Monthly Archives: May 2015

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

2 May 2015

Posted under

EDDC, Feniton/ Talaton, Flooding, Graham Brown, Independent Councillors

Comments

1 Comment

Feniton, tanks, the stump and ex-Councillor Brown – oh, and voting!

The latest blog post of Independent Councillor Susie Bond:

It’s been a fascinating run up to the 2015 election.

I’ve enjoyed dropping off my leaflets to the houses in Feniton, Gittisham and Buckerell and chatting to those who were at home and had time to talk to me. People are really engaged with this election and want to talk about national issues as much as local ones … and there was a lot of interest in the ‘rise of the Independents’, as one resident described it.

There were several recurring themes which were of concern to everyone in my ward … planning inevitably being at the top of the list.

On the stump, Question 1:

What about the attenuation tanks?

This is a continuing issue in Feniton, where developer Wainhomes eventually succumbed to pressure from me, the Parish Council, EDDC and the media, and provided the attenuation tanks which were required of them following the planning inquiry in 2012. However, the Parish Council is not happy with the system the developer was forced to install and has grave concerns that the tanks will fail. This is an unresolved issue and a great worry to those who live ‘downstream’ of the site.

There is quite reasonably very little faith in developers and the promises they make to sweeten the offer of concreting over precious sites. Residents still bemoan the loss of the tennis courts which were such a feature of life in Feniton before the developer of the existing Acland Park site bulldozed them in pursuit of profit. Promises were made that they would be reinstated, but the tennis courts never reappeared.

On the stump, Question 2:

Whatever happened to the Graham Brown affair?

The police investigation into former Councillor Graham Brown was closed with no action taken in 2014 as there was insufficient evidence to take the case forward. End of story.

My concern is not with the individual, but what process allowed anyone whose main source of income was building and development to be put in a position of such authority (he was for some time Chairman of the Local Development Framework panel, the committee set up to steer the Council towards adoption of a Local Plan, identifying possible sites for development and deciding on strategic allocations for development within the district), and who must have found it extremely difficult not to confuse the two roles. I have called on a number of occasions for an internal inquiry at EDDC to look into the lapse in decision-making which allowed this to happen. Each time I posed the question, I was met with the response that the matter was in the hands of the police and therefore any internal investigation would be inappropriate.

At the full Council meeting in February, and given that the police investigation had concluded, I asked the question again.

I was surprised on this occasion when my request for an internal inquiry was met with the minimal response, ‘Why?’, with no further explanation. In other words, whether the former councillor was charged with any misdemeanour or not, EDDC never had any intention of conducting a full internal inquiry.

Something to think about for the next council.

On the stump, Question 3:

What is the East Devon Alliance?

There was lots of interest on the doorstep in this umbrella organisation formed to support independent candidates.

It’s a lonely business being an Independent.

I chose to stand as an Independent in 2013 so that I was not constrained by party politics which, to my mind, should have no business in local government. But standing alone means that you don’t have the backup of the party machine to write your leaflet for you and even pay for it to be printed, as well as the advice of those who have been councillors before.

Had it existed at that time, I would have welcomed the help and advice of the East Devon Alliance to steer me through the minefield of the election process. Two years on and EDA candidates have the support of their leader, Cllr Ben Ingham, whose 25 years of experience is invaluable to those who don’t know how the system works. Their excellent website (http://www.eastdevonalliance.org.uk/) has given the candidates an on-line profile and their YouTube videos have reached a wide audience.

Once elected, every ‘Independent EDA’ candidate will work hard in their ward and represent that ward at Council. No Party Whip to ‘encourage’ them to vote in a particular way and no question of being lambasted by senior party figures if they fail to conform.

Final thoughts

Don’t forget to voteBut whatever the issues and whatever hue your politics, the main thing is to make your voice heard and Remember To Vote. The turnout at elections has fallen steadily from an all-time high of 83% in 1950 to just 65% in 2010, reflecting disillusionment and mistrust of party politics.

