Daily Archives: 22 Oct 2014

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

22 Oct 2014

Posted under

Misc

Comments

1 Comment

“Whistleblowers are pursued and persecuted”

That’s the situation in the NHS, according to Dr David Drew (author of Little Stories of Life and Death), in his BBC Radio 4 interview broadcast this morning.
The councillors (coincidentally none from the ruling Party) who have been hounded by EDDC, may identify with the situation the NHS whistleblowers are in. The latest to be bullied is Axminster Town Councillor, Paul Haywood, whose letter to the press is copied below. It was published in Pullman’s View from Sidmouth this weekend.

‘On the evening of Monday 13th October, during a public session of Axminster Town Council, I was subjected to an uncalled for attack on my personal character by Cllr Andrew Moulding of such enmity and vitriol that it took my breath away. Supported by Cllr. Graham Godbeer, he claimed that I had brought the town council into disrepute, and caused acute embarrassment to his County Council colleagues, by way of my use of Facebook to show support for the campaign group seeking to retain Axminster library.

With regards to the spurious basis of his diatribe, and his claim that I had breached the Councillors Code of Conduct and should thus be reported to the Standards Committee at EDDC, I have no option but to await a formal complaint against me, something which should be done in a proper, and pre-determined manner according to the rules laid down for such complaints.

However, as Cllr Moulding and Godbeer now steadfastly believe that disagreements between Councillors – be they Town, District or County – can be reasonably aired in public, I would ask to be allowed to put a question to both of these gentlemen via your publication.

Are both of you content and happy at the way in which Axminster is being treated by all and sundry?

Having already lost DCC funding for our youth service, having our library chronically underfunded, our hospital at risk of losing its beds; we now find ourselves further adrift from the District Council, which seems intent on moving its HQ as far as humanly possible from Axminster, without adequate transport links being put in place. There is no Local Plan in place, the DC has been taken to court by the ICO for failing to divulge information under the FOI Act, our Chief Executive is summoned to Westminster to explain his failings in improving voter registration number and is accused of breaching electoral law.

Draconian public speaking restrictions are scheduled that will prevent both members of the public and town councillors alike from objecting to unnecessary and unsustainable planning and development in our town.

Our pavements are a disgrace, there are weeds on every road and in every car park, the wall outside the Guildhall remains collapsed, the additional dog bins remain uninstalled, the town centre remains an eyesore – sadly mentioned by all visitors – and has been so for decades despite years of your stewardship at all levels of local government. Axminster has no town centre regeneration plan in place at EDDC and yet you, Cllr Moulding, inexplicably sit on the regeneration board for Exmouth!

Our young people have so very few job prospects presently, but when another 1000 houses are built to the north and east of town, what is the plan for employment then? ; According to you both, the answer lies West! Get on the train to Cranbrook, to Skypark, to SciencePark, to Exeter… that is your local plan, and the bedrock of the proposed local plan for the whole of East Devon.

If you are both happy with this state of affairs, and stand firm in your belief that the people of Axminster should pay their taxes AND deliver the services as volunteers too, and if you believe that a polite cartoon poking fun at a professional, well paid politician who showed the utmost disrespect and disdain to the people of Axminster, our MP and our Town Council is more important than the long term interests of the people of this town who you claim to represent, then I think it is time that you have a long, hard look in the mirror and decide who you really represent – the public, or your party… because you can’t serve them both!’

Other cases of dissenting councillors being harrassed by EDDC, will be the subject of another EDA post soon.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

22 Oct 2014

Posted under

DCC, Democracy, EDDC

This week’s “View from “…editorial in full

Does politics work for locals?

IN all the years I have been doing this job (too many according to my critics out there), I can’t remember a time when there was so much dissatisfaction with local government. Why is this?

You won’t be surprised, but I have a theory.

When I first started covering rural and borough councils in East Devon and occasionally Devon County Council, 50 years ago, politics had very little to do with it. We were all aware that East Devon was predominantly blue but the focus was very much on serving the electorate.

Councillors got little or no expenses and the officers were not paid such exorbitant salaries. Debates were not dominated by groups of politically affiliated councillors, with members of other political shades marginalised, and there were no grand titles such as “portfolio holders”. Matters were dealt with by committees where all councillors had an influence.

With the exception of town councils, being an elected representative today is as much a career as it is a service for many. I am not denying the amount of hours our councillors at district and county level put in, or questioning their commitment to their communities, but generally they are compensated for their efforts, especially the more capable and ambitious members who climb the political ladder. Some of them receive far in excess of the average weekly wage in this area.

I’m not talking about every councillor. I noticed when Googling councillors expenses, when I started thinking about a theme for t his week’s column, that one long serving councillor claimed only £12.50 last year.

Times change and the reorganisation to create the current three-tier system (county, district and parish/town) back in 1974 was deemed necessary. Like it or not, local government is in the politics game and it will always be that way.

This became clear to me last week after I compared the different interpretation being put on the summoning of EDDC chief executive Mark Williams to a Commons Select Committee to answer question on electoral procedures. Having read the Hansard transcript of proceedings, it didn’t seem to me that it was a wholly enjoyable experience for Mr Williams.

One district councillor emailed me to say he was “mildly disappointed” with the view I had taken but then, incredulously, went on to criticise the “tame” spin put out by his own council’s communications team. His words, not mine.

Talk to most people and they have no real interest in local government (it was ever thus) but those who have are pretty disillusioned. Controversy rages in most of the towns in Pulman’s Country at the moment but there is little faith in the ability of our elected representatives to find solutions.

