport and Tourism
Councillor Sam Hawkins	Portfolio Holder Finance
Councillor Todd Olive	Portfolio Holder Strategic Planning
Councillor Dan Ledger	Portfolio Holder Sustainable Homes and Communities

Assistant Portfolio Holders

Post holder	Portfolio
Councillor Paula Fernley Councillor Charlotte Fitzgerald	Assistant Portfolio Holders Coast, Country and Environment
Councillor Richard Jefferies	Assistant Portfolio Holder Culture, Leisure, Sport and Tourism

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East Devon: Council leader slams ‘slag off’ critics and rejects past bullying claims inside the authority as ‘red herrings’

Preface by Owl

Last July EDDC passed a motion to initiate six actions to reset the council and reinforce best practice including asking the Local Government Association to undertake a Corporate Peer Challenge.

(See “angry outburst mars attempt to reset council”)

This Corporate Peer Challenge has been concluded this year and commented (see article below); ‘there have been media reports about bullying at EDDC but the peer team did not find this to be the culture and staff said positively that they didn’t recognise this portrayal of EDDC’,”

Mark Williams resigned as Chief Executive in October 2023.

BBC Spotlight presented his resignation alongside unconfirmed reports that he was facing a formal complaint about his conduct. Allegations had been made in a formal complaint that he had “intimidated and browbeaten” the conduct of an independent investigation into child sex abuse allegations.

As Paul Arnott said last week in the context of the appointment of Tracy Hendren as the new CEO: “It is very obviously the beginning of a new era, with a very new management team here, which is very talented, and I look forward, and you can all look forward, to us working together as one council moving forward.”

East Devon: Council leader slams ‘slag off’ critics and rejects past bullying claims inside the authority as ‘red herrings’

Local Democracy Reporter eastdevonnews.co.uk

The East Devon authority leader has hit out at critics of the district council, saying he was ‘slightly tired of being slagged off’ in some towns and villages amid past bully claims, which he rejected.

Paul Arnott has hit back at critics within some East Devon parish councils in relation to historic “red herring” allegations about bullying at the authority, writes local democracy reporter Bradley Gerrard.

Councillor Arnott (Liberal Democrat, Coly Valley), who was voted in for his fifth successive year as leader of East Devon District Council this week (Wednesday, May 8), said he was getting “slightly tired of being slagged off at some parish councils”.

“In the Corporate Peer Challenge [carried out by the Local Government Association this year it said ‘there have been media reports about bullying at EDDC but the peer team did not find this to be the culture and staff said positively that they didn’t recognise this portrayal of EDDC’,” Cllr Arnott said.

“I hope and pray that all of us can move on from what was a complete set of red herrings flown in the interests of people no longer involved in the organisation.”

The Corporate Peer Challenge came after comments in a Grant Thornton audit report of East Devon surrounding governance at the council.

The audit report, released in December last year, covered the 2021/22 financial year but did include some analysis from the 2022/23 year too.

“Whilst it appears that relationships between most officers and portfolio holders were generally effective, it is clear that the relationships between some other senior officers and members were poor,” the Grant Thornton audit said.

“There were allegations of bullying by both officers and members. We saw evidence of some officers leaving the organisation, as well as suggestions that members did not stand for re-election as a result of the behaviours and culture that was reported within the council.

“Whilst different respondents had differing views and perspectives of the reasons for the behaviour and the various allegations, it is clear to us that relationships within the council had resulted in an unacceptable culture.”

It did, however, flag “many excellent examples” of officers and members working “effectively together in a cohesive manner to the benefit of the district, and responding to the challenges in very difficult and unprecedented circumstances”.

Addressing this week’s annual meeting, Cllr Arnott added that he appreciated all Councillors working together for the betterment of residents.

“I wanted to thank all councillors for their input into processes which some were opposed to in the first place but were then very creative with,” he said.

“That is, in particular, the LGA peer challenge, the involvement with the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny, the Planning Advisory Service, our own work across personnel committee and elsewhere looking at the challenges we’ve had, so I’d like to thank everyone for their involvement and it’s very much appreciated.

“It is very obviously the beginning of a new era, with a very new management team here, which is very talented, and I look forward, and you can all look forward, to us working together as one council moving forward.”

Just before the annual meeting, Councillors had approved the appointment of Tracy Hendren as its new chief executive.

Ms Hendren is currently one of the three interim co-CEOs and a director at the council. She is expected to begin her new role on June 1.

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Flogging off the family silver but County will have to repeat the exercise 30 times just to fix the potholes!

Selling off council-owned properties in Exmouth, Axminster, Exeter, and other areas of Devon, are hoped to earn the county around £7million, it has been revealed.

Local Democracy Reporter eastdevonnews.co.uk

Property disposals have earned Devon just over £7 million and the hopes are the same amount could be secured this year, writes local democracy reporter Bradley Gerrard.

The biggest ticket item sold by Devon County Council in the year to March 31 was land at Aldens Farm in Alphington, for £4 million, where a large housing application of more than 180 homes has been approved.

Aldens Farm planning documents, for Alphington, Exeter.

Exeter’s Compass House earned the council £900,000, the second biggest sale amount from the 12 sites or buildings it sold.

Councillors at the authority’s cabinet meeting heard this week (Wednesday, May 8) that the council expected to earn a similar amount – around £7 million- in the current financial year.

The authority has slated four sites for possible sale or repurposing, as well as three freeholds on Sowton Industrial Estate in Exeter.

It believes 2-4 Meeting Street in Exmouth, East Devon, which is being vacated by public health nursing and a local ceramics group, both of whom are relocating to another Devon County Council-owned building, the Kennaway Centre, could be marketed for residential or commercial use – pending a change of use application – over the summer.

An East Devon youth centre is also relocating to the Kennaway Centre from The Hive in Exmouth, meaning the latter is surplus to requirements too.

Lea Combe, in Axminster, in East Devon, has also been identified as suitable for residential development of around four to six houses. It was previously being safeguarded for a highways development scheme, but that is no longer required.

