“East Devon is an outstanding place which deserves an outstanding council. To achieve that, we need the very best people.”
Sounds somewhat aspirational as if they know haven’ t got there yet … but it will take only 2 new planners to reach that goal.
AND If they can hire two extra hands, then they can run two session of the Development Management Committee as required and leave the speaking arrangements unaltered ..
As we have already reported earlier there are problems with the DCC analyses that are being used to inform decisions on Library cuts.
The main problem with these data is double counting – for example the population of Colyton is included in the population figure for Seaton, even though Colyton has its own library. Similarly Exmouth includes Budleigh Salterton; Cullompton includes Uffculme etc. This makes a nonsense on any rankings based on loans per head of Library “catchment” areas, or population without adjustment. There are also other problems in the way in which these data are then analysed to produce rankings.
DCC proposes to divide Devon libraries into two groups: Devon Centres, whose costs will be cut by 10 – 25 per cent, and community-run libraries, whose costs will be cut by 50 per cent. So here is an interesting alternative analysis to that conducted by DCC.
The proposed community-run libraries have such small costs that the only saving will be staff costs and so those libraries will have to be run by volunteers – or be closed.
The Axminster analysis of data indicates that, instead of super libraries, DCC should be looking to save money through efficiency. A comprehensive and more equitable spread of funding would also create a library service more appropriate for the rural communities of Devon.
Under the Public Libraries and Museums Act of 1964, the council has a legal obligation to provide an efficient library service. If the consultation was really about saving money then DCC should be looking at which libraries are the most cost efficient. Efficiency can be measured by the net cost per issue. On this measure small libraries are amongst the most cost effective in terms of net cost per book issued (direct costs minus revenues).
Axminster at £0.75 per issue tops the list. Other particularly cost effective libraries include Bovey Tracey, Ottery St Mary, Braunton and Budleigh Salterton and all are on the list to be community-run. Four proposed Devon Centre, super libraries, are amongst the least ten cost efficient libraries with cost per book issued at £2.13 for Exeter. It is clear that the consultation has not yet looked at which libraries are performing well and efficiently.
If the policy was really about saving money in Devon Library Services, massive savings could be made by getting inefficient libraries to perform at the same level of efficiency as those at the top such as Axminster.
From the data provided by DCC in the consultation documents, together with Freedom of Information data on Exeter, it is known that net direct costs per year are £4.3 million and that issues are 2.8 million and that at Axminster it costs 75p per issue.
If all issues cost the same as Axminster’s 75p, then issues would be £2.1 million. That would save £2.2 million. If the rest of Devon was as efficient as Axminster, DCC would save £2.2 million.
County Councillor Andrew Moulding will be putting Axminster’s figures to DCC, see:
http://www.midweekherald.co.uk/news/new_figures_boost_fight_to_save_axminster_library_1_3610759
The figures behind the Axminster analysis can be found on a spread sheet on the “Support for Axminster Library” Facebook page and is intended as a public resource.
The spread sheet attempts to remove bias using data from DCC “Tough Choices” https://new.devon.gov.uk/libraryreview/ website for the libraries in Devon on town profiles, opening hours and how these have changed over the past three years, costs, and put them on an equal footing using DCC estimates of town and ward populations.
DCC consultation continues until July 17.
No sooner had the Inspector rejected the appeal for development in Badger Close than another developer has tossed his hat into the ring (application 14/1303/FUL for Downs Close).
This application involves a site opposite Badger Close, outside the built up area boundary of the village, inside the AONB and even closer to the Pebblebed Heaths. As explained in previous blogs EDDC has a legal duty to protect this European designated site of environmental significance from the impact of future development. In fact the site lies only 100 metres outside the 400 metre total exclusion zone that surrounds the heaths.
Not only that but it involves the destruction of an old mature orchard. This Orchard because of its importance is recognised and recorded via a survey on the Peoples Trust for Endangered Species website. http://www.ptes.org.
The planning inspector rejected the Badger Close appeal largely on the grounds of its impact on the AONB and on sustainability grounds. He concluded that the appeal site did NOT represent a sustainable location for the proposed development. The crunch argument turned on access to the village centre. The Inspector noted that the poor quality of the pedestrian linkages between the appeal site and the village’s main services and facilities represented a serious failing.
The Parish Council and EDDC ward Councillor, Ken Potter, have both made submissions saying they cannot support this application and there are many very eloquent objections from the public. At least one of these is illustrated with site images and EDDC has ensured that these can be viewed online. The question is just how much weight will be given to these objections.
We all know the priority given within the NPPF to favouring sustainable development and the lack of clarity surrounding just what is meant by this woolly term. In this application great emphasis is placed on its sustainable credentials by the incorporation of low flush toilet cisterns, plastic plumbing requiring no solvent based adhesives or solder, low energy light bulbs throughout, high levels of insulation, and locally sourced materials etc.
