Owl, I would be grateful if you would publish this comment as an article as I feel that this is so important and the more who see it the better.
Barns in AONBs will also be included in this nonsensical proposition, and remember that two thirds of East Devon land is covered by AONBs.
We need social housing here, but how many farmers will convert barns for that purpose?
Another thought. Where do a majority of our bat population live? Barns of course.
I can see the bats in East Devon following the fate of those of “The Pound” in East Budleigh after Clinton Devon Estates allowed the demolition of a barn to create a house, and where the bats seem to have disappeared Despite the creation of a “mitigation” Bat House.
[And what is the next step after converting a barn on agricultural land? Build another barn of course! – Owl]
Construction of two bedroom holiday unit Land South Of Blind Lane (builders Storage Triangular Plot) AylesbeareRef. No: 23/1644/FUL | Validated: Thu 27 Jul 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
Almost 18 months after the furore of the Owen Paterson scandal led to promises of a crackdown on MPs having second jobs, their income from work outside parliament has continued to rise, Guardian analysis has found.
The analysis looked at all MPs who had made more than £1,000 in the past year, excluding income from completing surveys, and found that they had collectively made £10m in this period, driven largely by a figure close to £5m made by the former prime minister Boris Johnson in his final months as an MP.
While some MPs gave up well-paid consultancy work in 2021 after the anger about Owen Paterson’s lobbying on behalf of a company that paid him, others have begun building up portfolio careers in the past 12 months.
October 2021: the Owen Paterson scandal
The former Tory cabinet minister Owen Paterson is found to have breached parliament’s rules after using his position as an MP to lobby ministers and government departments on behalf of two companies that employed him as a consultant.
Paterson’s proposed sanction from the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is a 30-day suspension from the House. However, this is delayed by a government motion (led by then-PM Boris Johnson), which proposed redesigning the disciplinary process for MPs. This is widely seen as an attempt to save Paterson’s career.
The government later U-turns on its decision, and Johnson describes it as a “total mistake” andcalls for there to be “reasonable limits” placed on how much time an MP can spend on a second job versus their day-to-day role. Soon after, Paterson resigns.
November 2021: the Geoffrey Cox furore
The focus soon shifts to the former UK attorney general Geoffrey Cox. Guardian analysis of the MPs’ register of interests finds he has made nearly £6m from his work as a barrister outside parliament in the 16 years since he became a Conservative MP. An investigation by the Guardian finds that a quarter of Conservative MPs hold second jobs.
In an attempt to silence increasingly critical headlines, Boris Johnson writes to the Commons Speaker proposing rules that would update the code of conduct for MPs and ban MPs working as paid political consultants or lobbyists. Ministers say they will back reasonable limits on outside earnings and it is suggested that around 10-15 hours a week would be fair.
March 2022: plans to cap UK MPs’ income from second jobs are dropped
Steve Barclay, the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, and Mark Spencer, the leader of the House of Commons, say: “The imposition of time limits would not necessarily serve to address recent concerns over paid advocacy and the primary duty of MPs to serve their constituents. It could be possible, for example, for a member to conduct work within the accepted time limits but that does not necessarily mean such work is ‘appropriate’ even if it did not constitute ‘paid advocacy’.”
They add: “Earnings from activities such as writing books for example, would not preclude members from meeting their principal duty to their constituents.”
May 2022: plans to limit the amount of time MPs can spend on second jobs are dropped
Changes to the MPs’ code of conduct were considered by the Commons standards committee after outcry over the Paterson and Cox scandals but they agree that without cross-party agreement on reform, the system should stay as it is.
January 2023: Keir Starmer proposes a ban on second jobs
The Labour leader calls for a ban, but adds that there may be some “exceptions”.
In this same month, the Guardian reports that Tory MPs have been paid £15.2m from second jobs since the 2019 general election, dwarfing the combined income of politicians who represent other parties. The former prime minister Theresa May is the biggest recipient at this point, with her office receiving £2.5m on top of her parliamentary salary, mainly from giving speeches to organisations in the US such as JP Morgan bank and the private equity firm Apax Partners.