The council also wants to repurpose Rosalind House in Tiverton into so-called ‘staying close’ provision; essentially accommodation within the county that could house looked-after children.

However, it noted that the property’s garden “which is considerably bigger than required for staying close” could be marketed as a potential residential site for one or two houses.

And three freeholds in Sowton, which are jointly owned with Exeter City Council, could also be sold if the values achieved for them would be greater than prospective proceeds from ground rent.

Councillor Carol Whitton (Labour, St David’s & Haven Banks) asked what the timescale was for a decision on whether to sell the Matford Offices which are on the County Hall site in Exeter.

These had previously been earmarked for disposal, but are subject to a public consultation given strong opposition in the community to turn them into housing.

At the time their potential disposal was discussed in October, alongside other properties and land totalling an estimated value of £10 million, Julian Brazil (LIberal Democrat, Kingsbridge) called the move a “fire sale”.

Devon county officers suggested potential options for Matford could be put before Councillors in the autumn.

Outgoing leader John Hart (Conservative, Wembury and Bickleigh) said that in the past 12 years, the authority had “raised a considerable amount of money and reduced our property holdings, money which has been put into the capital expenditure pot, by and large”.

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‘The stakes could not be higher’: world is on edge of climate abyss, UN warns

The world is on the verge of a climate abyss, the UN has warned, in response to a Guardian survey that found that hundreds of the world’s foremost climate experts expect global heating to soar past the international target of 1.5C.

Damian Carrington www.theguardian.com

A series of leading climate figures have reacted to the findings, saying the deep despair voiced by the scientists must be a renewed wake-up call for urgent and radical action to stop burning fossil fuels and save millions of lives and livelihoods. Some said the 1.5C target was hanging by a thread, but it was not yet inevitable that it would be passed, if an extraordinary change in the pace of climate action could be achieved.

The Guardian got the views of almost 400 senior authors of reports by the authoritative Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Almost 80% expected a rise of at least 2.5C above preindustrial levels, a catastrophic level of heating, while only 6% thought it would stay within the 1.5C limit. Many expressed their personal anguish at the lack of climate action.

“The goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C is hanging by a thread,” said the official spokesperson for António Guterres, the UN secretary general. “The battle to keep 1.5C alive will be won or lost in the 2020s – under the watch of political and industry leaders today. They need to realise we are on the verge of the abyss. The science is clear and so are the world’s scientists: the stakes for all humanity could not be higher.”

Alok Sharma, the president of the Cop26 climate summit in 2021, said: “The results of the Guardian’s survey should be another wake-up call for governments to stop prevaricating and inject much more urgency into delivering on the climate commitments they have already made.” He said world leaders needed to get on and deliver on the pledge they made to transition away from fossil fuels at Cop28 in December.

Christiana Figueres, the UN climate chief who oversaw the landmark 2015 Paris climate deal where the 1.5C goal was adopted, said: “These climate scientists are doing their job. They are telling us where we are, but now it’s up to the rest of us to decide what this moment requires of us and [to] turn the seemingly impossible into the new normal.”

She said the world was on the edge of positive societal tipping points away from fossil fuels. “It doesn’t mean a utopian future – we know too much climate change is already baked into the system – but enormous positive change is coming. A world in which we pass 1.5C is not set in stone.”

The 1.5C target was initially proposed by the Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis). Fatumanava Pa’olelei Luteru, the chair of Aosis, said: “Our islands are quite literally sinking as the temperatures rise. The lack of ambition on climate change from bigger countries is consigning our states to a reality of devastating loss. The [Guardian] report must be a wake-up call to the world.”

Mohamed Adow, from Power Shift Africa, said: “It’s good to see the experts who follow climate most closely sharing their horror at the lack of action from governments. Those of us living in countries facing the worst effects of the climate crisis feel this too. My country of Kenya has faced its worst drought in 40 years and then last week saw hundreds killed in devastating floods. We wish leaders had the same sense of urgency as the climate scientists.”

Youth climate activists from around the world also shared the climate experts’ fears. “Crashing through the guardrail of 1.5C would be a death sentence for millions of people in the global south,” said Vanessa Nakate, at Rise Up Movement Uganda. “Unless we see immediate action no one will be safe.”

Disha Ravi, at Fridays For Future India, cited the dire impacts of India’s recent heatwaves: “The complacency of leaders is killing people. Temperature rises beyond 2.5C are not inevitable, but averting it requires genuine commitment and action from those in power.”

Policy experts, economists and business leaders responded to the Guardian findings with both frustration and calls for urgent change. Rachel Kyte, a professor of practice in climate policy at the University of Oxford, said: “It is desperately frustrating that our political, economic and social systems don’t know what to do with the science. We need … innovations in our democracy to give scientists the politics they deserve.”

Nicholas Stern, an eminent climate economist, said: “The Guardian’s results are a message from scientists that they lack confidence in our world leaders to take the necessary action to avert climate catastrophe. It’s not too late for political leaders to act but the scale and pace of change must be large and rapid.”

Helen Clarkson, the chief executive of the Climate Group, which runs a network of 500 multinational businesses, said: “The Guardian survey is a stark reminder of the gap between climate targets and action.”

The respondents to the Guardian survey identified lack of political will as the single biggest barrier to climate action. Harjeet Singh, at the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, said: “For decades, governments, especially in rich countries, have consistently prioritised the fossil fuel industry’s interests over the wellbeing of their people. We have a narrow window to avert the worst outcomes, but it requires urgent, transformative policies that prioritise the wellbeing of people and the planet over profit.”

Some politicians backed the call for urgent action. Caroline Lucas, a UK Green party MP, said: “The world’s leading scientists are running out of words to describe the gravity of the climate emergency we face. Politicians need to wake up and treat this catastrophic threat with the seriousness and urgency it requires.”

Ed Miliband, the shadow climate change minister in the UK, said: “Every fraction of a degree matters to the survival of our planet for future generations. That’s why we need governments around the world to maximise climate action, rather than rowing back.”