I think there is also a degree of frustration among a number of long serving councillors, with some of them having already decided not to seek re-election when we go to the polls next May. The big question is: will their replacements do any better?

http://www.viewfromonline.co.uk

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

22 Oct 2014

Posted under

EDDC, Misc, Seaton/ Colyford / Colyton

Comments

2 Comments

Seaton Heights Hotel complex: is it ready to start building?

The developer says yes:

http://lymebayleisure.co.uk/seaton-heights/

but EDDC says no: the site is listed as “awaiting decision” because no Section 106 agreement has yet been signed.

These can take months so perhaps Seaton should not bring out the champagne just yet.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

22 Oct 2014

Posted under

Democracy, EDDC

Comments

2 Comments

Just in case our Overview and Scrutiny Committee don’t understand what they are supposed to do …

… here is a brief outline from Wikipedia, together with the relevant laws, that give Overview and Scrutiny Committees great power to scrutinise members and employees of the council and representatives of other organisations and the freedom to discuss “any issue which affects the local area, or the area’s inhabitants, whether or not it is the direct responsibility of the Council’s Cabinet“.

Please do note that Chief Executive Mark Williams cannot bend or break these laws – YOU have the power here, not him.

“Holding decision-makers accountable

“Overview and scrutiny committees are empowered to question elected members who sit on the council’s Cabinet and council employees,[5] and representatives of certain other organisations,[6] and to make recommendations to those people. Committees are able to investigate any issue which affects the local area, or the area’s inhabitants, whether or not it is the direct responsibility of the council’s Cabinet[7]

By law, Overview and Scrutiny must have the right to ‘call-in‘[8] decisions – i.e. ask the decision-maker to think again, or to refer the decision to the full council if it is believed that the decision-maker has taken a decision in contravention of the council’s budget or policy framework.[9] To be called in, decisions usually need to be “key decisions”.[10]”

Notes:

 

Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overview_and_Scrutiny#Overview_and_Scrutiny_in_England

 

 

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

22 Oct 2014

Posted under

Honiton/ Gittisham

25% of Homebase stores to close – rumours include Honiton store

Rumours abound on the internet that this includes stores at Honiton, Tiverton, Barnstaple, Bodmin, Plymouth and Taunton, though some stores may re-open quite quickly as “The Range” stores.

Source: http://www.diyweek.net/news/news.asp?id=16058

 

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

22 Oct 2014

Posted under

EDDC, Local Plan

Any progress with new Local Plan?

EDDC has not updated the Local Plan Inspector since the end of August 2014.

Memo to EDDC:  he might appreciate an update from you.

Or are you afraid that, because you are obliged to publish any correspondence with him straight away, there are things you would rather the public didn’t know?

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

22 Oct 2014

Posted under

Cranbrook, EDDC, Skypark

Cranbrook now part of Exeter according to Stagecoach

“… The Exeter Megarider zone is being extended to include the new town of Cranbrook, with the cost of a daily ticket falling from £5.50 to £3.60 and the cost of a weekly ticket reducing from £20 to £14, savings of 35 per cent and 30 per cent respectively.

….. Stagecoach South West’s managing director, Michael Watson, said: “Exeter is a real success story with the city growing at an exponential rate and more and more towns forming part of the catchment area.”

 

So, if people from other parts of East Devon want to work at Skypark and use public transport to get there, they will pay substantially more than the people of Exeter or Cranbrook to get there.

“Economic growth” – well, for some, yes, for others – not a chance.

Source: http://www.cranbrookherald.com/news/stagecoach_announce_cranbrook_bus_fare_reduction_1_3813376

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

22 Oct 2014

Posted under

Affordable and Social Housing, NPPF

The law of unintended consequences?

“In East Devon, the ratio of house prices to incomes is 11.2, with the average salary of £22,870 dwarfed by the average house price of £256,312. …
…  In rural and coastal areas, the situation is even worse. With beauty spots commanding premium house prices and attracting wealthy second home owners, spiralling prices are forcing young people to move elsewhere.
… As more people in the region are priced out of buying a home, the number of private renters is increasing. As well as having short-term contracts that offer little stability, private renters in the South West are spending over a third (35 per cent) of their earnings on rent – the third highest rent-to-income ratio in the country.”
So, just remind us:  who are we building these houses for:  local people on low wages, people from outside the area with lots of money, or buy-to-let landlords cashing in?

Source:  http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/New-warning-South-West-housing-affordability/story-23340903-detail/story.html

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

22 Oct 2014

Posted under

EDDC, Feniton/ Talaton, Flooding

Too much time in warm rooms with closed doors …

rain

In hindsight, might Council Leader have done better than appear on TV in Feniton on a cold, very wet and very windy day dressed in a lightweight suit? And where the BBC presenter had to shelter him under her umbrella.

While other outdoor contributors were dressed in fleeces and wellies and had on sensible rainwear, he must have felt extremely miserable.

He appeared to have just got out of his car without a thought for what the outdoor weather was like.

That’s what comes of running a council from warm offices where most of the time doors are firmly shut because most of the endless meetings are secret!

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

22 Oct 2014

Posted under

EDDC, Flooding, Uplyme

Beware “self help” when funding is cut

Today’s Midweek Herald carries a story that the residents of Uplyme, with the help of East Devon District Council, did work along a stream to lessen the risk of flooding. Unfortunately, although this has helped, it may now mean that they will find it hard or impossible to apply for grants for major works to improve the situation further.