If you look very carefully at the David Reed selection photo you can see it is quite literally a stitch up! How else might they explain the two images of ex Tory MP and Whip Tim Wood occupying adjacent spaces? (yellow tie and light grey suit about 1/3rd in from left) . Stitching up might explain Angie’s question about Humphreys single leg.
With such low numbers gathered, a good few of whom are recent election losers or quitters, no wonder there doesn’t seem to be a single smile amongst them. If anything, one looks to have nodded off!
There is undeniably a housing crisis but it isn’t just a simple question of building for building’s sake.
We need the right sort of building in the right place.
From the Office for National Statistics:
There were 24,782,800 households in England and Wales on Census Day; the number of households increased by more than 1.4 million since 2011 (6.1%), when there were 23,366,044 households.
In 2021, there were 26.4 million dwellings in England and Wales, which has increased by 8.4% since 2011 (24.4 million dwellings) [an increase of 2.0 million]. This breaks down to 24.9 million dwellings in England and 1.5 million dwellings in Wales, which have increased from 23.0 million and 1.4 million dwellings respectively in 2011.
So, was EDDC right to pull out of Exeter Masterplan (GESP)? You bet! – Owl
Inner-city areas will be the focus of new housebuilding projects, Rishi Sunak has announced, in a move designed to signal sympathy with those struggling to get on the property ladder but avoid a backlash from Tory MPs.
The prime minister promised not to “concrete over the countryside”, before a speech by the housing secretary, Michael Gove, who will set out changes on Monday to help homeowners extend their properties and streamline the planning process.
A new “super squad” of planners and other experts will be established, tasked with unblocking major housing developments.
Amid concerns that a lack of housebuilding is holding back economic growth and making younger voters less likely to support the Conservatives, Sunak said he was confident the 2019 Conservative manifesto pledge to build 1 million homes over the course of the parliament would be met.
Top of the priority list for development is a new urban quarter in Cambridge, with space for homes, art facilities, laboratories and green areas.
Sunak said progress had made been made but that “we need to keep going because we want more people to realise the dream of owning their own home”.
He added: “We won’t do that by concreting over the countryside – our plan is to build the right homes where there is the most need and where there is local support, in the heart of Britain’s great cities.
“Our reforms today will help make that a reality by regenerating disused brownfield land, streamlining the planning process and helping homeowners to renovate and extend their houses outwards and upwards.”
Stuart Baillie, the of planning at property firm Knight Frank, said the move was “unlikely to have meaningful impact on housing supply” and would only create hundreds of new homes instead of the thousands needed.
He added: “This policy will only paper over the cracks, instead of getting to the heart of the issue facing the UK’s overburdened and under-resourced planning system. In many instances, residential amenity would be compromised by a town centre location – particularly ground floor retail – meaning conversion or redevelopment would be limited to fringe and out-of-town areas.”
The announcement comes only two weeks after a cross-party committee ruled ministers were unlikely to meet the government’s pledge of building 300,000 new homes a year. That target was made advisory rather than mandatory by Sunak last year, in an attempt to see off a potential backbench rebellion.
Clive Betts, the chair of the levelling up, housing and communities select committee, said the prime minister’s decision was “already having a damaging impact on efforts to increase the building of new homes”.
On Monday, while Sunak is on a visit to the West Midlands, Gove will deliver a speech in London and promise to cut red tape. The changes will allow more shops and takeaways to be converted into houses, and are aimed at making it simpler for existing homes to be extended.
To unblock bottlenecks in the planning system, Gove will announce an intention to invest £24m in a planning skills delivery fund. In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, the housing secretary said the proposals would start with Cambridge before spurring the creation of new homes in cities such as Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool.
Labour accused Gove and Sunak of exacerbating the housing crisis.
Lisa Nandy, the shadow housing secretary, said it had “gone from bad to worse on [the Conservatives’] watch” and that housebuilding was on course to hit its lowest rate since the second world war. She promised Labour would restore housing targets, change compulsory purchase rules and “take the tough choices to back the builders, not the blockers”.
Shaun Davies, the chair of the Local Government Association, said new homes were much needed but such places as shops, offices and barns were not always suitable for conversion.
“Further expanding permitted development rights risks creating poor quality residential environments that negatively impact people’s health and wellbeing, as well as a lack of affordable housing or suitable infrastructure,” he said.
David Reed, the Tory hopeful for the new constituency of Exmouth & East Exeter, chose to be photographed with Philip Skinner for the first post on his facebook page, following selection.
An “interesting” choice, given Phil’s record.
Are the Tories so demoralised that they couldn’t field a more significant “personality” to witness the selection? A County councillor, for example?
Party members at the selection meeting look from the photos to be thin on the ground, compared to 2019. It’s also a very low key event. (See images below).
Phil Skinner, former Tory group leader in EDDC, was rejected in May by the electorate in a straight fight with Lib Dem Cllr Richard Jeffries.
He had been a councillor for 24 years. One of the leading proponents of the pro-development “build, build, build” policy of the “Old Guard”, leading on the ill fated Exmouth Seafront “regeneration” taking little note of local opposition, and acting as the EDDC lead on the Greater Exeter Strategic Plan (GESP).
“Chapter and verse” on his record and exploits can be found by searching the copious East Devon Watch archive.
Phil was notoriously sacked by Sarah Randall Johnson in 2011 after sending her a “cheeky” Christmas Card. (He signed off: XX Phil – See below)
Owl wonders whether David Reed, apart from his time as a Royal Marine, has any real connection or “feel” for Exmouth.
In the May local elections he was active in his support for Pauline Stott and Richard Parr.
Stott and Parr’s joint campaign, claiming that the pair will be “standing up for our environment” if elected and will “protect our seas and rivers”, reached the national news when it was revealed that Parr had paid £82,000 to a local environmental group after being found guilty of running an unpermitted landfill site on his farm, and running mate Pauline said “I don’t even know him”!
A COUNCILLOR has been sacked from his role as Rural Champion at East Devon District Council after he offended the authority’s leader with comments he wrote in a Christmas card.
Conservative Philip Skinner, who represents the Talaton area, sent the card to Sara Randall Johnson and headed it “My greatest adversary”.
He went on to write: “The rest I can demolish in my sleep, but you are in a class of your own.
“Despite our forever on-going spats, that I and I’m sure you enjoy, I do have a huge amount of respect for you.
“Roll on February.
“Hope you are well. Don’t take the world on, on your own, it’s not worth the personal cost.
“It’s business not personal.”
Councillor Skinner ended the letter with two kisses and two footnotes, the last of which stated: “If only things had turned out different, we’d have made one hell of a team.”
Councillor Randall Johnson informed councillors of her decision to sack Councillor Skinner in an email sent out on New Year’s Day.
She wrote: “I wanted you to know that I have reluctantly had to take the Rural Champion position away from Philip Skinner. We met on Thursday afternoon when I hoped he would have taken the honourable route, but he declined.
“The reason for doing this lay in a disagreement over a message he sent in a Christmas card. I was disappointed and concerned at its tone towards members of the council.
“Being called “my biggest adversary” is something I can well shoulder, but I am not prepared for all members to be so summarily dismissed. This is not tolerable and why I felt it necessary to take such a drastic step.”
Councillor Skinner declined to comment when The Herald contacted him.
Woodstock West Hill Road West Hill Devon EX11 1TYRef. No: 23/1548/TRE | Validated: Fri 14 Jul 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
East Devon Watch 