Monthly Archives: May 2014
Anyone want to find out more about why Tesco couldn’t afford affordable houses in Seaton?
Well, after this ruling you might be successful!
Newton Poppleford Councillor summoned to special Standards sub-committee meeting tomorrow (Thurs 15th May)
As reported in the Sidmouth Herald, 11th May 2014, charges against Newton Poppleford Councillor Graham Salter, for alleged non-declaration of a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI) concerning the controversial King Alfred Way planning application , were dismissed by the police.
Nevertheless, Councillor Salter has been called to appear before an EDDC disciplinary committee tomorrow morning (see http://www.eastdevon.gov.uk/standards_hearing_sub_committee_agenda_150514.pdf )
This may well fuel the widespread suspicion that the allegations against him are linked to his vigorous criticism of the process by which the Clinton Devon Estates application was brought forward.
Some have also pointed out that the requirement to declare a DPI was intended to prevent councillors from making personal gain from planning decisions. As the Herald report mentions, who exactly brought the charges against Councillor Salter, remains unclear.
This Thursday’s Standards Sub-Committee minutes are awaited with interest.
Important changes to public speaking rules to be debated at O&S Committee this Thursday evening (15th May)
The meeting, at Knowle, begins at 6.30pm on Thursday. Details at this link: http://www.eastdevon.gov.uk/os_agenda_150514_combined.pdf
The Council is seeking ways to reduce the length of some meetings, which have become unwieldy, particularly those including major planning applications. What is the best solution? Does the heart of the problem lie with too much participation from the public, or is it a question of better management required (e.g. advance notification and brief precision about the planning matters which can be addressed; avoidance of repetition and overlong reviews of officer reports, etc) .
This is a sensitive issue in the run up to the 2015 elections.
Boles: do his left and right hands understand they are part of the same body?
The man who encourages councils to build everywhere now sats “don’t build everywhere”.
It’s a sure sign we are in an election period when we see ministers rowing back from unpleasant policies they know will lose them votes!
Stop unnecessarily threatening the green belt, Nick Boles tells councils
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10828669/Stop-unnecessarily-threatening-the-green-belt-Nick-Boles-tells-councils.html
EDA submission to parliamentary select committee on the NPPF, is now published
Please see following link and scroll down to East Devon Alliance to see our submission:
Speak now or forever hold your peace …
EDDC tries to silence minority councillors
http://www.claire-wright.org/index.php/post/eddc_to_impose_restrictions_on_motions
Police try to silence blogger:
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/may/12/police-ask-blogger-remove-legitimate-tweet-ukip
Is there a pattern here?
And here is an American view on it:
Tourism: the hidden economy in East Devon
….. “Last year, Devon, Cornwall and Somerset attracted 1.3m visits from abroad – 536,000 in Devon (up 148,000), 319,000 in Cornwall (an increase of 16,000) and 496,000 in Somerset (up 101,000).”
Can anyone. recall any major initiative on tourism by East Devon District Council in the last few years? Anyone recall the name of the EDDC Champion for Tourism?
Read more at http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Foreign-tourist-lavish-552m-Devon-Cornwall/story-21086915-detail/story.html#FUWOoiyvj6dzSEcO.99
So, how is South Somerset’s Local Plan getting along?
South Somerset is Lib Dem controlled but shares the same Chief Executive with East Devon District Council:
….; “Cllr Nick Colbert raised fears that the council had “not properly listened” to the inspector’s demands.
He said: “We can’t just say the inspector doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and I’ve got serious worries that this whole plan is going to go down.”
http://www.westerngazette.co.uk/Government-held-gun-heads-Local-Plan-south/story-20819075-detail/story.html
Why Local Plans fail
This is a somewhat technical article but one point made is that your Local Plan will fail if you have not documented and minuted things such as how you have dealt with the “Duty to Co-operate”.
Our council is very lax with its minutes: some meetings have no minutes at all, some have minutes that seem to bear little resemblance to the meetings that took place and some minutes are so secret that no-one except those in the meetings get to see them. Transparency pays off in the end.
Axminster to get special treatment for parking reductions
And why, one asks, only Axminster?
