A new free-to join tourism network has launched to help businesses in East Devon prepare for the busy summer months.

Adam Manning www.exmouthjournal.co.uk

East Devon District Council, (EDDC) has been awarded the contract for the new East Devon Tourism Network (EDTN) to East Devon Excellence.

They hope the new strategy will ‘help businesses share expertise, fight climate change and offer the best product or service to customers.’

The new network is a key part of the East Devon Tourism Strategy, with aspirations for East Devon to become the leading, year-round tourism destination in Devon.

Cllr Nick Hookway, EDDC portfolio holder for tourism, leisure, sport and culture, said: “We are delighted to support this new East Devon-wide tourism network.  All tourism businesses are welcome to join to share ideas, find out about new opportunities and learn from best practice. By supporting the business community improve its offer, it will eventually drive more return visitors and attract new ones.”

The network will bring together key tourism representatives to address common challenges and improve operations with a heightened commitment to quality, showcasing a tourism community that can be a force for good.

The first network event will take place in March and businesses interested in joining the network to attend the event should email  tourismnetwork@eastdevonexcellence.co.uk

John Crouch, chair of East Devon Excellence, said: “We are delighted to deliver this contract to enhance local tourism.

“As a values-driven network with proven commitment to: promoting quality, working towards net zero, improved accessibility and collaboration, it will be a place where valuable information can be exchanged, and relevant opportunities explored to support businesses within the tourism sector.  We have an abundance of high-quality sustainable tourism businesses within an area of outstanding natural beauty that people can enjoy, and businesses should rightly be proud of.”

The network is supported by East Devon District Council and funded by The UK Government Shared Prosperity Fund.

The first network event will take place in March and businesses interested in joining the network to attend the event should email  tourismnetwork@eastdevonexcellence.co.uk. 

‘Ambitious’ plans for Honiton will not impact on people’s purses after the town announced a freeze on council tax to help with the cost-of-living crisis.

East Devon Reporter eastdevonnews.co.uk

The town council said now was the ‘wrong time’ to heap extra burden on households, while announcing no increase on tax for 2023/24.

Honiton Town Council said its 2023/24 budget includes a total charge of £477,979 – which equates to a cost of £112.18 council tax on a Band D property – the same amount payable as in 2022/23.

The council said funds would still be available for recruitment of staff to care for the town’s maintenance, replacing another bus shelter, a new town entrance sign and supporting the market

Honiton’s celebrations for the King’s Coronation, Hot Pennies, Gate to Plate and Charter Day are also set to receive funding from the town council this year.

Councillor Serena Sexton, Honiton Town Council chairman, said: “Now would be the wrong time to increase household bills so the town council tax will not increase.”

The town council announcement to keep costs the same comes after members voted for a freeze at its January meeting.

It said the town could still expect council investment totalling thousands of pounds to benefit groups local to Honiton.

Although town charges are frozen for the next year, council tax could rise in Honiton if the district and county councils, police and fire service demand extra cash for services.

A Honiton Town Council spokeswoman said: “The town council recognises the burden of increasing household bills.

“So not to burden people with even more costs it decided 17 January 2023 not to increase its council tax for 2023/24.”

They added: “The budget reflects the public consultation December 2022.

“Nevertheless, the town council has an ambitious programme of work for the year including recruitment of staff to care for the town’s maintenance, replacing another bus shelter, new town entrance sign and supporting the market.”

The spokeswoman said: “The town council continues to support an active programme of events in Honiton during the year including the King’s Coronation, Hot Pennies, Gate to Plate and Charter Day.

“The town council plans a budget of £42,000 grant aid to local organisations.”

There are 3,791 Band D equivalent properties in Honiton, the town council said.

Households in England and Wales will see the largest increase to their water bills in almost 20 years from April when they rise to an average £448 a year. Industry body Water UK said the 7.5% increase would see customers pay around £1.23 per day on average – an increase of 8p per day or an average £31 more on last year’s charges.

