Daily Archives: 10 Mar 2015

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10 Mar 2015

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EDDC, Knowle/Honiton/Exmouth relocation

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Combined Overview and Scrutiny/Audit and Governance agenda published – highlights

Comments from Grant Thornton:

Overall, our review found the expected governance arrangements to be in place and working effectively, with only 3 areas for improvement identified. These points have been discussed with and accepted by management as follows:

1) Although evidence was seen of the Council’s intention to have a Terms of Reference for the Officer Working Group, no formal record of this was found at the time of the audit. There are no concerns over the effectiveness of the Officers Working Group or the decision making processes within it. The structure and operation of the Group reflects and supports the Executive Members Group, (where a Terms of Reference had been formally agreed and documented.)

Management have agreed to formally approve the Terms of Reference of the Officer Working group at the next meeting.

2) The Monitoring Officer advised that the minutes of the Executive and Officer Working Group should be assessed at the point they are approved to consider the appropriateness of making them available publically. It was not clear from the minutes of these meetings whether this had been formally implemented.

Management have agreed to formally consider the appropriateness of releasing minutes into the public domain at the next Officer Working Group meeting.

3) The Council has responded to queries and requests for information whether raised through the Freedom of Information route or directly to officers. For the later to continue, the Council has recognised that a formal structure needs to be in place to guard against duplication of resource and ensure the information is shared appropriately.

Comments from SWAP:

EDDC have gone to Court to defend their decision regarding the partially upheld decision. The request is in relation to the publication of the project update reports (Numbers 1-6), used by the Officer Working Group. The complainant felt that they should be made available but EDDC considers that they contain commercially sensitive information. The case is currently ongoing.

In January 2014 the Monitoring Officer advised the Deputy Chief Executive and Project Manager that discussions with the Information Commissioner in respect of these cases had been helpful in guiding the Council into making appropriate decisions over the availability of minutes and reports. She commented that she was liaising with the Democratic Services Manager to update the committee report template to prompt the author to assess when a confidential committee report may be considered appropriate to put in the public domain.

The Monitoring Officer further advised that it could be appropriate for the same assessment to be made at the time meeting notes are agreed at the Executive and Officer Group. It was not clear from the minutes of these meetings whether this had been implemented. There is a risk that a consistent approach to the publication of Executive and Office Group meeting notes may not be operating effectively.

and finally:

4.2.4 The conclusions above are based solely on the results of the Model and therefore do not consider any qualitative aspects of the options, and nor have we considered the extent to which the office relocation project will meet the Council’s service or efficiency aspirations/objectives
http://eastdevon.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/committees-and-meetings/overview-and-scrutiny-committee/agendas/

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10 Mar 2015

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General Election, Transparency

Planning Minister Brandon Lewis in expenses row

Here we go again …
http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/politics/brandon_lewis_says_labour_accusations_of_taxpayer_funding_for_political_work_are_completely_false_1_3986627

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10 Mar 2015

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East Devon Tories, Phil Twiss

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Twissgate Two

Great coverage of “Twissgate Two” on Real Zorro!

http://realzorro1.blogspot.co.uk/

Not only could you not make it up – you wouldn’t want to. This should not be happening here: we deserve better. And we can get it – if we vote him and his party out in May.

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10 Mar 2015

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NPPF, Planning System

Town and Coubtry Planning Association says deregulation and demoralisation of planning system is putting country at risk

A leading campaigning group has today warned that consistent deregulation and demoralisation of the planning system is putting the very fabric of our towns, cites and the countryside at risk.

In a pre-election manifesto ‘Building the Future’ the Town & Country Planning Association (TCPA) argues that there is a real danger that the planning system, a vital national asset, essential to the maintenance and well-being of the country, will soon be lost.

Kate Henderson, Chief Executive of the TCPA said:

“At its best, planning has proved to be a powerful tool to bring forward sustainable growth, and to deliver multiple benefits to our society including certainty and confidence for businesses, democratic rights for communities and protection for our environment, heritage and biodiversity.

“As we continue to battle with the nation’s housing crisis, good planning is needed as never before to plan for and create the homes and communities we desperately need. However the planning system as we knew it is being continually undermined and devalued though significant reforms and deregulation. Planning has lost all sense of the progressive social values that once lay at its core, and unless we are careful, is at risk of being destroyed altogether.”

The TCPA’s position is simple: good planning makes better places. The manifesto calls for action in the first 100 days of a new Government to restore the importance of planning as a key tool in delivering much needed new homes and communities. This includes taking steps such as creating a new legally defined purpose for planning based on sustainable development, the updating and effective deployment of New Towns legislation, and changing the National Planning Policy Framework to place social justice, equality and climate change at the heart of planning decisions. The manifesto additionally calls for better planning for cities, and stronger measures to ensure that councils work together to meet housing need.

Kate Henderson added:

“A new Government must act to restore the prominence of planning as an essential element to create the new homes, communities and infrastructure that the nation so desperately needs. For the sake of our children and grandchildren, planning must be seen as a positive proactive force for good and must be placed at the centre of political debate.”

