It’s hard to see an argument AGAINST the public being able to speak at Scrutiny Committee meetings, but DCC seems to be afraid of it.
Transparency is something that all councils SAY they have but time and again they show that this is just meaningless.
Is DCC up to this? We shall see.
The village of Hook Norton is mentioned ( see earlier post) as well as this exchange:
Michelle Donelan Conservative, Chippenham
The Minister will be aware that the planning inspector has deferred a decision on Chippenham’s housing development plan and has asked Wiltshire council to come back after a few queries. During this time, what measures could be put in place to ensure we do not have a free-for-all of aggressive planning applications against the best interests of the strategy of the town?
Marcus Jones Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Communities and Local Government) (Local Government)
Having a five-year land supply in place puts local planning authorities in a strong position to resist unwanted development. Furthermore, national planning policy reiterates the importance of sustainable development, not development anywhere or at any cost, and I am sure my hon. Friend’s local authority is well aware of that when making decisions.
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2015-12-14a.1270.2
What can you do when the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Communities and Local Government) (Local Government) is si ignorant of real life?
“A large majority of the public support the principle of proportional representation in parliament – that the number of seats given to parties should reflect the number of votes cast.
New polling seen by the Independent shows that voters are increasingly unhappy with Britain’s First Past the Post (FPTP) electoral system, with a majority also in favour of changing it.
Under FPTP the number of seats each party gets can vary wildly compared to the votes cast because large numbers of votes end up being discarded and not counting towards the result. …
… “First Past the Post as a system for electing MP’s is simply unfair and no longer fit for purpose. It has led to a narrow and unrepresentative politics, which in turn has turned people off from voting and politics as a whole,”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/proportional-representation-a6774976.html
What sort of future are EDDC leaders leading us all into? What will their legacy be in our coastal towns, e.g. Exmouth, and in the lost years for rural economies lacking fast broadband?
And is their imminent devolution bid (to be submitted to Westminster in early January 2016), based on thorough consultation with councillors?
Answers a-plenty will emerge at the Full Council meeting tomorrow evening at EDDC HQ, Knowle, Sidmouth.
Public welcome. Come early to get a seat!
In this week’s local ” View from …” papers there is a terrifically gross puff job from Mark Williams, CEO and Electoral Returning Officer at EDDC about his success in getting more people on the electoral roll this year.
He particularly mentions that 35 canvassers personally visited 5,116 homes after they did not return original forms.
Recall that, last year, Mr Williams was hauled before a Parliamentary Committee because he had “lost” more than 6,000 voters from an earlier electoral roll, despite numerous developments, including Cranbrook, having added many voters.
At the time he said that it was his personal preference NOT to send out canvassers (citing the danger of sending them out at night in rural areas). His preference was to telephone people, though he was rather hazy on how he got their telephone numbers.
It should also be noted that no figures ars given for the new total number on the electoral roll compared to last year.
See more comprehensive reports by Owl here:
Hook Norton, Oxfordshire, Cotswolds, 4.5 miles from PMs Chipping Norton home. population around 2,000.
Local plan – tick
Five year land supply – tick
Neighbourhood plan – tick
Local council gets a planning application for 54 houses over and above local plan and neighbourhood plan, next to a dairy. Council says NO – it’s not in our approved Local Plan, not in our approved Neighbourhood Plan and too close to the cows: smelly and insects.
End of development – right?
WRONG!
Developer goes to appeal – planning inspector finds in their favour. Sent to Secretary of State – he agrees.
“In the secretary of state’s view, development of the whole appeal site would not necessarily conflict with [the neighbourhood plan], providing construction were to proceed incrementally in the form of three or more separate phases, each of no more than 20 dwellings built at say five year intervals. In view of this, the secretary of state considers that the degree of conflict between the proposal and [the neighbourhood plan] is limited and he finds no evidence that any significant material harm would ensue if this”, the letter said.
Overall, the letter said that Clark considered that the benefits of the development “would clearly outweigh the harm in terms of the limited conflict with the [neighbourhood plan] and the slight adverse effect on future occupiers as a result of odours generated by the adjacent Redlands Dairy Farm. He therefore concludes that the material circumstances in this case indicate that the appeal should be allowed and outline planning permission granted.”