If you want to change the status quo, Thursday 7 May is the day to make a difference!

https://susiebond.wordpress.com/2015/05/02/on-the-stump/

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

2 May 2015

Posted under

Axminster, Democracy, East Devon Tories, EDDC, Environment (local), Independent Councillors, Latest news, National Planning Policy Framework, Neighbourhood Plans, Planning System, Transparency, Voting

Comments

1 Comment

Local Tories show their true colours

Andrew Moulding and Steph Jones’s election leaflet issued in Axminster, seems designed to misinform.

AxmstrLeaflet

A close look at the leaflet (above..click to enlarge) reveals some apparent misconceptions and economies with the truth:

Moulding/ Jones: Imply East Devon Alliance is centred in Sidmouth.
Incorrect: EDA Chair lives in Colyton; Vice-Chair in Feniton; vast majority of East Devon Alliance Independent candidates are from other parts of the District.

Moulding/Jones: Suggest Knowle is just adapted bedrooms and bathrooms.
Incorrect: Only the old part, which was once used as a hotel, then as flats.  No serious attempt has been made to market this individually to fund update of the newer building, which consists of purpose built offices in 1970-80s, with outside space for extension if required.

Moulding/Jones:  Move will save £6m over 20 years.
Figures are disputed ( posts on http://www.saveoursidmouth.com may explain why ‘Sidmouth’ is a painful subject for EDDC Deputy Leader, Cllr Moulding) – and some withheld documents concerning office relocation are still under legal review (Tribunal decision imminent: Information Commissioner and J. Woodward vs East Devon District Council).

Moulding/Jones: Why Honiton and Exmouth? “Because Honiton is more central, and Exmouth is the largest town.”
Then why did they previously support Skypark (which could not be less central) and selling the site in Honiton? In reality, a newbuild office at Honiton is just the fall-back plan, as the Honiton site couldn’t be sold for enough money to make a move to Skypark financially viable. And Exmouth has only now come into the equation, as space at the Town Hall has become available. The leaflet makes no mention of the issues of running a split site; nor of existing air pollution problems where the £7m newbuild HQ at Honiton would be sited (no such problem in Knowle parkland!), etc.,etc. 

Moulding/Jones; Why is Local Plan taking so long? “Because we want to get it right”
Or is it because EDDC are struggling, having got it so wrong in the past, and exasperating the Inspector, who rejected the previous one? (Remember the 53 ‘minor changes’ which the Inspector found to be ‘major’? SIN blogged the story: https://sidmouthindependentnews.wordpress.com/2013/11/30/sum-thing-amiss/)

Moulding/ Jones: Why so much new housing in Axminster? “Because you wanted it!!”
Who are ‘you’? Does it embellish the town and help it to thrive? Or is it symptomatic of consequences when deciding where to build the massive number of new houses EDDC has chosen to opt for?

Moulding/Jones:  Do you have a plan for the future of Axminster. “Yes, we have a vision.”
Who are ‘we’, and has the vision, with no neighbourhood plan yet in place, been led by speculative development?

This leaflet, along with quotes from Hugo Swire in the local press yesterday (https://eastdevonwatch.org/2015/05/02/east-devon-alliance-responds-to-hugo-swire-misinformation/), show tired tactics which are looking rather stale. On May 7th, East Devon voters may well show they’ve had enough of them.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

2 May 2015

Posted under

Claire Wright, East Devon Alliance, General Election, Hugo Swire, Independent Councillors

East Devon Alliance is not standing for Parliament, Hugo! Stick to facts

From a correspondent:

“Hugo Swire manages to mix a tiny bit of truth with some outright misinformation when he says, “There is no doubt that Claire Wright and the EDA are one and the same – I don’t know how they manage to say they are independent when it is a registered party.”

Firstly, the East Devon Alliance is NOT a party in the usual sense – they needed to register with the Electoral Commission in order to get a shared group name on the ballot paper. This has been stated on the home-page of their web site for several months, so Hugo has no excuse for being misleading about it (which by the way is against the rules set by the Electoral Commission who require candidates to be completely factual).

It is also wrong to associate Claire Wright with the East Devon Alliance – again their home page makes it clear that their registration with the Electoral Commission is only for local government and not central government elections. Indeed a quick search for Claire Wright on the EDA website shows only two mentions which are not in quotes from the press – where she endorses the EDA candidates standing to replace her as Councillor in Ottery Rural, and pictured with their candidate for Budleigh, Les Cotton. So, by failing to check his facts before opening his mouth, Hugo has misled again.