In the US, Representative Chrissy Houlahan said: “[The Guardian report] should give all of us in Congress even more urgency to act swiftly and bipartisanly.” Bas Eickhout, a Green member of the European parliament, said: “I recognise the feelings of despair of the scientists very well. However, we simply do not have the option of giving up.”

Additional reporting by Nina Lakhani, Helena Horton, Oliver Milman and Lisa O’Carroll.

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Appointment of new CEO at EDDC followed by restructuring to place more emphasis on housing

A spend of £30,000 on staffing costs has been agreed for new roles in East Devon aimed at supporting a district council restructure.

A restructure of senior officers at East Devon has been agreed as the authority announces its new chief executive, writes local democracy reporter Bradley Gerrard.

Local Democracy Reporter eastdevonnews.co.uk

Tracy Hendren emerged as the preferred candidate from an initial field of 20, and was recommended as the best person for the job after a two-day long interview process of four finalists.

Ms Hendren’s appointment was unanimously approved by Councillors at an extraordinary council meeting this week (Wednesday, May 8), and straight away a restructure within the senior team of officers was proposed.

The council currently has three directors under the chief executive, but will now create a director of housing and health, and a director of place, meaning four directors under the new boss.

Councillors agreed a budget of up to £30,000 for the recruitment costs involved.

Ms Hendren, who prior to her new role was one of three interim CEOs at the council and its director of housing, health and environment, said the current structure within the senior and officer team was “imbalanced” and needed to be amended.

“We have some challenges with housing financial viability and we want to make sure we have a director focusing on housing and housing stock moving forward,” she said.

In Ms Hendren’s director role, she said she had seven direct reports “covering very different services”.

“What we want to do is recruit a director of place and a director of housing and health which will rebalance some of that structure,” she said.

She said was “confident” the two directors would have similar combined staffing numbers to the size of the team at present, suggesting it was therefore more “direct line management changes rather than a full restructure”.

The aim is to put interim directors into the new posts, providing so-called ‘acting up’ opportunities for internal staff to take on the roles while the recruitment process for permanent staff from a potential pool of internal and external candidates takes place.

She added that all directors had been asked to prepare proposals for the longer-term structures of their teams, including their financial viability.

“We’re not bringing this plan because we want to increase staffing costs,” she said.

“We are going to manage it within existing resources in the same way we did when we made changes to the housing team earlier this year.”

Councillor Mike Goodman (Conservative, Sidmouth Sidford) queried whether the changes could really be made with no impact on the budget.

“I was slightly surprised at that,” he said, adding: “So will the restructure come within the current finances?”

Ms Hendren said “absolutely”, reaffirming the example of the recent housing restructure.

The new interim directors are expected to start on June 1, enabling Ms Hendren to begin her new role on the same day. Permanent recruits could take three or four months to secure, the meeting heard.

Leader Paul Arnott (Liberal Democrat, Coly Valley) said the restructure “makes the most enormous sense” following the departure over the past four years of a deputy chief executive, former director of housing, health and environment John Golding, who retired last year, and the departure of another senior staff member.

“I think this is very welcome and long overdue, and it’s worth restating that the new chief executive won the role from a field of 20 pretty outstanding applicants,” he said.

“And while it wasn’t preordained that she would win, she did, and the advantage of that [to the council]is that we can get on with this restructure immediately rather than in what would have been six months’ time [with an external candidate],” he said.

Councillor Eleanor Rylance (Liberal Democrat, Broadclyst), the chair of the council, also acknowledged the “pretty gruelling” interview process undertaken to select the new chief executive and congratulated Ms Hendren on her new role.

At the same meeting, Melanie Wellman was also reappointed as the council’s returning officer.

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Lib Dems hold Ashburton and Buckfastleigh seat – Teignbridge

Party increases its share of the vote

Jack Major won the Ashburton and Buckfastleigh by-election which was called after the death of Lib Dem councillor Huw Cox in January.

Guy Henderson – Local Democracy Reporter www.radioexe.co.uk

Cllr Major’s win – with a majority of 192 – brings the Lib Dem group back up to 26 out of 47 members of Teignbridge Council.

Council leader Martin Wrigley (Lib Dem, Dawlish NE) said: “It’s great to see Jack win with a 192 majority and an increased vote share, and I know that Jack will be a great councillor for the area.

“Huw would have been delighted to see Jack join the council.”

Cllr Cox was chairman of Buckfastleigh Town Council and the town’s current mayor at the time of his death..

Cllr Wrigley said then: “He was always an outspoken advocate for his community. His contributions to this council were many and varied.

“This council, and I personally, will miss him very much as a councillor and as a friend.”

By-election results were: CLARKE, Sue, South Devon Alliance 523; EDLMANN, Richard, Conservative Party Candidate 325; HUNT, Madeleine, Heritage Party 36; MAJOR, Jack, Liberal Democrats 715; ROBILLARD WEBB, Lisa, Labour Party 303; HEXT, Michael, Independent 136; WYNTER, Pauline, Green Party 295.

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Tracy Hendren Confirmed as Chief Executive of East Devon District Council

eastdevon.gov.uk

Tracy Hendren’s appointment as East Devon District Council’s (EDDC) new Chief Executive was confirmed by councillors at an extraordinary full council meeting on Wednesday, 8 May.

Tracy Hendren, CEO of East Devon District Council

Following an extensive recruitment process, Tracy emerged as the preferred candidate to lead the council into a new era. With more than two decades of experience in local and national government, and a proven track record of effective leadership. Tracy brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her new role, previously she was the Director of Housing, Health and Environment at EDDC and one of the three interim CEOs. Before this, Tracy was the Assistant Director of Housing, Environmental Health, and Trading Standards at The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead. Her career has spanned across central Government, and District and Unitary Authorities within City and London Borough areas.

Commenting on her appointment, Councillor Paul Arnott, Leader of EDDC and the Democratic Alliance group, said:
“Tracy will be an outstanding chief executive with extensive experience in local and national government and in the private sector. East Devon faces massive legacy challenges from previous administrations around housing and other matters, and a fresh perspective after decades of business as normal is now vital. We could not be more fortunate in appointing someone who already knows the organisation from the inside and who is a superb professional with a work ethic to match.”