RESULT: forget your Local Plan, forget your Neighbourhood Plan, forget your 5 year land supply – if a developer wants to build 54 houses next to pong and insects, that’s fine.
So, NPPF, Local Plans, Neighbourhood Plans, five year land supply can ALL be over-ridden by a developer, planning inspector and the Secretary of State.
It is to be hoped that there will be a judicial review – otherwise we might as well all rip up all three documents and leave the developers to it – we will have no planning rights at all.
New improved ways of working will make us a leaner and more efficient modern council says the Leader of East Devon District Council, Councillor Paul Diviani in his Christmas message
(translation: we know we have always been a bloated and inefficient council but this is the sort of thing our public relations people tell us we have to say)
“A friend of mine recently told me that when she first moved to East Devon to take up a new job, she thought she had died and gone to heaven. Even now, having lived here for 12 years, she says she still wakes up every morning thinking how unbelievably lucky she is to live and work in such a wonderful place.
There is almost NO doubt that this “friend” will be living in the Blackdown Hills where our Leader protects his backyard like no other).
“East Devon inspires this level of passion in people and no more so than in myself, my fellow councillors and the officers of East Devon District Council. We are all passionate about the work that we do and, above all, we want to ensure that East Devon remains a fantastic place for people like us to live in, work, visit and enjoy.
Why wouldn’t you say you are passionate when “people like you” get a lot of money so that you can live, work and enjoy your status whilst people like “us” get a lot less so that we can find our daily commute a nightmare, our work seasonal and low-paid and our enjoyment of council provided services something we remember from the distant past.
“So over the next four years we will be rising to meet the many challenges that reduced funding and increased demands on our services brings. In order to make necessary savings of £2.6m, we will be using new ways of working, involving systems thinking principles and our ‘WorkSmart‘ approach, which together harness the latest technology and modern working practices. Our move from Knowle to new accommodation in Honiton and Exmouth is part of this plan and will help us become a modern day council in every sense of the word.
Over the next four years we are going to have to do the darnedest to make you think that things are getting better whilst we slash services, increase costs for those that are left and hope like hell that we can keep the REAL cost of the move from Knowle under wraps. And presumably, “we” didn’t WorkSmart before but we will gloss over that.
“All of this will make us leaner, more efficient and better placed to deliver the kind of service that we know you, the residents of East Devon want. We are keen to keep improving and to help us do so, we will be listening to what you have to say in consultations and through our viewpoint surveys.
WE may be getting leaner, but our fat cats (particularly our developers) will be getting fatter and fatter. We’ve covered “more efficient and better” above – the repetition is getting a bit tedious now!
“Great services and great service, first time and every time is the standard that we have set for ourselves. To do that we need to be bold, creative, open and innovative, but above all we must pull together as one council. These are values that set us apart and make the council a place where people want to work – in fact, over 93% of our staff said they would recommend the council as a place to work!
Well, yes, you will get great service and great services if you are a developer. But, frankly, for the rest of us, if you turn out to be timid, hidebound, closed and backwards we will never hear about it from you. And they are NOT “great values that set you apart” – it is how ALL councils are supposed to be! And can we see that survey of the staff please – in its entirety as, so often, your so-called surveys leave a lot to be desired in terms of design.
Focus on four priorities
“To help us deliver these aspirations, we have developed our new council plan, which provides a constant focus on four main priorities:
(ALL councils focus on four or more priorities – this seems to be a public relations rule – but hope that everyone forgets what they were before a local election. East Devon Watch will NOT forget on your behalf.
“We will be encouraging our communities to be outstanding, by helping them to solve their local problems. We also want to encourage people to live healthier, more active lifestyles through sport and exercise and to make the most of the wonderful countryside that surrounds us.
Don’t come to us when you want money or help – do it yourself – and when it all gets too much take a LONG walk in what countryside remains after we have concreted over most of it.
“We will continue to promote East Devon as an outstanding place in which to do business and we will strengthen the local economy by attracting inward investment and supporting businesses.
Developers – we are still your bestest friend. Businesses that we approve of – we are the council that gave you the East Devon Business Forum and its leader Graham Brown and now give you (or rather they give to you via us) the Local Enterprise Partnership. Businesses that we don’t approve of – fend for yourselves.
