Posted by

Posted on

27 Nov 2017

Posted under

Accountability, Economy, Local Enterprise Partnership, Scrutiny, Spin, Transparency

More bad news for ineffective Local Enterprise Partnerships!

The Industrial Strategy is also offering what it calls “Sector Deals”. Partnerships between Government and groups of industries and businesses focussed on specific industrial sectors such as Nuclear Power.

To unlock Government money here are the sort of things Government will require (page 210):

“Deal proposals should have a demonstrable and analytically rigorous impact on the productivity and earning power of the sector.

We expect credible analysis of the impact of any proposals to accompany each specific proposal showing expected increase in GVA, employment or increases in skilled workers, exports or specific investments (including foreign direct investment) resulting from the deal. Tangible commitments are likely to be the most convincing.

Sector Deal proposals need to be realistic and achievable. We are looking for evidence that industry commitments can be delivered and that clear governance arrangements will be set up. Any arrangements should be proportionate to the scale of ambition of the deal itself and designed to ensure commitments will endure. To be credible, deal proposals should include specific delivery plans covering each component of the proposal.”

Click to access industrial-strategy-white-paper.pdf

Demonstrable and analytically rigorous impact on productivity; credible analysis; tangible commitments; realistic and achievable proposals; clear governance: specific delivery plans …

HotSW, our LEP, is going to have to up its game or we shall lose out on each and every one of these.

Posted by

East Devon Watch

Posted on

27 Nov 2017

Posted under

Accountability, Austerity cuts, EDDC, Inequality, Local Enterprise Partnership, Scrutiny, Spin, Transparency

Government industrial strategy: Local Enterprise Partnerships have to pull up their socks

Unfortunately, we have heard this all before – words do not seem to get translated into actions:

Page 223:

“… We remain firmly committed to Local Enterprise Partnerships. From next year, the Prime Minister will chair a biannual ‘Council of Local Enterprise Partnership Chairs’. This will provide an opportunity for Local Enterprise Partnership leaders to inform national policy decisions.

While Local Enterprise Partnerships across the country have played an important role in supporting local growth, feedback suggests that their performance has varied.

We are reviewing the roles and responsibilities of Local Enterprise Partnerships and will bring forward reforms to leadership, governance, accountability, financial reporting and geographical boundaries. We will work with Local Enterprise Partnerships to set out a more clearly defined set of activities and objectives in early 2018. These will be driven by influential local leaders, acting as figureheads for their area’s economic success, and a clear strategy for local and national partnership.

We will agree and implement appropriate structures for holding Local Enterprise Partnerships to account. We will work with Local Enterprise Partnerships to review overlapping geographies and ensure people are clear as to who is responsible for driving growth in their area. We recognise that in order to deliver their role effectively, Local Enterprise Partnerships need financial support. We will make additional financial resources available to Local Enterprise Partnerships that demonstrate ambitious levels of reform following the review. …”

Click to access industrial-strategy-white-paper.pdf

Posted by

East Devon Watch

Posted on

27 Nov 2017

Posted under

Misc

Citizen journalism in South Africa

Posted by

East Devon Watch

Posted on

27 Nov 2017

Posted under

Austerity cuts, Economy, Inequality, Local Enterprise Partnership, Transport (local)

Comments

1 Comment

“Devon and Cornwall shunted onto the slow track?”

Owl says: But, of course, there WILL be a railway to Hinkley C!

“Transport secretary Chris Grayling ready to break up railways

Transport secretary Chris Grayling is this week set to unveil a blueprint for overhauling the railways — including splitting two of the biggest routes.

It is part of a fightback against Labour’s popular policy of renationalisation.

His strategy is expected to advocate splitting the Great Western franchise, which runs from London to south Wales and the southwest.

The route could be split into an inter-city franchise and a separate Devon and Cornwall business.

The mammoth Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise is also likely to be split, with the strike-hit Southern route between London and the south coast set to be carved out.

Grayling is also keen to reform state-backed Network Rail, which owns and maintains the 20,000 miles of track, 40,000 bridges and most of the big stations. He has advocated closer union between Network Rail and the private companies that operate routes to crack the problems of divided loyalties and poor co-ordination.

The strategy comes ahead of a huge increase in some rail fares from January, with the rise tied to July’s 3.6% retail prices index inflation rate.”

