Monthly Archives: February 2021

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Devon’s Covid infection rate is lowest in England

Coronavirus infection rates in Devon are now the lowest in England, latest figures have revealed.

Good news but we mustn’t drop our guard in East Devon – Owl

Daniel Clark www.devonlive.com

The latest seven day rolling average for Covid-19 infection rates shows that the Devon County Council area now has England’s lowest infection rate at 84.4/100,000.

The figures, based on specimens from January 21-27, also show that at a lower tier authority level, the five places in England with the lowest infection rates are all in Devon.

Latest coronavirus rates for Devon

Latest coronavirus rates for Devon

Torridge (43.9/100,000) has England’s lowest infection rate, with North Devon (49.4/100,000) second, Exeter (78.4/100,000) third, South Hams (90.8/100,000) fourth and East Devon (91.6/100,000) with the fifth lowest.

Teignbridge (98.4/100,000) sits seventh lowest, with West Devon (104/100,000) ninth and Mid Devon (113/100,000) in eleventh of the 315 English local authority areas.

But Steve Brown, Director of Public Health Devon, said that while cases of COVID-19 are now falling in Devon, case numbers are still much higher than they were for large parts of last year

He said: “It looks like the current restrictions are having a positive impact and we are starting to see cases come down.

“While clearly it’s good news cases are coming down, they are still higher than in November and December, so now is not the time to drop our guard, so please stay at home and stick to the rules.”

Devon’s infection rate of 84.4/100,000 is the lowest since December 15, 2020, with cases for the two week period prior to that having been at a lower level.

Cases rates still remain highest in the over 90s age group, followed by the 30-39 year-olds, with the lowest infection rates in Devon in the 70-79 year-olds and those 0-14.

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Major expansion of Exeter SkyPark approved

So Burrington Estates purchased Sky Park last year? – Ops Owl missed that!

Howard Lloyd www.devonlive.com

Planning permission has been approved for 35 business units to be built at Exeter’s growing SkyPark.

Exeter-headquartered Burrington Estates purchased the site at SkyPark in 2020 with a commitment to deliver high quality new business units in Exeter.

The units will be built to the BREEAM “excellent” benchmark and provide flexible space of from 1,000sq ft with the option of half- or full-mezzanine floor.

Providing new employment opportunities in the area, construction of the units is due to commence in February 2021 with completion anticipated in August 2021.

Burrington Estates commercial managing director Matthew Bennett said: “We are delighted to get the go ahead for this development allowing us to provide superior options for start-ups and small to medium businesses looking to expand.

“We are also proud that Burrington has a presence at SkyPark, the flagship business park development in the South West.”

How a cafe building at Burrington Estates’ Exeter SkyPark development could look

In line with SkyPark’s highly sustainable aims, particularly with using renewable energy and energy efficiency goals, Burrington Estates will include solar PV and EV charging points, insulated panel technology to reduce operational costs and covered bicycle storage to encourage sustainable transport. The development also includes a café unit, available for purchase or lease.

With what Burrington Estates called “an impressive show of positivity and optimism from the business community”, 90% of the units have already been reserved. Two further phases of varying unit sizes are set for delivery in 2022.

Skypark has been dubbed Exeter’s new generation of business park

Development manager Charles Berry, who took the lead on the project, said: “To attract such a strong demand from SMEs for the business units underlines the need for this type of high-specification, sustainable development in the South West.

“Alongside superb quality, businesses are clearly also looking for premises that focus on sustainability and flexibility.”

Spanning more than 100 acres, Skypark has been dubbed Exeter’s new generation of business park, combining industrial, office, and distribution space.

SkyPark is sited close to the M5 and neighbouring businesses include Lidl distribution centre, DPD, Amazon, LiveWest, ASOC and Exeter Airport.

SkyPark is part of Exeter and East Devon Enterprise Zone providing business rate relief for new and growing businesses, worth up to £55,000 per business year for five years.

SkyPark is being developed by Burrington Estates Limited which is at the forefront of high-quality new developments in the West Country and beyond.

Meanwhile Burrington Estates has begun to modernise Plymouth’s Eurotech Park business estate with large-scale demolition already underway.

The company, which acquired the vast building in Burrington Way, Honicknowle, in late 2019 is planning to transform the former 1970s electronics factory block and replace it with 30 modern industrial business units.

The project was due to start in early 2020 but was, like many things, severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic and Government guidelines.

But the scheme is very much continuing with the last tenants of the old building leaving in November 2020 and demolition work now well advanced.