“It is so important that our natural and built environment is protected and we will be working to reduce levels of waste produced in the district, as well as controlling levels of pollution through education and enforcement of environmental legislation.
Have to say, this one almost renders Owl speechless (or rather hootless) – they are going to reduce pollution by educating US! And “enforcement of environmental legislation” – remember that this government is attempting to water down environmental legislation to almost homeopathic levels and our council is slavishly behind this government in every respect.
“We will be prioritising a culture of openness and transparency by keeping our residents fully informed and we are fully committed to innovative ways of working and commercial thinking, including an improved digital service to give our customers the chance to self serve.
Ah, the culture of openness and transparency where, unless you own a computer, you will be cut off from the majority of council services. The same culture that keeps so many committees and think tanks secret behind closed doors. The culture that allows the majority party to have talks about privatising our services out to the Local Enterprise Partnership and wants to delegate the decision-making and agreement signing to the CEO and Leader without ANY councillor knowing what exactly either or both may be signing. Hmmm.
Pride in our achievements
“But as we draw near to the end of the year, it is only right that I mention with great pride, a few of the many significant achievements that this council has made during 2014/2015.
Quick, someone, gloss over all our omnishambles – look for something, anything that we can boast about!
“Top of the list of our accomplishments is housing. We have delivered a grand total of 388 homes for local people, which is our highest number of new affordable local homes in one year. It is our continuing aim to provide more good quality, local homes for local people.
Those would be the good quality homes that, in Cranbrook, the town with almost no shops. Homes which, if you get your way, will now be built on much-needed car parks! And what about all those affordable homes that developers refused to build and you allowed them to strike out (for example, Seaton Tesco land, where Tesco and the developer were “too poor” to provide any affordable homes). And let’s see how many Pegasuslife can provide at the Knowle!!!
“Homelessness in East Devon is extremely low thanks to our homeless prevention initiatives and we are working hard through our Empty Homes Plan to help owners of neglected empty properties in East Devon to bring their properties back into residential use, which will relieve pressure on the private and public housing sectors.
Homelessness in East Devon is characterised by two homeless people dying in the street in Sidmouth very recently and food banks in all major towns. And just how many “owners of neglected property” will you be working with and how?
“Finally, it gives me enormous pleasure to say that the finalisation of our Local Plan is now within sight and we are anticipating being able to adopt it early next year. This detailed and robust document will help us deliver the aspirations and housing needs of local people, as well as land for employment. It will also help protect our beautiful countryside from unwanted and inappropriate development.
Ah, finally – the Local Plan. The plan that was orchestrated for years by ex-Councillor Graham Brown (he of the front page of the Daily Telegraph sting and where originally all meetings were held in secret and with no minutes until Claire Wright forced publication) and the East Devon Business Forum. Which then had to be started all over again from scratch, was thrown out by the planning inspector once, thrown out again a second time and which the said planning inspector has now decided to complete himself! The one that left the whole district open to a development free-for-all. Omnishambles Number One for the past 5-7 years. Best keep this one for last and hope no-one notices.
“Exciting times lie ahead for us and we are looking forward to working with you all to achieve the greater good for East Devon.
You bet exciting times lie ahead, but not perhaps, exciting happy times. More and more development, not a hint of where the money for the accompanying infrastructure will come from, a vastly increased Cranbrook, small villages being forced to take extra development as their built-up boundaries are being dismantled, developers continuing to build high cost homes in high cost areas
“May I now wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year.”
Enjoy it while you can – it can only get worse but, don’t worry, I will be at the helm ….. with my trusty cabinet …. and officers …. and the Blackdown Hills will be just fine!
Councillor Paul Diviani
Summary: “Just give me 500 Christmassy words of milksop basic council jargon will you please, officers and then I will leave you alone till this time next year. And, whatever you do, DO NOT MENTION EXMOUTH SPLASH!
“People who live in rural areas of England take at least 57 minutes on average to reach their nearest hospital by public transport, almost twice as long as their urban counterparts at 33 minutes, according to a report published by the Department for Transport.
