Oh, the panic! No supermarket so no Skypark – now what! Think, think …. oh heck, we’ve sold the Knowle site – humungous panic. Wait, wait, there’s some space in Exmouth, there’s some space at the East Devon Business Centre (especially now we have told tenants they will need to leave), yeah, that should do it, quick, quick, a press release, oh heck, how are we going to talk our way out of this one, how can we fix it before the next election! Now, who can I pass the buck to? What, me, buck – no way!
Oh, and someone had better tell the councillors – oh damn, they have read it first on the EDA website and the Express and Echo.
That’s another fine mess you’ve got me into Ollie …. Ollie …. where are you Ollie!
Time to lie down in a darkened room …. what’s that, the last person left and turned the lights out?
Extract from council papers:
Report to: Cabinet
3 December 2014
Relocation Update – key decision
Purpose of report
In particular to make Members aware that Marketing of Knowle and Manstone sites is completed and further discussions with bidders are in progress and ….. to advise Members of changed circumstances and proposed changes to the preferred new HQ site.
Recommendation
1. Note project progress following the previous update report of4 June 2014
2. Recognise emerging changes to the relocation project agreethe following:
a. The marketing exercise for Knowle and Manstone has resulted in a range of offers and , following a detailed assessment process,
we have received price, form and quality of development propositions that merit further detailed negotiation toward selection of a preferred developer.
- Leading offers for Knowle do not include options to sell Manstone in which case EDDC can choose to retain Manstone for the foreseeable future as a depot function and continued employment use .
- The reduced offer for EDDC’s Heathpark site no longer represents a sufficiently persuasive level of capital receiptand will not be pursued further.
- The retention of Heathpark in EDDC ownership means that this now represents the most cost effective and straightforward location to develop a new headquarters building for the Council.
- Relocation to Skypark is no longer a viable proposition based on the reduced offer for Heathpark and combination of Knowle market value and prudential borrowing.
- The East Devon Business Centre (EDBC) should preferablybe retained and could potentially be combined within a new EDDC HQ development.
In the interim, Exmouth Town Hall has been vacated by Devon County Council Services and represents a new opportunity within the relocation plan.
- A new HQ in Honiton can be restricted in size and cost to a170 desk equivalent scale with an improved Exmouth Town Hall for 80 EDDC staff as a main satellite office in the District’s largest community.
As part of its commitment to more mobile working and accessibility, the Council will offer a service presence as customers require in future at locations elsewhere in the District.
- That relocation continues to make financial and operational sense on a whole life cost basis, specifically 20 yr. projections
combining capital receipt and repayment of prudential borrowing versus existing office running cost and unfunded expenditure on
existing building repair, maintenance and improvement.
Authorise the Deputy Chief Executive (Development, Regeneration and Partnership) in consultation with the Office
Accommodation Executive Group to take forward further actions in pursuit of the above recommendations and Project
Plan
4. Agree that further reports are produced for Cabinet and Council on project progress and to seek formal approval for any disposal of Knowle
AND MORE MAJOR COCKUPS:
However, within the negotiation, due diligence process and legal advice it has become clear that such an arrangement could potentially fall outside of European Union regulations. This would have then required a new site search exercise, cost and delay.
Do recall that, all down the line, EDDC insisted that the relocation would be “cost neutral”!
East Devon Watch 
Surely this a post that got lost on April Fool’s Day? Words fail me. Will heads roll? Of course not. And how can they carry on spending our money on this total wreckage of a policy? They have deliberately allowed Knowle to run down, having done no maintenance except emergency maintenance for years and space in Exmouth has come up only by coincidence. Surely the space there should also be subject to market forces rather than hijacked by EDDC?
Surely it is time Williams/Cohen/Diviani and Moulding are given their marching orders.
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May next year. Lets vote them out
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I find it difficult to except what all the county councilors are telling us, although i know what government they stand by, we know our MP Hugo Swire, supports his parties cuts, which i could concur with, if all those cuts had been on a level playing field. ‘Instead it has been the weakest of our public who have been affected the most.’ As a voter i do not understand how the leader of DCC can claim his party have found savings of £120 million since 2009, Is it the fact that up to that time although Devon was mainly run by Conservatives they had all those millions, “Up to 2009” ‘but spent everything.’ How can a County Council take another cut of £50-million this year, and a further £34 million in “2016” EDDC must take some blame having had an appreciative amount over the past few years. We should have the truth on how much so far has been spent on this Master Plan for Exmouth since “2006 ” The allocation for this part of the new Queens Drive just announced will perhaps cost a few millions, this makes the district look as if they are a little indifferent to public opinion while spending so much on a leisure complex, when by improving the Towns infrastructure this would do more for tourism and Exmouth then any visitors fun park .
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Remember our Dear Leader has considerable experience of this way of working during his period with Howard & Wyndham’s Pantomimes (old habits die hard) and it is getting near Christmas!
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Well if it isn’t time for a vote of no confidence in the rulers of EDDC now, it most certainly will be in May 2015
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This is a disaster for East Devon Business. How can we cover the AONB with building developments if the supermarkets are losing profitabiity? We need more supermarkets on the outskirts of every town – with large car-parks to ensure that oil prices are maintained. Who could have forecast that the Great Recession would continue and intensify despite five years of austerity for the poor and the homeless young? Cut business taxes and provide subsidies for international corporations, our only hope to re-float the economy. Otherwise there will be nowhere for philanthropists to buy donations for the Food Banks of East Devon.
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If some of those councillors had the courage of their convictions ( always supposing they ever had such convictions) and not followed each other along like flock of witless bleating sheep they would not be in this present situation.
Now they are reduced to running around in circles like Sgt. Jones crying ” don’t panic, don’t panic”. How are they going to get out of this one? There should be a vote of no confidence now!
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