Cllr Paul Millar, who represents the Exmouth Halsdon ward on East Devon District Council, confirmed he had joined the East Devon Alliance (EDA) on Tuesday.

https://www.exmouthjournal.co.uk/news/paul-millar-joins-east-devon-alliance-1-6509015

His decision to join the EDA means the group now has 12 seats on the district council. The ruling Independent Group has 18, the Conservatives 19, the Liberal Democrats eight, Green Party two, and there is one independent.

Cllr Millar had initially joined the Independent group that run the council after he was elected in May, but quit the group in September and had been sitting as an Independent since.

He said: “The Independent East Devon Alliance Group share a set of values and a vision which more closely represent the mantra I stood on last May, especially with regard to how the council ought to be run, and doing things differently from the former administration which too many people seem to forget were voted out.

“I have been assured that by being part of this political grouping my ability to think for myself and speak freely, which is part and parcel of being independent, will not be stamped on by any Leader.

“I will continue to campaign for our taxpayers’ money to be invested in projects that manifestly improve town and village life across the district, rather than shallow vanity projects such as the current plan for Exmouth seafront.”

Cllr Paul Arnott, leader of the EDA, added: “Paul has shown courage and integrity as a ward member for Exmouth Halsdon since May 2019, making a leading contribution at District in the fight for democracy, accountability and transparency in the context of a still opaque administration.

“I hope our experience as Independents and willingness to battle will help both Paul and his constituents.

“His presence will certainly help us too.”

As a result of the change in the political balance, the next full council meeting on Wednesday, February 26, will be asked to approve changes to the committee memberships that have to be politically balanced.

Many find it difficult to understand why, if the East Devon Alliance represents independent councillors, it is a registered “political party”. The reason is that it is a government requirement for any group which campaigns under a shared ethos, and with a defining logo, to be formally registered, even if they are free to act independently. There was an electoral reform recommendation that this should only apply to national politics which was rejected by the government of the day.

From the East Devon Alliance website https://www.eastdevonalliance.com/ :

We are purely an alliance of free-thinking, free-speaking, concerned individuals who came together as independents to challenge the insidious culture of secrecy prevalent within the district council, and still sadly evident in 2019.

Our Alliance is simply that; we work together to campaign, to challenge, to question the decisions that are taken at EDDC which we believe favour the select few, and not the many.

Formed in 2013, by the coming together of a number of groups campaigning across East Devon, we represent the silent voice of those residents who are horrified by the lack of transparency and openness in their Councils. We represent those who believe that unfettered development in favour of rapacious landowners and commercial organisations has been given an unfair advantage over those who live and work in rural East Devon and who believe that not everyone shares the opinion that you can promote growth, and prosperity by simply concreting over every square inch of green field.

We represent those who question the financial integrity of the District and County Councils; decisions made by a small “cabal” of Councillors from one dominant group, who use the party system to bulldoze through policy, and legislation – to the detriment of the vast majority of the residents in this County – ably and willingly assisted by a silent and compliant cohort of party members who rarely speak and who rarely object but continue – with a quiet word in their ears and a gentle arm at their elbows – to vote how they are told and when they are told. That is not democracy in our opinion. That is a virtual autocracy.

Owl wonders who will be next to follow Paul Millar?

Reducing the volume and speed of traffic through the village and reducing heavy goods vehicles is also listed as a priority in the plan, as well as resisting any future expansion of the Ladram Bay Holiday Park.

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/ladram-bay-holiday-park-expansion-3831841

A plan to support the future development of Otterton as a thriving community has been published.

The Otterton Neighbourhood Plan aims to ensure that the village continues to be an outstanding place to live, work and visit, to Preserve and enhance Otterton’s historical significance and built environment, and to insist that any new development should meet the needs of the local inhabitants first.

Reducing the volume and speed of traffic through the village and reducing heavy goods vehicles is also listed as a priority in the plan, as well as resisting any future expansion of the Ladram Bay Holiday Park.