Councillor Colin Brown, Leader of the opposition Conservative group, added:
“The Conservative Group is hopeful that the new CEO will bring fresh perspectives and innovative ideas to address the challenges that exist. It is crucial for the new CEO to work closely with all council members, employees, and the community to understand the unique needs and priorities of EDDC. Open communication Is the key to ensuring that the council is able to meet the demands of its residents.”

Councillor Tony McCollum, Leader of the Independent group said:
“On behalf of myself and the Independent Group we congratulate Tracy on her new appointment as CEO and look forward to working together for the benefit of East Devon District Council and our constitutes.”

Tracy’s appointment comes at a pivotal moment for East Devon, after the recent adoption of its council plan and a peer review undertaken by the Local Government Association earlier in the year as the council continues to navigate the challenges and opportunities facing the region and local government. Her leadership will be instrumental in guiding the council forward as it strives to build a brighter future for East Devon and its residents.

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Extra roads cash as repair backlog hits £200m

Extra funding to help repair Devon’s battered roads has been approved but comes as the county’s backlog of repairs hits an estimated £200 million.

Guy Henderson, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk

Thanks to savings accrued during the year and a budget underspend, Devon is now able to put £12 million extra into maintaining the county’s roads, notably repairing its deluge of potholes and improving drainage issues.

But Devon County Council’s cabinet heard that the extra cash comes as the repair bill for outstanding maintenance on the county’s roads is thought to be £200 million.

Councillor Stuart Hughes (Conservative, Sidmouth), cabinet member for highway management, said savings made across the council had contributed £10 million of the £12 million, with the majority of that earmarked for patching up potholes, £2 million to address drainage issues, and £750,000 for remarking pedestrian crossings and roundabouts.

“The additional £10 million brings the budget in line with last year, which was a significant improvement on 2021/22 and 2022/23 settlements, which were below inflation,” he said.

“The condition of highway assets continues to deteriorate, and that is typically felt most on lower categories of the road network that support our rural communities.

“That’s why we’ve seen a dramatic increase in pothole numbers, and it shows the fragility of the network as we put in a growing number of weight restrictions and temporary closures that impact the daily lives of thousands.”

Funding from the Department for Transport for the current financial year is £59.48 million.

Councillor Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat, Dawlish) said he was “delighted” the cabinet had decided to use his party’s suggestions for the budget alteration.

“It’s fantastic to see extra money to fix roads, which can be a blight on hundreds of thousands of people every day,” he said.

“This is what people in Devon really need, as it has got to the state where things are untenable.”

Cllr Wrigley urged the council to ensure more joined up thinking when fixing road issues, and to ensure that drainage problems are prioritised, so that water doesn’t sit on roads for long periods and cause more damage.

“We have a situation near Dawlish Country Park where a horrendously big pothole was fixed, but the drain beside it which causes massive puddles was not cleared at the same time,” he said.

“So, the next day, there’s water all over the repaired pothole, and when you submerge the repair in water and heavy trucks go over it, it instantly gets washed away, making a short-term fix that will quickly fail.”

He added that like adult social care, “we need to fix the problems before they get bigger”.

Labour’s Carol Whitton (St David’s and Haven Banks) said it was “particularly telling” that when additional funding is available, the condition of the county’s roads improved.

“Our residents know that, our officers also know that, and so we just ask whether our cabinet knows it and Government, because there is an ongoing tale here of insufficient resources to maintain our roads in the state residents deserve,” she said.

Councillor Frank Biederman (Independent, Fremington Rural) questioned the timing of the extra cash.

“The cynic in me asks whether this is a one-off effort in an election year,” he said.

“What will happen in future years, I wonder, and if my maths are correct 22 of 27 major schemes are going into Conservative councillor areas and five into non-Conservative ones.

“Sure they are worthy and well thought out schemes but cynic in me wonders about that.”

He added that the council was focused on fixing potholes as quickly as possible, but that it was about the quality of the work that mattered.

“Unless we carry out quality repairs, we are throwing good money after bad,” he said.

Elsewhere, Cllr Hughes added that an already approved £2 million – separate to this extra cash – would be spent on a street light management system aimed at improving energy costs.

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OEP watchdog criticises government’s water clean-up plans for England

The government’s efforts to clean up England’s rivers, lakes and seas have been criticised by a key environmental watchdog as “poor”.

Government plans lack detail, commitment and adequate funding.

By Jonah Fisher www.bbc.co.uk

The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP), a statutory body, said targets to improve water health were going to be missed by a “large margin”.

It said government plans lack detail, commitment and adequate funding.

A government spokesperson said this government had done “more than any other” to restore waterways.

The OEP was established after Brexit to hold the government and other public bodies to account on environmental issues, given that EU oversight no longer applied.

In this latest report, the OEP looked at whether the laws protecting England’s rivers, lakes and coastal waters from pollution were up to the job, and how they’re being enforced.

“We found the legal framework to be basically sound. But the way that it’s being interpreted and implemented is really being done poorly,” Dame Glenys Stacey, the chair of the OEP, told BBC News.

“That means that government is very unlikely to achieve its ambitions for our waters. In fact, it’s very likely to miss by a large margin,” she said.

At the moment, just 16% of England’s waterways are rated as having Good Ecological Status. The government stated target is for that to rise to 77% by 2027. But the OEP says reaching 21% is seen as more likely.

“Unless things change, it’s a very poor situation,” Dame Glenys said.

The OEP criticised what it called the government’s “generic one size fits all” approach to improving waterways and said that there needed to be more detail, commitment and funding.

The environment secretary now has three months to respond officially to the OEP report.

But a spokesperson provided immediate comment and said that recent years had seen greatly increased monitoring of sewage discharges and plans to invest billions of pounds in wastewater treatment infrastructure.

“This government has done more than any other to protect and restore our rivers, lakes and coastal waters with record levels of investment, monitoring and enforcement,” the spokesperson said.

“We welcome this report’s recommendations to go further and will consider them in detail.”

