So said the Exmouth College student who questioned EDDC leaders last night (16 Dec,2015), about the process behind the seafront development proposals in her town. But Deputy CEO Richard Cohen’s answer skirted around her main point (“I feel misled”), in a Full Council meeting that showed EDDC manipulative management at its very worst.

Blind block-voting without debate; and a Chair who allowed 5 serious questions from Exmouth residents to be rolled into one by the responding officer, thus enabling central points made by the speakers to be glossed over or, (as with the offer by Louise McAllister, specialist in surveys, to meet EDDC), simply ignored.

Not a single question was asked by any Majority Party councillor: only one of the 9 questions put, all from Independents, had a satisfactory answer (given thoroughly by Environment Portfolio holder, Cllr Iain Chubb).

Corporate Services portfolio holder, Cllr Phil Twiss, was unavailable to answer embarrassing questions about broadband, leaving Cllr Ian Thomas apologetically unable to provide informed replies.

The meeting reached a crescendo of ‘confidentiality’, when the critical information needed by councillors before deciding whether to give Leader Paul Diviani ‘delegated powers’ regarding the multi-million pound Heart of the South West (HotSW) devolution bid, was declared (without debate) too sensitive for press and public. So the devolution item was dealt with in private, at the end of the session.

Just a few minutes into this part of the agenda, the Chair, Cllr Stuart Hughes, closed the meeting, somewhat prematurely perhaps. There had been no discussion by councillors, and the whole point of this session had been missed: there was no vote on delegated powers for the Leader.