The report also finds that those in urban areas have, on average, access to between three and four hospitals within an hour’s journey compared with one for rural residents.
For both urban and rural residents hospitals are the key local service which takes the longest to reach, but the time required for rural dwellers to reach vital services is not restricted to hospital care. It takes people in rural locations longer to access all eight key services covered by the report, including employment, health and education facilities.”
MPs plan to use human rights laws [the ones Conservatives wish to axe] to keep secret the names of any MPs who are arrested, they revealed today. They want to hide from the public the identities of any of their colleagues held by police to protect MPs’ reputations.
Currently, police chiefs must write to the Commons Speaker telling them if a Member has been held. The Speaker must then alert the House of Commons in official documents – meaning the name will become public.
But the little-known Procedure Committee – a body of MPs which regulates how Westminster works – wants to scrap the practice.
It comes after two Tory MPs in the last Parliament were arrested on suspicion of sex offences. One was charged and later cleared by a jury, while another was not charged. Both were named following their arrests.
An inquiry which started in January today recommended shielding the information from the public. Its report says: “We conclude that the House should continue to instruct police forces to provide notification of the arrest of any Member.
“We also conclude that the present practice of the House in requiring the Speaker to publish the fact of a Member’s arrest regardless of circumstance is, in its generalised and non-discretionary application, incompatible with the right to privacy.”
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/mps-want-keep-secret-names-7017490
Dr Sarah Hattam used the Freedom of Information Act to discover she was one of 182 drivers who were ordered to pay £60 for using a bus lane in Bradford between 6am and noon on a Sunday when they appear to have had to take a diversion to avoid a charity fun run and having to use a bus lane on the badly-signed diversion.
“Despite making £10,920 from the fines – 26 times more than the Sunday before – Bradford City Council rejected Dr Hattam’s appeal.
However, thanks to the successful FoI application, she is asking an independent adjudicator to overturn her fine.
Dr Hattam said: ‘My husband put in the Freedom of Information request as he thought that others may have been caught on the day. But we didn’t expect this many. It is not about the money. By the letter of the law they are right.
‘The commonsense approach would be to waive the offence. Is it possible the diversion signs were not as clear as they could have been?’
The council has cashed in from the fun-run diversion before. At the same event in 2013, 223 drivers received £60 fines for the same offence.”
“Regulators won’t be able to force housing associations to sell under the policy
Housing associations cannot be compelled by regulators to sell their homes under the Government’s implementation of its Right To Buy extension, the housing minister has confirmed.
Brandon Lewis told MPs that the voluntary deal would not initially be backed by new regulatory powers to force social landlords to give away their stock at large discounts.
The confirmation means that housing associations who have raised concerns about the policy’s impact on their finances and ability to build homes may be able to resist taking part of the sell-off.
Housing associations borrow against the rental income of their properties to build new homes and the Office for Budget Responsibility, backed by industry figures, has warned that the move would mean fewer homes being built.
Mr Lewis told MPs on Tuesday that though new legislation meant housing associations had a general duty to “promote home ownership” the Housing Ombudsman would not, at least initially, be able to force them to sell homes.”
” … The peer, who ran the civil service before effectively being replaced by Heywood, accused ministers of double standards in trying to hold back information while they leak. The peer, who ran the civil service before effectively being replaced by Heywood, accused ministers of double standards in trying to hold back information while they leak other material to the media.
“The default is to conceal, to hold things back,” he said. “We have, in my view, a yawning gap between the governing and the governed in this country. The only way we can restore the trust is to become more accountable, not less. Anything which seems to restrict that accountability is a false move.”
Kerslake also highlighted the government’s £150m annual bill for communications compared with the £6m outlay on responding to FoI requests. …”
Health campaigners have been fighting for years for the release of the Ministerial diaries of Lord Lansley, who was finally sacked in July 2012 and is now a Tory peer.
They want to see which lobbyists and private health firms he met with in the run-up to his hated Health and Social Care Act 2012, which opened the NHS up to further privatisation.
A landmark ruling at a Freedom of Information tribunal in April found the public have every right to see his and other Ministerial diaries.
But the Government has now taken the case to the Court of Appeal.
