As a correspondent points out: Westpoint has a nearby bus stop, Greendale hasn’t.

A witness described the scene as a ‘mass gathering’ 

Howard Lloyd www.devonlive.com

Police are breaking up a large gathering of people in Exmouth beach, with fighting and Covid-19 lockdown breaches being reported.

Devon and Cornwall Police say they were notified shortly after 6.30pm this evening (Friday, April 2) about a large number of people on the beach.

Witnesses at the scene have reported as many as seven police vehicles, as well as two ambulances.

The police say no injuries have been reported as yet.

“We first got a call at 6.34pm to a report of a large gathering of mainly youths which we are dealing with and trying to disperse,” said the police force incident manager (FIM).

“There are no suggestions of any injuries at this time, although there are reports of fighting.

“We are looking at general disorder, as well as potential Covid breaches.”

One eye witness has reported at least four groups consisting of 10-plus people at Orcombe Point, which were being broken up by officers.

He added that there were also a number of police vehicles at the town’s train station.

Another witness described the scene as a ‘mass gathering’ and said there were two police vans and four or five cars in attendance.

Lockdown restrictions were eased at the start of the week, meaning people were allowed outside for non-essential travel.

But that has led to fears over people abusing the easing of restrictions, potentially leading to another surge in cases.

Two parks in Nottingham are now shut following shocking images earlier this week showing people fighting, littering and failing to socially distance.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock earlier this week urged people to not ‘blow it now’, asking people to continue to obey the rules that are in place.

In the light of the Dart’s Farm inaction wonder what Devon & Cornwall Police attitude is this week end?

Fariha Karim print edition The Times 2 April

Britons have been urged to behave over the Easter weekend after police broke up parties in the first week of the loosened lockdown.

Forces urged people to remain within coronavirus rules as families prepare to meet for the first time in months. Greater Manchester police issued a 48-hour dispersal order for the city centre after a party attended by hundreds of people at the Castlefield Bowl.

Merseyside police said that officers would patrol popular destinations across the region after receiving reports of large groups of youths travelling to Formby beach. In Sheffield a war memorial was vandalised on Tuesday when warm weather brought people out to Endcliffe Park. US flags were torn down from the memorial dedicated to ten American soldiers who died when a B-17 Flying Fortress crashed there on February 22, 1944.

The Metropolitan Police has written an open letter to people organising or participating in public gatherings, saying “we are still in the middle of a global pandemic”.

However, Easter weekend is set to be chillier than the past few days, the Met Office said, as a cold front moves down from the north.

Best April Fool – Owl?

Barnard Castle plans life-sized bronze of Boris Johnson’s former adviser after infamous trip ‘to test eyesight’ put town on map

By Gordon Rayner 1 April 2021www.telegraph.co.uk 

In the list of Britain’s top tourist attractions, it might struggle to rival the likes of Buckingham Palace or the Eden Project.

But Dominic Cummings’ notorious lockdown-busting visit to Barnard Castle could soon be commemorated with a statue in the historic market town, The Telegraph has learned.

Plans have been submitted to the local council for a life-sized bronze of Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser, who drove to the beauty spot last April in what he claimed was a bid to test his eyesight.

Local tourist chiefs argue that the town should capitalise on the infamy Mr Cummings brought it, having seen visitor numbers increase once lockdown was lifted last summer.

Shopkeepers in the town say the question they are most commonly asked by visitors is “where is the place that Dominic Cummings tested his eyesight?” and many would like to be able to point tourists to a plaque or statue marking the exact spot by the town’s riverside.

What the proposed Barnard Castle statue of Dominic Cummings could look like, complete with carrier bag Credit: Paul Grover/for the Telegraph

A planning application submitted by Olaf Priol, a member of the local historic society, requests permission for a 5ft 11in bronze on a pyrite plinth, depicting Mr Cummings wearing a trademark hoodie and jeans, carrying a set of car keys and “squinting into the distance, adjusting his spectacles with his right hand”.

The plans are likely to prove controversial as a local by-law states that statues in the town can only depict “deceased historic figures” who have “contributed to the common good”.

However, the council has the power to set aside the by-law if someone has made an “exceptional contribution” to the national and international profile of Barnard Castle.

Supporters of the plan are likely to point out that Mr Cummings’ visit led to Barnard Castle being name-checked in newspapers around the world.

