Cllr Chris Lockyear, Chairman, Sidmouth Town Council

Sidmouth Town Council held it January meeting on 8th January. We were delighted to welcome 4 visitors including PC Driver of Devon and Cornwall Police. Most meetings of Sidmouth Town Council are open to the public, unless confidential issues are being discussed, and we would be delighted to see more members of the public. And there is space on the agenda if you want to ask a question.

A lot of our work is done in Committees and Working Groups and we had reports from each at the meeting. The main groups are Tourism and Economy, Environment, Planning and Youth Provision. Each covers different aspects of the work of Sidmouth Town Council and in this week’s article I want to discuss some of the things related to the Environment.

The Town Council is active on various topics in relation to the Environment including climate change, natural environment, built environment and pollution.

On Climate Change we are seeking to both reduce the Council’s own carbon footprint as well as encourage residents and businesses to reduce theirs. One such initiative is the offer to residents and businesses of the Sid Valley of a free infrared (thermal imaging) camera survey of their houses or premises in order to identify possible areas of heat loss. Heat can be lost through walls, windows, doors or roofs as a result of poor insulation, poor design or poor maintenance. Not only does this involve wasted energy but also of course wasted money. We have a team of volunteers who will come to your property to take the photos and the images are then sent to you with some comments. They say a picture speaks a thousand words and these images can certainly help you understand where heat is being lost. See Council website for details.

One mitigation for climate change is the planting of trees that will absorb some of the carbon that has been emitted. Working with the Arboretum and others we plan to plant 14,000 trees in the Sid Valley, one for each resident, which will change the natural environment in the Sid Valley. We will also be doing a survey this year with the support of Sidmouth Arboretum to understand how many trees we have in the Sid Valley and what type. The Arboretum did a similar survey 10 years ago and so it will be interesting to see what has changed. In 2014 about 10 per cent of the trees were Ash but since then a lot have been felled as a result of Ash dieback.

With regard to the built environment, Sidmouth Town Council has been working with East Devon District Council on the Beach Management Plan to protect Sidmouth from the sea. Before Christmas we were delighted that the Environment Agency agreed to support the project with £15 million. This has allowed detailed design to start with a view to building additional breakwater(s), a groyne on East Beach, and a re-enforced splash wall along the Promenade, raised somewhat at the eastern end. Once installed, this should reduce the risk of flooding significantly for decades to come.

Along with many residents Sidmouth Town Council has been concerned about the discharge of untreated sewage to our river and into the sea via the Combined Sewage Overflows (CSOs). We have been working with South West Water and others to highlight the problems and to find solutions. South West Water has committed to spend around £10 million over the next couple of years to address the issue. We are one of only two towns in the South West to get this accelerated spend.

The key issue is that clean water is getting into the sewers which cannot cope with the extra load. The excess diluted sewage then has to be discharged untreated into the river or sea. South West Water has been undertaking CCTV surveys of the sewers to identify leaks and have identified areas that need lining. This work will start shortly. They are also seeking to reroute surface water, for example from the Ham car parks, away from the sewer. Both these interventions will reduce the load on the system and therefore the number of times the CSOs are used.

The Environment Committee has some involvement with all these activities undertaken by voluntary groups and other organisations, for the benefit of all the people and things that live in the Sid Valley.

Later this month the Council will agree its budget for 2024/25 and so I will tell you more about that next month.

Reminding the House that the pension triple-lock was originally a LibDem proposal, not a Tory one

Wendy Chamberlain Liberal Democrat Chief Whip, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Work and Pensions)  

There are 2 million older people living in poverty—that is one in six—and another million are sitting just above the poverty line silently struggling to make ends meet. Together, a quarter of older people are in or at risk of being in poverty. In recent years, the phrase “heating or eating” has become shorthand for the cost of living crisis. It rhymes, and it is easy to say, but it is the reality facing too many of our pensioners. Age UK research found that 4.2 million people cut back on food or groceries last year, while a survey by this House’s Petitions Committee of those engaging in petitions on pension levels found that three quarters were worried about affording food.

Health statistics always worsen in the cold winter months, with mortality rising in all parts of the UK last year compared with previously. As we face an even colder winter —in my constituency we often reach minus temperatures overnight—there are real consequences when older people cannot afford to properly heat their homes. The reality is that heating or eating is not a catchphrase, but a decision about survival. It is our duty as policy makers in this place to ask why that is a reality for so many of our older people and to find solutions.

I welcomed the Government’s eventual decision to keep the triple lock this year, but the lack of clarity and uncertainty about that decision appeared to be electorally motivated, and I argue it caused a great deal of anxiety for many older constituents.