Most of the campaign groups contacted by BBC News said the report confirmed what they already knew.

“It is no surprise that following years of underinvestment, weak regulation and poor instruction on how to deliver plans, that the government are off track for the majority of their plans to improve the health of England’s waterways,” Louise Reddy from Surfers Against Sewage said.

“The long-term health of our rivers is dependent on what we do now to support them,” Mark Lloyd, CEO of the Rivers Trust, told BBC News.

“This report proves our long-held suspicion that current policy and legislation is not enough – we need to change course to save our rivers.”

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Next government ‘will need to raise taxes to maintain public services’

The winner of the next general election will have to raise taxes to maintain the current provision for public services, according to new analysis by a leading think tank.

Henry Saker-Clark www.independent.co.uk

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) added that there is “essentially no fiscal headroom for any further tax cuts” amid slow economic growth and easing inflation.

The UK economy grew by 0.1% in 2023 after pressure from higher interest rates and hikes by ratesetters at the Bank of England to slow rampant inflation.

In its latest economic outlook report, NIESR said it forecasts GDP (gross domestic product) will have grown 0.4% over the first quarter of 2024 and will rise 0.8% for the year as a whole, compared with 2023.

Nevertheless, it said this still represents an “anaemic UK GDP growth trend”.

It comes a week after the UK’s economic growth prospects were downgraded for the next two years by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), adding that it is on track for the weakest growth of the G7 group of countries next year.

Stephen Millard, deputy director for macroeconomic modelling and forecasting at NIESR, said: “Despite the welcome fall in inflation, UK growth remains anaemic.

“This will make it difficult for any incoming government to carry out the much-needed investment in infrastructure and the green transition, as well as increase spending on public services and defence, without either raising taxes or rewriting the fiscal rules.

“This makes clear the need to reform the fiscal framework to enable the government to do what is needed for the economy in a fiscally sustainable way.”

It is currently widely expected that the next UK general election will take place in the second half of 2024, with the Labour Party shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves saying earlier this week that they plan to fight the next election on the state of the economy.

NIESR also said in the report that it predicts there will next be an interest rate cut, from the current level of 5.25%, in August. It has factored in two cuts this year.

The forecasts also indicated that average living standards are due to improve by around 6% in 2024/25 compared with the previous year, but stressed this picture varies significantly between the income distribution.

The poorest tenth of households will experience a 2% decline in disposable income, while households in deciles four to nine will see a 7%-8% improvement.

Adrian Pabst, NIESR deputy director for public policy, said: “While real wages are rising, households in the bottom half of the income distribution continue to feel the impact from the cost-of-living crisis, with housing costs wiping out the benefits from higher real wages.

“Similarly, the freezing of the personal allowance and tax bands is making low and middle-income households worse off despite the cut to National Insurance Contributions.

“Despite some efforts, regional inequalities are persistent and, in some cases, getting worse.”

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Paul Arnott explains the reason behind the “Green Wedge” consultation

EDDC needs a clear answer from residents not just landowners. – Owl

Local Plan leaves us steps ahead

Paul Arnott

On Monday night this week for the first time in years I watched the climax of the world snooker finals on BBC2 when Kyren Wilson prevailed over the dignified Jak Jones.

It took me back to growing up with a quarter-sized snooker table which could be pulled from behind a cupboard and balanced on the table in the dining room.

It bred a very odd technique in me and my teenage friends, like bonsai gardeners who thought they were lumberjacks. When a few years later we could go into pubs with full-size snooker tables, we found that our quarter-size slice shots and rocket powered potting often left us pitifully short of our aim on the seemingly huge baize surface.

We also learned harshly that snooker was more than a parlour game about potting balls; it was about thinking three steps ahead, building a defence in case you missed an ambitious pot and of course, which we simply never managed on our mini-Crucible in the dining room with half-length cues, snookering the other players.

Snooker at the highest level is about mental strength and character, but also about strategy. And so, it was watching the snooker final that I found myself for about half an hour paying minimal attention to where the brilliant players were potting the balls, sometimes from seemingly impossible positions, but focussing instead on only where the white ball went, from the moment it was played to the incredibly intelligent position it ended up, a whole line of tactics ready to flow from that.

I now offer a perhaps torturous analogy with the predicament of the many East Devon residents across the whole district who are worried that in the process of making the Local Plan, which government obliges us to do, the council is looking at Green Wedges and their future status. (A Green Wedge is a portion of land between existing communities which is not favoured as developable land because to build there would encourage coalescence between villages or towns.)

Quite understandably, local people who wish to conserve Green Wedges – and I was at the heart of a campaign to designate land between Colyford and Seaton as such a decade ago – are very worried that even considering their status as we develop the Local Plan risks de-designating some or all of the sites. This perceived threat is also being whipped up further by some seeking electoral gain.

However, from the many meetings I have attended with good councillors from all political backgrounds, none of them want de-designation to happen and are mature enough to realise that just discussing their future does not equate to a desire to abolish. It has now been agreed that the Green Wedges will be put out to public consultation, so that the council may take the current temperature of support for and against Green Wedge designation.

As a good snooker player realises, one simple pot of angry public objection or a publicity campaign will not win the game. The government has set the rules, and, like it or not, the people and councillors of East Devon need to control the white ball. This won’t be about valid and valiant speech-making; it will be about where local people and their elected representatives want to land in the end. By offering the matter out to public consultation, we have ensured the white ball is out there for local communities to play.

We genuinely need all those with an interest to take part. You can be certain that aspiring landowners and developers will.

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Listing Brixham car park could protect ‘exceptional’ beach

Developers want to build a £25million hotel complex.

The first steps could be taken next week to protect Brixham’s Breakwater Beach area from over-development.

Guy Henderson – Local Democracy Reporter www.radioexe.co.uk

Members of Torbay Council’s cabinet committee will be recommended to make the council-owned car park beside the beach an ‘asset of community value’, which could mean curtains for recent proposals to redevelop the area.

