Monthly Archives: December 2015

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2 Dec 2015

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EDDC, Sidmouth/ Sidford/ Sidbury

Mill Street car park – EDDC muddies the fudge!

Can anyone work out what the future of Mill Street from this article below? Is it a car park? Is it a development site? And why does EDDC need a ” partner” on this one site?

“East Devon District Council’s (EDDC) cabinet will consider bringing in a commercial partner to run the facility when it meets on Wednesday.

The review comes after more than 50 residents and businesspeople united in support of bringing the spaces, currently for permit holders only, back into wider use. EDDC is considering developing the site for affordable housing.

A report to cabinet says that EDDC could manage a pay and display car park itself, but the process would likely take too long to get it open in time for Christmas. Bringing in an external partner to manage it using number plate recognition technology would save the council £10,000 in legal work, consultation and advertising costs needed to vary its parking regulations. Revenue would be split 50-50 between EDDC and the external contractor – a move intended to avoid ‘incentivising over-zealous enforcement’ that could damage the council’s reputation.

EDDC reviewed the previous system of permits because it found that some spaces were being used by second home owners – while other had changed hands unofficially. The council trebled the annual cost of a permit for Mill Street or Holmdale to £1,800. When it sold only 22 out of a possible 58 permits, it suggested that Mill Street could be developed for affordable housing.

EDDC is still considering developing the site, but says it will continue to offer sufficient reserved car parking spaces at Mill Street and Holmdale to meet the needs of its existing customers.”

http://www.sidmouthherald.co.uk/news/partner_for_mill_street_1_4326479

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2 Dec 2015

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Misc

“Why are so many British homes empty?”

“Despite widespread anxiety about a shortage of housing supply, there are 610,123 empty homes in England, according to the government. Of these, 205,821 have been unoccupied for six months or more, the official definition of “long-term” emptiness. …”

The number if empty homes in the South West is given as 2,457,713 of which 18,550 are classed as “long-term” empty (that is empty for more than six consecutive months).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34930602

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2 Dec 2015

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Local Plan, Misc

“Rabbit hutch homes”: architects single out Persimmon and Barratt for severe criticism

“… Riba [Royal Institute of British Architects] singled out two of the leading housebuilders as the worst offenders. From a sample of new three-bedroom homes surveyed, it found Barratt homes were on average 6.7sq metres smaller than minimum space standards and Persimmon homes were on average 10.8sq m too small – about the size of a double bedroom.

“Tiny rabbit-hutch new-builds should be a thing of the past,” said Riba president Jane Duncan. “But, sadly, our research shows that, for many people, a new home means living somewhere that’s been built well below the minimum space standard needed for a comfortable home. The government must take action to ensure a fairer minimum space standard is applied to all new homes across the country. …

… It highlighted Persimmon’s Staynor Hall development in Selby, North Yorkshire, where it found the “Hanbury” three-bedroom two-storey house has a floor area of 70.7sq m when the government standard says a three-bedroom house for a family of five should be at least 93sq m. …

… Riba has identified another squeeze on housing space: the conversion of office buildings to homes allowed as a result of a 2013 relaxation in planning laws. Last year, 20,000 such homes were built, but the lack of regulations means they can be among the smallest available.

“Across the country, two-person ‘apartments’ of less than 14sq m (the size of a typical bedroom) are being delivered,” Riba’s report states. “Under the national space standard, the minimum floor area for any new home is 37sq m – almost three times the size.” … .”

http://gu.com/p/4ey52

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2 Dec 2015

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Affordable and Social Housing

Too many cooks in the housing market

How much tinkering at the edges can the housing market take? Every aspect of it is changed, adjusted, regulated, deregulated incessantly and the unintended consequence is chaos. Now it is the turn of buy-to-let mortgages – once flavour of the month and now with warning bells.

Boom and bust, boom and bust and only the lower-waged who desperately need the security of their own homes seem to lose out each time things change.

“… The Bank has already said it is concerned that any loss of confidence in the buy-to-let sector could exacerbate house price falls as 15% of buy-to-let customers would sell their properties if they could not meet their loan commitments through rental payments.

While the Bank is not yet taking action on the buy-to-let sector despite a number of warnings, it is also assessing the impact that George Osborne’s extra 3% stamp duty on buy-to-let homes, announced in last week’s autumn statement, will have on the sector.

Barclays is one lender that has already begun to make changes, altering the rental income criteria from 125% to 135% for all new applications.

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/dec/01/bank-of-england-scrutinises-vulnerable-buy-to-let-mortgages

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1 Dec 2015

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Clyst St Mary

Press release from Save Clyst St Mary: extra traffic on roads

“CALLING ALL USERS OF THE EXMOUTH A376 AND SIDMOUTH A3053 ROADS …

How many times do you get to the Clyst St George and Clyst St Mary roundabouts and groan at the length of the queues? Worryingly, if current plans to over-develop the village of Clyst St Mary by nearly 120% are allowed to go ahead, there could be over 700 more cars joining you at those already-congested junctions every day. To object to such potential time-consuming chaos please:

1 Go to: http://www.saveclyststmary.org.uk CLICK HERE
2 Add your, address and email address
3 Press ‘Submit’ for your letter to be automatically sent to East Devon District Council.