Last summer, the then mayor of the town, which is 30 miles from Mr Cummings’ parents’ home in Durham, said the huge media coverage of the visit had “done us good in the sense that it has put us on the map”.

Beer firm BrewDog even made a special IPA called Barnard Castle Eye Test, which sold more than 800,000 cans.

Barnard Castle received another boost this week when Boris Johnson announced a new facility to “fill and finish” Covid-19 vaccines will be opened in the town. He later joked to MPs that Mr Cummings had been “scouting out the complex” during his Easter Saturday visit last year.

Attending a football match or a vigil on Clapham Common, different kettles of fishes? – Owl

Remember:

An investigation into a controversial outdoor carol service held at Darts Farm has resulted in no action being taken.

Anita Merritt www.devonlive.com

Concerns and criticisms were raised on social media after images shared of the event on December 16, 2020, appeared to show significant numbers of people apparently not socially distancing or wearing face coverings.

The carol service was held on the grounds of Darts Farm, in Topsham, and police say it received no calls prompting officers to investigate on the night.

Following the event, East Devon District Council announced they were looking into the ‘planning and control measures’ to work out if rules were broken.

A screen shot of the outdoor Christmas carol evening at Darts Farm

However, Darts Farm insisted it had followed the suggestions from the Government’s ‘Covid-19: suggested principles of safer singing’ guidelines.

A spokesperson for East Devon District Council said: “The East Devon District Council legal team have concluded that the actual event, being a gathering, was the responsibility of the police to make any decisions on enforcement of the situation.

“The council have contacted the business to require information under the Health and Safety at work Act 1974 on the risk assessments for the event, and the company provided information sufficient to satisfy us that further action was not appropriate under our enforcement policy.”

A spokesperson for Devon and Cornwall Police said: “We are aware of an event that was held within the grounds of Darts Farm on December 16 2020.

“As this related to an event at a business premises this was left in the hands of the relevant local authority to investigate.

“This matter was not reported to police at the time and therefore officers did not attend the location while this incident was taking place.

“Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, we have only issued fines when supported by evidence captured at the scene by our officers, therefore no retrospective action is being considered in relation to Darts Farm in relation to this event.”

Darts Farm is a nationally award-winning farm and food-hub located on the outskirts of Exeter.

Following its carol event last year, a spokesperson for the farm said: “With unlimited outdoor space and using closed off car parking, everyone was able to social distance and stand where they wanted. You could say that it was more organised than most busy high streets on a Saturday.

“The actual programme for the evening, including all of the carols, was on our website so that everyone could follow and sing using their phones – reducing any contact with no one gathered around a screen with projected words.

“From all those that attended, we have had nothing but positive feedback and interestingly the only criticism has come from those that didn’t actually attend the evening.

“The comments we have received include, ‘really moving hearing people singing together again even at a distance’, and ‘a big thank you for the organised carol service this evening. You do not know how much we needed that. God bless and merry Christmas’.

“It was brilliant to be able to see our local community come together in festive spirits in what has been a very challenging year. Outdoor carol singing is something that has been encouraged by the government in their recent guidance to help lift our spirits this Christmas.”

Water companies discharged raw sewage into rivers and coastal waters in England more than 400,000 times last year, Environment Agency (EA) data has revealed.

Sandra Laville www.theguardian.com 

Untreated human effluent poured into rivers and seas for a total of 3.1m hours via storm overflow pipes that are supposed to be used only in extreme weather to relieve pressure in the sewage system.

The data is being published for the first time as a result of pressure on the EA, water companies and the government over the scale of sewage pollution in rivers.

Data for 2019 published by the Guardian last year showed raw sewage was discharged for 1.5m hours into rivers alone.

Countries are legally obliged to treat sewage before it is released into waterways. Discharges of untreated human waste are permitted only in exceptional circumstances, for example after extreme rainfall, the European court of justice has ruled.

The new figures show the scale of sewage discharges in England into rivers and seas. They have increased from 292,864 incidents in 2019 to 403,171 in 2020 – a 37% rise.

This is partly because more monitoring of storm overflows by water companies has this year provided a much clearer picture of the scale of the pollution. In 2020, monitoring was placed on 12,092 storm overflows, compared with 8,276 in 2019, a 46% increase. The EA said average spill numbers remained similar to last year.

Sir James Bevan, the EA’s chief executive, said: “Storm overflows are designed to discharge sewage to rivers or the sea at times of heavy rainfall to prevent it backing up into homes and streets. But higher population and climate change means they will discharge more often.