Listing a place as an asset of community value acknowledges that its main use is ‘to further the social wellbeing or social interests of the local community’. If the car park area is listed, the local community would also get the opportunity to club together and buy it if the council ever decided to sell.

The car park is caught up in plans which were unveiled by developers last summer to ‘transform’ the Breakwater Beach area. Hundreds of local people queued across it to examine the plans when they went on show at the Breakwater Bistro.

Many were furious at what they said was a ‘monstrosity’ which would overshadow the beach and ruin the area.

Earlier this year the designers said they were going back to the drawing board to come up with something more acceptable.

The original £25 million hotel complex would have created a 44-bed hotel, spa and beachside bistro. But the multi-coloured design was compared to the fictional village setting in the children’s TV show Balamory.

Jack Turton, who owns the bistro, said new plans would be drawn up as a result of the feedback he had received. He said his scheme would bring new jobs and more tourists to Brixham.

He said he understood concerns over the beach, and pledged that his proposals would not include any development on the beach. He also warned that the current bistro building had structural issues and would need ‘radical’ redevelopment soon.

“The most important thing is that we get it right,” he said. “We’re not here to just build. We’re trying to do something that suits Brixham.”

Nearly 5,000 people joined an online protest group, and local MP Anthony Mangnall promised to present a petition to parliament. Opponents of the development are planning to be at the cabinet meeting next week.

The Breakwater Beach Community Group has made the application to have the area listed, and council officers are advising the cabinet to say yes.

They say: “We want Torbay and its residents to thrive, and consideration should be given to safeguarding amenities which are of great local significance to the places where people live and work.”

The listing would last for at least five years.

In the application the group says Breakwater Beach is a ‘much-loved local asset’ and the car park area provides important access to it.

The request says: “The beauty of the beach is that it is fairly unspoiled and has an old world charm that draws families back to it time and time again.

“The views from the beach are exceptional. It is, as a result, popular 12 months of the year.”

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Tories must face hard truths: Reform-lite wreckers like Braverman are why the public just don’t like us

Justine Greening, education secretary and minister for women and equalities, 2016-18, and Conservative MP for Putney, 2005-19. www.theguardian.com

Last week’s local election results may finally have sunk Rishi Sunak’s Conservative party. It lost all but one of the 11 mayoralty contests, and while Ben Houchen held on in Tees Valley, it was with a diminished majority. Labour were out of sight in winning the Blackpool South byelection with a 26% swing, and more broadly in local elections across England the Tories lost nearly half the council seats they were defending.

These losses are staggering, but so too is the reaction of would-be Tory rebels, the Reform-lite group. They have suggested they will not challenge Sunak now; as Suella Braverman put it, it is Sunak who should “own this and fix it”. It is the height of political self-unawareness – because it is their political gameplan that Sunak’s rudderless No 10 has been attempting to follow. It is as a result of their flawed political judgments that support for the party has plummeted the length and breadth of the country, and across generations of voters – so much so that shockingly, the party only now leads in the over-70s voter age group. The 2024 local election results are their responsibility to “own”, not just the prime minister’s.

Time after time, Sunak has pivoted more sharply towards this group’s uniquely unpopular political agenda, whether in his bizarre conference speech attacking the 30 year failed status quo, raging against the apparently omnipresent “woke” agenda, stoking divisive but headline-grabbing culture wars – or even now threatening to leave the European convention on human rights.

And the more Sunak has danced to the Reform-lite political tune, the worse the party has done in the polls. Far from suggesting that the party should continue with more of the same, Thursday’s election results show that voters are rejecting the very Reform-inspired agenda it has pursued. This direction has so clearly taken the party backwards, to the extent it could barely scrape second place in Blackpool South, the latest byelection disaster for the Conservatives. To suggest, as they now do, that Sunak should try harder with a strategy that has already proved to have failed is self-serving madness.

It’s also bad maths. In places like Blackpool South or London, even combining Conservative and Reform UK voters into a “coalition” of support would be insufficient for winning a general election. In London, after deliberate overnight speculation on Friday that the race would be tight, the Tory mayoral candidate performed even worse than last time. Meanwhile, in Braverman’s own patch of Fareham, the party lost councillors to the Lib Dems. The madness is that when it comes to the national picture, the party finds itself battling for a small pool of voters with the third-placed party, Reform, while abandoning and alienating many more in the centre ground of British politics to Labour, which is first place by a wide margin.

Theirs is a strategy that has tripped up at every hurdle. Today’s Reform-lite Conservatives are losing badly, and more of the same cannot be the solution.

The problem is that they have no positive vision for our country, just a long list of things and people they dislike and oppose as they tilt at any “woke” windmill they can conjure up. These issues are irrelevant and a turn-off for most voters.

Crucially, the promise of levelling up that voters across the country bought into – whether north or south, leave or remain – has been arrogantly ditched by them and Sunak. While continually pointing the finger at “elites”, they nevertheless seem to have little to say on how we fundamentally level up Britain so that everyone can have fair access to opportunities, irrespective of background.

Yet whether you call it levelling up, breaking down barriers, or equality of opportunity, the local election results show that it is the candidate and party that voters believe can practically deliver for them and their families that consistently wins elections in today’s Britain.

In Tees Valley, Houchen managed to hold back the political tide through demonstrably driving greater access to opportunity for local people and giving his own region the chance to be part of Britain’s economic success of the future. In Harlow, where a concerted effort on levelling up has been made by the council, county council and the respected local MP Robert Halfon, the Conservatives held on. Andy Street may have lost the West Midlands mayoralty but he is a politician respected across the party divides as having a track record of delivery. His demand for a moderate, tolerant and inclusive Conservative party is correct and the antithesis to culture-war-driven Reform-lite Conservatives. Unlike them, he should have a role in any future Conservative revival.

By contrast, Reform-lite Conservatives, like Labour’s Corbynites, are far more consumed by making ideological political arguments, theorising about deep-state plots and demonstrating they are disconnected from our day-to-day lives, than setting out proposals on the necessary, ambitious and comprehensive plan Britain needs for driving social mobility.

