A scheme to provide decent broadband in rural Devon is actually preventing a village from getting it, residents say.

www.bbc.co.uk

Northleigh residents said they “took matters into their own hands” to get better broadband

Villagers in Northleigh, near Colyton, went directly to infrastructure provider Openreach to get connected.

But they said rural broadband arranger Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) had taken over and was using another provider, which would take years longer.

CDS said the village was due to be connected by the end of 2023.

‘A village divided’

About 30 homes in the village have been plugged in via the Openreach work since December 2021, but 90 homes were still without good connections, residents said.

Andy Cornish, who has a high-speed connection, said residents “took matters into their own hands” to get Openreach involved under the government’s gigabit voucher scheme, which gave it £82,000 in 2020.

He said “gatekeeper” CDS appointed provider Airband in 2021 to finish the work “without consulting our community, and so we are now precluded from receiving any further state aid to finish the project with Openreach”.

Mr Cornish said he understood it now meant his whole community would not get fibre connection “until the end of 2024” because of other work already scheduled ahead of Northleigh.

“We are now a village divided by a hill and 21st Century internet,” he added.

About 90 homes in Northleigh are still without good broadband connections

Andrea Wood, one villager waiting for full broadband, said the change “just doesn’t make sense” as it would be “duplicating the [Openreach] fibre that is already going right the way around our village”.

CDS is a taxpayer-subsidised programme, supplying rural areas not seen as cost-effective for commercial providers.

It said if it made changes it could undermine the viability and economic value of the contract with Airband, “which was tendered for in good faith”, and could “put at risk broadband delivery to other communities”.

The government-led partnership said Airband was awarded the contract at the end of 2020 “to deliver a full fibre open access network by the end of 2024 to around 40,000 premises in our region, including those in Northleigh not covered by the previous community scheme”.

It said: “Airband will begin design and survey work in the community in January 2023 and build is scheduled to be completed by the end of that year.”

It added that it had put in almost £5,000 to help Northleigh finish Openreach’s initial work and that it had delivered superfast broadband to more than 315,000 homes and businesses across England.

Plans for a £2-per-hour charge at all Sidmouth’s district council-run car parks are being amended to provide one cheaper parking area for short-stay shoppers. 

Philippa Davies http://www.sidmouthherald.co.uk 

It is now proposed that from April 1, fees at the Roxburgh car park will be 75p for 30 minutes and £1.50 per hour, with a maximum stay of two hours. The planned increase will still come into effect at Sidmouth’s other car parks. 

The recommendation will go before an extraordinary consultative meeting of East Devon District Council on Tuesday, March 22. 

The decision to increase parking charges across the district has been criticised widely, with a petition by Sidmouth Chamber of Commerce calling for the rise to be limited to £1.20 per hour. The Conservative group on the district council voted against the budget plan last month because it included the rise in parking fees. 

But leader, Cllr Paul Arnott, said the change of plan was not a U-turn. 

He said: “The last few months of finessing car park charges across East Devon has been intensely hard work. For more than a decade previous administrations ducked this issue, and when they then became the opposition with a duty to complete a charging review, they simply did not finish the work. Therefore, we needed to pick up the baton, and quickly, last December. 

“Cabinet had always intended to ensure that there was a shoppers’ car park in Sidmouth at an hourly rate of £1.50 rather than £2, but in the short time we had before budget setting last month, the detail was still being sense-checked. It had always been our intention for the Roxburgh to be designated at the lower rate and we had open discussions about how we could do this. 

“For the record, this decision, which will need to be agreed at full council, has nothing at all to do with local protests or petitions as we already had it in mind. However, due process meant that we could not announce it before now until after the agenda was published. I have repeatedly said in public and in this newspaper that we have had Sidmouth traders and shoppers uppermost in our thinking, and we are pleased to be able to deliver on that. 

“Finally, I once again commend to local people the extraordinarily good value of our monthly and yearly parking permits, where it is possible to park for under £2.40 a week, as well as our £8 all day charges, and our £2 all day rates between November and March.” 

The chairman of Sidmouth Town Council, Ian Barlow, said: “We criticised (the price rise) because it was going up so much. I thought £1.50 would be a better price, and  obviously it’s better for Sidmouth than £2. We still don’t like it, but it’s better than it was going to be.” 

Honiton’s four new town councillors have expressed delight at winning their seats, and said they are looking forward to making a positive difference in the community. 

Philippa Davies www.midweekherald.co.uk

Lisa Beigan, Jenny Brown, Robert Fowles and Cathy Maunder were all elected to the St Michael’s ward following the poll on Thursday, March 10. 

Two other candidates, John Taylor and Andrew Pearsall, stood but were not successful. 

After the results were announced, Lisa told the Herald: “I am very excited and proud to be voted on to Honiton Town Council. Being a town councillor will allow me to bring fresh ideas and positivity to a town that I know and love.”

“Helping our town recover from the difficulties caused by the recent pandemic are of particular interest to me, I own a restaurant so I have a lot of contact with the public, I therefore have an insight into their thoughts and anxieties. Mental well-being is a important issue, particularly at times like these, I feel it is important that the town council can help restore public confidence, support mental health and create positive experiences.” 

Jenny said: “Since my election to HTC I have been invited to join ‘East Devon Line Forum’ with representatives including Network Rail, South Western Railway and other key stakeholders, with a view to picking up where I left off and demonstrating that the benefits of the railway can also be a unifying, inspiring and positive force at the heart of the community. 

“Not least finally getting a ‘passing loop’ at Whimple, which would permit a twice hourly service to and from Honiton, with the prospects and opportunities that would bring for both work and leisure activities in town.” 