That said, there is obviously some common ground between Claire Wright and the EDA. Each are standing as Independents. Each believes in open and transparent local government, each are fearless in exposing the secrecy and poor quality decisions made by the Conservative leadership at EDDC, a leadership which Hugh Swire has himself criticised for their plans to relocate from the Knowle, originally to Skypark, and now to Honiton and Exmouth.

But the most obvious similarity between Claire Wright and the EDA is that they are both looking very electable, and that the local Conservative party is both so scared of losing and so lacking in their own policies for East Devon that they are panicked into making wild accusations which are easily provable as totally wrong. Shame on them!”

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

2 May 2015

Posted under

East Devon Electoral/Returning Officer, Hugo Swire, Independent Councillors

Comments

2 Comments

East Devon Alliance responds to Hugo Swire “misinformation”

Dear Hugo Swire

In a Western Morning News interview with Phil Goodwin, published online on 1st May 2015, you state, “There is no doubt that Claire Wright and the EDA are one and the same – I don’t know how they manage to say they are independent when it is a registered party”.

We would be grateful if you now desist in attempting to influence the District Council election with this misinformation. I am Chairman of the East Devon Alliance and whether you are or are not returned as the member for East Devon to Parliament is of no matter to me, my vice chairman, treasurer or communications director. None of us live in your former constituency.

If you visit our website and read our extensive literature – indeed, watch our videos – your name does not occur once. We have taken great pains to defend ourselves from the moment when someone such as you casually concocts the canard that Mrs Wright and we are co-campaigners with the intent of denigrating both her and us.

It would be worth your taking the time to properly research your subject. As Independents we have allied under an umbrella because many of your operatives in the local Conservative party in East Devon are unfit to wear the national rosette. Standing as an Independent in very many of the towns and villages is to be the subject of tactics unfit for our nation’s political life. In the self-evident lack of public faith in East Devon District Council – well-known matters which you have disdained to engage with – is the epitome of our failing democracy. Our alliance is precisely how it will be rebuilt, and it is at moments such as this that we can defend ourselves from untruths such as yours. What is the East Devon Alliance but a manifestation of the Localism your party professes to support?

Your sources should have told you – as could the Electoral Commission – that we specifically chose to register with them in the category of groups precluded from campaigning in national elections. I have not spoken for Mrs Wright or even seen her campaign literature; I live in Colyton, on the eastern edge of Neil Parish’s patch. I have not attended any of your joint hustings, being too busy with the district election.

I am aware, however, that she has consistently tried to address the well-recorded problems at EDDC with courage and determination. If you had bothered to attend any of the meetings at which she was shouted down by the sexist goons on the Conservative side I like to think you may have been alerted to the public disgust with them – and with your party in the District – rather sooner, and that you would have been man enough to intervene.

To conclude, we are not “one and the same”, and we are registered as a party because despite 5 years to do so your government has not found the time to move on with recommendations emerging from select committees that local campaigning groups such as us should not, of course, have to register centrally at the Electoral Commission. Please desist from making false statements about us and fight your own battles rather than those of your district underlings who, you must surely realise, have done so much to have created your current predicament.

Signed Paul Arnott
eastdevonalliance.org.uk

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

1 May 2015

Posted under

General Election, Hugo Swire

Comments

10 Comments

In 2005 Hugo Swire wanted the public to pay £7m for a stuffed shark

Imagine how many food banks that could have stuffed instead!

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/hugo-swire-542549

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

1 May 2015

Posted under

Axminster, East Devon Tories, EDDC, Honiton/ Gittisham, Seaton/ Colyford / Colyton, Voting

Comments

1 Comment

That most dangerous of things: “a group of Sidmouth residents”! Are you sure?

Leaving aside whether “a group of Sidmouth residents” is the most dangerous thing on the planet (actually, the perpetrator of that remark may well be right!) it is how members of East Devon Alliance have been (oh-so-very-wrongly) described by Councillor Andrew Moulding, we have but one comment to make on his remark.

Why is Seaton resident and Conservative (and formerly a Lib Dem) councillor Stephanie Jones standing with Andrew Moulding in Axminster so that a Honiton resident Jenni Brown (whose address is the Monkton Court Hotel, Honiton) with no obvious connection to Seaton can stand in Seaton?