[Average household water & sewerage bill in England and Wales 2020-2023, by company. South West Water customers had the highest annual combined water and sewerage bill in England and Wales for the year ended March 2022, at £503..29 Jul 2022]

Nathan Russell www.walesonline.co.uk

Consumer groups warned the rise could prove the tipping point for the one in five customers already struggling to pay. But Water UK argued that water bills remained lower in real terms than they were a decade ago and said this year’s increase reflected higher energy costs, with water firms using around 2% of the nation’s electricity.

Firms were set to invest a further £70 billion to “eliminate harm” from storm overflows and increase water supplies by building new reservoirs and national water transfer schemes, it said, adding that they were “acutely aware of the impact of price rises on lower income and vulnerable customers” and had recently increased the level of support they offered by more than £200 million.

Water UK director of policy Stuart Colville said: “With an average increase of around 60p a week, most customers will again see a below-inflation increase in their water bill. However, we know that any increase is unwelcome, particularly at the moment.

“That is why companies are also releasing an extra £200 million to help those that may be struggling. Anyone with worries should contact their water company or go to supportontap.org for advice, and it’s worth remembering that water companies will never cut anyone off, or make them use a prepayment meter.

“Next year’s bills will support what is already the highest level of investment on record, with a further £70 billion set to be spent over coming years on building new reservoirs and ending overflows into rivers.”

The Consumer Council for Water (CCW) said regional variations and factors such as whether a customer is metered and how much water they use meant some households could face rises significantly above – or below – the average. And it said the postcode lottery of social tariff schemes meant many customers who cannot afford their bill “slip through the net”.

CCW chief executive Emma Clancy said: “Water is essential for all of us so no-one should be worried about being able to afford their bill. These increases will bring more uncertainty to struggling households at a time when they can’t be certain they will get the help they need. Low-income households need immediate relief and the long-term security of knowing their water bill will be affordable.

“It’s not fair that struggling households face a postcode lottery when it comes to getting help with their bill – that’s why we urgently need a new water affordability scheme that provides consistent support based on people’s needs.”

Jess Cook, water poverty lead at National Energy Action (NEA), said: “Social tariffs are essential for low-income households. Discounted water bills for those struggling to pay can stop the most vulnerable from cutting back or running up debt when they can ill afford to do so. But the current postcode lottery means where you live affects what you pay and what support you receive, and the Secretary of State, Therese Coffey, has suggested that fixing this is not one of her top priorities.

“With water bills rising 7.5% on average during this cost-of-living crisis, it’s more vital than ever that access to a social tariff should be made fairer, more consistent, and accessible to everyone who needs it, regardless of where they live.”

Ofwat chief executive David Black said: “We know times are tough and customers who are already struggling will be worried if they see their water bill increase, so companies should be doubling down to support those who need a helping hand. Kind words don’t mean anything unless they are backed up by action, which is why we were pleased to see the recent increase in support.”

But will the sewage system in the area cope? – Owl

An area just off the A30 close to Exeter Science Park will soon have 44 new homes and 6,000 metres of office space. East Devon District Council’s planning committee gave approval to the two schemes when they met on Tuesday.

Daniel Clark www.devonlive.com

One scheme will see the office space built on land to the east of Anning Road/ Tithebarn Way, close to Junction 29 of the M5. The second will see the demolition of existing dwelling and outbuildings, in the nearby hamlet of Blackhouse for the construction of 44 homes, 22 of which will be affordable.

Both applications were recommended for approval by council officers at Tuesday’s meeting. Councillors backed both schemes.

Cllr Richard Lawrence (Conservative, Whimple and Rockbeare) backed the proposal for new housing. “What a refreshing application,” he said. “Fifty per cent affordable housing, a village green. I don’t know what else they can do to make this application better.”

But Cllr Mike Howe (Conservative, Clyst Valley) highlighted the sewage issues residents have been experiencing. He warned that, despite the quality of the application, it will only make that problem worse.

“Sewage treatment plants and the sewage stream run right into the River Clyst, and consequently right into the River Exe,” he explained, before calling on South West Water to help reduce the sewage in the area.

“South West Water are sticking their head in the sand and not doing their duty,” added Cllr Howe. “It is quite simple. We have factual evidence of sewage outflows into streets, blocking people’s toilets for weeks on end when they can’t have any facilities in the house to the extent where we have people with porta-potties now.”