“The Environment Agency is working actively with the water companies to ensure overflows are properly controlled and the harm they do to the environment stopped. Increased monitoring and reporting of storm overflows is part of the solution. It means everyone can see exactly what is happening, and will help drive the improvements and future investment that we all want to see, with £1.1bn of investment already planned for the next four years.”

The Rivers Trust said the scale of discharges by water companies was shocking and that real-time monitoring of sewage discharges into rivers was needed.

Michelle Walker, the trust’s deputy technical director, said: “It’s good to finally see this data in the public domain, and in particular the significant increase in the number of overflows being monitored over the last four years.

“While we know we can’t make a direct comparison to last year’s … data due to the 50% increase in the number of overflows being monitored, the data raises alarm bells.

“If storm overflows work as designed, they will discharge less than 20 times per year, when there has been extreme rainfall … The 2020 data indicates that, appallingly, almost one in five overflows across England are discharging more than 60 times per year, a number which is supposed to trigger an EA investigation. This is a staggering statistic.”

Walker said there had been an increase in the recreational use of rivers during the pandemic, which was likely to continue. Real-time data for more rivers, not just the one river in Ilkley for which bathing water status has been granted, was needed, she said.

Hugo Tagholm, of Surfers Against Sewage, said: “Water companies making rampant profits at the expense the health of our rivers, ocean and people has to stop.

“Whilst the government is proposing new laws to be agreed for 2022, the sewage pollution crisis is here today and needs swift, decisive and enforced action. “We will not allow government and water companies to just kick this issue into the long grass … what we need now is radical action.”

A spokesperson for the industry body, Water UK, said: “Water companies are committed to playing their part in reducing any harm from storm overflows. As the data shows, we have massively increased monitoring, with the aim of getting 100% of the 14,630 overflows in England monitored by the end of 2023. This data is invaluable and allows investment to be targeted where it’s needed most.”

Water companies would be investing £1.1bn to improve storm overflows over the next five years as part of a wider £5bn programme of environmental improvements and the industry was playing a leading role in the government’s storm overflow taskforce that was looking at long-term alternatives, the spokesperson said.

The government announced on Monday that it was putting the reduction of sewage discharges by storm overflows into a legal framework. Ministers will have to come up with a plan to reduce them by 2022 – a timeline that was criticised by campaigners as too slow.

Raw sewage discharges into seas and rivers by water companies

Anglian Water – spill events: 17,428; duration in hours: 170,547

Welsh Water – spill events: 3,969; duration in hours: 21,300

Northumbrian – spill events: 32,497; duration in hours: 178,229

Severn Trent – spill events: 60,982; duration in hours: 558,699

Southwest Water – spill events: 42,053; duration in hours: 375,37

Southern Water – spill events: 19,782; duration in hours: 197,213

Thames Water – spill events: 18,443; duration in hours: 215,886

United Utilities – spill events: 113,940; duration in hours: 726,450

Wessex Water – spill events: 28,994; duration in hours: 237,035

Yorkshire Water – spill events: 65,083; duration in hours: 420,419

Data provided by the Environment Agency

Westpoint has been dishing out vaccines since January. It’s going three miles up the road

Radio Exe News www.radioexe.co.uk 

The large covid vaccination centre in Exeter is to move from Westpoint to nearby Greendale at the end of April, as the vaccination programme enters its next phase.

The move coincides with the beginning of a return to more normal commercial operations for Westpoint which is home to the Devon County Show. The show is due to go ahead a little later than usual this year, after being cancelled in 2020 because of the pandemic.

Everyone with appointments at Westpoint in April should attend as normal. There is no change to those appointments.

From the end of April, all existing appointments for second doses will move to Greendale but will take place on the same day and at the same time. People whose appointments are affected around the transition date will be contacted directly. There is no need to contact the NHS regarding your appointment.

A section of the Greendale site is being turned into a large vaccination centre by the NHS, with the centre meeting the same stringent safety requirements. It will offer plentiful parking and is only three miles and under five minutes’ drive from Westpoint. Signage will be in place to guide patients to the new venue from all directions.

Leigh Mansfield, the vaccination centre operations manager for the RD&E said: “The Westpoint vaccination centre has been an outstanding success in rolling out the covid vaccine to the people of Devon, and we’d like to thank the Devon County Agricultural Society for all they’ve done in helping us achieve this and making us so welcome.