Could this not be construed as political, especially as Councillor Chubb represents an Axminster ward and this is announced during the political “purdah” period before elections?
EDDC has listened to traders in Axminster and is proposing to launch a special car parking rate in all its pay and display car parks in the town – starting this month.
The move follows the success of an experimental Christmas parking promotion in December 2013, which proved successful in a number of East Devon towns.
Councillor Iain Chubb, EDDC’s Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “This scheme is an example of EDDC working smarter and engaging with communities. We have been working with town representatives to find a mutually acceptable way of supporting town centre economies. We remain open to innovative ideas to support other towns. We are continuing to have talks with the Association of East Devon Chambers of Commerce.”
At a meeting of Cabinet last Wednesday, EDDC Members backed a proposal to trial a promotional offer for up to six months.
During the trial period, running from the first available date in May until 31 October, and subject to certain conditions, there will be a tariff of £2 maximum charge for parking after 10am and for the rest of that day in any of EDDC’s pay and display car parks in Axminster.
Councillor Chubb added: “We are implementing this new car parks pricing initiative at the request of Axminster Chamber of Commerce. The trial has been designed to better serve the needs of the town.
EDDC will monitor usage and reserves the right to withdraw the offer before the closing date if car parks become unduly congested with cars parked by people abusing the spirit of the new system.
EDDC to administer flood relief grants
| Flood resilience support given approval |
| Measures designed to help home and business owners protect their properties from future flood events have been approved by the council. Last week, members agreed to give delegated authority to the chief executive to administer the East Devon elements of a scheme that forms part of a nationwide Government initiative prompted by the devastating storms and floods experienced during the past winter.The Government has launched a number of initiatives to assist householders and businesses recover from flooding and make their premises more resilient to future bad weather. Councils have been invited to administer several schemes to: The offers are available to owners of properties actually flooded between 1December 2013 and 31 March 2014 and for work designed to prevent future flooding as opposed to work that should be covered by insurance. Guidance issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government working with Defra means councils can administer the scheme on behalf of the Coalition. EDDC’s local scheme is based on guidance issued in March and is mostly concerned with administration of the Repair and Renew Grant, which councils can award and then claim back from Westminster.
Measures designed to help home and business owners protect their properties from future flood events have been approved by the council. The Government has launched a number of initiatives to assist householders and businesses recover from flooding and make their premises more resilient to future bad weather. Councils have been invited to administer several schemes to: The offers are available to owners of properties actually flooded between 1December 2013 and 31 March 2014 and for work designed to prevent future flooding as opposed to work that should be covered by insurance. Guidance issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government working with Defra means councils can administer the scheme on behalf of the Coalition. EDDC’s local scheme is based on guidance issued in March and is mostly concerned with administration of the Repair and Renew Grant, which councils can award and then claim back from Westminster. |
EDDC: the OAPs “friend”
Typical EDDC: find a problem, blame other people and don’t even think of providing a solution:
And this at the time when East Devon is in the top 10 places for a majority of people being over 65 …
Section 106 agreements: recent changes
In our spirit of helping EDDC to do the right thing at the right time, we draw their attention to an update on Section 106 agreements:
And just in case EDDC tries to make the same mistakes again …..
A judge has ruled quite clearly that attempting to use figures that are pre-National Planning Policy Framework is NOT allowed:
http://www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1293181/local-plan-ruling-a-warning
Are our MPs value for votes?
… MPs sat for just 143 days last year prompting Margaret Hodge, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, to say: “We’re not spending enough time in Westminster. The public would be forgiven for thinking that MPs are lazy and Parliament is failing to provide value for money.”
How to improve customer satisfaction: an article in the EDDC newspaper and lots of press releases!
In the council e-newsletter this week, the council mentions that they are repeating their “satisfaction survey” by asking 3,000 residents, randomly chosen, what they think.
They the mention last year’s survey and what they are doing about improving things.
Here is the extracy on planning.
Planning – residents said
49% of residents said the council doesn’t act on what residents say, mainly due to planning and development (stet – this doesn’t make any sense!)
16% said they were dissatisfied with planning services – the most common reason given was that the council doesn’t listen to what people say.