Stepping back from a Conservative leadership coup they clearly assume would fail suggests they believe they cannot even win the argument within their own party, let alone the wider country. Yet they still plan to wage the equivalent of a coup in public anyway. They may say it’s about forcing Sunak to own the results, but that’s just an excuse. What they really want is for Sunak to continue to carry the can for their own failing political strategy. They are simply getting their excuses in early, unable to see what everyone else in the country can: that they are the people turning off millions of voters from voting Conservative. And the longer this goes on, the more damage they will do to the party, and the harder it will be to regain public trust.

Bluntly, they are the problem the Conservative party now needs to face down if it is ever to electorally prosper again. As long as Reform-lite continues to loudly monopolise the debate, banging on with their futile finger-pointing and vote-losing culture wars, they prevent the wider party from confronting the hard truths about where it goes next.

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The rivers that are too full of sewage to clean up

Conservationists in the Thames Valley have warned they cannot carry out river restoration works because constant sewage discharges are making the water too “unsafe” to enter.

Lucie Heath inews.co.uk

Rivers in the Colne Valley, which sits to the west of London, are being taken over by invasive species that choke aquatic life because volunteers have been left unable to enter the water to clear them, campaigners say.

Lara Clements, a rivers officer working with the Colne Catchment Action Network, told i she has been forced to cancel eight restoration events in the past six months. This accounts for around a third of the events she had organised.

The meetings are cancelled at the last minute when Thames Water’s online map shows that raw sewage has been discharged in the area.

“It’s incredibly unsafe to send volunteers into a river of sewage,” Ms Clements said.

She co-ordinates the removal of floating pennywort, a non-native weed, from rivers in the area. Introduced to the UK from the Americas in the 1980s, the plant is incredibly invasive to the point that it is banned from sale and is illegal to cause it to grow in the wild.

“Floating pennywort outcompetes native aquatic vegetation, so you lose native biodiversity and native wildlife,” Ms Clements said.

“In situations when it gets really bad, it can literally cover the whole river so you can’t see the river… you can end up in a situation where it blocks the light and deoxygenates the entire river so you basically get dead zones.”

Ms Clements said there are certain areas in the region that volunteers have been unable to enter for months due to constant sewage spills from Thames Water.

Thames Water said it was committed to minimising its impact on the environment and that increased investment was needed to meet ageing infrastructure and demand.

Water companies are permitted to release untreated sewage from points in their network known as “storm overflows” during periods of exception rainfall to prevent their systems from becoming overwhelmed and sewage backing up into people’s homes.

But public anger is rising over how often water companies are doing this, and the impact these discharges are having on rivers.

Latest official data show water companies across England spilled sewage 464,056 times in 2023.

Ms Clements said the River Misbourne, a chalk stream that runs through Buckinghamshire, has been particularly affected by sewage spills. In February, i reported that the river had become so polluted from sewage that the local drinking water company, Affinity Water, was forced to temporarily stop extracting water.

An image taken of the river just downstream from Gerrards Cross Sewage treatment works in December last year shows the water completely covered in floating pennywort. Ms Clements said it has still not been cleared as it has been too unsafe to enter the water.

“The environmental incident declared on the River Misbourne has basically meant that carrying out any pennywort removal there is impossible. I have the capacity and the funding to go and do this work, I just can’t do it. The condition of the river is completely unsafe for me to be in it and volunteers to be working around it,” Ms Clements said.

“It’s just really disappointing,” she added. “You can’t predict it… We don’t know what the situation is going to be. We don’t know when a sewage discharge might stop so it’s really hard to work out and strategise what to do and there isn’t a lot of advice available.”

A Thames Water spokesperson said: “While all discharges are unacceptable, the sewage system was historically designed in this way, to relieve pressure and prevent overflow into people’s homes.

“We appreciate how much waterways are loved and enjoyed by everyone, and we are committed to minimising our impact on the environment, but we can’t do it alone. Farming, industry, livestock and more extreme weather also play a role in river health.

“We have published plans to upgrade over 250 of our sites across our region, including Gerrards Cross sewage treatment works. At the vast majority of our sites this will increase capacity and reduce the number of necessary discharges.

“More investment is needed across the entire sector, as infrastructure ages and demand on it increases. That’s why we’ve asked for increased investment in the next regulatory cycle between 2025-30.

“We were the first company to publish an online map providing close to real-time information about storm discharges from all our permitted locations, putting transparency at the heart of what we do.”

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Town Council grant boosts learning opportunities for cafe workers

Two workers at Ottery St Mary’s Silver Otter Café have earned food hygiene qualifications, thanks to a grant from the town council.

Philippa Davies http://www.sidmouthherald.co.uk 

The council gave £2,278 to the Able2Achieve scheme operating at the café, which supports people with learning difficulties and promotes independence. The money has paid for two laptops and online courses. The first two learners to benefit were Josh and Kerry, who have completed a level 2 food hygiene course and passed the exam.

Helen Holmes, Enterprise Coordinator, said: “Together we are looking at further courses they can take, plus investigating roles they are now qualified for. We expect our other learners to qualify soon.

“The grant has been a real boost to how much training can be completed and also pays for a number of learners to complete upcoming courses.”

The laptops have also been used to help create CVs for learners with Able2Achieve, and search for jobs and work placements that match the qualifications they are about to acquire.

A spokesperson for Ottery St Mary Town Council said: “We are delighted to be able to support the amazing work of Helen and her team at Able2Achieve.”

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Why Rishi Sunak is wrong to claim UK is heading for a hung parliament

(Or, if you prefer another set of headlines: “It’s for the Birds”: pollster mocks Rishi Sunak HuffPost)

“These results suggest we are heading for a hung parliament with Labour as the largest party. Keir Starmer propped up in Downing Street by the SNP, Liberal Democrats and the Greens would be a disaster for Britain.” – Rishi Sunak

The disaster for Britain is the likelihood of the Conservatives lurching to the right if they are re-elected, indeed the possibility of lurching to the right as they cling on until the election.

Remember Liz Truss! – Owl

Conservative ministers are adamant that the upcoming general election is not yet a lost cause – claiming last week’s local elections show Labour is not on course for a Commons majority.