In order to qualify as a Town or Village Green, land has to have been used by the public “as of right” ie. without any form of permission. Much of the land that the Knowle Residents’ Association applied to register had been appropriated by Sidmouth Urban District Council (UDC) as public open space and EDDC have made byelaws to control its use. The Inspector therefore concluded that the public have used this land “by right” ie with the implied permission of EDDC rather than “as of right” and he rejected the application on this technicality.
The interesting thing to have come out of this is that the Inspector concluded that the rest of the land included in the Town and Green application (which Sidmouth UDC had not appropriated) is also public open space by implication because the byelaws make no distinction between appropriated and unappropriated land.
BEFORE PUBLIC OPEN SPACE CAN BE DISPOSED OF, THE COUNCIL HAVE TO ADVERTISE TWICE AND CONSIDER OBJECTIONS.
(For Inspector’s full report, see http://saveoursidmouth.com/2014/07/08/more-on-the-town-and-village-application-for-knowle/)
Remember, that for the years 2011, 2012 and 2013 East Devon’s voting population remained stable at around 104,000 and then plummeted in 2014 to around 98,000.
In Mid-Devon it seems that no such dramatic change occured:
This is how a request from East Devon County Councillor Claire Wright for a relaxation on the rules about public speaking was dealt with at Devon County Council where the principle was upheld:
Contrast this with East Devon District Council where rules to srastically cut the right of the public to speak at meetings has already been agreed and where the decision will be rubber-stamped later this month (see diary dates above) unless there is a change of heart amongst councillors who want the public to be neither heard (at meetings) or seen (at inaccessible Skypark).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-28214685
No cheering words for places like Feniton or for our coastal communities.
Our MP doesn’t seem to understand that our council was amongst only 17 failing to fulfil its obligations. Something more than “Well, it doesn’t seem that bad” may be called for.
After all, those missing voters just might make the difference between him being elected and not elected next time.
And where is the quote from the person responsible for all the decisions that led to EDDC being in this situation, its CEO and Returning Officer, Mark Williams?
Question: the number of electors was stable in 2011, 2012 and 2013 at around 104,000 then it plummeted this year by 6,000. EDDC was supposed to arrange to physically visit properties which had not registered but someone made the decision not to do so. Who? Why? Where is this decision documented?
EDDC makes light of the fact that it is named by the Electoral Commission as in the bottom 6% of councils for registration. Were councillors aware of this before the May 2015 European elections? If not, why not? If so, why was there no call for this to be remedied before that election?
EA/2014/0072 East Devon District Council v IC & Jeremy Woodward
The oral hearing in the above case has been rearranged for 28 August 2014 at Court 3, Exeter Magistrates Court, Heavitree Road, Exeter EX1 2LS.
The hearing has been listed for half a day and will begin at 10am.
The details of the hearing will be uploaded to the Tribunal’s website over the next couple of weeks (it’s hard to say when exactly as the website is managed by a separate office), in the meantime you are welcome to share the details of the hearing with anyone who is interested to know.
Observers of the heating are also welcomed – all GRC hearings are open to the public (and press) as a matter of course. The judge may direct a ‘closed session’ (in which the disputed information is discussed) but would simply ask any observers etc. to leave the court room for the duration of this.
For background information on this important First Tier Tribunal case which pits EDDC’s intention to keep all documemts regarding Knowle development secret against our right to know what is being done with our money see our earlier post:
Congratulations to Mike Temple of the Sidmouth branch of East Devon Alliance, who has recently become one of the first Trustees of the Community Voice on Planning (CoVoP), who are vigorously working for changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).
The following update on progress at the national level has just been received by CoVoP secretary, Julie Mabberley:
We are trying to keep up the pressure on the policital parties prior to the election next year. To that end
we are attending a meeting with Greg Mulholland and his colleagues this week to work on a manifesto
put together by a range of campaigners who share a similar vision for the future of the planning system.
The attendees include: Greg Mulholland MP (LD, Leeds North West); Philip Davies MP (C, Shipley); Fiona
Bruce MP (L, Congleton), Sir Nick Harvey MP (LD, North Devon); Alok Sharma MP (C, Reading West);
David Ingham (Wharfdale & Airedale Review Development); Ian Harvey & Freddie Gick (Civic Voice); Paul
Minor (CPRE); Duncan McCallum (English Heritage); Adam Royle (NT); Paul Adams and Julie Mabberley
(CoVoP).
In common with many of the affiliated groups we have been invited to to attend a discussion forum with
Committee MPs at 3.30pm on Monday 1 September at Portcullis House, Westminster for the NPPF inquiry.
This may be an opportunity to get a number of our members together face to face anyway. There may
even be sufficient a number of groups on the same day to hold a rally but I guess that only one person
from each group will be invited.
We are also in communication with the MPs Interest Group on the Green Belt led by Chris
Skidmore MP.
Our next get-together and Trustees meeting will take place at the Navigation Inn, Barrow Upon Soar,
Loughborough, LE12 8LQ on Sunday 10 August. Please let me know if you want to send a
representative. We will be discussing the outcomes from the meeting this week and the preparation for
the NPPF Inquiry discussion forum as well as other actions to put pressure on the main political parties.
