Monthly Archives: March 2015

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23 Mar 2015

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Claire Wright, Clyst St Mary, Democracy, Development Management Committee, East Devon Growth Point, EDDC, Environment (local), General Election, Latest news, Local Plan, Local Plan Inspector, National Planning Policy Framework, Neighbourhood Plans, NPPF, Planning System, West End: WestClyst BroadClyst/ Pinhoe

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Bad day for EDDC’s Local Plan officers. Good day for Clyst St Mary.

A barrage of questions from the public (no less than 17 people had pre-registered to speak) were fired at the DMC who were today considering the revised Local Plan. Several councillors firmly added their own particular concerns.

Seven speakers were from the Save Clyst St Mary Group. Campaign leader Gaeron Kayley has just circulated the news copied below:

As you will be aware, today was the day the Development Management Committee met at EDDC to discuss the Local Plan.

This had great significance for Clyst St Mary, given that it had been proposed that both the Winslade Park area and the green field owned by the Plymouth Brethren would be used for the village’s allocation of an additional 200 houses.

22 members of our group met last Monday and discussed our key arguments against this which were to be delivered at today’s meeting.

We are thrilled to announce that, following today’s Committee meeting, it was unanimously agreed by the 15 councillors present to reject the green field proposal and reduce the housing allocation for Winslade Park to 150 in total.

A massive thank you to everyone who attended last Monday’s meeting, including the seven brave souls who spoke so passionately and articulately today, as well as all those local residents who turned up simply to offer moral support. It really was greatly appreciated.

Whilst this was only a hearing for the Local Plan – not a hearing for the specific applications to which we have all objected – it does give us hope for the future. Things certainly appear now to be less bleak than they did ten days ago!

Rest assured, with your support, we will continue to fight in a dignified, professional and open manner to unite and preserve our village community.

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23 Mar 2015

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Planning System

What happens when Planning Inspectors get it wrong?

http://www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22266:an-inspector-calls-it-wrong&catid=63&Itemid=31

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23 Mar 2015

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General Election

Short statements from your East Devon Parliamentary candidates – except Hugo Swire who appears not to (yet) have had the time …

You will need to click the link to play the 1 min 30 second clips

Claire Wright Independent: HERE

Steve Race: Labour: HERE

Andrew Chapman: UKIP: HERE

Stuart Mole: Lib Dem: HERE

The Hugo Swire (Conservative) clip will be added as and when it appears.

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23 Mar 2015

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Claire Wright, General Election

Claire Wright: latest meetings at Woolbrook (1 April) and Exmouth (16 April)

Press Release:

Claire Wright, the Independent candidate for Devon East in the General Election, will be in Woolbrook, Sidmouth, on Wednesday, 1st April. Everyone is invited to this free meeting, the latest in a series, which begins at 8 pm. The venue is the St. Francis Church Hall.

Following a short speech, in which the candidate will outline the key points of her campaign, concentrating on important local issues, there will be an opportunity for questions and discussion.

Claire, who was born in Devon and who has always lived in the area, launched her manifesto in Exmouth. She will explain how the results of her comprehensive survey, completed by many hundreds of local people, have revealed the concerns of the voters of East Devon.

Additionally, more than a thousand conversations with local people and many visits to local businesses, as well as her experience as a town, district and county councillor, mean that the candidate is very familiar with the constituency and its problems. Indeed, it was the enthusiastic and extensive support in her successful bid for a seat on Devon County Council that prompted her to run for Parliament. Claire Wright will say how, if elected, she would be an active and energetic MP, working for the constituency.

The next public meeting, commencing at 7 pm, will be in Exmouth on 16th April at the Exmouth Rugby Club, Imperial Road.

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23 Mar 2015

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East Devon Electoral/Returning Officer, EDDC, Voting

Urgent election registration information for those who THINK they are registered

From a reader:

For info, a neighbour of mine emailed the electoral services to check he was eligible to vote… he was told that he was on the register to vote, the only thing is…..
They got his name completely wrong…. nobody of that name has ever lived at his address….. I have advised him to phone…
This is very worrying…

To check your registration entry (or to register)contact the Electoral Registration Team on 01395 517402 or at electoralservices@eastdevon.gov.uk

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23 Mar 2015

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Development Management Committee, East Devon Tories, EDBF, EDDC

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Give Cabinet control over major planning applications” proposal shocks councillors.

EDW hears that councillors are deeply uneasy about officer proposals to allow EDDC’s Cabinet to decide “strategic” planning applications of more than 50 dwellings and over 5000 square metres of industrial floor space.

Lead Planning Officer Ed Freeman and Deputy Chief Executive, Richard Cohen, made a verbal report to the Audit and Governance (A&G) Committee on March 5th on “improving Strategic Planning Policy”, especially on ensuring a five year housing land supply.

Incredibly, they explained that their first recommendation was to alter EDDC’s constitution to take “strategic” planning applications from the Development Management Committee, (DMC) and to give them to Cabinet for determination.

They admitted spending considerable time looking at this controversial option that would have further strengthened the power of, what many critics consider, an overweening and developer-friendly Executive.