How the council has responded
They have:
Published an article in the summer edition of East Devon Connect setting out the planning process and use other communication channels to make residents aware
We are in the process of changing the letters sent out during the planning application process to help make them better understood and provide a better explanation why decisions are made
We have increased our communications about regeneration projects and developments particularly in Exmouth and Seaton.
So, there you are: EDDC is improving by: writing an article, simplifying paperwork for planning applications and, er, more press releases.
Anyone see the flaws in this? Do any if these things show that the council LISTENS?
And just where will EDDC find land for self-build?
Under the Community Right to Build, people with a local connection to an area can reqiure a council to identify suitable plots (public or private owned) and the council will have to provide the necessary services such as water, etc. The warning is that self-builders can still be outbid for identified plots by developers.
Sounds like a recipe for disaster … council finds plot, tells self-builder about it, developer snaps it up.
A new political party in Eric Pickles’ back yard!
A couple of weeks ago the warm-up question for BBC’s Question Time was this: if Cornwall can now be afforded “European minority status”, why not the mighty province of York?
Yorkshire has a larger population than Scotland and an economy twice the size of Wales, but with the powers of neither.
EDA researchers have discovered that the Yorkshire Tykes took matters into their own hands ages ago prompted not by the change of status in Cornwall but by the Scottish vote on independence.
Frustrated by what they see is a political system oriented towards the South East they have created a political party called Yorkshire First of neither the right nor the left but with a regional agenda. Yorkshire First believe that it is important to
1. Engage folk as citizens to design, deliver and improve services
2. Seek new ways of connecting people with the decision making and policy development processes
3. Encourage new participation in the political process
4. Work to secure a regional growth strategy with any interested organisation
5. Work to equip the people of Yorkshire to succeed through a focus on skills development
6. Encourage recirculation of cash in the Yorkshire economy
. Encourage the use of local supply chains wherever possible
. Fight to ensure small business competes on a level playing field with large corporations
. We will focus on encouraging areas/sectors where Yorkshire has distinct economic challenges or advantages
. Shape legislation that will benefit the development of these sectors or areas of opportunity
Rather than independence, Yorkshire First are seeking greater devolution of powers through some sort of regional parliament. Candidates are standing in the European elections. They will do so operating as a collection of Independents, united by believing in the aims of Yorkshire First. The party will have no whips, and personal conscience will always trumps party consideration. Candidates will also endeavor to stick to the principles of governance formulated by the former independent MP, Martin Bell. You may recall in 1997 Martin Bell displaced Neil Hamilton, who was mired in sleaze allegations, from the “safe” seat of Tatton, overturning a conservative majority of 22,000.
The Bell Principles
• abide wholeheartedly by the spirit and letter of the Seven Principles of Public Life set out by Lord Nolan in 1995: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership
• be guided by considered evidence, our real world experience and expertise, our constituencies and our consciences
• be free from the control of any political party, pressure group or whip
• be ethical, non-discriminatory, and committed to pluralism
• make decisions transparently and openly at every stage and level of the political process, enabling people to see how decisions are made and the evidence on which they are based
• listen, consulting our communities constantly and innovatively
• treat political opponents with courtesy and respect, challenging them when we believe they are wrong, and agreeing with them when we believe they are right
• resist abuses of power and patronage and promote democracy at every level
• work with other elected independents as a Group with a chosen spokesperson
• claim expenses, salaries and compensation openly so the public can judge the value for money of our activities
http://www.yorkshirefirst.org.uk/
Is this the beginning of a new trend towards regional rather than national based politics, and personal integrity versus self-interest?
King Alfred Way, Newton Poppleford: the fight continues
After the meeting where the DMC decided to ignore the effects of the planning application on the SSSI pebblebeds and hustle through planning permission, news reaches us that the fight is not yet over.
It is possible that a judicial review will be sought given that there seem to be numerous grounds for doing so. Should this happen, EDDC should be seriously worried as this application has been fraught with procedural ineptitude – to say the least.
The parish council has also not distinguished itself with its handling of a planning application from the biggest local landowner in the area and also faces greater scrutiny from local residents.
East Devon Watch 