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/transport-secretary-chris-grayling-ready-to-break-up-railways-f9c8h38mk

Posted by

East Devon Watch

Posted on

27 Nov 2017

Posted under

Accountability, Post-Brexit Adjustments, Spin

Tory Minister refuses to give straight answer when asked to confirm his name!

“A Tory minister was so reluctant to give straight answers to questions this morning that he wouldn’t even answer ‘yes or no’ to confirm his own name.

Business Secretary Greg Clark was given a thorough going over by Piers Morgan on this morning’s edition of Good Morning Britain.

He was doing a round of TV studios pushing the Government’s new industrial strategy, which he is launching today. But the minister became stuck in a series of Brexit questions – and his evasive answers appeared to frustrate Morgan.

Clark refused to answer whether he would vote for Brexit if there was another referendum, saying it was a “hypothetical question that I haven’t given a moment’s thought to.”

Host Susanna Reid asked him if Brexit was the best thing for the UK, he again failed to give a straight answer, saying: “I believe that we have to get the best deal through these negotiations and I think it’s possible to do that.”

Morgan asked him if that was a ‘yes’, to which he repeated: “I think we can get a good deal. It’s in everyone’s interests to get a good deal.”

Finally, Morgan challenged the Tory minister to give a straight, yes or no answer to one question – “the allegation that you are named Greg Clark.”

After some laughter, and a long, uncomfortable pause, Clark said: “Well, I think you’ve got that.”

Morgan seemed satisfied with his answer, saying: “We’ve established at least one convincing answer.”

But Reid was left unconvinced, adding: “I’m not sure we did. I think there was room for doubt there.” …”

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/tory-minister-wont-even-give-11594456

Posted by

East Devon Watch

Posted on

27 Nov 2017

Posted under

Affordable and Social Housing, Austerity cuts, Developers/ Development, Economy, Inequality

Comments

1 Comment

“Property unaffordable for 100,000 households a year in England”

“Almost 100,000 households in England are being priced out of the property market each year because of a shortage of affordable homes to rent or buy, according to a report. …

… About 96,000 households are unable to afford homes at the market rate, either to buy or rent, Savills said, with the vast majority in London and the south. It said varying approaches were needed to address the shortfall in different parts of the country: low-cost rented homes were needed more in markets in which incomes were smaller, while a mixture of homes, including shared ownership, would help in more expensive areas.

In London, 20% of the households affected have incomes above £35,000, Savills said, while the same proportion earn less than £10,000.

Over the past three years, 55,000 fewer affordable homes have been built each year than were needed, the research found. Although 42,500 households in the capital required below market rate housing, only 8,800 affordable homes a year had been delivered. In the south outside London, 15,500 affordable homes a year were being built while 34,100 were needed.

Meanwhile, in the north of England, low incomes were locking out 9,600 households a year, with 8,900 homes being delivered.

A speech by the prime minister, Theresa May, at the Conservative party conference in October made a commitment of £2bn over four years to fund social housing. However, to house 100,000 emerging households over this period would need funding of £7bn a year, Savills said.

Paying for the new homes would reduce the housing benefit bill by £430m a year. …”

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/nov/27/property-england-priced-out-households-affordable-homes-savills-report

Posted by

East Devon Watch

Posted on

27 Nov 2017

Posted under

Accountability, Developers/ Development, Linden Homes

Housing: “Problems that are building up”

Linden Homes (see flying freehold problems post below) – again:

“In the race to build as many new homes as cheaply as possible, developers have been accused of slipping standards. A survey this year by housing charity Shelter found that 51% of respondents discovered major faults after legal requirements for construction work to be checked at various stages were relaxed.

Currently, residents have little recourse when things go wrong. The Property Ombudsman has no remit over new-build. Instead, residents who discover faults within the first two years are left to haggle with the developer; after that, liability passes to the warranty provider chosen by the developer and only covers major structural work.

Although there is a dispute resolution scheme, CCHBAS, for homes insured by the three main warranty providers, it costs £120 to lodge a complaint and its decisions are not legally binding. A parliamentary enquiry last year found that it did not offer adequate redress.

As well as a boundary fiasco, Clare Reeve suffered leaks when roof tiles began slipping. She discovered battens had not been fixed properly to the dormer windows in her row of houses. “Because I’d bought over two years ago, Linden Homes washed its hands of it and referred me to NHBC [one of the UK’s largest warranty providers],” says Reeve, whose house is also affected by the boundary dispute [see post below]. “NHBC said it could only cover repairs over £1,500. Luckily, with scaffolding factored in, it came to more than that.”

