Dangerous metal poles embedded in the sand of Jacob’s Ladder beach have been removed after photos of the hazard were shared on social media.

Philippa Davies www.sidmouthherald.co.uk 

The poles were sticking out of the sand below the waterline, posing a danger to swimmers.

It’s not clear how they got there, but they were close to the walkway where scaffolding is in place for East Devon District Council’s work to improve the sea defences.

During last weekend (June 10 and 11) local tree surgeons Devon Arborists posted

the pictures in the Facebook group Sidmouth Community for the People, warning people to take care.

People reacted with shock and concern, with one person describing the embedded poles as ‘a horrible accident waiting to happen, especially when the tide is in and you can’t see them’.

The Herald contacted the council on Monday, June 12, and was told that its contractors have now removed the poles.

A spokesperson said: “We are monitoring the site and will remove any further pieces of metal as they come to light. 

“While we try to make sure that our beaches are as safe as possible, it is important to remember that the coast is a constantly changing environment and no area can ever by guaranteed to be entirely free of hazards. 

“We would strongly encourage beachgoers not to dive or jump into any area of water without first checking for hazards and the depth of the water.  For more beach safety advice, follow this link: https://rnli.org/safety/beach-safety”

Everyday that Boris Jonson leads the headlines on the news is a good day for opposition parties. 

That’s all yo need to know for the week!

Oh and then there will be Fizzy Lizzy’s “Honours” list to savour! – Owl

[The honours system recognises people who have:

• made achievements in public life
• committed themselves to serving and helping Britain

They’ll usually have made life better for other people or be outstanding at what they do.]

Paul Arnott www.exmouthjournal.co.uk

Readers may have seen that East Devon District Council is setting up a new drive to support the amazing work of volunteers across East Devon, using funds from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Often such schemes are loaded with acronyms which stand in the way of understanding what is really being facilitated. Who amongst us really knows what the VCSE sector is? The answer: the wonderful groups leading work in the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise area.

The best way to illustrate it is to look at the well-established work of the agency EDDC is partnering with to deliver the scheme, Devon Communities Together (DCT), whose website at http://www.devoncommunities.org.uk tells their story.

In essence, DCT tries to identify gaps in our response to making Devon communities sustainable, in an area where there are often hidden semi-rural and rural problems in small communities. This can be anything from advice for people trapped using oil for heating in the current crisis to advising on grant funding for emergency planning. Having seen the terrible effect of flash flooding in Newton Poppleford and Tipton St John recently, it is clear that many communities in East Devon do not have a resilience plan in place.

In other areas of their work, DCT encourage small business start-ups facing Devon-specific challenges, and were advisers to village halls and community centres last winter as they strove to provide warm hubs. They have also been a central agency recently supporting the organisation of the redistribution of surplus food to individuals, households and groups in order to reduce food waste, feed people and build community capacity and resilience.

It is completely pointless to get political about why this work is more crucial now than ever. You are a very lucky person indeed if you do not now personally know someone struggling with soaring mortgage interest rates, private rental charges or food inflation around essentials. What matters now is less about blaming the government and more about seeing how we can collectively respond.

Unfortunately, there is also worrying local news which I discovered on Monday this week is far from unique when I was told of a Hilton Hotel near Bristol Airport that has been housing migrants awaiting the processing of their applications for leave to remain in the UK for many years. My source was a Somerset-based chef and volunteer who was appalled that the residents in the hotel have no access to proper cooking facilities.

I was stupefied to hear about this, because that is precisely the problem recently reported by residents and professional and volunteer visitors to the hotel near Exeter Airport which is being run along exactly the same lines. Marooned miles from a shop, with little cash in hand, the residents have been rendered dependant on ready meals driven down the M5 from as far away as Birmingham.

I have heard convincing worries from educational professionals who deal with the children of these families – by basically feeding them at schools with no extra government support – that malnutrition is becoming an evident problem. Malnutrition.

Socially the effect is completely demoralising. Both the Bristol hotel and Exeter hotels have professional kitchens, yet residents are lucky to get access to a microwave. Cooking binds families together as much abroad as it does here.

This time I will get political. Government through the Home Office has turned its back on all of this, leaving private companies, a melange of local authorities and the unfortunate residents to muddle through.

I cannot unhear what I have heard. This is now a major Safeguarding issue, and I’m sending up the distress flare. Action, please, central government. Now. I’m pretty sure volunteers would come forward in their dozens to help supervise access to the kitchens.