Housing plans for Blackhorse

Cllr Steve Gazzard backed Cllr Howe and asked: “Can they [South West Water] pull their fingers out and come back with some way that they’re going to try and resolve the situation for residents?”

Cllr Olly Davey (Green, Exmouth Town) also supported the application, but wanted future plans to feature more traffic control measures.

“Village greens were not designed for large amounts of traffic,” said Cllr Davey. “And knowing the frequency with which people use motor vehicles, I suspect that at any given moment, there’s going to be a car moving around this site.

“Any traffic coming in off the A30 is going to travel up all the way past that green and park at the top. The amenity of the green is very much reduced by having traffic going past it. I’m not against this development, but I do feel that in future, we should be designing in low-traffic neighbourhoods.”

Both developments, for the housing and commercial properties, were approved.

Looks like many people will be turned away from voting in person in May. Does ID apply to postal votes?

A backwards step for democracy. – Owl

Peter Walker www.theguardian.com 

Only about 10,000 people in Great Britain have applied for a government-issued voter ID since the scheme opened, just 0.5% of the total who might need the document, the Guardian has learned.

The slow take-up, which could leave hundreds of thousands of people disfranchised at local elections in England on 4 May, will add to worries that the scheme is being rushed through and could cause chaos.

Subsequently, under the new scheme photo ID will need to be shown in England, Scotland and Wales for all parliamentary elections, and for police and crime commissioner elections in England and Wales. Northern Ireland has a longstanding voter ID system, introduced owing to historic electoral abuse by sectarian groups.

As of last Friday, just over 10,000 people had used a central government portal to apply for one of the certificates, which are then issued for free by local councils, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities told election officials in a briefing on Tuesday.

This covered the first fortnight of the scheme to issue the so-called voter authority certificates, a period that included a major advertising campaign by the Electoral Commission to inform people about the new voting rules.

According to earlier government research, close to 2 million voters do not possess photo ID that has a recognisable picture of them, as is required under the new law. At the current rate it would take eight years to issue the documents to all those who could need them.

While the Electoral Commission has pledged to push ahead with public information efforts, the very low initial number suggests large numbers of people are ignorant about the new voting system and could be turned away from polling stations in the English local elections.

The Electoral Commission has previously written to the government saying the timetable meant the local elections could not be conducted in a “fully secure, accessible and workable” manner.

A 2021 study by the Electoral Commission found that the proportion of potential voters without usable ID was especially low among more disadvantaged groups, such as 11% for those who were unemployed, and 8% among people with a disability.

Alex Norris, the shadow minister for elections, said the rollout of the scheme was a “complete and utter shambles and reeks of government incompetence”. He added: “Not only is the Tory voter ID plan completely unworkable, it is unnecessary and set to lock millions of people out of voting.

“The Conservatives have got their priorities all wrong. During a cost of living crisis when people are struggling to make ends meet, it is an outrage that they would rather spend money on disenfranchising them.”

An Electoral Commission spokesperson said the initial statistics showed it was “encouraging that people are already aware of the voter authority certificate and are applying early”.

They added: “The commission is working closely with civil society organisations and local authorities to build awareness and support those more likely to need the free ID. The deadline for applying for free ID ahead of the May elections in England is 25 April, so there is still plenty of time, but we’re encouraging voters to check now if they need it so they can apply in good time.”

A government spokesperson said that the “vast majority of eligible voters” already had accepted ID, and that those without had until 25 April to apply. They added: “We are pleased that so many people have applied within the first two weeks and will continue to work with the Electoral Commission to ensure all voters are aware of the new requirement.”

Looks suspiciously like a rehash of old policies and unfunded new ones from a government whose approach to regulation is instinctively “light touch”. There are many reports with very mixed views. – Owl

Ministers have pledged that everyone will live no more than a 15 minute walk from a green space or water as part of a five-year environmental plan.

Sami Quadri www.standard.co.uk

The Government will also crack down on leaky lavatories and “confusing dual flush buttons” in a bid to meet targets for water, air and land.

