Let’s hope this is not “mission impossible” – Owl

Tim Dixon www.midweekherald.co.uk

Honiton has a new town clerk.

He is Stephen Hill and he started in the role on January 18.

Mr Hill said this week: “I am very pleased to be working for Honiton Town Council supporting Honiton’s local community. It will be an exciting role with plenty of opportunities and experiences to manage.”

He added: “Working with councillors, the officer team and the community, I will try to make a difference.”

The town clerk’s role is to support, guide and advise the town councillors and ensure the smooth running of the authority.

Announcing Mr Hill’s appointment earlier this month, the town council said: “Mr Hill has the Certificate in Local Council Administration (CiLCA) and is a Fellow of the Society of Local Council Clerks (SLCC). He comes with a strong local government background, with many years of experience working for district councils in Devon and Dorset and town councils in Somerset.”

Bad drivers have been sent a warning after leaving kerbs and verges in Cranbrook looking scruffy and damaged.

Or it could be that roads are too narrow and garages too small (or being used for storage) or too few parking spaces …. all of which were pointed out by Owl in 2014 after a scathing report on its planning mistakes https://eastdevonwatch.org/2015/09/14/what-mainstream-media-isnt-telling-you-about-that-dcc-cranbrook-report/

Tianna Corbin www.devonlive.com

After multiple people were reported vehicles driving over grass verges across the newtown, the council say anyone caught doing so may be charged for the repair costs.

Cranbrook Town Council wrote a post on Facebook to warn people about their actions.

The post reads: “Sadly, we have received a number of reports of vehicles driving over verges/grassland, which renders them unsightly and costly to remediate.

“Please be considerate when driving around Cranbrook and keep vehicles on the road. Where we have proof of individuals damaging the verges, we will invoice for remediation costs.”

In agreement with the post, the residents of the town commented that there should be some precautions put in place to ensure this does not happen.

One person suggested the council install posts making it impossible for the cars to drive over the verges.

While another added there should be double yellow lines in place to deter people from parking and mounting their cars on the grass.

From open democracy:

Guess what? Boris Johnson’s cronies are continuing to get rich during this new (grim) phase of the pandemic.

We’ve just discovered that a firm controlled by major Tory donor Lord Ashcroft has landed a £350m COVID vaccination deal.

Once again it’s shrouded in secrecy, so we don’t know what’s actually being provided.

We do know the firm has a poor track record. A 2019 report found its care services ‘inadequate’ and ‘not safe’, including administering ‘potential overdoses’ of medicines. We also know that Ashcroft is one of the Tories’ biggest donors. 

Throughout the COVID crisis, Tory allies and donors have had a ‘VIP lane’ to win lucrative taxpayer-funded contracts – as a recent, damning National Audit Office report put it.

We’ve exposed scandal after scandal: from a Tory councillor landing a £156m PPE deal to the secret appointment of Lord Feldman, former Tory chairman and corporate lobbyist, as a COVID advisor.

What’s really worrying is the secrecy. We uncovered details of a Downing Street unit planning a radical ‘shake-up’ of the NHS: something they’d been denying for months. And when we threatened to sue over their dodgy NHS data deals with the controversial spy firm Palantir, they snuck the deal through anyway.

That’s why we have a plan. We’re not only going to challenge these dodgy practises in the courts. We’re also launching a massive campaign to stop Johnson’s government blocking journalists (like us) and members of the public (like you) from asking inconvenient questions. 

A Brixham fisherman has spoken out about his regrets about voting Leave and in turn has received the sympathy of thousands of Twitter users.

Lee Trewhela www.devonlive.com

Ian Perkes, a fish exporter from Brixham, believes the town’s fishing industry has been destroyed by Brexit and if he could turn the clock back he’d vote to remain in the European Union.

He told the Byline Times: “I’m coming to the end of my career but to go forward I think me and many others have perhaps made a mistake.

“I just thought there’d be a better future for myself and for my children and my children’s children, to become independent, to have our own fishing grounds, for Europe to rely on us.

“The reality is we’re now January 20, we’ve yet to send a consignment to Europe from Brixham. It’s just been an absolute nightmare.”

Thousands have retweeted, shared and commented on a video of Mr Perkes’ interview.