The plan says that the Holiday Park has grown to its maximum size within its permitted boundary, has a detrimental impact on the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site and the East Devon AONB, and has an impact on the village in terms of excess traffic, congestion and the accompanying pollution that cars, delivery vans, lorries and caravans bring.

It adds that the access road is totally inadequate to serve such a large site, and vehicles coming to and from the site must be properly controlled to prevent congestion, and therefore recommends that development would only be permitted within its existing site boundary.

Support will be given for any proposal though which improves the wider road infrastructure giving access to the site, reduces the number of holiday units on the site, reduces the need to travel by car, the need for delivery lorries and improves the infrastructure for walking and cycling.

The plan outlined that there was a 146 % Increase in vehicles travelling through Otterton in August on a Saturday, compared to November, and a 341% increase on a Tuesday for August to November.

It says: “All traffic to Ladram Bay (including movement of the lodges) has to pass through the village, as it is located at the end of a narrow road, which turns into a farm track and footpath. This is seen as a very major problem for the village, causing a significant increase in traffic and congestion at times, with many questionnaire respondents highlighting this issue.

“By far the biggest issue raised in the traffic part of the questionnaire concerned Ladram Bay and it is the traffic that is generated from this popular site, including the visitors, the trades and the movement of the lodges and mobile homes, that causes huge concern to Otterton residents.”

The plan adds: “In many places there are no footways for pedestrians to walk safely along the main street. On-street parking in the village is a problem, giving rise to traffic jams at busy periods and heavy volumes of traffic, which are a major concern for many parishioners, is exacerbated by the lack of off-street parking along the main street.”

It calls for the village to be provided with a car park for visitors as shortage of parking in the village centre is also affecting businesses, the Community Shop, and the Village Hall.

In terms of new housing, the majority of respondents to a survey about the Neighbourhood Plan either did not want further development, or suggested the North Star site, which already has planning permission for 15 homes.

Policies in the plan say that no development should be allowed to have a detrimental impact on the landscape and character of Otterton village and the Parish as a whole by virtue of its location, scale, density and design and any necessary future development should support proven local needs first, for those with a local connection to the Parish.

These should be small scale housing developments to include affordable housing and properties for downsizing, accompanied by all the necessary improvements to village infrastructure, it adds.

A Children’s Questionnaire was also distributed to the village, and nearly 65 per cent of children wanted a skate park/ramps with other ideas to further improve facilities, while nearly 90 per cent greatly appreciate their natural environment and said that it is either ‘very important’ or ‘important’ to them to be able to walk along the footpaths by the river, hills and cliffs around Otterton.

“Keeping the children involved and satisfied with their community adds to its vibrancy, so, any planning requirements relating to play areas should be viewed favourably,” the plan states.
East Devon District Council’s cabinet, when they met last Wednesday, unanimously noted the formal submission of the Otterton Neighbourhood Plan and congratulated the producers of the plan on the dedicated hard work and commitment in producing the document.

The Neighbourhood Plan will now go forward to the formal examination stage to make sure it is ‘sound’, and if an inspector agrees that it is, it will then be subject to a referendum where everyone on the electoral roll for the defined area will have a right to vote for or against it. If at least half of votes cast support the Plan then it can be brought into legal force.

Owl has lost track on the state of play with regard to determinations on outstanding planning appeals and retrospective planning applications for Ladram Bay. But Owl thinks at least one, the retrospective planning application to build a viewing platform directly onto the World Heritage Site, is still to be determined.

In passing Owl also notes that FWSC (LADRAM) Ltd and FWS Carter & Sons Ltd (of Greendale) are both listed as donating £2,500 each to Simon Jupp MP in January.

