Exmouth seafront regeneration: an alternative view

In this week’s Exmouth Journal an interview with Dr Louise McAllister, spokesperson for Save our Seafront:

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“Footballers’ £400m social housing dream unveiled”

“… A year ago, former England captain Rio Ferdinand, West Ham United skipper Mark Noble and ex-Brighton striker Bobby Zamora turned up at the conference to unveil their Legacy Foundation – a regeneration charity with a plan to build a series of social and privately rentable housing schemes, backed by private investors.

The stars (all three of whom have played for West Ham) are coming back to present their first project, worth £400m, to build 1,300 homes on a 22-hectare site in a run-down area in Houghton Regis near Luton. The scheme is a partnership with Central Bedfordshire council, which they met at the conference last year, and is being funded by Aviva Investors. …”

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/sep/24/footballers-400m-social-housing-dream-unveiled?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

EDDC parking meter overpayments

According to the response below “What is this excess revenue spent on? – This income is not separated from the total income received from car parking, which is used to fund the service itself and helps to fund a range of services provided by the Council.”

Er, what range of services? Income from parking is meant to be spent only on parking related projects and creaming-off the overpayments for “other services provided by the council” is very questionable to say the least and possibly illegal, though Owl will bow to the expertise of EDDC’s legal eagles on that point – and fortunately we do gave an expert councillor too – Chairman Hughes.

Let’s hope they follow correct procedure for using surplus funds, which is:

Safer Parking:
In deciding how to spend their parking surplus, local authorities should have regard for the advice given in the Local Government Association’s Circular 535/00. This circular urges authorities to work towards Safer Parking Accreditation (Park Mark®), and to consider using parking surpluses to fund the necessary measures.

The circular refers to section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and argues that this Act together with the provisions of section 55 of the 1984 Act makes it both necessary and desirable for authorities to prioritise spending on crime prevention measures in car parks before consideration is given to spending parking surpluses in other areas.”

Click to access PPN1%20-%20Charging%20for%20Parking%20-%20Aug%202011.pdf

Here is the Freedom of Information request:

“Date submitted: 15 September 2016

Summary of request

• Over the past five financial years how much money has the council made through parking-overpayments from its meters i.e. “over-vend” in parking meters that do not give out change?
• What is this excess revenue spent on?
• How many of these parking meters do the council manage?
• Over the past five financial years how much money has the council made in total through car parking meters?
Summary of response

• Over the past five financial years how much money has the council made through parking-overpayments from its meters i.e. “over-vend” in parking meters that do not give out change? – There were no overpayments in the financial years up to and including 2013/14 as our machines were programmed then to give the appropriate time for the money inserted into ticket machines. Because we wanted to add more choice to the customer, from the 1st April 2014 we introduced 2, 3 and 4 day permits. This meant that the memory available in the current ticket machines did not allow for the previous increments and so we introduced 50p increments without the option to give change.

2014/15 – £16,946 Gross inc VAT ( NET £14,122); 2015/16 – £15,066 Gross inc VAT (NET £12,555)

• What is this excess revenue spent on? – This income is not separated from the total income received from car parking, which is used to fund the service itself and helps to fund a range of services provided by the Council.

• How many of these parking meters do the council manage? – Currently we have 61 ticket machines.

• Over the past five financial years how much money has the council made in total through car parking meters? – The figures below are the NET income (which is how we report in the accounts/budgets etc) for the respective years just for the ticket machine income and Parkmobile charges.

2011/12 – £2,401,376
2012/13 – £2,244,874
2013/14 – £2,346,703
2014/15 – £2,477,864
2015/16 – £2,554,583

Date responded: 23 September 2016

show details
http://eastdevon.gov.uk/access-to-information/freedom-of-information/freedom-of-information-published-requests/

Green Party urges Progressive Alliance

“This week, after a seemingly endless campaign, the Labour party will choose its new leader. For those of us who oppose what the Conservative Government is doing to our country, the end of this bitter internal battle within the Labour party can’t come a moment too soon. We need everyone playing their part in providing effective opposition and holding Theresa May to account.

On Friday 23 September, we launched our Green Guarantee to set out our role in that: a promise to members, voters and supporters about what it means to be Green. And at the heart of that promise is a new politics of public service that combines honest, consistent and principled Green opposition, with a willingness to do things differently and search for bold solutions.

We also have a message for the new Labour leader – stop wasting precious time on what divides you and instead invest in cooperation. Join us in making a persuasive case for doing things differently by looking to the future, not to the past. Commit to a progressive alliance.

With a snap general election looking increasingly unlikely, it seems Britain now faces three and a half years of a Conservative Government run by a Prime Minister who has, so far, done nothing to indicate she has a grasp on how to rise to the challenges we face. How to build a new resilient economy that values relationships rather than transactions. How to create a community immigration premium and the strong social connections that would allow us all to benefit from free movement. How to deliver smart, future facing, properly funded public services run by the people for the people. Nor has she risen to the biggest challenge of all – a world unlimited by climate change.

A one-off general election alliance between progressive parties to try to prevent the Conservatives forming the next government could be a game change. That’s why our Green Guarantee contains a pledge to cooperate rather than compete, if it will deliver the best future for Britain.

Such an alliance is, critically, also an opportunity to unite behind a pledge to replace our outdated voting system with a citizens’ democracy. In 2015 more than 1m people voted Green and they deserve to have their views represented in Parliament by more than one MP. Almost 2m voted Lib Dem and yet they have just eight seats, while almost 4m Ukip votes claimed one MP. If we want a future where decisions are negotiated, not imposed, where power and wealth are redistributed, fair elections are essential. And if we genuinely want to heal the divisions revealed by the EU referendum campaign, to tackle the fear, inequality and hopelessness that’s been laid bare, we need every voice to be heard and every vote to matter.

Taking back control means having a second referendum on the terms of any EU deal. It means we need to be clear what we would like our future relationship with the EU to look like, what we’ll be negotiating for, and Parliament having a full debate and vote on triggering Article 50. And it means a general election to decide who delivers the deal.

Our Green Guarantee puts the principle of working together to solve common problems at the heart of any agreement – we still think this is the best way to protect our environment, workers’ rights and free movement. In this age of insecurity, collaboration and partnership matter more than ever before.

They also underpin the innovative Green economy of tomorrow. A sharing and participative economy where the exploitative Uber model gives way to a taxi firm owned by drivers and passengers. An economy for the digital age where modern technology and a universal basic income allows us to live larger lives, and where work is about real purpose, not a means to an end. An economy that’s jobs rich, energy efficient and really means business.

Our Green Guarantee is that, as co-leaders of the Green party, we will embrace the rapidly changing uncertain world in which we live, not turn from it. Be brave enough to map the future, not simply react to it. We invite whoever is elected as the new leader of the Labour party to do the same.

Jonathan Bartley and Caroline Lucas are co-leaders of the Green party.”

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/staggers/2016/09/dear-labour-stop-wasting-time-and-join-us-progressive-alliance