Paterson Joseph, who played Alan Johnson in Peep Show as well as many other TV, theatre and film roles, retweeted the interview with Ian, saying: “I have a lot of sympathy for this guy. Genuine question: who has benefited from Brexit in the UK?”

Ian added: “I think I was sort of taken along on the ride we were all on with the bus going around; you know we were going to save £350 million per week that we were throwing at Brussels, that we’re going to have this free trade and Europe were going to be desperate for our fish because we had control of it all. We’d be in control of our own destiny.

“I’m very disappointed with the comments, you know, Rees Mogg, ‘happy fish’. I don’t think there’s any room to make any jokes about this current situation.

“Forty four years I’ve been selling fish and overnight it’s pretty much been destroyed. I don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel.”

BBC News www.bbc.co.uk 

Here are the latest rates of cases of Covid-19 in Devon and Cornwall.

The figures are the number of coronavirus cases per 100,000 people in the seven days up to and including 18 January, with the week before shown in brackets for comparison.

The breakdown of the figures by local authority area is:

• Cornwall – 236.4 (down from 313.4)
• Plymouth – 319.7 (up from 309.0)
• Exeter – 222.2 (down from 284.6)
• Mid Devon – 151.9 (down from 270.9)
• East Devon – 161.3 (down from 266.6)
• Torbay – 214.3 (down from 261.3)
• Teignbridge – 214.7 (down from 234.0)
• South Hams – 159.8 (down from 188.5)
• West Devon – 179.2 (up from 127.2)
• North Devon – 69.0 (down from 123.5)
• Torridge – 58.6 (down from 99.6)

For comparison, the figure for England is 452.5.

For a more detailed look at coronavirus where you live, use the BBC’s postcode checker:

East Devon (latest)

Figures were updated on 22 January and come from the government’s coronavirus dashboard.

126 cases per 100,000 people in the latest week 15 Jan-21 Jan. The average area in England had 355.

185 cases in the latest week 15 Jan-21 Jan, down 154 compared with the previous week

3,467 total cases to 25 Jan

But read the explanation and add a new technical term to the lexicon: decompress. – Owl 

Daniel Clark www.devonlive.com

Covid-19 related deaths in Devon and Cornwall’s hospital have risen at the fastest rate since the beginning of the pandemic, new NHS England figures reveal.

A total of 706 people have died in hospital in the two counties since March 17 within 28 days of a positive death, as of January 25.

By date of death, the 700th fatality was recorded on January 23, just 12 days after the 600th death occurred on January 11.

The 12 days is the fastest period over the two counties whereby 100 new deaths have occurred, with the period between 100 and 200 deaths in April being 17 days.

However back in the spring fewer people were being tested for Covid-19 and therefore the figures may be an underestimate for that period, and in the most recent weeks, patients from elsewhere in the country have been transferred into Devon’s hospitals due to the spare capacity that they have.

The Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, as well as Torbay Hospital and Derriford Hospital, have taken in patients from both within the South West, and from trusts elsewhere in the country, mainly in the South East.

Board papers ahead of an RDE Trust board meeting on Wednesday confirm that during the first fortnight in January, the trust has also been supporting national efforts to decompress trusts from further afield struggling with extreme demand for critical care beds due to the pandemic, and at the latest count on January 19, six of the 12 Covid patients in ITU were out-of-area patients.

They add: “The current clinical capacity at Nightingale Exeter has been able to support mutual aid requests from outside Devon and Cornwall. These requests have been coordinated by the system medical and CEO group to assess the appropriate system priorities and management of the Covid response, and have been implemented by clinical and managerial leaders from across the system.”

And although ONS figures only run up the week ending January 8, deaths for Devon and Cornwall were at around half the level recorded in the first peak. The figures though have not yet taken into account this latest surge in deaths and therefore how many of them are from people within the two counties and how many from elsewhere is not yet known.

The first death in one of Devon and Cornwall’s hospitals by date of death occurred on March 17, with the 100th on April 8, 200th on April 25, 300th on October 24, 400th on November 27, 500th on December 19, 600th on January 11 and the 700th on January 23.

Of the deaths, 220 have occurred at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, with 166 at Derriford Hospital, 121 at Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust, 85 at Torbay Hospital, 71 at North Devon District Hospital, 39 in Cornish Partnership Foundation hospitals, three at Mount Gould Hospital, and one at Tavistock Hospital.