They were forced to drop it, by legal advice pointing out the potential conflicts of interest inherent in the proposal. Their preferred option now is to create a “Strategic Planning Committee” consisting of both Cabinet and DMC members, possibly under the chairmanship of the current Strategic Planning Portfolio Holder Andrew Moulding, to look at strategic planning applications.

This was still too much for members of the A&G Committee. Cllr Geoff Pook said, “We don’t need a second DMC looking at planning applications”. Cllr Tony Howard agreed: what was needed was competent, well-resourced officers who could get a grip on the figures for housing land supply. Constitutional changes giving more power to the Cabinet, he said, “is a different matter”.

A big “Hear, Hear!” to that from East Devon Watch.

And who defines what is “strategic”? Our suggestion: anything that involves a developer and/or a former member of the East Devon Business Forum – leaving only conservatories and extensions to the current DMC!

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23 Mar 2015

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East Devon Alliance, EDDC, Independent Councillors

Local election timetable: final call for Independent candidates

East Devon District Council had published its timetable for elections in May 2015.

Click to access election-time-table.pdf

Candidates must register between:

9:00 am – 5:00 pm from 31 March until 4:00 pm Thursday 9 April 2015

If you are interested in standing as an Independent candidate under the East Devon Alliance umbrella please contact them as soon as possible, details on their website:

eastdevonalliance.org.uk

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23 Mar 2015

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Democracy, East Devon Tories, EDDC, Lib Dem (local)

Roll up, roll up: just a week left for politically-mindec councillors to get their names into the papers!

“Purdah” – the period when all serving councillors (and their supporting officers) have to stop placing party politically-targeted stories and photographs about their party-politically motivated actions in newspapers, journals etc when they involve using council resources and not their party resources.

No more “politically sensitive” press releases, no more pictures taken by press officers of our local majority party councillors doing what they do best .. er .. though not sure what that is!

Expect a raft of mutual back-patting stories and press releases of local do-gooding in this week’s local and regional newspapers!

Once again, here is our guide to what can and cannot be done during this period.

The first question to ask is ‘could a reasonable person conclude that you were spending public money to influence the outcome of the election?’ In other words it must pass the ‘is it reasonable’ test. When making your decision, you should consider the following:
You should not:

• produce publicity on matters which are politically controversial
• make references to individual politicians or groups in press releases
• arrange proactive media or events involving candidates
• issue photographs which include candidates
• supply council photographs or other materials to councillors or political group staff unless you have verified that they will not be used for campaigning purposes
• continue hosting third party blogs or e-communications
• help with national political visits (as this would involve using public money to support a particular candidate or party). These should be organised by political parties with no cost or resource implications for the council.

http://www.local.gov.uk/documents/10180/6869714/L15-91+Unpacking+Purdah_04.pdf/c80978b9-dc0b-4eee-9f81-49bd47afeb2d

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23 Mar 2015

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Budleigh Salterton, EDDC, Exmouth, NHS (local)

EDDC funded hospital bus for Exmouth and Budleigh – no news of similar services for Seaton/Axminster/Honiton/Sidmouth/Ottery

Seems rather unfair – and announced just before local elections too:

http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/Council-funded-minibus-serve-Exmouth-Budleigh/story-26214425-detail/story.html

Wonder which councillor(s) will be jumping in to take the credit before 30th March when this sort of thing has to cease until after the elections!

Probably not worth Ladbroke’s opening a book …..!

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23 Mar 2015

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EDDC, Exmouth

Exmouth bowling centre to be taken over by East Devon Leisure

Wonder if EDDC will be subsidising this via LED? Or will it eventually be sold on to the highest bidder after expensive renovation?

http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/Leisure-trust-takes-Exmouth-8217-s-seafront/story-26214426-detail/story.html

Note: EDDC hived off its leisure interests to Leisure east Devon now known as “Led Leisure Management Ltd” and has subsidised the company with hundreds of thousands of pounds since the handover, with several EDDC Conservative councillors involved in the company who have to declare personal interests whenever the company and its finances are discussed (often in secret).

Is the company, like the banks, too big to fail?

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23 Mar 2015

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Development Management Committee, EDDC, Knowle/Honiton/Exmouth relocation

Questions for DMC regarding Knowle site

You say the district’s desperate need is for much more affordable housing.

Will any of the retirement flats be affordable? If not, why not?

If the loss of parkland is only a Sidmouth issue, will all S106/ potential Community Infrastructure Levy income be applied solely to Sidmouth in mitigation?

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22 Mar 2015

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Affordable and Social Housing, AONB, Clyst St Mary, Cranbrook, Development Management Committee, East Devon Tories, EDDC, Local Plan, Local Plan Inspector

Local Plan version 2: a layperson’s summary

The Development Management Committee meets this week to nod through the latest draft of our Local Plan, after which it will go out for consultation.

It’s just about a year since the first version was inspected and thrown out straight away – the Inspector saying he expected to re-hear it in October 2014.

That month came and went and the excuse was: we have LOTS more work to do, be patient.