“We’d also like to thank all the staff and volunteers who have supported us at Westpoint – they have been tremendous – and we look forward to welcoming them to our new base at Greendale.” 

Sam Kirkness, group head of property at Greendale said: “We are looking forward to welcoming the vaccination centre to Greendale. It is great to be part of the national effort against Covid-19 and we will continue to work very closely with the RD&E to ensure that the sites operate smoothly and efficiently once established.

As a business, we will remain open as normal whilst the vaccination centre is here and the sites have been designed to ensure as little disruption as possible to existing businesses and customers over the coming months.

Alongside our huge thanks to the RD&E and the NHS for their incredible efforts over the last year, we would also like to thank East Devon District Council for their helpful advice and guidance thus far.”

A solar farm the size of 79 football pitches has been proposed for an area of East Devon between the village of Clyst Hydon and hamlet, Lower Tale.

Becca Gliddon eastdevonnews.co.uk 

The plans, put forward by Lightrock Power who develops large-scale solar farms, cover an area of around 64 hectares – approximately158 acres – which could power the equivalent of 15,000 homes or 19,000 electric vehicles.

The developer said it will hold an online public exhibition in late spring in a bid to consult the community on the application.

The solar farm developer has launched an online information point for early feedback, which can also be given by phone, letter and email.

Lightrock Power said the Paytherden Solar Farm project was in the ‘early phases’ of development and was currently ‘being planned and assessed’ by its team.

Chris Sowerbutts, Lightrock Power founder and director, said: “We are keen to talk about our proposals for Paytherden solar farm.

“We would really like the local community to be involved in the process leading up to any planning application being submitted, and would appreciate early feedback and views.”

The farm where Paytherden is proposed to go is managed by Jon and Louise Burrough, who believe using the land to produce green energy will benefit the community and environment.

The couple said: “Climate change is the biggest threat our species has ever faced and everyone must make an effort.

“As custodians of a small part of the countryside, we’re in a unique position to play our part.

“Electricity use over the next thirty years is set to double, with half of all cars on the roads likely to be electric in the next five years.

“Therefore, the need to produce green energy to meet with this demand is crucial.”

Mr and Mrs Burrough added: “We are committed to caring for the environment and this is reflected in the way we farm.

“Over the past forty years we’ve planted ten-thousand trees here, including native species, orchards and a butterfly wood.

“We’ve also farmed organically for over twenty years, enabling more birds and bees to thrive.

“Not only does using our farm to produce green energy fit in with our ethos, it has enormous benefits for the wider community and the environment as a whole.”

A letter from the Electoral Reform Society to the Times, 31 March, spells out the danger of one-party domination in local government. The solution proposed is electoral reform. In the short term we have County Council elections on May 6 and Owl believes that voters should use the opportunity to vote for a more diverse council membership. In essence the questions to ask are: which candidate are free from party whipping and can truly represent the interests of their patch (“Division” in county-speak), and are committed to following the Nolan principles?

Sir, Patrick Maguire is right to highlight the one-party fiefdoms that plague local government (Mar 29). Indeed we often see the absurdity of “scrutiny committees”, reviewing millions of pounds in contracts, being dominated by the same party in office. It is a recipe for disaster. The risks of winner-takes-all politics — of sloppy decision-making and dodgy dealings — are clear. Research for the Electoral Reform Society in 2015 found that councils dominated by single parties could be wasting as much as £2.6 billion a year through a lack of scrutiny of their procurement processes. The study looked at thousands of public sector contracts, and found that one-party dominated councils were about 50 per cent more at risk of corruption than politically competitive councils, paying far over the odds to lobbyist contractors.

Alarm bells should be ringing in Whitehall. A shift to proportional representation is vital to provide the scrutiny that voters need. Instead, the home secretary is scrapping the preferential voting system for choosing mayors, which will entrench one-party domination. She must think again.

Darren Hughes

CEO, Electoral Reform Society

More detail and link to the 2015 research from www.electoral-reform.org.uk 

The study – undertaken by Cambridge University academic Mihály Fazekas – is titled The Cost of One-Party Councils and looks at the savings in contracting between councils dominated by a single party (or with a significant number of uncontested seats), and more competitive councils.

It finds that ‘one-party councils’ could be missing out on savings of around £2.6bn when compared to their more competitive counterparts – most likely due to a lack of scrutiny. £2.6bn is a lot of potential extra cash for our struggling authorities.

