100 rally to EDA cause
David Beasley
Article in Exmouth Journal 12 Feb

One hundred people rallied to the East Devon Alliance’s (EDA) first members’ meeting at the district council’s Knowle HQ.
Last week, EDA announced it had registered with the electoral commission so it could support independent candidates in May’s district council elections.
Supporters loudly applauded at the rally when chairman Paul Arnott lambasted the council leadership as ‘a small cabinet of councillors who exclude opposition voices’. He said they rejected people’s opinions ‘out of hand’ and he claimed that independent councillors had been ‘bullied’ at council meetings.

“We are not NIMBYs,” he said. “Many people in East Devon need affordable housing.

“But we must try to halt the lunacy of current planning rules, which is allowing massive overdevelopment on inappropriate sites.”

EDA’s leader, Cllr Ben Ingham, was optimistic of their electoral prospects with candidates of all ages and backgrounds intending to stand. “With will and determination, it is perfectly realistic to hope that we can break the stranglehold of one-party domination,” he said.