Following Mark Williams’ statements to the Parliamentary Committee on Monday (13 Oct), the following Freedom of Information request has been submitted to EDDC.
For a reminder of what was said when MPs questioned Mr Williams about his performance as East Devon’s Electoral Registration Officer, click here: http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=16033
In the past few days, the website Local Government Lawyer has run the following stories:
The current system of local monitoring of councillors is not working:
Councillor banned from serving in Cabinet for using false name to send council-friendly texts to local radio station:
The monitoring officer at Barnet Council has left the local authority in the wake of an investigation into how flawed reports were presented to council for decision.
The shape of things to come?
Moral: Have Monitoring Officers and other senior officers who really understand their jobs and are well qualified to do them, get principles councillors and punish those who fall short and remove officers who do not meet the required standard.
Whilst we await our Chief Executive’s appearance at tonight’s council meeting, here is some other news that has been happening over the last few days:
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Supermarkets – the new charity shops?
EDDC’s flagship regeneration policy of putting a supermarket in all seaside towns as close to the seaside as possible already looks to be a busted flush.
Tesco has just announced it will abandon its plan to build a superstore on the seafront in Margate to which Pickles had given a green light!
In an article in the business section of the Guardian we read:
“Pickles was criticised for backing the Tesco Margate scheme by the self-styled Queen of Shops Mary Portas, who said it showed the government was only paying “lip service” to the idea of reviving Britain’s high streets as the store would have a “catastrophic” impact on the town.
Margate was among the “Portas Pilot” towns which won £100,000 in funding to back new ideas to boost trade and refill empty shops on some of the UK’s most battered high streets.
Louise Oldfield, a local hotel owner who pushed for the judicial review, said she was shocked that Tesco had pulled out but it was good news for Margate. “We hope we can now move forward towards a more sustainable proposal for Margate. This proposal would have had a massive impact on the seafront,” she said.”
But what irrevocable damage has now been done to our seaside towns in East Devon? Certainly too late for Seaton.
Cranbrook to double in size
In addition to the 6,000 homes already planned, developers are to submit plans for a further 1,500 homes. They also say they will build infrastructure but with still no Community Infrastructure Levy in place there is almost nothing in place to ensure that it happens.
DIY repairs to Devon roads
Brush up those tarmacking skills – you are going to need them. Can’t wait to see DCC Councillor for Highways, Stuart Hughes, in a blue boiler suit:
At a time when the news tells us that Devon has some of the most dangerous country roads which have ten times more fatalities than motorways comes a call for local people to voluntarily maintain their own bits of road and fill in their own potholes.
Feniton developers issued with breach of conditions notice by EDDC
Finally developers Wain Homes are put under pressure to do what they were supposed to do: build attenuation tanks for surface water run off which should have been done BEFORE homes were occupied. At least six are now in occupation with no sign of the tanks
East Devon Watch 