Mr Frankel said it was ironic that Ministers claim FoI laws are too expensive to administer and must be scaled back – while at the same time blowing vast sums of taxpayers’ cash on court cases to keep information private.
“(They) talk about the ‘burden of FoI’ – some of the burden is caused by authorities trying to resist disclosure beyond the point at which they should simply accept the decision,” Mr Frankel said
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ministers-blow-30000-trying-keep-7012284
10 things you need to know about this week’s consultation on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), including proposals to amend the planning policy definition of affordable housing, plans to require higher density development around commuter hubs, and a new presumption in favour of brownfield housing development.
1. Sanctions for under-delivering on housing targets mooted
Local planning authorities that fail to deliver the homes set out in their local plans could be required to identify ‘additional sustainable sites’, which could include new settlements, according to the consultation. It sets out further details on the operation of the housing delivery test announced in last month’s Spending Review. It says that the government proposes to amend planning policy to make clear that where significant under-delivery is identified over a sustained period, action needs to be taken to address this. “One approach could be to identify additional sustainable sites if the existing approach is demonstrably not delivering the housing required,” the consultation says. MORE.
2. Affordable housing definition broadened
The government proposes to amend the national planning policy definition of affordable housing “so that it encompasses a fuller range of products that can support people to access home ownership. We propose that the definition will continue to include a range of affordable products for rent and for ownership for households whose needs are not met by the market, but without being unnecessarily constrained by the parameters of products that have been used in the past which risk stifling innovation”. MORE.
3. Councils told to plan for needs of those who aspire to home ownership
The consultation says that the government proposes to make clearer in policy the requirement to plan for the housing needs of “those who aspire to home ownership alongside those whose needs are best met through rented homes, subject as now to the overall viability of individual sites”.
4. Push for higher densities around commuter hubs
The consultation proposes a change to national planning policy “that would expect local planning authorities, in both plan-making and in taking planning decisions, to require higher density development around commuter hubs wherever feasible”.
5. Fresh policy backing for new settlements
The government proposes to strengthen national planning policy to “provide a more supportive approach for new settlements, within locally-led plans. We consider that local planning authorities should take a proactive approach to planning for new settlements where they can meet the sustainable development objectives of national policy, including taking account of the need to provide an adequate supply of new homes”.
6. A presumption in favour of brownfield housing development
The consultation says that the government will “make clearer in national policy that substantial weight should be given to the benefits of using brownfield land for housing (in effective, a form of ‘presumption’ in favour of brownfield land). We propose to make it clear that development proposals for housing on brownfield sites should be supported, unless overriding conflicts with the local plan or the National Planning Policy Framework can be demonstrated and cannot be mitigated”. MORE.
7. Call for release of unviable employment land
The government intends to amend paragraph 22 of the NPPF “to make clear that unviable or underused employment land should be released unless there is significant and compelling evidence to justify why such land should be retained for employment use”.
8. Scope of Starter Homes initiative widened further
The scope of the current exception site policy for Starter Homes could be widened to incorporate other forms of unviable or underused brownfield land, “such as land which was previously in use for retail, leisure and non-residential institutional uses (such as former health and educational sites)”, according to the consultation document.
9. Neighbourhood planners to identify green belt Starter Home sites
The government proposes to amend national planning policy so that neighbourhood plans can allocate appropriate small-scale sites in the green belt specifically for Starter Homes, with neighbourhood areas having the discretion to determine the scope of a small-scale site.
10. Green belt brownfield policy test faces revision
The consultation says that the government proposes to amend the current policy test in paragraph 89 of the NPPF that prevents development of brownfield land where there is any additional impact on the openness of the green belt to “give more flexibility and enable suitable, sensitively designed redevelopment to come forward”
The consultation closes on 25 January 2016.
Consultation on proposed changes to national planning policy is available here.
http://www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1376060/nppf-consultation-10-things-need-know
Cranbrook – eco-town? Since when? District heating does not an eco-town make, especially as there is no date for changing it from gas to wood … and people in the town are always locked into one supplier for life.
And at more than £6 per day to return to Exeter Central with only one train per hour, some people are definitely going to want to continue to use their cars.