Phil Waller, a former construction manager, set up campaign and advice website

brand-newhomes.co.uk

in response to declining standards. He is calling for a government-appointed ombudsman to investigate complaints. “We need as much pressure as we can generate to force government to wake up to the many scandals in this unregulated industry that is – quite frankly, in my opinion – defrauding its own customers.”

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/nov/26/house-problem-neighbours-own-half-bedroom-boundaries-wrong

Posted by

East Devon Watch

Posted on

26 Nov 2017

Posted under

Accountability, Austerity cuts, NHS (local)

“Check NHS cancer, A&E and operations targets in your area”

Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital has missed all the targets.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-41483322

Posted by

East Devon Watch

Posted on

26 Nov 2017

Posted under

Developers/ Development, Linden Homes, Persimmon

Comments

1 Comment

A new problem for new house buyers: flying freeholds

“Simon and Maggie Dancer were ready to exchange and complete on the sale of their house when the bombshell dropped. The conveyancing had uncovered the fact that Linden Homes, which had built the Buckinghamshire estate where they live, had miscalculated the boundaries of their home – and that meant their neighbour owned half their master bedroom. …

… Their neighbours, James and Katrina Inch, are unable to rejoice in their unexpectedly expanded floorspace, for the error makes their home also unsaleable. “We are astonished by how this mistake could have been overlooked by three separate solicitors – our own, our neighbours’ and Linden’s – when we bought the properties,” says James Inch, who was alerted to the issue by the Dancers.

… Extraordinarily, two more residents on the ironically named Exemplar Park estate in Aylesbury are in the same predicament. Ann and Terry Payne checked their deeds after the Dancers contacted them and discovered that their neighbour, Clare Reeve, effectively owns half of their main bedroom.

Like the Dancers and Inches, their homes are link-attached over a shared driveway to the parking area. The room above the gateway should belong to the Paynes, but an error bestows it on Reeve. Slipshod markings have also granted Reeve ownership of a large traffic island in front of the houses. “I am going through a divorce and am trying to sell, but I can’t while the boundaries are in dispute,” says Reeve. “You’d think Linden would have got in touch when it came to light, but I’ve had no word.”

The Paynes have been told by Linden Homes to get the original conveyancing solicitor to sort it out. And it appears unabashed by the fiasco, blaming the families and their solicitors for not noticing the mistakes when they bought. …

… Alarms ought to have been triggered by the very existence of a “flying freehold”. It is a legal grey area that can cause headaches because of potential problems with gaining access across the neighbour’s portion to carry out repairs or enforce covenants. Some mortgage lenders steer clear of such properties which can be difficult to sell on.

… A flying freehold caused an identical issue for Colchester homeowner Samantha Sweeney, who found herself unable to sell her link-attached house. She discovered that her neighbour owned 90 square feet of her 11-year-old property, including half her bedroom which overhangs a shared driveway between the two houses.

The estate had been built by Persimmon which told the Observer: “We worked closely with the resident and this has now been resolved.”

All the residents of Exemplar Park can lodge a formal complaint with their solicitors who missed the crucial anomalies and, if they don’t achieve a resolution, they can appeal to the Legal Ombudsman.

Linden Homes says that its legal team is working on a deed of rectification to correct and realign the development’s boundaries, but the delays have cost the Dancers dear. Their daughter starts school next year and they have to move by January in order to meet the deadline for school applications. They also want to be settled before their baby is born. “I’ve had to pay for new valuations and cancel my daughter’s place at the nursery where she was due to start in September after we’d relocated,” Simon Dancer says. “And Linden is moving in baby steps. As far as it’s concerned it sold the house four years ago and couldn’t care less. …”

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/nov/26/house-problem-neighbours-own-half-bedroom-boundaries-wrong

Posted by

East Devon Watch

Posted on

26 Nov 2017

Posted under

Accountability, Austerity cuts, Inequality, NHS (local), Tourism

“Telegraph: Theresa May starts work on new DUP deal to stop Government collapsing in June 2019”

OUR money. To be spent on tourism in Northern Ireland and cushioning them from Brexit problems.

The first tranche of £1 billion earlier this year allowed Northern Ireland to increase its NHS spending by more than 5%.

“Theresa May has started to work on a new deal worth hundreds of millions of pounds with the Democratic Unionist Party to stop her Government collapsing in just over 18 months’ time.