The report also measures councils’ procurement process against a ‘Corruption Risk Index’ – and finds that one-party councils are around 50% more at risk of corruption than politically competitive councils. The corruption risk of competitive councils compared to those dominated by one party is similar to the difference between the average Swedish municipality and the average Estonian municipality. This doesn’t bode well for democracy or council coffers.

And it’s no small-scale study. It uses ‘big data’ to look at 132,000 public procurement contracts between 2009 and 2013 to identify ‘red flags’ for corruption, such as where only a single bid is submitted or there is a shortened length of time between advertising the bid and the submission deadline.

One-party councils come about because of the distorting effects of First Past the Post in local elections. So today, we’re renewing our call for England and Wales to adopt the Scottish system (the Single Transferable Vote) for electing local councils. In Scotland, it has been shown to completely end the phenomena of one-party councils and uncontested seats – and could result in significant public savings, by increasing levels of scrutiny and lowering councils’ risk of dodgy dealings.

These findings make sense really. When single parties have almost complete control of councils, scrutiny and accountability tend to suffer.

The £2.6bn potential wastage is a damning indictment of an electoral system that gives huge artificial majorities to parties and undermines scrutiny. This kind of waste would be unjustifiable at the best of times. But during a period of austerity it is simply astonishing.

Alarm bells should be ringing in Whitehall today. First Past the Post is clearly unfit for purpose – especially for local government – with parties able to win the vast majority of seats often on a minority of the vote (and on tiny turnouts).

A fairer system, such as the one used in Scotland for local elections, would make ‘one-party states’ a thing of the past. And by letting the sunlight in, a fairer voting system could lead to substantial savings for the taxpayer.

Read the full report

It’s been an incredible political adventure and an absolute honour to serve my community for the past 12 years but it’s time to pursue new opportunities…Claire Wright

A great loss to the movement in East Devon as Claire stands down. She has been an inspiration to us all. I will be keeping in touch – and look forward to Jess joining me on the County Council, voters willing! – Martin Shaw

Paul Nero www.radioexe.co.uk 

Claire Wright will pursue other opportunities

Claire Wright to step down

The independent politician who has given Conservative candidates a run for their money in the past three parliamentary elections is quitting her role on Devon County Council.

Claire Wright came second to Sir Hugo Swire in the 2015 and 2017 general elections, before challenging his replacement Simon Jupp in 2019. She increased her share of the vote from 24 to 40 per cent, a commendable achievement for someone without the support of a large party machine.

However, her disappointment on the morning of the 2019 election was palpable and she declined to say whether she would run again.

Now she has decided not to seek re-election to her seat on Devon County Council in the forthcoming local elections, where she represents West Hill and Aylesbeare in East Devon.

Ms Wright said: “My decision to stand aside may come as a surprise to people.  However, I have quietly been considering my position for some time and although it has been an honour and privilege to serve my community in this way, it is now time to step aside. 

“It was in recent days and after much contemplation that I reached the decision that now is the right time to pursue other career opportunities.”

She is asking voters to elect independent councillor Jess Bailey in her place.

Ms Bailey has been an East Devon District councillor since 2019 and has served on Ottery St Mary Town Council and West Hill Parish Council for seven years. A solicitor, she grew up on a farm in Mid Devon where she developed a love of wildlife and nature. 

She said: “I am very honoured to be endorsed by Claire as her potential successor. It is by no means guaranteed that I will be elected though and in the coming weeks I will be working hard to understand the issues across the Otter Valley Ward. It will of course be a different kind of election due to Covid and whilst it may not be possible to speak to people on the doorstep in the ‘normal’ way I will be doing all that I can to communicate with residents.”

Claire Wright added: “I know with absolute certainty, that my ward, the residents, the wildlife, the trees and every other thing of value, will be in supremely safe hands if Jess is elected. I have known her for years. She has proven time and time again that she is hard working, that she cares and that she fights tooth and nail for her ward.”

Trees will be in safe hands with Jess Bailey, says Claire Wright

“There is no one else I would feel more confident in, or happier to succeed me on Devon County Council. I very much hope that my supporters will step forward to help Jess in the forthcoming election campaign – as I myself will be doing. It is a huge challenge for an Independent to be elected to the County Council without the backing of a party machine. With only five weeks to go until polling day, it will now be full steam ahead for Jess and for those helping with her campaign.”