Hugo Gye inews.co.uk

But polling experts have hit back at the argument made by Rishi Sunak and his allies, pointing out it is based on only a partial reading of the results.

The Prime Minister told The Times: “These results suggest we are heading for a hung parliament with Labour as the largest party. Keir Starmer propped up in Downing Street by the SNP, Liberal Democrats and the Greens would be a disaster for Britain.”

The claim is a repeat of the campaign run successfully in 2015 against a co-called “coalition of chaos”, which Tories said would see Ed Miliband propped up in power by the Scottish National Party.

It is based on an assessment by academics Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher, who used the local election results to forecast the outcome of a general election in which all voters acted in the same way as they did at the locals – concluding that Labour would fall 32 seats short of a majority in Parliament.

But elections expert Sir John Curtice cautioned: “The way that people vote in local elections doesn’t necessarily exactly mirror the way that they would vote in a general election, at least in terms of levels of support. Particularly, the Liberal Democrats have long since done better. And it tends to be Labour that suffer more as a result.”

Both the Lib Dems and the Greens outperformed their showing in opinion polls – suggesting there may be a large pool of people who will back the smaller parties at a local level but vote Labour when it comes to the general election, in order to get the Tories out of power.

Health minister Maria Caulfield claimed the Conservatives could take heart from the difference between local elections and national ones, telling Sky News: “It’s always difficult when you’ve been in Government and voters can send a message to a party in Government that they’re unhappy about certain things with the safe knowledge that they still have a Conservative Government in control. It’s very different come a general election where they really do have to make a choice.”

That has long been at the heart of the Tory election message: that in a straight fight between Mr Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer, voters will end up rejecting the Labour leader.

But Ben Page of polling firm Ipsos told Times Radio: “Keir Starmer isn’t particularly popular, but it’s always compared to what? If you look at how people rate Keir Starmer as best possible candidate for being Prime Minister with Rishi Sunak, he’s got double the score of Rishi Sunak.”

He said that Sir Keir’s mediocre ratings were a “silver lining” for the Tories because “people aren’t particularly enamoured with Labour”, but added: “Next to that is a cup of cold sick, which is basically that people are utterly fed up with the Conservatives.”

Other problems with the Ralling and Thrasher analysis include that the fact that it takes no account of potential changes in Scotland, where opinion polls currently suggest Labour could take well over 20 seats off the SNP.

And any projection based on the local elections faces the problem that Reform UK stood in only a minority of council seats, making it hard to know how much they would damage the Tories in a general election.

Sir John told the BBC: “We know from the opinion polls that Reform are now taking more votes off the Conservatives than Labour is. Reform only appeared in one in six of the wards – so therefore their impact was probably diminished.”

Mr Sunak will continue to argue that the general election hangs in the balance. But unless the polls start to narrow soon, maintaining that message will get harder and harder.

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1,100 homes could be built on Devon’s ‘green wedges’

People in East Devon will be asked their views on whether to protect land designed to stop sprawling urban development.

William Bradley www.devonlive.com

A public consultation on so-called green wedges will be issued shortly by the district council to gauge view about areas that include potential for new houses, because of the pressures the district is under to provide homes for people.

Across the 12 parcels of land, including between Beer and Seaton, Budleigh Salterton and Knowle, Colyford and Colyton, and Exmouth and Lympstone, a total of 1,100 potential new homes could fall on what are currently green wedges.

Any development would ideally be small-scale, and not unduly impact the purpose of the wedge. Ed Freeman, assistant director of planning strategy and development for East Devon, noted the potential jeopardy of the consultation because of the lack of obvious support for green wedges by the government.

“I do have some concerns about the approach given the lack of government guidance, as fundamentally there isn’t any,” he said.

“They are a historical thing that we have had, and other local authorities, and some have maintained them in their plans.

“While one can see the merit in retaining them, we will be challenged on them in a way we haven’t previously.”

Mr Freeman noted that property developers, in particular, would “challenge our position” and that the council would “need to respond and defend our decision”.

Indeed, the council’s strategic development committee heard that some development had already taken place within the green wedge boundaries as they were previously drawn, and that it was proposed that new boundaries exclude these recently built homes.

Mr Freeman also highlighted the challenge the council would face if councillors decided that development shouldn’t take place in a green wedge.

“Representations from developers reflect the pressure to release land within a green wedge for development, and the pressures in trying to meet housing needs will be quite challenging,” he said.

“There are 1,100 homes proposed in first or second choice sites for allocation in green wedges, and if those are removed, then that would cause us significant challenges in terms of where to build those properties, and developers are picking up on that and putting pressure on us to release green wedge land.”

Cllr Ben Ingham (Conservative, Woodbury and Lympstone) said the council should not have found itself in this position.

“This is why ages ago we should have been debating green wedges, so we don’t have this ridiculous compromise where there are potential allocations [of houses] and we’re wondering how we can draw green wedges around them,” he said.

“We started this process a few years ago in the wrong place as we never had an overview of what we were trying to achieve or any strategic thinking.

“We should have put the green wedges in place before housing allocations, and so this is so unfortunate, so please could officers take note not to do this again in 10 years’ time.”

However, Cllr Mike Howe (Independent, Clyst Valley) said the approach the council had taken with the consultation was correct.

“Previously, we showed the green wedges without the housing allocations in, then we allocated [the houses] and then removed the green wedge boundary around them,” he said.

“This way is honest, as we are saying these are the green wedges, and there are pressures on them which might mean we have to allocate houses on some or all of them, or possibly none.

“In the previous way, we showed these lovely green wedges with no threats to them and I think the only way we can do this is to be honest and upfront, by saying there are allocations in them, and that might change, but either way the allocations are not determined and can be debated at a later date.”

The consultation is set to start this month and last for six weeks.

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Did you all enjoy your May Bank Holiday?

Not everyone did, according to the Telegraph:

OWL

Talons sharpened, eyes trained …

Peering into the darkest corners of East Devon since 2013!

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The new bathing sites

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