Mrs May’s Government will set out plans to cut Air Passenger Duty and VAT on hotels and restaurants in Northern Ireland in the new year.

The new cash will be on top of the £1billion which Mrs May agreed to spend in Northern Ireland after the DUP’s 10 MPs agree to support her minority administration.

The Treasury has promised to publish its response to the consultation at the next Budget in Autumn next year to allow the changes to be introduced in the 2019/20 tax year.

The talks were signalled in this week’s Budget Red Book, which said: “Early in 2018, the government will publish a call for evidence which will consider the impact of VAT and APD (air passenger duty) on tourism in Northern Ireland, to report at Budget 2018.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/25/exclusive-theresa-may-starts-work-new-dup-deal-stop-government/

Posted by

East Devon Watch

Posted on

26 Nov 2017

Posted under

Accountability, Education (local), Inequality

Comments

1 Comment

“Tory flagship childcare policy a flop as just 30,000 parents out of promised 415,000 helped”

“Tory plans for tax-free childcare are in disarray, with an uptake of less than eight per cent.

The flagship policy launched in 2013 was meant to help 415,000 parents by last month but only 30,000 signed up.

That means this year the Government has only spent £37million and saved £800million.

Budget documents out last week show next year’s spending forecast is being revised down by 90 per cent.

The low response is being blamed on ministers failing to give additional funding for nurseries and childminders. More than 500 wrote to Chancellor Philip Hammond before the Budget asking for more money – but in vain. …”

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/tory-flagship-childcare-policy-flop-11587487

Posted by

East Devon Watch

Posted on

25 Nov 2017

Posted under

Accountability, Developers/ Development, EDDC, PegasusLife, Scrutiny, Sidmouth/ Sidford/ Sidbury, Transparency

Comments

1 Comment

Casino Capitalism comes to Sidmouth?

The recently-leaked ‘Paradise Papers’ on tax havens seem to have revealed an interesting side to the activities of the billion-dollar US equity giant behind Pegasus Life the developer currently appealing EDDC’s refusal to give it planning permission to build 113 luxury flats for old people at Knowle in Sidmouth.

As the Pegasus Life website proudly proclaims, Oaktree Capital Management founded the company in 2012:

https://www.pegasuslife.co.uk/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrLb85_bZ1wIVz7vtCh0bLAZkEAAYASAAEgKf3fD_BwE

The Paradise Papers suggest that, at about the same time, Oaktree was setting up a joint venture with Australian and Chinese billionaires to fund a 3.2 billion dollar casino in Macau through the offices of legal firm Appleby in the the British Virgin Islands tax haven:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-10/paradise-papers-melco-crown-investment-money-laundering/9137232

Appleby became alarmed about the refusal of Oaktree and its partners to allow identity checks on its shareholders – the cornerstone of global efforts to stop money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

Oaktree and the others allegedly threatened to take their business elsewhere if Appleby insisted on the checks. Appleby didn’t, and the joint venture was duly incorporated in the British Virgin Isles with the shareholders remaining secret! The Casino opened in 2015.

All this is literally thousands of miles from the fond hope expressed by Philip Hammond in this week’s budget speech that local homes should be provided by small local companies with a real stake in their community.

Howard Phillips, current CEO of PegasusLife, was, until 31/08/2012, CEO of McCarthy & Stone. He led the restructuring of McCarthy & Stone’s £900M debt and under his watch the company is alleged to have engaged in the dubious practices exposed by Ch 4 Dispatches that year.

On 24 September 2012 a Channel 4 Dispatches programme on retirement leasehold was a brilliant example of television journalism that was extremely damaging to both McCarthy and Stone, and to Peverel, including their effect on this site:

https://www.betterretirementhousing.com/channel-four-dispatches-exposes-retirement-leasehold/

Posted by

East Devon Watch

Posted on

25 Nov 2017

Posted under

Accountability, Austerity cuts, Health and Social Care (local)

“Councils forced to use emergency cash to pay for social care as funding shortfall grows”

“Councils are being forced to spend billions of pounds of their emergency cash reserves on social care amid a significant funding shortfall, official documents reveal.

Analysis produced by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to accompany the Autumn Budget shows that English councils withdrew £1.4bn from emergency reserves last year.

They are forecast to have to draw down a further £1.7bn by 2020 – significantly more than the £0.9bn the OBR estimated in March.