On the subject of Trustees – we have now set up The Community Voice on Planning on the Small Charity
Constitution basis managed by Trustees. The first Trustees are
– Paul Adams (DefeND [Defend North Devon])
– Geoff Rice (Wantage and Grove Campaign Group)
– Jenny Unsworth (Protect Congleton)
– Ron Morton (Save our Green Spaces)
– Julie Mabberley (Wantage and Grove Campaign Group).
– Mike Temple (Save our Sidmouth).
Our Constitution is available at http://covop.org/constitution/ and we would like to formally invite all groups
to nominate individuals for membership now and to nominate Trustees at the AGM which will be held
early next year.
Thanks for reading.
Julie
Community Voice on Planning
A National Alliance to provide communities with an effective voice on planning.
Oh, and Hugo Swire was told about this at the time and it may have affected the European election results – all confirmed below:
June 2014:
… The Commission’s detailed analysis of the registration data has identified that in addition to the 5 EROs (for Mid Devon, Taunton Deane, Torridge, West Devon and West Somerset) who reported that they did not meet performance standard 3 – the house-to-house enquiry standard – in 2013, there are a further 17 EROs who did not ensure that during 2013 all non-responding properties were canvassed in person.
These are the EROs for: Broxbourne Borough Council; Castle Point Borough Council; Ceredigion County Council; Durham County Council; East Devon District Council; Gwynedd County Council; Kingston-upon-Hull City Council; Maldon District Council; Mid Sussex District Council; Northumberland County Council; North Devon District Council; North Dorset District Council; North East Lincolnshire Council; North Warwickshire Borough Council; Scarborough Borough Council; Sedgemoor District Council and South Staffordshire Council
Click to access 6.SPEAKERS-Committee-Electroal-Commission.pdf
AND
the same link confirms that European elections could have been affected:
1.16 An added risk is that the period between March and June 2014 coincides with elections to the European Parliament and to the majority of local authorities in England (including London and metropolitan boroughs), which will mean that there is next to no capacity in local elections teams to deal with any remedial activity that may be recommended.
The March 31 2014 report referred to above is here:
Click to access Readiness-for-the-transition-to-IER-Progress-Report-March-2014.pdf
and its later update here:
Click to access Analysis-of-electoral-registration-data-for-Great-Britain-2013.pdf
with this golden nugget:
East Devon District Council
“East Devon originally planned for house-to-house enquiries to be carried out as a part of the canvass, but none were conducted in practice. Their plans were later adapted to use telephone canvassing as a first step for non- responding properties, and the details of 39% of such properties were confirmed through this mechanism. The overall canvass response rate for East Devon was 95%.
East Devon’s IER implementation plan indicates that they intend to recruit canvassers to undertake the necessary house-to-house enquiries as part of the 2014 write-out and canvass. We will continue to monitor their progress through the transition to ensure this is delivered in practice.”
And here is a briefing sent to all MPs about what they should be do ing:
Click to access IER-Parliamentary-Brief-July-2014-PDF.pdf
Isn’t it odd, too, that many of the worst- performing councils are near to us!
It doesn’t seem to matter that Budleigh has an increasing profile for the arts:
http://www.devon24.co.uk/news/still_no_clear_ideas_to_save_library_1_3673057
A library is apparently a luxury we must all do without it seems
See today’s post on the Save our Sidmouth website http://saveoursidmouth.com/2014/07/07/knowle-town-and-village-green-application-inspectors-report/
Is this what EDDC thinks? And do officer recommendations hold more sway than reasoned arguments from Councillors and the public?
Councillor Roger Giles raises these and other crucial matters regarding the Development Management (DMC) and Overview and Scrutiny ( O&S) Committees, here: OTTERY ST MARY TOWN COUNCIL REPORT 7 JULY 2014
Is there about to be a sea-change in political transparency now that the child abuse cover-up is coming out into the sunlight?
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jul/06/child-abuse-inquiries-widespread-cover-up
One must hope so for the sake of the children and any others who have suffered from cover-ups designed to “protect the system” .
This is the picture and headline that EDDC has used on its latest e-magazine to the general public:
As most will recognise, this is a picture of the Knowle with the title “East Devon – an Outstanding Place”
Well, they couldn’t use a picture of Skypark for that we suppose!
Thanks to the EDA investigation, EDDC now has a “Register to Vote” link at the top of its home page on the internet!
Quick work … now let’s see it find those missing thousands!
… Mr Pickles is also urging Town Halls to “turn idle assets into money” to protect front line services. The government is allowing councils to use money raised from the sale of assets, such as empty buildings and redundant brownfield land, to help pay for the costs of improving local services and to keep Council Tax down.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-fund-to-help-councils-fight-fraud
Does our council leadership see a new HQ on the edge if Exeter as an “improvement” that income from the car park could fund?
East Devon Watch 