Councils will be challenged to improve air quality more quickly and tackle major pollution hotspots. There is also a pledge to transform the management of 70 per cent of the countryside by incentivising farmers to adopt nature-friendly practices.

Environment Secretary Therese Coffey is set to unveil the measures on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said protecting the environment was “fundamental to the health, economy and prosperity of our country”.

He added: “This plan provides the blueprint for how we will deliver our commitment to leave our environment in a better state than we found it, making sure we drive forward progress with renewed ambition and achieve our target of not just halting, but reversing the decline of nature.”

Ms Coffey said: “Nature is vital for our survival, crucial to our food security, clean air, and clean water as well as health and well-being benefits.

“We have already started the journey and we have seen improvements.

“We are transforming financial support for farmers and landowners to prioritise improving the environment, we are stepping up on tree planting, we have cleaner air, we have put a spotlight on water quality and rivers and are forcing industry to clean up its act. ”

However, environmentalists have condemned the plan as a “road map to the cliff edge”.

Dr Doug Parr, of Greenpeace UK, said: “If this is a road map, it’s a road map to the cliff edge.

“Here’s yet more paperwork containing a threadbare patchwork of policies that fail to tackle many of the real threats to our natural world. This won’t do.

“Ministers want to crack down on dual flush toilets while letting water firms pump tonnes of raw sewage into our rivers and seas.

“Until we see immediate action (from) this Parliament to ban industrial fishing in all our marine protected areas, reduce industrial meat and dairy farming and ramp up protections across a bigger network of national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty, we’re in real danger of UK nature going into freefall.”

Paul de Zylva, of Friends of the Earth, said that “on closer inspection it seems that many (of the measures) are just rehashed commitments the government is already late on delivering – and it’s unclear how others, such as ensuring everyone can live within a 15 minute walk of green space, will actually be met”.

He said: “There’s also a big emphasis on improving air quality which is completely at odds with the government’s £27bn road building agenda, raising serious questions over whether councils are being set up to fail.”

The plan includes a multi-million pound Species Survival Fund to protect rare species, from hedgehogs to red squirrels, is promised along with a pledge that Government support schemes will help 65 to 80 per cent of landowners and farmers to adopt nature friendly farming practices on at least 10 to 15 per cent of their land by 2030.

They are also to be helped to create or restore 30,000 miles of hedgerows a year by 2037 and 45,000 miles of hedgerows a year by 2050.

The restoration of 400 miles of river through the first round of Landscape Recovery projects and establishing 3,000 hectares of new woodlands along England’s rivers is also promised.

Species decline over past 50 years graphically illustrated (from BBC)

People in Devon and Cornwall will see their council tax bill rise to provide extra money for the region’s police force. 

Remember about 12% of your council tax goes on the police, 7% on EDDC and 4% on town and parish.

Ms Hernandez has now raised the police precept five times since her first budget in 2017/18, the maximum permitted.

She is keeping a low profile so no selfie to share with you today. – Owl

Philip Churm, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk

Friday’s decision by the Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Panel means a six per cent increase and will add £15 per year to the contribution from band D properties. 

Police and crime commissioner Alison Hernandez said the cash will provide the police with a revenue budget of £384 million covering 3,600 officers and will ensure 23 front desks are open at police stations. 

The increased budget comes as the latest Office of National Statistics (ONS) figures show crime rose by 10.6 per cent in Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly during the 12 months to September 2022.  However, the figure is lower than the nation figure of 12.3 per cent. 

In outlining the budget for 2023/24 Ms Hernandaz said consultations had shown “70 per cent of people agree that investment should be made to open more police stations to the public.

“86 per cent of respondents said they would like to use police stations as locations to report crime and 65 per cent said they would like to share information with the police about what’s going on in their communities.”   

Amid the ongoing inquest into the Keyham murders, the commissioner also outlined plans for £600,000 to improve checks for firearms’ licences in the region.  Devon and Cornwall currently has the highest number of legally held firearms in Great Britain. 

Members of the panel debated whether hard-pressed council taxpayers should always be responsible for funding the force’s operations in future.   