Experts said relying on reserves to fund social care was “unsustainable” and “a crisis in the making”.

Because they have a legal duty to provide care to those who need it, councils have little choice but to find the cash to fund increasingly in-demand services or else risk breaking the law.

Many are therefore going significantly over their allocated budgets. More than half (53 per cent) of councils expect to overspend on adult social care this year, by an average of £21m.

Two-thirds of authorities that are currently overspending on social care plug the gap by utilising council reserves.

These funds are designed to safeguard councils from an event such as a recession and ensure they have enough resources to maintain services if circumstances change.

However, the funding gap in social care means many are being forced to use the funds to cover day-to-day spending, raising the prospect that they could be plunged into crisis in the face of an economic downturn or financial crisis.

In 2014, Eric Pickles, then the Communities Secretary, accused town halls of “pleading poverty” and told them to start spending the money set aside for a rainy day.

English councils currently have total reserves of around £23bn – down from £25bn two years ago.

However, MPs and local government leaders said the practice of using emergency funds to pay for regular spending was dangerous and “unsustainable”, as councils will eventually run out of cash.

Labour’s Clive Betts, chair of the Communities and Local Government Select Committee, told The Independent: “This is a matter of real concern.

“There was nothing in the Budget on social care. There is a crisis of funding for social care and drawing on reserves simply postpones the day the money runs out.

“This is not how councils should be funding social care. At some point the Government has to recognise this and put a proper funding regime in place.

“This is a crisis in the making. There’s a funding crisis in the here and now and this is just postponing the consequences.”

Mr Betts said the reliance on reserves also creates a postcode lottery because some councils have reserves they can draw on whereas others do not.

The OBR said councils are having to go over budget by more and more each year and rely increasingly on reserves.

Town halls have been overspending on children’s social services since 2010-11 and on adult social care since 2014-15.

Last year, councils in England overspent on their entire non-education budgets for the first time since the financial crisis, largely as a result of the cost of providing social care. Previously, under-spending elsewhere, such as on transport, made up for overspending on care services.

Amid growing concern over the funding shortfall, in March the Government announced a £2bn cash boost for social care. Town halls welcomed the increase but said it was not enough to meet demand.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/councils-cash-reserves-social-care-funding-crisis-health-budget-a8074911.html

Posted by

East Devon Watch

Posted on

25 Nov 2017

Posted under

Accountability, Austerity cuts, Claire Wright, DCC, Health and Social Care (local), Martin Shaw (Seaton), NHS (local), Phil Twiss, Sarah Randall Johnson, Scrutiny

Comments

1 Comment

DCC Health Scrutiny Committee – not fit for purpose

The DCC Health Scrutiny Committee lurches from poor practice to bad practice to utter chaos under the continued Chairmanship of Sarah Randall-Johnson

Can you imagine saying you will vote against questioning NHS Property Services about their intentions on the future of community hospitals which they now own “because they might not come”! And Randall-Johnson saying she is “not aware of any threat to any community hospital!!!

[CCGs have been offered match funding from the government for any properties sold in their areas]
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/naylor-plan-outline-sell-nhs-10544577
http://www.property.nhs.uk/asset-management/

Claire Wright’s Blog:

“NHS Property Services will be invited to attend the next Health and Adult Care Scrutiny Committee in January.

But my simple request prompted a debate lasting over half an hour, at Tuesday’s meeting (21 November).

The lengthy and baffling discussion gave a poor impression of the committee in my view, with some Conservative councillors claiming confusion and dismissing the proposal several times as “premature.”

It all started off with a presentation to the committee by Independent councillor, Martin Shaw, under the final work plan agenda item.

Cllr Shaw rightly pointed out how many people were concerned about the potential loss of the hospital buildings, that they had put their own money into them and still there was no clarity over their future, yet NEW Devon CCG were (or at least would very soon be) paying large sums of money in rent each year when previously they owned the buildings outright.

NHS Property Services, a private company wholly owned by the Secretary of State for Health, set up under the Health and Social Care Act 2012, acquired the ownership of 12 community hospitals in Eastern Devon at the beginning of this year.

Given that the NEW Devon CCG is one of three most financially challenged health trusts in the country and must make huge cuts to try and stem a deficit of over £400m by 2020, people’s concerns about the future of the hospitals are very valid.