See: the support linked to an MP but received by a local party organisation or indirectly via a central party organisation section in Simon Jupp’s Register of Members’ Financial Interests.
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmregmem/200111/jupp_simon.htm

Town clerk walks out of explosive town council meeting after fiery row – in which he is accused of ‘sneaking’ an item on to agenda.

https://www.midweekherald.co.uk/news/clerk-walks-out-honiton-town-council-meeting-10-02-20-1-6507991

The latest meeting Honiton Town Council exploded into chaotic scenes tonight – resulting in the town clerk walking out after being accused of secretly placing an item on to the agenda.

Mark Tredwin withdrew from the meeting, at The Beehive, citing doctor’s orders after town mayor Councillor John Zarczynski said a report was ‘sneaked on to the agenda’.

Councillors were discussing the following agenda item when the row broke out: ‘for members to look at adding and deleting members from committees and working groups.’

Cllr Caroline Kolek questioned whether a meeting of Honiton Town Council’s Human Resources committee earlier today (Monday) had been held illegally, after legal advice was released on Friday evening.

Mr Tredwin said legal advice was circulated that stated the meeting of the HR committee was ‘ultra vires’ – meaning ‘beyond the powers’.

He said the point was the agenda stated it can be to resolve any changes to committees and outside bodies ‘as agreed at this meeting’.

Mr Tredwin said: “If a councillor wishes to discuss the composition of a committee, they can do so because the agenda item does allow for it.”

Cllr Zarczynski said he disagreed, and said the item was placed on the agenda without his knowledge as he and the clerk sat down to agree the agenda.

He said the issue should be made into an agenda item if councillors felt the issues involving the HR committee were strong enough.

Cllr Zarczynski said: “This is purely a composition of committees, this is not a complaint against a committee. There is nothing on this agenda that says that.

“What has been raised… is a separate thing all together.”

Cllr Ray Hanratty said when a committee has operated outside its remit and created a ‘huge faux pas’ in operational procedure, its membership needs to be called into question.

He said: “I would propose a motion that we disband the current HR committee with a view to reassembling it with new members.”

The motion was seconded by Cllr Michelle Pollington, but before a vote was taken, Cllr Zarczynski said he could ‘see now why this was sneaked on to the agenda’.

Mr Tredwin said he did not take kindly to Cllr Zarczynski’s accusations and revealed he was signed off earlier that morning.

He withdrew from the meeting, apologising to deputy town clerk Heloise Marlow.

As the meeting descended into chaos, Cllr Kolek said illegal meetings had been held and walked out.

The meeting was ended before the town council could discuss becoming a Fair Trade authority, and decisions had been made in relation to grant funding for the town’s air cadets and Scouting group.

Owl obviously missed a real treat.

On the theme of rural deprivation, CPRE also released yesterday a study on “Transport Deserts – the absence of choice in England’s small towns”. Owl notes that, “coincidentally” today the government, or rather Boris Johnson, will pledge a £5Bn “overhaul” of rural? bus services to fend off any revolt in parliament and the excluded parts of the country over his decision to press ahead with HS2. Owl will wait to see the “colour of this money” before commenting further.

Click to access transport-deserts-2020.pdf

CPRE press release:

– Thriving rural communities need to be well-connected with good public transport, yet 56% of small towns in the South West and North East of England are found to be ‘transport deserts’ or at risk of becoming one.

– Calls for the government to invest in rural communities by establishing a dedicated rural transport fund.

More than half of small towns in the south west and north east of England have such bad transport connectivity that they are considered to be living in ‘transport deserts’ or are at imminent risk of becoming one, according to new research conducted by Campaign for Better Transport for CPRE, the countryside charity. Nearly one million people (975,227) who live in these towns have no option for convenient and affordable public transport and risk being cut off from basic services if they don’t have access to a car.

A ‘transport desert’ occurs when a community lacks the public transport options for residents to be able to conveniently travel on a day to day basis without driving. The research is the first attempt to develop a scoring system to rank the public transport options available to rural communities.