Conservative councillor in Cornwall, Martyn Alvey, said proposed measures in his area might be an example to follow. 

“We’ve already made a commitment to double council tax on the second homes, provided the legislation is in place,” he said. 

But Liberal Democrat councillor in Teignbridge, Alistair Dewhirst, insisted the lower-than-inflation increase in funding would still hit many people. 

He said: “This £15 increase is a massive dent in poor families’ budgets in my district and clearly it’s a day’s food for a family, and we would want to see real value for it.”

Labour councillor in Plymouth, Zoe Reilly, asked what the extra money would mean, particularly for women the city, with increased concerns following Keyham.  Cllr Reilly, who is also a caseworker for women affected by violence, suggested confidence in the police could be better.  

“Given the current situation, and misconduct publicly, particularly for women’s safety in Plymouth, I know that reporting crime for sexual abuse, sexual assault etc., isn’t actually considered to be that great.” 

However, the commissioner insisted the support services funded by the police were crucial in giving victims confidence. 

“One of the things that my office does is it funds those services for those women, children and men to access,” she said. “They don’t even have to go to the police if they’re too frightened, not confident, however they may feel they can go direct to Victim Support.

“And that service is one of the most empowering services that any victim of domestic violence can have because they can help you and support you through the reporting process.” 

The 2023/24 police budget and the precept [the money for the police service], was approved by the panel.

Ms Hernandez has now raised the police precept five times since her first budget in 2017/18, the maximum permitted.

In other debates, following concerns raised at the panel last November about the length of time people were waiting for the police to answer 999 and 101 calls, the commissioner said there had been considerable improvement and 90 per cent of emergency calls were now picked up within 10 seconds.

Campaigners are intervening to prevent new houses being occupied in several areas of England until sewage treatment works are upgraded to cope.

Meanwhile Owl has received reports that SWW have taken over a large part of the lime kiln car park in Budleigh Salterton in order to drill a new sewer outlet pipe under the Otter. The purpose is to replace the original Victorian pipe and give raw sewage discharge into the sea at the Otter Head a new lease of life.  Does this count as “upgrading sewage treatment”?

Sandra Laville www.theguardian.com 

In Oxfordshire, the Cotswolds and in Cumbria, the failure of water companies to invest in sewage infrastructure means new homes would just add more sewage into treatment works that are at or beyond capacity, and increase pollution into rivers, they say.

The move comes as the regulator Ofwat continues its investigation into water companies for what it says are shocking failures in the way they run their treatment works and for potentially illegal dumping of raw sewage.

Charlie Maynard, a Liberal democrat councillor on West Oxfordshire district council, said: “The sewage treatment infrastructure owned by Thames Water is just not there to support existing housing let alone new developments.

“We have to do something, but at the moment there isn’t any serious plan nationally as to what we are going to do about this massive underinvestment by water companies in sewage treatment works.

“For 30 years there have been wonderful dividends for investors from water companies, but these dividends should have been invested in our sewage systems.”

As a result of pressure from Windrush Against Sewage Pollution (Wasp), councillors in West Oxfordshire have pushed for so-called Grampian conditions on developments, which state that they must not be occupied until Thames Water has invested to upgrade sewage treatment works to cope. A Grampian condition means a restriction is placed on a development until certain conditions have been met.

Thames Water has included a condition on the development of 150 new homes in Long Hanborough to state no development should be occupied until confirmation that all sewage work upgrades required are completed or there is a phasing plan agreed to allow the development to be occupied.

Another 40 homes in North Leigh will have a similar Grampian condition, which states that they must not be occupied until the Church Hanborough sewage treatment works is upgraded to cope.

The West Oxfordshire area has a government target to build more than 10,450 new homes by 2031. But Maynard said the sewage infrastructure was a “wasteland” – treatment works were unable to cope with the current population, and pipe networks desperately needed investment to stop groundwater ingressing into the system and further overloading it.

In Cumbria, local conservationist Matt Staniek is calling for a Grampian condition to be imposed to stop the occupancy of 40 new homes at Loughrigg until Ambleside sewage treatment works has been upgraded.

