For a somewhat different and interesting perspective on Hinkley C, watch this You Tube video:
Daily Archives: 1 Jul 2016
Hold on to that anger against those who would wreck everything …
” … This week of shock will settle, eventually. Events will begin to move at a slower pace. We will realise that we have to be patient, that we need to wait till France and Germany get their elections out of the way, and hope that a new future can be negotiated – one that implements the democratic verdict delivered in the referendum, but which does not maim this country in the process.
But even as we grow calmer, we should not let our anger cool. We should hold on to our fury, against those who for the sake of their career or a pet dogma, were prepared to wreck everything. On this day [the centenary of the Battle of the Somme] when we mourn what horror the Europe before the European Union was capable of, we should say loud and clear of those that did this: we won’t forget them.”
The latest devolution “plan”
No mayor and LEP downgraded? But what is in it for East Devon? And who creates the ” blueprint” that comes before councillors are allowed a (very small) voice?
NHS Property Services Ltd to charge East Devon community hospitals £3.1m rent
We would never find out these things without Claire Wright – thank you, Claire:
Exeter City Council protects its centre from out-of-town development
And the Secretary of State rules in their favour:
Meanwhile, in Sidmouth …
Exmouth “Splash” could come sooner rather than later after sea wall investigations
“Officials are concerned that the sea wall in Exmouth could collapse in a heavy storm.
East Devon District Council has completed the excavation of eight deep pits in the town as part of its beach management plan.
…Councillor Iain Chubb, East Devon District Council’s Portfolio holder for the Environment, said: “The findings that we make as a result of the excavations will be critical in determining the steps that we must take to manage the risk of coastal flooding and erosion to property and other assets along the Exmouth frontage.”
“The trial pits that we have dug in Exmouth, which is the gateway to the UNESCO designated Devon heritage coast, are part of a five-year action plan, which is intended to guide the future management of this important Jurassic Coast town.
Exmouth’s 2015 Beach Management Plan (BMP), which was produced by coastal flood and erosion risk management consultants CH2M, established the need for the trial pits.
The seaside town was flooded during storms in 2014.”
Still, Moirai Capital Investments will no doubt be able to insure potential investors and buyers against any risks.
“Hinkley Point C critics try to derail it amid Brexit vote turmoil”
“Britain’s flagship energy project, Hinkley Point C, is hanging by a thread as critics inside key backer EDF use the political turmoil from the Brexit vote to try to derail the already delayed £18bn scheme.
Jean Bernard Levy, the EDF group chief executive, and the French and British governments, have in recent days insisted they are as committed as ever to a positive final investment decision being taken as soon as possible.
But well-placed sources in Paris have told the Guardian that the already divided EDF board, which must make that decision, is in danger of fracturing further as former supporters of the project worry about Brexit.
“The situation for Levy was already very delicate,” said one source. “But it has become a lot more difficult because there is so little certainty around the British government,” they added. “No one could know today which way a vote [of the board on Hinkley] would go.”
Those arguing against the project say it is impossible to make any decisions when it is unclear who will be the future prime minister, chancellor of the exchequer and energy and climate change secretary.
Highly critical EDF unions in France, which have six representatives on the main board, are pressing waiverers among the five independent board members who have previously supported Levy to change their minds.
Growing concern has led to four British trade unions urging EDF to press ahead with Hinkley.
It was a first “litmus test” that major infrastructure projects will proceed as normal following the Brexit vote, they argued. …”
Devon and Somerset Devolution: would you buy a used car from these people?
DID YOU SPOT THE ELEPHANTS IN THE ROOM?
No members of the business- and developer-heavy Local Enterprise Partnership in the video – particularly the LEP Chairman, who is Chairman of Midas house builders and the half-dozen with vested interests in nuclear power and those University chiefs who want to ensure they get all the money for skills and training! Together THEY make up the majority of the Board taking decisions, NOT councillors.