Robert said: “The Town Council has seen much discontinuity in recent times. I look forward to working on selected committee’s and working groups, with councillors existing and new, to bring some stability, as we all endeavour to deliver the improvements identified in the Work Programme for the benefit of all Honiton residents.” 

Cathy said: “I’m looking forward to working with a team of councillors who all have the very best interests of Honiton at heart.  I hope we can work with our younger children, teenagers and supported living community to make Honiton all-inclusive.  A place to make happy memories.” 

The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 in Devon has risen to 292, with a further 37 patients awaiting test results.

Anything to do with going “full ostrich”? – Owl

Exeter City Council news.exeter.gov.uk

That’s double the figure from a fortnight ago and higher than at any other point in the pandemic.  High COVID-19 numbers are having a very significant impact across Devon’s health and care system.

The last time COVID-19 numbers were this high was in January 2021, before most people had the benefit of COVID-19 vaccines.

Four COVID-19 patients are currently in intensive care, far fewer than previously, thanks to the success of the vaccine programme.

However, many people have tested positive for COVID-19 while in hospital for other conditions, this has led to patients who are already vulnerable, becoming more unwell and impacted on the ability to admit other patients.

Ian Currie, Medical Director, Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We currently have more patients with COVID-19 in our hospitals than almost any time during the pandemic. While it is encouraging that the majority of our patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 are in hospital for other conditions and are asymptomatic or experiencing mild symptoms the impact that the presence of COVID-19 has in our hospitals is really significant.

“Under current infection prevention and control guidelines, one patient testing positive for COVID-19 can result in the closure of the whole ward, meaning that beds are unavailable for emergency admissions and for planned operations. This means people waiting longer for treatment in the community and operations being cancelled or postponed and long waits in Emergency Departments for people needing a hospital bed.”

NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group Medical Director, Dr Paul Johnson said, “These incredibly high numbers of patients with COVID-19 has a huge impact on the NHS ability to carry out planned care for patients who have already had long waits due to the pandemic. 

“Our staff are working incredibly hard and doing everything they can to prevent COVID-19 from spreading within hospitals, but it is essential that people support us.  Please do not come in to visit if you feel unwell or have Covid and you must still wear a face covering, unless you are exempt.”

Recorded Covid case rates in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay are around 750 per 100,000, well above the England average of 542 per 100,000. This has led to a sharp increase in the number of staff absence.  Almost 1200 NHS staff are currently off work due to COVID-19.

Devon’s hospitals are not alone in experiencing huge pressure from outbreaks and staff absences.  The situation is mirrored across the entire health and care system.

183 care services, such as care homes and other social care providers currently have Covid outbreaks.  This also adds to the complexity of discharging patients from hospital who need onward care and means people stay in hospital for longer than needed.

Health experts have warned that hospitalisations of people with Covid-19 are rising rapidly in the UK with 1,600 people a day now going into hospital – and it appears that vaccine protection is fading. Infections are also rising rapidly among children.

Never mind April fool’s day will soon be with us. – Owl

Neil Shaw www.devonlive.com 

It comes after the relaxation of Covid rules across the country and with the arrival of a new variant – BA.2 Dr Hilary Jones today told GMB viewers that Covid restrictions may have to return to control the new wave of illness.

And experts in Australia said BA.2 is among the most infectious diseases ever seen – infecting even those who are triple jabbed – and warning that almost everyone will catch it.

Professor Christina Pagel of University College London and a member of Independent SAGE said the latest hospital data showed 1,600 people went into hospital with Vovid on March 13, the latest data available. She said the rate is still increasing and is now 50% higher than two weeks ago.

Prof Pagel said the numbers are going up in all regions, especially the South West and North East, and warned that vaccination protection is fading – especially among older people.

She said: “Hopefully boosters will hold. We’ll see what happens to NHS diagnosis data over the next few weeks. Either way, more Covid in hospitals makes care harder and affects staff absence too. There have been sharp increases in children’s admissions – at the very least this is highlighting yet another surge in Covid in children – the third in 7 months, worst in Jan 2022.

“When are we going to stop assuming previous surges will stop kids getting infected again?

“Each surge comes with more school disruption, more admissions, more Long Covid and more teachers and parents infected (teachers have some of highest rates of Long Covid). Teen vaccination is low and vaccination of 5-11s can’t came soon enough – how many waves do they need to face unprotected?”

Didn’t you love the pictures of a column of Metropolitan police officers running towards Oleg Deripaska’s house like it was a five-storey Greggs? Here they come, trotting with intent, a phalanx of shirt-sleeved, riot-shielded protect-and-servers who may or may not be available inside of six weeks next time your house is burgled.

Marina Hyde www.theguardian.com (Extract)

To recap, four protesters yesterday [Monday] occupied a house in London’s Belgravia that is supposedly owned by the Russian aluminium magnate Deripaska (now on the UK sanctions list). They unfurled some banners inviting Vladimir Putin to fuck himself and so on, before being removed by the largest Met police presence you’ll see outside of a women’s vigil for someone murdered by a Met police officer. Territorial support group, police negotiators, police climbers, riot police … and, my darlinks, one’s rarely seen so much hardware. The only big guns they left back at the station were the surface-to-air questionnaires.

There were at least eight vans and two squad cars, as well as a JCB, for some reason not being driven by Boris Johnson. Surely the prime minister should have just piloted it through the wall of the Belgrave Square house, then emerged from the driver’s cabin for the cameras gurning GET SANCTIONS DONE? Absolutely no sense of occasion…..

Here is a US news clip of the occupation pointing out that they were only following Gove’s instructions!