Staniek, who set up the Save Windermere campaign, argues the lake could become ecologically dead because of the amount of sewage being pumped into it.

Staniek said in his submission to the Lake District national park that without the upgrade of Ambleside treatment works to make sure it is operating legally within its environmental permit, granting consent for the development would endorse its intermittently illegal operation and increase the spilling of untreated and poorly treated sewage into the lake.

“In the last few years, I have observed the sharp and sudden degradation of our rivers and our lake,” said Staniek. “With dead fish floating in the lake, tributaries and algal blooms suffocating Windermere, it’s hard to ignore.

“I believe that the biggest contributor to the current decline of Windermere is the water company United Utilities, who service the local area.”

In 2021, there were more than 5,000 hours of raw sewage discharged from United Utilities’ wastewater treatment works into the Windermere catchment, according to data submitted by the water company to the Environment Agency.

Lake Windermere is judged to be at only moderate ecological status under the Water Framework directive, which measures pollution. Significant phosphate pollution from sewage discharges is cited as the reason for not achieving good status.

“The impact of this is being felt across Cumbria – from the businesses that rely on the tourism that our lakes and rivers encourage to the health implications that swimming in polluted water has on those seeking to use it,” said Staniek.

Ashley Smith from Wasp, which has made 13 submissions regarding sewage capacity and new developments in West Oxfordshire and the Cotswolds, said: “The idea that new housing is routinely nodded through to join inadequate sewage works by planners and water companies will shock most people.

“That some of those works will even be operating illegally yet ignored by all of the authorities supposedly acting in the public interest is a step too far and that is why Wasp is working with local councillors to end this money-making scam on the public.

“We are not aiming to hold up housing – we are aiming to force water companies to spend money when they should, not hang on to it for years after it was due.”

A Thames Water spokesperson said: “Over the last five years we have requested planning conditions for waste networks and/or waste treatment at 27 sites in West Oxfordshire. In addition, we are currently reviewing our advice on a small number of additional sites, at the council’s request.”

A United Utilities spokesperson said: “In 2020 we completed a multimillion pound upgrade at Ambleside WwTW [wastewater treatment works] which has raised the standard of treatment and ensures it has the capacity for growth from development and tourism up until 2036.”

The government becomes a laughing stock. – Owl

Pranksters erect ‘blue plaque’ commemorating Rishi Sunak’s seatbelt fine

Andy Gregory www.independent.co.uk

Pranksters have stuck a fake commemorative “blue plaque” to a lamppost on the street where Rishi Sunak was fined for not wearing a seatbelt.

The prime minister was reprimanded by police earlier this month after posting a promotional video to Instagram which inadvertently showed him failing to abide by the rules of the road.

A sticker intended to replicate the English Heritage-style plates has now appeared on Squires Gate Lane in Blackpool, which is on the route taken by Mr Sunak at the time of the infraction.

The ‘blue plaque’ commemorating Rishi Sunak’s Fixed Penalty Notice (Blackpool Gazette / SWNS)

It reads: “Rishi Sunak 19-1-2023. Received a fixed penalty notice for being filmed passing this spot in a car whilst not wearing a seatbelt.”

The clip went viral shortly after it was posted to Mr Sunak’s social media account, as viewers noticed Mr Sunak was missing his seatbelt while discussing the government’s levelling up programme in the back seat of a moving car en route to Morecambe.

Lancashire Police announced the day after the video was released that he would be fined.

It is the second fixed penalty notice Mr Sunak is known to have received while in office, having previously been fined while serving as chancellor alongside predecessor Boris Johnson over their attendance at a gathering in Downing Street which violated lockdown rules.

A Labour spokesperson said at the time: “Hapless Rishi Sunak’s levelling-up photo op has blown up in his face and turned him into a laughing stock.”

Downing Street said that Mr Sunak “fully accepts this was a mistake and has apologised”, with a No 10 spokesperson adding: “He will of course comply with the fixed penalty.”

English Heritage blue plaques are typically used to commemorate the birthplaces and residents of famous people and achievements throughout history.

Additional reporting by SWNS