So Simon Jupp, the chicken-run Tory MP for Exmouth who’s now standing for the new Honiton & Sidmouth constituency, is trying to counter Richard Foord’s pledge to support community hospitals. He’s done a photo-op outside Sidmouth Community Hospital- the only one in the new constituency that hasn’t had its beds ripped out by the Tories. Funny he didn’t come to Seaton, Axminster, Honiton or Ottery St Mary, isn’t it? – Martin Shaw seatonmatters.org 

‘I will always fight to protect our local NHS’

Simon Jupp, MP www.exmouthjournal.co.uk  (and other local news papers)

For many, going to the local GP surgery is the front door to our NHS.

The latest figures show GPs are seeing on average 20 additional patients every working day compared to before the pandemic.

More staff than ever are working tirelessly to deliver that. Numbers are up by a quarter since 2019.

And more money is going into primary care than ever before. Funding is up by a fifth compared to seven years ago, even when taking inflation into account.

But we should be honest that the pandemic placed unprecedented pressures on healthcare services which led to treatment delays.

One of the Prime Minister’s priorities is to cut NHS waiting lists. And rightly so.

By the end of the year, patients who need prescription medication will be able to get it directly from a pharmacy, without a GP appointment, for things like earache, sore throat, and other infections.

By expanding the role of pharmacies with a £645 million investment over two years, fewer people will need to see their GP by default – freeing up appointments and lessening the ‘8am rush’ to get one.

We should also acknowledge that some pharmacies in East Devon are stretched. In Parliament, I’ve pressed Ministers to get funding to our pharmacies as quickly as possible. I visited Morton’s Pharmacy in Axminster last week and I’ll be relaying the feeling from the front line in my regular discussions with Health Ministers.

Money is going in to tackle NHS waiting lists at our hospitals. The multi-million-pound Exeter Nightingale Hospital has been kept open to help diagnose conditions and take pressure off the RD&E.

In Exmouth, I had the pleasure of visiting the hospital recently to see the £1.5 million for refurbishment that’s come from public funding and the hospital’s League of Friends. In Sidmouth, £353,000 of capital investment has been spent to improve facilities in the last year. 

These investments acknowledge the key role that community hospitals like Sidmouth, Exmouth, Ottery St Mary, Seaton, Axminster & Honiton play in caring for people closer to their homes. I will always fight to protect our local NHS.

“The Environment Agency (EA) declared in 2015 that there is a ‘risk to life’ of the children attending the hub and that it must be rebuilt outside of the flood zone.

However, a  £3.5million bid to the Priority Schools Building Programme was rejected in the same year.“

The upcoming election focusses minds! – Owl

Senior government officials will visit Tipton St John to help speed up plans for a site to be found for a new school, following recent flash flooding which led to the evacuation of Tipton St John Primary School.

Radio Exe News www.radioexe.co.uk

After Simon Jupp MP held an urgent meeting with Education Minister Baroness Barran in the days after the flooding, Department for Education officials will be visiting prospective sites in the coming weeks to consider appropriate locations for the new school.

The village of Tipton St John was severely impacted when intense rainfall of up to 130mm fell across a few hours, leading to the evacuation of children and staff from the local primary school who had to be rescued by the fire service.

Working with the Department for Education, Diocese of Exeter, Devon County Council and the local school leadership team, East Devon’s MP has called for a new school to be built in a safe location as soon as possible. In December, the Department for Education confirmed funding would come from the School Rebuilding Programme to build a new school to replace Tipton St John Primary.

Today in Parliament, Simon Jupp MP called for building work to be prioritised to protect pupils and staff and has secured a further meeting with Ministers.

Simon Jupp, MP for East Devon, said; “Children and staff had to be rescued by the fire service after Tipton St John Primary School flooded recently, and it’s clear action is needed now more than ever. Since being elected, I’ve raised the school’s situation in Parliament, regularly met with Ministers at the Department for Education, visited the school many times, and worked with the Diocese of Exeter and Devon County Council to secure its long-term future. Last December, I was pleased to confirm the government would fund the building of a new school. Since then, work to assess every possible option to keep the school in the village has continued and I’m looking forward to welcoming senior government officials to Tipton St John in the coming weeks. I’ll continue to press for the urgent relocation of the school as the safety of children and staff must come first.”

Nick Gibb MP, Minister of State for Schools, said in Parliament today; “I was sorry to hear about the flash flooding and the impact that this has had on the school and the local community. Tipton St John Primary School was selected for the School Rebuilding Programme in December which will ensure a long-term solution for the school, protecting children and staff from flooding in the future. Officials are working with the Diocese of Exeter, Devon County Council, and my Honourable Friend to identify and secure a new site for the school, and I thank him for his support to help make this happen as quickly as possible.”