Click to access seaton.pdf

And where another candidate who is standing against former Tory Bob Buxton in Dunkeswell also lives (Colin Brown):

Click to access dunkeswell.pdf

You may be able to ask them both as the Monkton Court Hotel:

http://www.monktoncourthotel.co.uk/

Colin, Jenny and Joe are serving morning coffee, bar snacks, comfort food and afternoon tea. Come and relax in front of the fires or chill out in the sunny orchard -umbrellas can be supplied if necessary!

will be a polling station on election day:

Click to access 1505Nominations%20for%20MP.pdf

And it has been the venue for a number of EDDC and local Tory events such as the Tiverton and Honiton Conservative Association Pie and Pudding Club:

http://www.tivertonhonitonconservatives.co.uk/events/t-hca-honiton-branch-%E2%80%93-%E2%80%9Cpie-and-pudding-supper-club%E2%80%9D-3

Of course, anyone who fulfils the criteria in East Devon can stand anywhere in the district but it does seem a bit like musical-chair Tories – or perhaps pass the parcel would be a better description!

For the original article on the most dangerous people on the planet see our old friend:

http://realzorro1.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/axminster-tory-district-council.html

Anyone wanting to find out EXACTLY where independent East Devon Alliance candidates emanate from can find out here:

http://www.eastdevonalliance.org.uk/
(follow candidates tab)

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

1 May 2015

Posted under

Claire Wright, General Election, Hugo Swire

The West’s “free spirits” challenge the “old order” at Westminster

And guess who the most popular “free spirit is. Claire Wright – of course and isn’t old Hugo rattled!

Claire Wright, one of the surprises of this campaign and the bookies’ favourite “indie” in the UK, says the inner “urge” is too strong to resist.

The former NHS worker from Ottery St Mary has been backed down from odds of 33/1 to 4/1 to win East Devon, a true blue bastion of Conservatism.

Claire, already a town, district and county councillor, came face-to-face with her target – Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire – in the Devon new town of Cranbrook, venue for the final hustings in the seat on Wednesday night.

She claims the “huge momentum” generated – with hundreds leafleting, more than £13,000 donated via her website and fresh calls every day for photo boards – shows her locally-focussed, anti-austerity manifesto can really win.

“Lots of people are sick of politics and are looking for someone who is going to fight for them,” she told the Western Morning News, outside the newly built St Martin’s school.

“I am very much a free spirit and I just want to be completely free to represent people without having any kind of party line to worry about.

“Politics can be very entrenched but people feel they can vote for me without betraying their parties.

“If I can galvanise enough votes from all those groups then it is possible I could win.”

But what of Hugo, a heavyweight candidate almost from Tory central casting who arrived at the Commons via Eton, Sandhurst and the Grenadier Guards.

In 2010, he was elected with a 9,114 majority, a massive 48% of the vote.

Overturning this is a tall order. But it wouldn’t be the first shock.

In 2011 as a town councillor, Claire ousted local Tory district council leader Sara Randall Johnson from her Ottery St Mary seat, a victory that secured her status among the local ruling elite as “public enemy number one”.

Two years later she claimed the biggest majority in the South West – 74% – in the election to the county authority.

If the three-time veteran Hugo is rattled, as many say, then it is not apparent from his performance at the stump.

During the 90-minute Q&A session, the former Sothebys auctioneer – now famous for overseeing Tory fundraisers – never misses a chance to remind the audience of his credentials.

There are plenty of persuasive statistical sound bites and at the end of a 90-second introduction, he casually mentions “juggling” his campaigning with efforts to deal with the disaster in Nepal.

In response to a partisan question about Cranbrook he reminds the audience of his unwavering support for the new community since day one.

This scores well in the gym. Claire initially opposed the soon-to-be-thriving town as a fresh-faced councillor.

The following day, on the campaign trail in Sidford, Hugo views the new challenge as part of an orchestrated anti-Tory movement in the area, the newly formed East Devon Alliance (EDA).

The group registered with the Electoral Commission this year and is backing 37 candidates in the district election poll, 15 of them independents.