And that LOVELY bit from Diviani about other councillors getting a chance to comment AFTER this loathsome group has created its “blueprint” for devolution in its own image.
Film-maker sets up crowdfunding page to make films about ” inclusive democracy”
Clive Austin, a supporter of independent councillors, has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/independence-in-democracy-a-series-of-films–2/x/14381934#/
to raise funds to deliver between 100 and 200 short films, between 5 and 8 medium length films, and a full length Documentary, over the course of 1 year. The films will initially be put on his “Educating Democracy” You-Tube channel.
“The films will document events, interviews, insights, and reflections that will come from the heart of a movement towards a more inclusive form of democracy, founded on the inclusion of different political perspectives: A democracy of independence.”
You can find more details here…
Protest in Tiverton as Boris Johnson arrives at invitation of Neil Parish
Believed to be arriving at Tiverton Parkway rail station at 1.10 pm. Lunching at the Tiverton Hotel.
Parliament: new inquiry into implications of leaving the EU announced today
“In the light of the outcome of the referendum on EU membership, the Foreign Affairs Committee is launching a rolling inquiry into the Government’s handling of the process of departing the EU and the ongoing implications of the decision for the UK’s role in the world. This will build on the findings of the Committee’s report, published in April 2016, outlining both the short- and long-term implications of the vote for the UK’s global role.
Inquiry: Implications of leaving the EU for the UK’s role in the world
Foreign Affairs Committee
Terms of reference
The Committee welcomes written submissions which address in particular:
The type of relationship that the UK, its Crown Dependencies and its Overseas Territories should seek to pursue with the EU in future
The implications of the decision for the UK’s strategic orientation, global posture, alliances and international trade.
The Government’s management of negotiations to determine the terms of the UK’s exit from the EU, including their political direction and the structures and resources to be put in place to orchestrate the transition.
The work of the FCO in the transition process, both in negotiations with the EU and in managing the UK’s broader global role including trade agreements
Because of the rapidly changing situation and the rolling nature of this inquiry, no deadline is being set for written submissions. However, submissions received by 30 September will inform the Committee’s work in October.”
The Jo Cox Fund
The Jo Cox Fund is currently around £47,000 short of its £1.5m target to fund charities concerned with combating loneliness and alienation, hate crimes and life-saving help for ordinary citizens trapped in the Syrian fighting. Donations are slowing down.
Surely, our Parliament and House of Lords could make up this shortfall?
It would be a generous and compassionate gesture from all sides of the political spectrum.
And what about a few of those ultra-rich donors to ALL political parties donating what, for them, is small change? And there are a good few millionaires in Parliament and donations would surely be tax-deductible.
This transcends party politics – or should do.
Perhaps Hugo Swire could donate another pot of honey – after all, the last one, auctioned for Conservative Party coffers, fetched £15,000.
MP’s rights and obligations
” … The tendency – reinforced no doubt by the 2009 parliamentary expenses scandal – has been to overlook the fact that MPs have long been, and should be now, the primary components of the unwritten British constitution.
It’s not just that the best of them perform a stupendously unrecognised social and public service, as Jo Cox was doing at the very time she was killed. It’s that while they are inevitably – and rightly – influenced by the party members and activists in their own constituencies, they are uniquely answerable beyond them to the wider electorate in those constituencies.
This is the absolute cornerstone of Britain’s system of representative democracy, including when it comes to deciding the country’s future or who should lead a party. MPs have to stand for election; they have to argue their case in front of the unconvinced – rather than merely the already converted – and they make their mistakes in public. …”
Though some MPs regrettably do not think of their wider electorate and some barely think of their narrower electorate – preferring the trappings of higher office which render them mute in Parliament about their constituencies.
Sidmouth: local architecture competition short list designs on display
Short listed designs can be seen here:
http://futuresforumvgs.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/plans-for-port-royal-and-eastern-town_29.html
‘Blue-sky thinking’ in Sidmouth architecture competition
“An open-air theatre, a pier venue and a marina are among the five final designs in a competition to re-imagine Sidmouth’s eastern town.