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10 Mar 2015

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EDDC, Transparency

Could it happen here …

… and would we get the same result?

http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/Senior-Somerset-County-Councillor-David-Huxtable/story-26148678-detail/story.html

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10 Mar 2015

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Cranbrook, Honiton/ Gittisham, Local Plan, Ottery St Mary

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Greater Exeter ..Cranbrook … Ottery … Honiton?

A first reading of the local housing figures report appears to make it clear that they expect much of the housing expansion in East Devon to be at Cranbrook.

Surely it isn’t far in the distant future that Cranbrook will be just another Exeter suburb that will expand even further east, west, nort and south?

Could we soon see Ottery and Honiton as minor parts of “Greater Exeter” and losing their identity as rural towns in favour of urban/suburban Exeter – without the supporting infrastructure?

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10 Mar 2015

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Claire Wright, Ottery St Mary

Straitgate Quarry: Independen councillor Claire Wright’s view “environmental vandalism”

Claire Wright, who is contesting the Parliamentary seat of Devon East as an Independent, has condemned the “consultation” exercise carried out by Aggregate Industries, that could lead to the development of a quarry on the outskirts of Ottery St. Mary. AI is a member of the multinational Holcim Group, based in Switzerland. The company wants to develop the 100 acre site at Straitgate Farm and is intending to make a formal planning application in the near future.

Claire Wright commented: “If the plan is approved by Devon County Council, up to 100 truck movements would carry sand and gravel along the inadequate B 3180 each day, five days a week for five years to Blackhill Quarry, on Woodbury Common, for processing. This is a distance of just over eight miles. These movements would create substantial pollution, noise and create additional safety problems on a road that already has a very poor safety record. However, it is my understanding that if permission to use Blackhill is not granted, the project will not proceed. I understand that Natural England have a large number of serious environmental objections to processing at Blackhill.

“AI have acknowledged that processing at Straitgate would not be acceptable. I cannot understand why the project is still alive. It will create no new jobs, will damage the environment, could lead to increased flood risk in Cadhay, Coombelake, Ottery and West Hill and will harm the local economy, which relies on tourism for a significant part of the year. Experts contend that there is no need for a new quarry. Devon has over eight million tonnes of reserves with planning approval. At current levels of demand, it may only be in 2025 that the county has less than the seven years of reserves required under the National Planning Policy Framework. Many organisations, keen to avoid serious environmental damage, have voiced their concerns, not least because very precious and scarce ancient woodland could be irreparably damaged and lost forever.

“Local residents who attended the consultation were not impressed and it seems to me that AI, keen to replace material no longer available from their other sites, will be the only winners if Devon County Council eventually approve this development. I see nothing but disadvantages for the people of Ottery and West Hill. It is environmentalism vandalism.”

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10 Mar 2015

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East Devon Tories

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Phil Twiss would rather “stick white hot needles and pins” in his eyes than debate with opponent

Cracking article in today’s “View from” newspapers  (e-editions available free online):

http://www.viewfrompublishing.co.uk/

regarding yet another exception that Tory Councillor Phil Twiss has taken to yet another (local) election candidate, not surprisingly an Independent.

It seems that he has responded to EDA Chairman Paul Arnott’s challenge to a debate on local issues prior to local council elections in May by saying that he would rather “stick white hot pins and needles in my eyes than share a room with anyone remotely associated with half-wits like Matt Booth”.  Mr Booth is an Independent candidate in Sidmouth and campaigner for community use of the town’s Drill Hall who allegedly made remarks on his Facebook page (now removed) that upset Mr Twiss, who appears not to have been named in the remarks.

Surely, if he thinks that these people are “half wits”  and considers himself more than half-witted then he would relish the chance of debating with them?

New candidates in local elections are at a great disadvantage – particularly younger candidates such as Mr Booth who are used to social media which allows a much greater freedom of expression than older people are used to – as seasoned politicians, well-versed in the cut and thrust of politics attempt to cut them down to size before they can do them any political damage – though this is not always a successful tactic.

Mr Twiss may well wish to remember his own intemperate words and actions when he reported local Independent general election candidate and councillor Claire Wright to the police when one of her commentators used the phrase “cull of Tory councillors” on her website:

http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/Police-urged-investigate-8216-cull-8217-Tories/story-25018386-detail/story.html

We do not need personal spats of this kind – we need open, transparent debate of the issues that affect us all by all the candidates who seek our votes at this election: our lack of a local plan and the massive building of non-affordable housing and ever-more retirement homes in our area, the reduction of our NHS and social services, over-subscription of schools where even more development is planned, the vanity project of Knowle relocation.

When can we expect local election hustings where we can quiz candidates ourselves instead of watching them trade personal insults via newspapers, which add nothing to real debate – and decide for ourselves who deserves our vote based on what they have to say to us about the important issues rather than trying to denigrate each other?

That’s OLD politics and few of us can bear it any longer. It’s got us into the mess we are in and won’t get us out.