“There is no doubt that Claire Wright and the EDA are one and the same – I don’t know how they manage to say they are independent when it is a registered party,” he told the WMN.

“She is very good at PR and spin and is always going on about her odds being 6/1 but you can manipulate these just by getting 20 people to put on a tenner.

“This is a serious election to see who will be the governing party in Westminster. I am more than happy to be judged on my record and what we have achieved over the past five years.”


http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/West-free-spirits-challenge-old-order-race/story-26424980-detail/story.html

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

1 May 2015

Posted under

Misc

Comments

1 Comment

EDDC tourism champion calls for tourism role

..but she’s been in the job for 4 years! See article here, from the latest edition of Marshwood Vale magazine  (Click to enlarge) Tourism champion calls for tourism role!

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

1 May 2015

Posted under

Blackdown Hills, Budleigh Salterton, Democracy, East Devon Alliance, EDDC, Exmouth, Independent Councillors, Latest news, Ottery St Mary, Seaton/ Colyford / Colyton, Sidmouth/ Sidford/ Sidbury, Voting, Woodbury

Meet the candidates, in the comfort of your own home!

Before you vote on 7th May, want to know who’d like to replace the current EDDC, and why?  On the http://www.eastdevonalliance.org.uk website, EDW sees that 14 candidates have already taken the brave step of presenting themselves on video.
On each candidates’ page, click on video intro, and scroll down to video just below candidate’s pic. Videos currently available for Paul Arnott (Chair..standing in Coly Valley Ward) ) Ben Ingham (Leader..standing in Woodbury & Lympstone) ), Cathy Gardner (Communications Director..standing in Sidmouth Town) ), Steve Horner (standing against P. Diviani in Yarty), Martin Shaw (Seaton), Megan Armstrong (Exmouth Halsdon), Rob Longhurst (Woodbury & Lympstone),Val Ranger Newton Poppleford), Mark Daugherty (Exmouth Brixington), Marianne Rixson (Sidmouth, Sidford), Les Cotton (Budleigh Salterton) , Dawn Manley (Sidford, Sidford), Matt Coppell (Ottery St Mary Rural), Robert Crick (Exmouth Littleham)….more coming soon (if they can be caught for a few minutes’ filming between leafleting, we’re told!)

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

1 May 2015

Posted under

Democracy, EDDC, Voting

Did the Returning Officer actually use the word “Sorry” for the postal vote cock-up?

It just doesn’t seem his style!

This is how EDDC puts it:

“East Devon Returning Officer Mark Williams has apologised for an error identified on the Postal Voting Statement sent to some electors on Friday 24 April.

This concerns guidance for voters on the number of candidates to vote for. In some local council wards with two or even three seats, an elector can place up to three votes. The error in the Postal Voting Statement incorrectly suggests the elector should vote for just one candidate.

For the Local Government election (green ballot paper), the guidance states: ‘Where an election is required vote for only one candidate by putting a cross (X) in the box next to your choice’.

It should state: ‘Where an election is required vote for no more than the number of candidates as stated on the top of the ballot paper by putting a cross (X) in the box next to each of your choices’.

The Returning Officer has written to every elector affected by the error to inform them that the mistake has been found and to advise what they should do next. Those who still have their ballot papers can simply follow the newly corrected advice.

Electors who have already returned their green ballot papers after following the incorrect guidance can telephone the elections team and request a new ballot paper. Their first ballot paper will then be destroyed. The number to ring is 01395 517402.

If in any doubt follow the guidance on the face of the ballot paper.”

Which begs the question: why have an instruction paper if you can follow the guidance on the ballot paper! Re-inventing the wheel?

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

1 May 2015

Posted under

Claire Wright, East Devon Alliance, General Election, Hugo Swire, Independent Councillors

It’s time to decide

Less than a week to go. The information is all out there (see the links to all parties above).  You know where our votes are going but yours is yours to decide.

If you have a postal vote, check that you have the right instructions (voting for as many people as each ward has, not just one cross per ward in multi-councillor wards).  Send those envelopes back as soon as possible.

And remember, the website for East Devon Alliance:

eastdevonalliance.org.uk

which has masses of information on all its candidates – the only group that has such comprehensive information…and even Video Intros for most of the candidates!