Those dealing with the revised plan were given few extra resources (around £50,000 worth when costs last published), more resources being piled into headquarter PRE-relocation work (£750,000 plus at least £10,000 to keep consultants reports on the project secret after EDDC was taken to court by the Information Commissioner for refusing to publish them).

February 2015: and we are told consultants reports are “imminent” but must not be published before local elections (May 2015) as they are deemed to be “too politically sensitive”. However, Mid Devon (relying on the very same consultants reports) decided to put their Local Plan out for consultation, eventually publishing the reports for the public with no qualms about their sensitivity.

Our Inspector would have no truck with this “political sensitivity” excuse and said he expected our new draft Local Plan to be out for public consultation by April 2015, election or no election.

Out of the mist came the consultants report – short, based on widely available figures and with no explanation as to why they had taken so long and soon after what appears to be a new draft Local Plan hurridly changed to reflect the new numbers and with an extra addendum of vastly more housing for Cranbrook and Clyst St Mary.

The Local Plan still appears to be (possibly fatally) flawed. Whereas it fixes on a number (18,000 plus houses including windfalls) IT DOES NOT MAKE IT CRYSTAL CLEAR WHERE EXACTLY THEY WILL GO except for Cranbrook and Clyst St Mary.

The report says some towns will have their built-up boundary respected (e.g. Sidmouth) whereas no such promise is made in other places (e.g. Budleigh Salterton). Some towns and villages have little idea of what their allocations will be or where they are to go. That makes Neighbourhood Plans very difficult.

What are the chances of this draft Local Plan being passed by the Inspector? Layperson’s opinion: very slim.

Whatever happens it will be a THIRD council that carries the can – the previous two having failed to get to grips with an out-of-date plan. Let us hope the new council will do a better job than the first two (big Conservative majority) councils did.

A vote for Independents is a vote for a new Local Plan to protect the district from free-for-all development. Heaven knows what a vote for Conservatives would bring on past and present performance!

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22 Mar 2015

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Environment (local), Misc

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Topsham community protects one of its natural asset by buying it

http://www.exmouthjournal.co.uk/news/quick_acting_topsham_townsfolk_snap_up_important_land_1_4002331

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22 Mar 2015

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Clyst St Mary, Hugo Swire, Local Plan

How does our current MP choose who to assist with direct Ministerial correspondence?

Anyone else got examples of Hugo going direct to other Ministers to sort out their personal planning problems? We have this old example and one of him getting an EDDC decision reversed for a shed company to set up its premises in Whimple so far.

Curiously, he seems not to have used this option very often and never, to our knowledge, about the Local Plan and its effect on individuals and small communities such as those in Clyst St George, Clyst St Mary and Broadclyst.

Anyone there got something similar they could show us (prior to the General Election canvassing period, of course)?

Click to access cor003-mrandmrscameronandrthonhugoswiremp.pdf

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22 Mar 2015

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Beer, Budleigh Salterton, Exmouth, Lympstone, Seaton/ Colyford / Colyton, Sidmouth/ Sidford/ Sidbury, Tourism

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Coastal Community Teams

Get an initial £10,000 and ability to bid for a share of a further £3 million. None of our coastal towns are amongst the first 12 to be announced.

Teamworking amongst towns does not seem to be popular in East Devon, perhaps because they are often at loggerheads due to devisive political shenanigans at town and district council level.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coastal-community-teams-bidding-prospectus

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21 Mar 2015

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Affordable and Social Housing, COVOP, Environment (local)

Where can children play in our towns and cities?

” ... Throughout the country, they become prisoners of bad design, and so do adults. Without safe and engaging places in which they can come together, no tribe forms. So parents must play the games that children would otherwise play among themselves, and everyone is bored to tears.

The exclusion of children arises from the same pathology that denies us decent housing. In the name of market freedom, the volume housebuilders, sitting on their land banks, are free to preside over speculative chaos, while we are free to buy dog kennels priced like palaces in placeless estates so badly designed that community is dead on arrival. Many want to design and build their own homes, but almost no plots are available, as the big builders have seized them. …”

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/06/children-towns-and-cities-robbed-spaces-play

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21 Mar 2015

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East Devon Tories, EDDC, Environment (local)

Air pollution alert in the South West this week

..and a cautionary tale about the downside of development, from China.
(There’s no such thing as a cheap t-shirt) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6X2uwlQGQM

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21 Mar 2015

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Knowle/Honiton/Exmouth relocation

Topsham Care Home plans to go to planning inspection

Very similar to Knowle?

Exeter City Council was minded to refuse but it did not determine the application within the required time so it goes straight to inspection.

“PLANS for a 60 -bed care home and a mix of assisted living flats and age restricted homes in Topsham are to be decided by the planning inspector.

The scheme by Waddeton Park has attracted more than 450 letters of objection.

PLANS for a 60 -bed care home and a mix of assisted living flats and age restricted homes in Topsham are to be decided by the planning inspector.

The scheme by Waddeton Park has attracted more than 450 letters of objection.”

Read more: http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/Topsham-homes-battle-goes-planning-inspector/story-26206103-detail/story.html