Public transport services, including bus, train and community transport options, were scored in over 160 locations in the South West and North East against their accessibility and frequency. The analysis has shown that in 56% of the cases, residents who can’t drive or are unable to afford a car are at risk of being cut off from basic services.
Darren Shirley, Chief Executive of Campaign for Better Transport, said:

“Nearly a quarter of the country’s population lives in small towns, too many of which have become transport deserts. In some cases, towns which lost their railway stations in the Beeching cuts of the 1960s are now losing the bus services that were brought in to replace them.

“Weak transport provision is a major barrier to participation in these towns, affecting low income households, older people and those in education and training the most. A lack of sustainable transport options also undermines efforts to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

“Small towns have been sidelined for too long: the Government must act to reconnect these transport deserts.”

Beneath the headlines, the research shows that the lack of public transport in some counties is even more severe:

Dorset: ten out of the 14 small towns in Dorset have become ‘transport deserts’ or are at risk of being absorbed into one. This is after 80 per cent cuts to spending on bus services in the county.

Devon: 17 of the 25 towns investigated are in the same position.

County Durham: Only six of the 22 small towns covered by the research have a remaining train station.

Northumberland: six of the 12 towns investigated are at risk of becoming ‘transport deserts’, including Alnwick, Newbiggin and Seaton Delaval.

Crispin Truman, chief executive at CPRE, the countryside charity, said:

“A thriving countryside depends on well-connected small towns and villages serviced by low carbon public transport that fit into people’s everyday lives. But it is clear that, outside of England’s major cities, communities are being left high and dry in ever widening ‘transport deserts’ with completely inadequate bus and train connections. And this is having dramatic effect on rural communities – young people are compelled to move away, older people are left isolated and lonely, while less affluent families can be sucked into a cycle of debt and poverty.

“CPRE is calling on the government to act now to reconnect everyone with proper public transport options. That means establishing a dedicated rural transport fund. But recent government funding to re-open some railway lines across the country does not go nearly far enough – especially in the shadow of the £28.8 billion planned spend on roads. If the prime minister and this Government are serious about ‘spreading opportunity to every corner of the UK’ we need decisive action to stop the march of ‘transport deserts’.”

Owl’s post box yesterday was full of reports from the local press around the country listing the most isolated communities in their neck of the woods. Turns out that they were all using a new fine structure data base constructed by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), recently released.

This ONS data breaks down England into neighbourhoods, or ‘lower super output areas’, which contain roughly the same number of people (around 1,500 in all).

That means neighbourhoods in densely-populated cities and towns tend to be much smaller, and average travel times to key services tend to be shorter.

Lightly-populated neighbourhoods are bigger and tend to fare much worse in the rankings.

The study ranks every one of 32,844 neighbourhoods in England based on how long the ONS says it takes an average person to reach primary and secondary schools, GP surgeries and food shops, plus major railway stations and major airports.

Owl and Owl’s helpers have been unable to find a link to this data base – probably because it will be very large and difficult to interpret.

What we have located is this related summary:

Click to access 01_Statistical_Digest_of_Rural_England_2020_January_edition.pdf

The Statistical Digest of Rural Statistics is a collection of statistics on a range of social and economic subject areas. The statistics are split by rural and urban areas, allowing for comparisons between the different rural and urban area classifications. The Digest includes high level statistics which present an overall picture for England. However, there is likely to be considerable variation in individual towns, villages and hamlets. The Digest starts with a section on the rural and urban populations in England. This is followed by a rural economy section containing indicators on economic activity, earnings, productivity as well as a selection of indicators relating to economic growth. The Rural accessibility section includes data on transport, measuring accessibility to services and broadband. The final section of the Digest includes a selection of rural living statistics on housing, household expenditure, poverty, education, health and crime.

Sections of the Digest are updated throughout the year. In this edition the following section(s) have been updated:

• Population at local authority level
• Productivity by industry
• Accessibility to services
• Residential housing transactions

The report runs to 213 pages. Enjoy!