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Paddleboarders take a toll on bird breeding grounds

Owl understands from correspondents that this is perceived as an increasing problem in parts of the Exe and in the Otter estuaries. Paddleboarding has taken off as a new leisure and water sports activity and the estuaries are attractive in providing calm water.

Owl also hears that there are “educational” notices posted along the Lower Otter, but no bye laws restrict such disturbance.

It is an example of the increasing conflict between the leisure needs of an increasing population and sensitive and protected landscapes. The Pebblebed Heaths are sensitive just to footfall. Owl was surprised, therefore, to find planning permission granted for more holiday “lodges” at Woodbury Park Golf Centre just metres outside the 400 supposed development exclusion zone.

From the print edition of Saturday’s Times:

The rise in popularity of kayaking and paddleboarding is damaging important bird habitats, conservationists warn.

Remote parts of harbours and estuaries that were once rarely explored by people are now being visited, with native sea birds driven away from feeding and breeding grounds.

Novice paddlers are being alerted to the effect they can have on wildlife habitats. Poole Harbour in Dorset — an area of international importance for wildlife conservation — has been badly affected. It has three nature reserves run by the RSPB, National Trust and Dorset Wildlife Trust on one side and watersports businesses on the other.

One owner said that demand for paddleboards and kayaks had soared since the first lockdown ended last year.

Peter Robertson, senior site manager of the RSPB’s Dorset reserves, said: “Sandwich terns, Mediterranean gulls and little egrets have breeding populations in the harbour and need undisturbed space to feed and breed.”

The charity Birds of Poole Harbour has tweeted a picture of a paddleboarder nearing a mudflat. It said: “15 mins before this paddleboarder arrived there were 306 avocet, 104 curlew & 88 oystercatcher on this mudflat.”

Luke Johns, Poole Harbour nature reserves officer for Dorset Wildlife Trust, said: “While we are sure that the majority of water users wouldn’t want to adversely affect wildlife, we anticipate another difficult year with this.”

He added that one problem area was Brownsea Island. “It takes some physical effort to get there, so numerous people rest on our shoreline, where there is no permitted landing.

“They disturb nesting birds … some clutches of eggs or chicks have undoubtedly been lost.”

On the Isle of Wight, the Newton National Nature Reserve has also been affected. Robin Lang, of the National Trust, said: “When birds see a human figure on a paddleboard coming towards them, they see that as a threat and take flight in great number.”

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1,500 permanent care vacancies across Devon

The story behind Sunday’s post.

Charlotte Vowles www.devonlive.com

Devon’s care workers should be recognised now for their vital contribution during the coronavirus pandemic by being better valued and rewarded, according to Devon County Council.

There are currently approximately 1,500 permanent care vacancies in Devon and many additional temporary vacancies due to Covid-19. And more care workers are needed to provide care to older people, disabled people or those with mental health needs.

Cllr Andrew Leadbetter, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health Services, said that unless the Government pledges more money to increase wages and improve training and development opportunities, care staff will continue to be under-valued and Devon’s capacity to sustain vital care services will be put at risk.

He’s tasking the council to help build a case, working with providers and other partners, to put to central government for more resources to better reward social care workers

Cllr Leadbetter said: “I believe care workers deserve better pay and conditions. Covid-19 has laid bare, for all to see, the vital role care workers play in safeguarding vulnerable people. It’s opened the public’s eyes, and we all owe them a huge debt.

“Social care work should be regarded as being on a par with the NHS, but it’s not. And like our NHS colleagues, care workers have never been under so much pressure.

“They are doing more than ever before, and until they are paid more, and further investment in training and development is committed, care work will always be considered the poor relation. And to me, this is unacceptable.”

His comments come after the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) called last week for the Government to invest more in social care.

They have also proposed a national minimum care wage and asked for an additional £480m in England in the short-term.

Cllr Leadbetter said this money is vital if, as expected, the social care sector is asked to work even harder to support those discharged from hospital.

“We need funding now to enable care providers to recruit extra skilled care workers during the pandemic,” he said.

“In the long term addressing social care funding is key to our recovery from Covid. Without sufficient, high-quality social care, we will not only fail those in need but fail a generation of families who will not be able to maintain their working lives. And that will affect us all economically.”

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Planning applications validated by EDDC for week beginning 18 January

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Tory donors, cladding and developers

From today’s Politico newsletter:

“In December, the Guardianreported that a major shareholder in Arconic, the company that made Grenfell’s cladding, donated nearly £25,000 to the Conservative Party in 2017. Elliott Advisors UK, which has a 10 percent holding in Arconic, made donations to the Tories in 2008, 2016 and 2017. Last year, Private Eye revealed that European Land and Property, which put Grenfell’s ACM cladding on the Paddington Walk development in London, donated £200,000 to the Tories. Residents of Paddington Walk were billed £40,000 to have the cladding removed. The Tories have received more than £11 million in donations from property developers since Johnson became PM. That’s nearly a quarter of total Tory donations from July 2019 to March 2020.”