“Six English councils – Breckland, Devon, Hinckley and Bosworth, South Northamptonshire and Sedgmoor – have seen their income from fees, sales and charges rise by more than 100% in the past three years, while Derbyshire, Westminster, Bristol and Shropshire, were the biggest risers in real terms, taking tens of millions of pounds more each year.”
Is that why we are not applying for coastal improvement grants!
Exmouth Splash project?
” … It is likely that there will be more tensions over the use of public space as councils across the country eye up private partnerships. “We’re seeing a lot of parks looking at introducing facilities that generate income,” said Drew Bennellick, head of landscape and natural heritage at the Heritage Lottery Fund. “Whether it’s Go Ape, crazy golf sites, multi-use football facilities that are floodlit, or cafes – they’re all exploring ways to potentially generate income to offset the cost of running the sites.”
A report by the fund last year estimated that 45% of local authorities are considering either selling parks and green spaces or transferring their management …”
David Cameron’s promise of a “revolutionary” new era in political transparency that would “open up Whitehall” and give voters the “power of information” has failed to materialise.
An examination of official data by The Independent on Sunday, which looked at every government department’s most recent disclosure of meetings, gifts, hospitality and overseas travel accepted by ministers, has found that since March this year, not a single department has met Mr Cameron’s 2011 promise to provide full quarterly information.
The poor performance on disclosure is most pronounced at three ministries, the departments of Health, Justice and Northern Ireland, which have failed to publish any information this year. The Department of Health last released information in December 2014; the Justice Ministry last published any details in July last year and the Northern Ireland Office lodged its last cache of information almost 18 months ago.
The digital divide could see rural residents in the West missing out on being able to access services at doctors’ surgeries and even online consultations with their GP, according to a broadband campaigner.
Parish councillor Graham Long was speaking after a review of digital services in the NHS in England called for GPs to actively encourage patients to go online to book appointments and order repeat prescriptions.
It was drawn up by Internet entrepreneur Baroness Martha Lane Fox, who was asked by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to look at how take-up of Internet services could be made widely available. She recommended ensuring every NHS building provide free wi-fi, and that every GP practice should get 10 per cent of patients to go digital by 2017.
Mr Long, who is campaigning for fast broadband in rural areas of Somerset and Devon, said booking appointments and renewing prescriptions online could be beneficial for many people in rural areas, particularly those with poor public transport.
He said: “I live in the Blackdown Hills, and we had a bus service to the next village where there is a GP. That has been cut from five days a week to two. Ordering repeat prescriptions online would save an awful lot of travelling for people without their own transport. It has even been suggested that consultations could eventually be done online using Skype. But many people here would not be able to take advantage of this because of the slow speed connections.”
He added: “Fast broadband provides access to the trade routes of the 21st century. If you do not raise the urgency of deploying rural broadband, you will be consigning rural Devon and Somerset to Third World status.
“This should be one of the catalysts for getting fast broadband in rural areas. In the 21st century, it should all be about building fast broadband links. It is more important than improvements to the road network.”
Martyn Rogers, director of Age UK Exeter, said: “There are lots of people ordering prescriptions online now. It’s convenient because they can do it from home and it saves time and money at surgeries.
“But a government report last year on digital inclusion showed that 11 million people in this country don’t have sufficient digital capacity to do things like book appointments on line, and half of those were aged over 65.
“A lot of older people are not online. But I would encourage as many people as possible who want to do this to try it; it would seem to be cost-effective. Provided GPs are geared up, that’s great. But if it started to be mandatory, it would disenfranchise a large number of people.”
On Thursday (DEC 10) Mr Long addressed a full meeting of Devon County Council and raised the issue of the failure to provide fast broadband to many parts of the region.
He said: “Devon and Somerset’s superfast rural broadband programme, the largest in England, is now a basket case with district councils in Devon issuing press releases claiming they will run their own programme. Rural council taxpayers expect you to work with the districts to provide the publicly-funded infrastructure that cities and other rural counties now take for granted. This is not happening here and rural economies face serious decline with businesses moving out to the towns. Fast broadband provides access to the trade routes of the 21st century. If you do not raise the urgency of deploying rural broadband, you will be consigning rural Devon and Somerset to Third World status.”
East Devon Watch 