Richard Foord Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Defence)

My hon. Friend is talking about the triple lock on pensions. I have heard it said in this House in recent months that the triple lock on pensions was a Conservative proposal, so I went to the Library to find out whether that was true. The 2010 Conservative manifesto talks about

“restoring the link between the basic state pension and average earnings”, while the 2010 Liberal Democrat manifesto states:

“We will uprate the state pension annually by whichever is the higher of growth in earnings, growth in prices or 2.5 per cent.”

Does she agree with me that the triple lock was a Lib Dem proposal?

Wendy Chamberlain Liberal Democrat Chief Whip, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Work and Pensions)

I regularly meet Steve Webb, the former Lib Dem Pensions Minister from the coalition, and I know how hard he worked when in government on this policy, so I entirely agree with my hon. Friend and thank him for his intervention…..

“There are so many possibilities for this wing. A new care hub would offer greater levels of tailored care for elderly residents. I will continue to demand that the future of both Seaton Hospital, and all our Community Hospitals, are protected.”

Philippa Davies www.midweekherald.co.uk

Seaton’s Liberal Democrat MP Richard Foord has presented a petition in Parliament opposing plans to strip out a whole wing from Seaton community hospital.

The wing was funded by the community, and the petition forms part of a wider campaign that has received the support of more than 9,000 people from across the Axe Valley. It calls for the affected wing to be transferred from the NHS to the local community, so it can be used to benefit local people.

Since the announcement that NHS Devon was looking to turn a wing of the facility over to NHS Property Services, which could see it demolished or sold off, Mr Foord has been leading a grassroots campaign opposing the plans.

He was the first to raise the issue in Parliament, quizzing both the Health Secretary and the Prime Minister over the plans, and has convened meetings with NHS Devon, local community groups and charities, and NHS Property Services.

By presenting the petition in Parliament on Tuesday (January 16), Mr Foord has formally placed the concerns of local people on the record with MPs and called on the Government to act.

Speaking after presenting his petition, Richard Foord MP said: “Plans to allow a wrecking ball to be driven through a wing of Seaton hospital would be hugely damaging – not just for Seaton, but for everyone living in the Axe Valley who relies on this facility for treatment.

“With this petition, the local community has spoken. In just a few weeks, over 9,000 people got behind my grassroots campaign and demonstrated their support for our hospital. It’s now time for Ministers to wake up, listen, and take action.

“Seaton Hospital is owned by NHS Property Services, a government-owned company with a single shareholder – the Health Secretary. With a single stroke of his pen, he could turn this building over to the local community and ensure it is protected for local people’s health.

“The fact they have so far been unwilling to do this shows the disregard with which they hold our corner of East Devon. People here won’t stand for it. We need more than warm words; we need action.

“There are so many possibilities for this wing. A new care hub would offer greater levels of tailored care for elderly residents. I will continue to demand that the future of both Seaton Hospital, and all our Community Hospitals, are protected.”

Within the last five days, local media have printed articles, by different authors, describing the campaign launch, aims and record of Richard Foord MP and Simon Jupp MP who will be going head to head in the new Honiton and Sidmouth constituency.

The article on Richard Foord’s launch contained a final paragraph quoting Simon Jupp describing his local connections and Honiton office. This appeared to give Simon Jupp “the last word” on Richard Foord’s launch.

The article on Simon Jupp, urging voters to look at his record, a couple of days earlier contained quotes from him and him alone.

Owl understands that this caused some to question the apparent bias between the two articles published within days of each other.

In any event, the article on Richard Foord’s campaign launch has since been revised since Owl reported it.

Owl understands that the journalists at the Herald have a good relationship with Richard Foord.

The original final paragraph read:

Simon Jupp, MP for East Devon, said: “I am proud to be standing where I live, something my Liberal Democrat opponent simply can’t say. My campaign was launched on May 3rd last year in Honiton and I have been knocking on doors across the new Honiton & Sidmouth constituency since March. I have opened a campaign office on Honiton’s high street, not far from the former Liberal Democrat office they closed days after winning the by-election. I’m fighting for every vote, because I care about where I live.”

This is now followed by:

Richard Foord lives in Uffculme in the centre of the Tiverton and Honiton constituency, where he has lived with his wife and three children since he left the Army in 2010.  He offered the following in response:

“My brilliant team and I hold surgeries in towns and villages across the constituency that I represent.  I am listening to and representing people in Devon – not party bosses in London. 

“I am delighted that the Conservative Government’s delegate to East Devon has opened a shopfront in Honiton.  As the MP for Exmouth, he will know that our hollowed-out high streets need all the tenants they can get. That said, I walk past the Conservative Party’s office regularly and have often wondered why there is no-one inside.

“For me, it’s not about where you can be seen, but who you can help.  When I go to Parliament, it is to represent the views of people back home.”

Anyone wishing to find out more about Richard Foord or support his campaign can do so by visiting https://www.tivandhonlibdems.org.uk/foord