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A303 to be dualled near Yeovilton

This is welcome, removing one bottleneck, but doesn’t it just shift the problem westward? – Owl

Daniel Mumby, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk 

Upgrade for major Devon to London route

A crucial section of the A303 in Somerset will finally become a dual carriageway after the government gave the go-ahead to a £250 million upgrade.

Highways England put forward proposals in 2019 to dual the single-carriageway stretch of the A303 between the Podimore roundabout near Ilchester and the Sparkford roundabout, north of Yeovil, where the road meets the A359.

A decision on the plans has been repeatedly delayed, first by the 2019 general election, then by the coronavirus pandemic and most recently by concerns about “bird strike” impacting on the nearby RNAS Yeovilton. But the Department for Transport has finally given the scheme the green light, with construction expected to be completed by 2024.

The scheme will see a stretch of around three miles dualled between the two roundabouts, with the new carriageway largely following the footprint of the existing road.

On an average day, the road carries 23,500 vehicles, but numbers increase significantly in the summer, particularly at weekends, with many using it as a route to the Glastonbury Festival from London and the south east.

The decision follows the government’s approval of a separate scheme in November 2020 to dual the A303 near Stonehenge in Wiltshire, including the creation of a new tunnel through the World Heritage Site.

Nick Harris, acting chief executive of Highways England, said: “We welcome the secretary of state’s decision to upgrade the A303 between Sparkford and Ilchester. Along with the A303 Stonehenge tunnel project, it is part of the biggest investment in our road network for a generation.

“This scheme will support economic growth and facilitate a growth in jobs and housing by creating a free-flowing and reliable connection between the south east and south west. It will also tackle a long-standing bottleneck, reduce journey times to the south-west and improve traffic flows in that area at peak times and during peak seasons.”

Highways England has estimated that the Somerset scheme will cost between £100M and £250M to complete, with construction expected to begin by the end of 2021 and lasting until 2024. The new road will also include new and replacement slip roads, junctions and road bridges to replace existing junctions and direct access roads.

Lee Nathan, south west regional chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “Upgrading the single carriageway sections of this important route is key to supporting the south west economy, particularly as the only alternative route via the M4 and M5 into the south west is already heavily congested.

“We believe that more investment should be directed to improving key links on the A-road network across the UK as a way of supporting our local regional economies. As a result, we are wholeheartedly in support of this new scheme.”

Highways England is also seeking to progress a scheme to dual the A358 between the Southfields roundabout in Ilminster and Junction 25 of the M5 in Taunton.

Preliminary design work for this scheme is currently being undertaken, with a further round of public consultation due to be announced later in the year.

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Nurses failed by years of Tory cutbacks

Letter www.theguardian.com

The failure of Nightingale hospitals came as no surprise, though the rapid conversions and equipping remain interesting. Where were thousands of new hospital beds stored, for example? They seemed to have appeared out of nowhere (The empty Nightingale hospitals show the cost of putting buildings before people, 27 January).

I was a senior manager in nursing education in the 1990s, when training moved from what has been dubbed “apprenticeship-style training” to a university-based education. The battle to achieve this had been long and bitter, with the Conservatives being wholly against this transition as student nurses had been such a cheap way of staffing hospitals. The change was agreed, and the then Conservative government cut training numbers overnight by up to a third.

We are still living with the consequences of this. Combined with a reduction of thousands of hospital beds over three decades, the effect on the NHS is plain to see. No time for recovery, no time for reflection and fewer opportunities for ongoing development.

Successive governments, mainly Conservative, have tried and failed to convince the public that the NHS is a drain of the public purse and have quickly learned that any threat to it could cost them the next election. That hasn’t stopped them significantly reducing the service and carrying out a planned programme of asset stripping. With every change in government, the overstretched staff must wonder what is coming next.

Karen Jacob

(Retired nurse/nurse lecturer), Devon

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Grenfell-style cladding “cover-up” – Open Democracy

From Open Democracy:

Do you live in a block with Grenfell-style cladding and you are not being told about it by your landlords?

If your home was a possible fire risk, you’d want to know, wouldn’t you? If it was covered in Grenfell-style cladding, you’d expect the authorities to tell you, surely?

Think again. 