March 2023: new MPs’ code of conduct comes into effect
The refreshed code introduces an outright ban on paid parliamentary advice, tightens loopholes and improves transparency. For the first time, the code now explicitly prohibits members providing parliamentary advice to an outside employer. This includes providing or agreeing to provide services as a parliamentary adviser, consultant or strategist. It also requires MPs to have a written contract for any outside work, stating that they cannot lobby for their employer or give paid parliamentary advice, and that their employer cannot ask them to do so.
July 2023: head of ethics watchdog calls for limits on MPs’ second jobs
Lord Evans calls for some form of limit on MPs’ second jobs, telling Sky News it is “hard to argue” some politicians are putting parliament first. The crossbench peer, who spent his career in the secret service and was head of MI5 for six years, says MPs should be given an “indicative” ceiling on how much time to spend on their extra-parliamentary roles.
Guess who benefits from converting barns into airbnbs? Well, it’s certainly not the environment nor the local communities.
The Conservatives are still hell bent on destroying our countryside for profit. – Owl
England’s national parks would be “destroyed” by proposed government rules that would allow landowners to convert barns into houses without planning permission, critics have said.
The levelling up department has launched a consultation into new legislation that would change permitted development rights to allow farmers to turn agricultural buildings into homes.
The consultation proposes to loosen the planning systems on national parks and other conservation areas to bring prosperity to towns and villages within them. It states: “Allowing our town and village centres within protected landscapes (such as national parks) to benefit from the right could help ensure the longer-term viability and vitality of these community hubs, supporting the residents and businesses that rely on them.”
It specifically cites the aim to give farmers the ability to change their agricultural buildings into houses: “We want to give farmers greater freedom to change the use of their existing buildings to residential use and support the delivery of new homes in rural communities.”
However, national park chiefs have said the proposals are “bonkers” and could cause thousands of new developments to mar the views in some of England’s most beautiful areas.
David Butterworth, the CEO of the Yorkshire Dales national park, told the Guardian: “If I was trying to devise a policy that would essentially lead to the destruction of Yorkshire Dales national park, this would be the policy. These are permitted development rights to convert a property without any planning restriction. This means the 6,500 field barns in the Yorkshire Dales could be converted into homes. The idea they could be homes with no restrictions would decimate the landscapes.
“It is one of the most bonkers examples of environmental destruction I could think of. I am extremely concerned that this has been introduced now with an eight-week consultation. It is just crackers.”
Kevin Bishop, the CEO of Dartmoor national park authority, added: “National parks were designated for their outstanding natural beauty. The proposed extension of permitted developments could destroy these landscapes and cause untold harm to the local economy and local communities. The ability to convert any equestrian field shelter or agricultural barn to an open market house would cause untold damage to our landscapes and yet do nothing to support the provision of affordable housing.”
Politicians have also vowed to oppose the proposed legislation. The Liberal Democrats’ environment spokesperson, Tim Farron, said: “The government needs to stop this now. Our national parks cannot become a developer free-for-all. Sadly we have a Conservative government which is bankrolled by developers, who don’t give a damn about the environment, let alone national park areas.
“As an MP representing both the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales, I will fight this tooth and nail. We simply cannot trust this government with our precious environment.”
Environment charities are also likely to challenge the idea. Paul Miner, the head of policy and planning at CPRE, the countryside charity, said: “These proposals, if enacted, would irrevocably damage our most treasured and protected landscapes. And no matter how serious the damage, there would be nothing anybody could do to stop it. The government cannot be serious.
“The countryside does not need more millionaires living in plush barn conversions. It needs affordable and social housing. These nonsensical changes to planning policy would entrench division and disempower local people. They would allow farm buildings to be converted with no scope to insist on affordable housing or any other measures that might alleviate the housing crisis.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: “This consultation remains open and we will consider all responses, including that from National Parks UK, before coming to a decision. We have been clear that any developments must be beautiful and enhance the environment.”