Please note: the Save Clyst St Mary Campaign is not ‘anti-development’. All we want is for development numbers to be kept in proportion for a village of this size and for future building to be restricted to brown-field sites. Please support us!
http://www.saveclyststmary.org.uk”

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1 Dec 2015

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DCC, Devolution, EDDC, Somerset County Council

Conflicting views on Devon/Somerset devolution

Tories gung-ho on the prospect of East Devon being am ” economic powerhouse”

“An EDDC spokesperson said: “If a successful bid is negotiated with the Government, then it is likely that the strategic importance of East Devon as a prime location for growth, jobs and housing will be recognised and we will see more investment into our local economy.”

Indie more cautious:

“Councillor Matt Booth has urged caution on rushing into any deal. The independent ward member for Sidmouth Town told the Herald: “It’s a huge ask and a huge task – it has to fit in with the financial plans of 16 other local authorities.

“I’m not for it. I think that it is just another way for central government to wash its hands of its responsibilities.

“If central government did its job properly, there wouldn’t be any need for devolution.

“But if we do go ahead, then as councillors we need to find a way to keep the process open and a way to bring it back to members.”

http://www.sidmouthherald.co.uk/news/economic_powerhouse_promise_of_devolution_1_4326893

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1 Dec 2015

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DCC, Devolution, EDDC

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EDDC special meeting on devolution tomorrow (Wednesday) at 3 pm

Thanks to Martin Shaw of Seaton Matters for this important information. Why schedule it for a time when many people will, of necessity, be at work?

“Our county and district councils are steaming ahead with proposals for devolution in the daftly named ‘Heart of the South West’ (that’s Devon and Somerset to you and me) to be agreed on 18 December and then submitted to Government. They hope it will all be done and dusted by March. Apart from an odd piece in the local press, what do most people know about this? I’d always thought that ‘devolution’ was about more democracy, not less.

On

Wednesday 2nd December, at 3pm,

EDDC has scheduled a special extra meeting of Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the sole opportunity for the press and public to be present at a devolution discussion.

This will prepare the ground for the Cabinet Committee at 5.30pm when EDDC Leader’s delegated powers for ‘Heart of the South West’ are expected to be pushed through.
http://seatonmatters.org/2015/11/30/sw-devolution-when-do-we-have-our-say/

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1 Dec 2015

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EDDC, EDDC HQ, Skypark

Revised EU tendering thresholds

For those who understand these things (the figures at which tendering must follow strict rules on open access for contracts and contractors). This is the rule that EDDC fell foul of when attempting to relocate to Skypark.

“The European Commission has announced revised procurement thresholds that will apply from 1 January 2016.
The new thresholds, which will be in place for two years, are:

Supplies and services (central government and Schedule 1): €135,000 (£106,047);

Supplies and services (sub-central government): €209,000 (£164,176);

Works contracts: €5,225,000 (£4,104,394).

The threshold for social and other specific services (the light touch regime) will stay at €750,000 but currency changes mean this is worth £589,148.

The threshold for public concessions contracts is €5,225,000 (£4,104,394). In this respect Mills & Reeve’s Procurement Portal noted how the new Concessions Directive has not yet been implemented in the UK, although the draft Concessions Contracts Regulations 2016 have been published and are due to come into force on 18 April 2016.”

http://localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=25276:brussels-revises-procurement-thresholds-applicable-from-january-2016&catid=53&Itemid=21

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1 Dec 2015

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Asset sweating

Watch out Leisure East Devon – supermarkets may poach your customers!

“Supermarkets will soon be offering customers a workout
with their weekly shop by installing gyms. Both Tesco and
Sainsbury’s hope the initiative will utilise spare space in some bigger stores and increase footfall as the price war rages.

Sainsbury’s is to open gyms in three larger stores next year, including a 12,000 sq ft fitness centre in its Deepdale branch in Preston, Lancashire. Further openings are planned for Sainsbury’s stores in Tamworth, Staffordshire, and Hinckley in Leicestershire and it is hoping to link up with a budget gym operator for the projects.

A Sainsbury’s spokesman said the addition of gyms
offering customers a workout with their weekly shop by
installing gyms. Both Tesco and Sainsbury’s hope the initiative will utilise spare space in some bigger stores and increase footfall as the price war rages.

Sainsbury’s is to open gyms in three larger stores next year, including a 12,000 sq ft fitness centre in its
Deepdale branch in Preston, Lancashire. Further
openings are planned for Sainsbury’s stores in Tamworth, Staffordshire, and Hinckley in Leicestershire and it is hoping to link up with a budget gym operator for the projects. A Sainsbury’s spokesman said the addition of gyms
to stores was part of a wider plan to make use of
excess space in its 23million sq ft estate. Half the
space will be used to sell own-brand non-food items and the other half opened up to concessions.

Tesco has partnerships with several gym chainsto stores was part of a wider plan to make use of excess space in its 23million sq ft estate. Half the space will be used to sell own-brand non-food items and the other half opened up to concessions.”

Source: Metro online newspaper