Ideas came in from around the world – from Japan to Peru and Brazil – with entrants letting their imaginations run riot to redefine the Regency resort.
A jury has whittled some 18 designs down to a shortlist of five – and now Sidmouth citizens can vote for their favourite.
The competition was dreamed up by Sidmouth-born architect Henry Beech Mole, who said: “The shortlisted entries represent a good variety of possible futures for Sidmouth – a pier, a marina, landscapes, ecological strategies, and new public spaces – any of which would be great additions to the town. We would now hope that, with local support, we can move towards trying to implement the winning scheme. This is an unusual chance for the town to think about what it wants to be in the 21st century.
“I hope that through the competition we can move away from the binary arguments of tradition and progression and take an holistic view of how the town can retain its charm and beauty while also evolving to become a more vibrant and successful place for the future.”
For now, these are just ideas – their implementation will be down to the landowners. The detailed designs will be exhibited until Tuesday, July 12, at Kennaway House, where residents can vote for their favourite.
They can also be seen online at sidmouthherald.co.uk
The winning entry will be revealed on July 13.”
Planning permission refused due to diminution of light to artists’ studios
” … The owner of a pub in East London has won a Court of Appeal battle over the grant of planning permission for a three-storey building on the site of a former nightclub next door.
The case of Forster v The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government & Ors [2016] EWCA Civ 609 centred on a planning inspector’s grant of permission to a housing association for the demolition of a single storey building in Stepney – previously home to Stepney’s Nightclub – and the erection in its place of a three storey building with commercial uses on the ground floor and six flats on the floors above. Tower Hamlets Council had previously refused permission.
In August 2015 Mr Justice Lindblom (as he then was) dismissed a claim brought by the appellant under s. 288 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
The appellant, the owner of the George Tavern, took her case to the Court of Appeal, where she argued:
There was a risk, unacknowledged by the inspector, that complaints from residents of the new flats might ultimately lead to the revocation of her late night music licence or the grant of an injunction in a private nuisance claim. This would curtail the activities that kept the George going;
There would be reduced sunlight and daylight at the George, which was used as a studio for artists and photographers and as a film location.
Giving the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Lord Justice Laws allowed the appeal on the light issue, but not on the noise issue. …”
Political paralysis – and no plan, or at least not a viable one
” … The root problem here, and the real reason why Britain looks increasingly ungovernable, is that the referendum allowed the public to give the thumbs down to the status quo, without providing assent for anything to go in its place. Indeed, if there was a “leave proposition” it was mendacious, involving the pretence that we could simultaneously, bolt the door, stop paying all EU fees, but continue to trade with it as advantageously as now. In the days since the vote, Angela Merkel has confirmed that it is simply not possible to have all three at once. One way or another, Britain is going to have to choose here, and it may very well be that there is no majority – among the public, or in parliament – for any of the realistic options.
If so, the UK will be snookered – condemned by the referendum to being out of Europe, but without any agreement on a way forward. It is a situation that cries out for serious leadership, to win popular assent for one imperfect path or another. Without it, the country could end up paralysed, and the people feeling betrayed. At Westminster, however, many politicians seem too consumed with betraying each other to care.
Brexit and housing
From Daily Telegraph Money/Property:
“What does it mean for the supply crisis?
While we don’t know whether immigration will be curbed, if there are fewer people allowed to work in the UK’s construction industry, it will exacerbate the already acute skills shortage. About 12 per cent of construction workers across the country are from abroad, and in London that rises to 23 per cent.
Construction costs could jump 12 per cent as a result of the vote to leave, according to Ted Macdougal, development director for Forrest, a housebuilder.
Our housing supply-demand imbalance will not be solved any time soon: the Government’s pledge to build 200,000 homes per year is still way off target. Investment in house building is on hold and until there are enough homes built, the lack of supply could cushion house prices, regardless of Brexit.”
East Devon Watch 