You’re one of 30,000 people who have backed our call to defend Freedom of Information. Today, we’ve broken another story which shows exactly why this is so important.

It turns out the British government has been advising local councils to block Freedom of Information requests that could identify buildings with similar cladding to that implicated in the tragic 2017 Grenfell fire, which killed 72 people.

It’s the latest scandal which shows just how vital it is that we defend our information rights.

Will you forward this email to everyone you know, and ask them to sign this petition?

Freedom of Information (FOI) laws are supposed to let citizens and journalists get vital information from any public body. Without FOI, we wouldn’t know that MPs were claiming thousands of pounds in taxpayer-funded expenses for duck houses and moats.

But now our FOI rights are under unprecedented attack. Not only has the UK government blocked details of thousands of Grenfell-style fire-risk homes, we’ve also uncovered how a secretive unit inside Michael Gove’s Cabinet Office routinely screens Freedom of Information requests and blocks the release of ‘sensitive’ information across government.

Experts say this ‘Orwellian’ practice is breaking the law – so we’re challenging the government in the courts. But to build the strongest possible case, we need a loud public outcry. 

We have a big campaign planned for the coming weeks: can you share this email with friends, family or colleagues, to let them know what’s going on?

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Hold builders to account and resolve this housing scandal

Labour’s non-binding vote today on the cladding scandal. Will our local MP’s back it?

Yesterday’s Sunday Times Editorial:

The Sunday Times editorial  www.thetimes.co.uk

It is now more than 3½ years since the avoidable tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire. The loss of life in that disaster will never be forgotten, and never should be. It has been followed by dither and delay by the government in dealing with the many other properties in Britain also encased in flammable cladding. This was why, many months ago, The Sunday Times launched the Safe Homes for All campaign, exposing what we have described as the hidden housing scandal.

That scandal has produced worry and heartache for millions of people living in leasehold flats with unsafe cladding. Hayley Tillotson, a 28-year-old first-time buyer in Leeds, was forced to declare herself bankrupt when she could not meet the extra costs of fire patrols in the building in which she lived, and she will not be the last. Through no fault of her own, she will have to live with that for the rest of her life.

Tomorrow Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, will meet victims of the cladding scandal before an opposition day debate in the House of Commons, which will focus on the government’s tardy and inadequate response. The debate will focus on the huge bills faced by leaseholders trapped in unsellable properties that they bought in good faith.

Labour’s motion for tomorrow’s debate picks up on most of the themes highlighted in our campaign. It will call for a deadline of next year for all the affected buildings to be made safe, starting with those at greatest risk, and for such a deadline to be legally enforceable.

It will also call on Robert Jenrick, the housing secretary, to “urgently establish the extent of dangerous cladding and prioritise buildings according to risk” and “provide upfront funding to ensure cladding remediation can start immediately”. Mr Jenrick, it adds, must “protect leaseholders and taxpayers from the cost by pursuing those responsible for the cladding crisis”, and provide monthly updates on his progress.

The debate is an important one, even though it is not binding on the government. This scandal was in place well before our lives were changed by the pandemic, and it is not going away. The housing secretary is reported to be engaged in a battle with Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, over the release of £10bn to remove and replace the dangerous cladding in the affected homes, but even that may not be enough, and Mr Sunak is looking for ways to reduce the budget deficit, not add to it.

The solution should be straightforward, and it does not lie in the recommendation from the government’s adviser on the issue, the insurance executive Michael Wade. He recommended that leaseholders be offered low-cost loans. That is the last thing leaseholders, many of whom already struggle with bills, want, and they should not have to take them.

Instead the government should look at what it has done for the housebuilders and construction firms and how it can claw it back. Since it was launched eight years ago, the Help to Buy scheme has transformed the fortunes of the builders. The former chief executive of Persimmon, one of the country’s largest housebuilders, was due a £110m bonus, until it was revised down to an only slightly less obscene £75m.

As recently as July the chancellor provided the housing sector with a £4bn tax cut by reducing stamp duty, and it is pressing him to extend it beyond March 31, when it is due to end.

Those who created this problem — the builders and their suppliers, some of whom have shown a blatant disregard for public safety — should be made to pay for it. The blameless leaseholders should not. The government has to use its muscle, and not be influenced by whether some of these businesses are Tory donors. If not, more than 4.5 million affected leaseholders will know exactly who to blame.

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Cranbrook beware!!!!!

“A consultation on a nationwide pavement parking ban concluded at the end of 2020 with the results due in just a few weeks’ time.

A national ban could see a £70 fine issued to any road user who parks on the pavement similar to current legislation in London.”