Hospitals in the South-West of England recorded the highest hospital admission rate, with an interactive map showing a 104% increase in Covid cases in Devon in the seven days leading up to 29 July.
Named Eris after the Greek goddess of strife and discord, the descendant of the Omicron variant now accounts for as many as one in seven cases after it was first recorded in the UK last month.
The latest data from the UK Health Security Agency suggests that Eris, referred to as EG.5.1, represents 14.6% of all cases, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) adding it to the list of variants under monitoring.
However, health bosses at the UKHSA have said it is “not unexpected” to see new variants of Covid-19, with experts claiming it showed no signs of being more dangerous than previous strains.
This comes as hospital admissions have seen a recent spike, with an increase to 1.97 per 100,000 as of July 30. Data from the previous week recorded the hospital admission rate as 1.47 per 100,000, while those aged over 85 were the highest affected age group.
Hospitals in the South-West of England recorded the highest hospital admission rate, with an interactive map showing a 104% increase in Covid cases in Devon in the seven days leading up to 29 July.
Other Covid hotspots include Surrey, with a 103.3% increase, Derbyshire, with a 121.4% increase, as well as Cornwall, Somerset, Staffordshire, Darlington and Cumbria.
Hospital admission rates had increased to 1.97 per 100,000 as of 30 July, with those aged over 85 being the age group with the highest rate (UKHSA)
According to the Zoe Health Study, estimated case numbers jumped by almost 200,000 last month, from 606,656 predicted cases on 4 July to 785,980 on 27 July.
Globally, the new variant Eris accounts for around 20% of Covid cases in Asia, 10% in Europe and seven per cent in North America. Common symptoms include a headache, mild or severe fatigue, a sore throat and a runny nose.
Independent Sage member Professor Christina Pagel told The Independent that she believed the UK is “definitely starting another wave” driven by the Omicron sub variants, Arcturus and Eris.
Sharing the latest Covid data, she said that there had been a 40 per cent jump in hospital admissions last week, with a 28 per cent jump in the number of patients in hospital primarily due to the disease.
However, the numbers overall remain low, with authorities continuing to monitor the situation as infection rates change.
Dr Meera Chand, Deputy Director of UKHSA, said: “It is not unexpected to see new variants of SARS-CoV-2 emerge. UKHSA continues to analyse available data relating to SARS-CoV-2 variants in the UK and abroad.
“EG.5.1 was designated as a variant on 31 July 2023 due to continued growth internationally and presence in the UK, allowing us to monitor it through our routine surveillance processes.”
“Vaccination remains our best defence against future COVID-19 waves, so it is still as important as ever that people come take up all the doses for which they are eligible as soon as possible.’’
Prof Francois Balloux, Professor of Computational Systems Biology and Director, UCL Genetics Institute, UCL, said: “The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant emerged nearly two years ago and rapidly became dominant worldwide. It has spawned a very large number of sub-variants constantly replacing other.
“The latest Omicron sub-variant to attract media attention is called EG.5.1. It is a direct descendent of the XBB.1.9.2 sub-variant, and carries one additional mutation in the spike protein. EG.5.1 is increasing in frequency and currently represents about 15% of the cases in the UK.
“Covid cases and hospitalisations have been going up slightly in the UK over recent days, but this is starting from the lowest baseline since March 2020. As such, the recent increases in case numbers and hospitalisations may sound ominous when expressed in percentage increase, but the numbers remain small in absolute terms.
“The EG.5.1 variant plays only a minor role in the current increase in cases, which is driven primarily by the weather and constantly waning immunity. There is nothing that feels particularly concerning about EG.5.1, relative to the many other Omicron sub-variants in circulation.”
Land South Of Blind Lane (builders Storage Triangular Plot) AylesbeareRef. No: 23/1644/FUL | Validated: Thu 27 Jul 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
East Devon Watch 