Following my proposal to invite NHS Property Services to the January meeting, chair, Sara Randall Johnson said there was a full agenda for the next meeting so it may not be possible to include it. She said that she was not aware that there was a threat to any community hospital.

Liberal Democrat, Brian Greenslade said NHS PS had been invited previously but questions had been remained unanswered and so should be invited again.

Conservative, Phil Twiss, who represents Honiton which has lost its own hospital beds, claimed in a number of long statements that it was “premature” to invite the company because the future of the buildings had not yet been decided.

He later added that they wouldn’t come anyway.

I replied that waiting until the March meeting was far too long and could mean that decisions were already made. Surely we need to talk to NHS PS and the CCG before their decisions?

I attempted to explain again why it was important we invited the company to the January meeting.

But apparently confusion reigned.

Conservative members became very fixated with the legacy issue, even though I had made it clear that it was about questioning NHS PS and the CCG about their plans on the future of community hospitals and the legacy issue was only part of that.

Chair, Sara Randall Johnson, suggested holding a meeting first to agree some questions to ask NHS PS. I have not seen this approach in my four and a half years as a member of the committee.

I had to make my proposal numerous times, while one or two persistent Conservative members continued to challenge it.

There was an amendment by Liberal Democrat, Nick Way, who wanted a spotlight review into the issue as well.

Phil Twiss then changed his tack and claimed there was no point in asking the company to attend as they wouldn’t come. He was in favour of a spotlight review instead (spotlight reviews are held in private).

But when the vote finally was taken, it was on the spotlight review amendment and not my original proposal to invite NHS PS to the next meeting …

I tried to intervene. Fortunately, the officers corrected matters… and then the majority of the committee voted in favour of my proposal. Finally.

My proposal couldn’t have been more straightforward or uncomplicated. It was entirely within the committee’s remit.

It was also within a couple of hours of hearing the county solicitor’s presentation about how scrutiny should do its job properly. Or be culpable. See this blogpost here – http://www.claire-wright.org/index.php/post/devon_county_council_solicitor_tells_health_scrutiny_committee_you_have_a_v

Here’s the webcast. It is the final item on the agenda – https://devoncc.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/302658

Pic: Me exasperated!”

http://www.claire-wright.org/index.php/post/nhs_property_services_will_be_invited_to_next_devon_county_council_health_s

Posted by

East Devon Watch

Posted on

24 Nov 2017

Posted under

EDDC, Exmouth, Grenadier, Regeneration

When were plans mooted to reroute the road in Exmouth – and why?

A comment received:

“… It follows a council document from 2015 about the Queen’s Drive development that says: “The people of Exmouth are …

So – the road and car park move was recommended in the Masterplan?

It was also put forward apparently as a new idea in April 2003 in a letter to Mr Karime Hassan at EDDC. The letter was in support of a planning application for new premises for Spinnakers Sailing Centre. It was signed by Stephanie Bridge now of Edge watersports the business she runs with her husband Eric Bridge that is destined to have prime position on Grenadiers site. – or Bridgetown as I have heard it called recently.

From the letter

“In our opinion we need to be on the beach side of the road, not least as we have many children on weeks courses and the safety aspect on crossing the road is not something we relish.”

NOT the case. It has been acknowledged that it is not safe for children to be trained in the sea at that point.

“One idea we had was to reroute he seafront road around the back of the car park ( ref to a map and pics 9 +10) this could create a large pedestrian area, room for businesses such as ours and encourage natural traffic calming on the seafront in that area. It wouldn’t have a detrimental effect on other businesses…………”

Er……. complete elimination of Fun Park, DJs, Golf and Putting course, Carriage Café, Model railway, ….. not a detrimental effect?? Most of them were prepared to upgrade and modernise their facilities. …”

Posted by

East Devon Watch

Posted on

24 Nov 2017

Posted under

Accountability, Democracy, Hugo Swire, Spin

Comments

3 Comments

Swire’s blog: is this satire?

“ … Despite all this [negative news for Tories – he mentions sexual harassment, Paradise Papers, Brexit shambles] A You Gov poll for the Times found 34% of voters want Theresa May to stay as Prime Minister, up one point from a month a go. It seems middle England, at least at the moment, cannot bear to contemplate the alternative!”

https://www.hugoswire.org.uk/news/view-westminster-difficult-month

Er, doesn’t that mean that up to 66% of people (he doesn’t specify what the choices were which might include “don’t knows”) DON’T want May as PM?

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: