Monthly Archives: April 2024

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16 Apr 2024

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We have a housing disaster. Here’s how to fix it

“Planning permission is a state asset and should be priced accordingly. Landowners and developers should pay for it. This way we will find the money for our social housebuilding.


Many other countries do this…… most of the uplift in UK land values arising from planning permission remains uncaptured by the state.”

Julian Richer www.thetimes.co.uk 

Far too many people in this country cannot afford a decent roof over their heads — a growing scandal that is having huge social consequences. I’ve seen this problem worsen, with housing ministers coming and going (15 since 2010!) while little gets done. I’m originally a retailer, but I also have a keen interest in property. We are facing an immense challenge on housing, but I believe there are several important things we might do.

At least eight million people are in housing need, plus millions more in the private rented sector who live with the fear of arbitrary eviction or rents rising beyond their reach. A general election is looming. I’m calling on politicians from all parties to make housing a priority and be ready to take bold decisions.

A new mindset is needed. Good-quality social housing is the best way out of our crisis. Social renting should be a valid option for people from all walks of life. The stock should be well maintained and well managed.

The housing crisis cannot be talked about without a rational and intelligent look at land and planning — and specifically, land value capture.

Planning permission is a state asset and should be priced accordingly. Landowners and developers should pay for it. This way we will find the money for our social housebuilding.


Many other countries do this. But the Scottish Land Commission reported that most of the uplift in UK land values arising from planning permission remains uncaptured by the state.

Capturing it would allow us to replace much-discredited Section 106 agreements, which ask developers to make contributions that benefit the surrounding area. The existing Community Infrastructure Levy should also be updated to charge developers for the full cost of linking their projects to roads, sewerage etc.

Another big elephant in the room, which very few are aware of, is Harold Macmillan’s Land Compensation Act of 1961, which we urgently need to repeal.

Before this legislation came in, local authorities had the power to compulsorily purchase land at existing use value. The 1961 law forces the state to compensate landowners for the potential value. State-built housing schemes were now unaffordable. That is a big (and largely unknown) reason behind the situation we are in now.

Paying landowners existing use value (and I would be perfectly happy with a 100 per cent uplift to farmers for their “inconvenience”) would take a huge cost out of the building equation. Councils would be able to turn on the housing supply tap at scale. Indeed, once built, there would be a huge increase in asset value (profit) for UK Plc.

Here are a selection of points from my manifesto to put things right:
1) There should be priority reform for renters, including:
a) The banning of revenge evictions;
b) The extension of assured short-hold tenancies for up to five years by mutual agreement.
c) Tenants being evicted only for major contract breaches;
d) The statutory inspection of private-sector rental properties, with councils taking tough action against rogue landlords;
2) We need a responsible landlords’ charter or accreditation scheme in the meantime, which would include “voluntary” adherence to the above. I am happy to set this up myself if the response is favourable;
3) Taxpayer-funded subsidised home ownership schemes should be scrapped. They push up prices and do nothing for the less well-off;
4) The Land Compensation Act 1961 must be repealed as an absolute priority;
5) “Right to buy” should be scrapped;
6) Planning permission must no longer be given away;
7) Permitted development laws must be tightened up so they are not misused for shoddy housing;
8) The use of anonymous offshore trusts should be banned and companies blocked from buying property or land unless the beneficial owners are disclosed and funds proven to be legitimate;
9) Quality standards should be set for sustainable housing so it’s built to last;
10) Benefit payments must cover the cost of social housing rents.

The housing supply disaster can be addressed only by politicians working together beyond the usual four-year cycle, and through a change in mindset.
It also calls for a willingness to tackle the complex, messy business of managing expectations and balancing competing interests. In a democracy, this is part and parcel of creating change for the better.

Julian Richer is a retailer, philanthropist and author. 

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16 Apr 2024

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Jupp’s “Domain Gate” – story resurfaces in local press

Questions for, but no answers from, Simon Jupp.

Mystery deepens over Devon Lib Dem ‘website’ redirecting to Tory rival

Bradley Gerrard www.devonlive.com

Three web domains in the name of a Lib Dem MP but that redirected people to a Conservative rival’s website now appear to have been disconnected. Pressure began growing on Simon Jupp (Conservative, East Devon ) last week to explain why the web addresses – RichardFoord.co.uk, RichardFoord.com and RichardFoord.uk – sent users to Mr Jupp’s website.

Mr Foord (Liberal Democrat, Tiverton and Honiton ) will contest the new Honiton and Sidmouth seat against Mr Jupp at the forthcoming general election. Now, just days after news of the web domains emerged in a national newspaper, they do not connect to Mr Jupp’s website.

A Google search for them still lists them, but the links are no longer active. Mr Jupp said he was “not responsible for the web domains”, and the Electoral Commission said it is not an issue they will be looking into.

But Paul Arnott (Liberal Democrat, Coly Valley), the leader of East Devon District Council, an area currently represented by Mr Jupp, said it was up to the Conservative MP to explain what he thinks occurred.

“As leader of East Devon District Council for the last four years, I have made it a priority at all times to make sure the council and all local politicians operate at the highest level of truthfulness and transparency,” he said.

“At this stage it is not certain what has happened here, but I do think the absolute onus is on Simon Jupp to give a full, frank and immediate explanation of what has happened.”

A spokesperson for Mr Foord said: “When we talk to people across Mid and East Devon, they tell us they want their representatives to play it straight and be honest.

“Links that look genuine but simply redirect to Conservative websites only serve to arouse suspicion and undermine trust.

“People deserve better from their MP, and at the election they have a chance to demand better by voting Liberal Democrat.”

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15 Apr 2024

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Planning applications validated by EDDC for week beginning 1 April

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15 Apr 2024

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local councils must meet the needs of communities, not just Whitehall 

Without much evidence, Whitehall has believed that larger councils are more efficient. The average size of English local authorities is now 10 times that found in comparable western European countries.

Editorial www.theguardian.com 

The phrase “all politics is local” is most often associated with Tip O’Neill, former speaker of the US House of Representatives. But such sentiments come to die in England, where decision-making is concentrated in Whitehall ministries. With English council and mayoral elections in May, local government is increasingly that in name alone. Westminster’s creeping preference for single-tier authorities and austerity has seen bigger councils and smaller budgets. Crucially, local government is losing its link to places that matter to local people. Fifty years ago, a more grassroots approach meant people would know their councillor. Now most voters couldn’t name them.

With budgets set by central government, local authorities are being drained of resources to safeguard and improve their area’s social, economic and environmental wellbeing. Years of shrinking finances have closed care homes, creches, youth clubs and libraries. Bin collections, bus routes and school crossing patrols have gone too. Councils are viewed in Whitehall as local service delivery agencies and expected to clean up any mess made in SW1.

In England, devolution and economic development are bound together, as if the former was necessarily conducive to the latter. Metro-mayoralties – the big devolution policy since 2010 – were conceived as ways of “agglomerating” workers around a big city. This model is a democratic improvement on the single tier of local government favoured for decades. The mayor handles strategic conurbation-wide issues and district councils deal with more local issues. But rural counties lacking an economic focus cannot adopt this template. Growth, rather than giving expression to a political community, drives mayoral devolution. By contrast, with London’s assembly and Scottish and Welsh parliaments devolution empowered distinctive political identities.

A looming financial crisis in England presents an opportunity for change. Since 2018, eight councils have declared themselves insolvent. None had done so in the preceding 18 years. Four in 10 authorities are at risk of financial failure over the next five years. Sir Keir Starmer has said devolution would be a major priority for a Labour government, the odds of which are shortening. He should use this moment to rethink local government.

A new report for Compass and Unlock Democracy, entitled Power to the People?, offers creative fixes for Sir Keir to reimagine local democracy. It proposes an English subsidiarity bill to provide a framework for councils’ power, responsibilities and funding to protect against institutional churn; a “fair funding bill” to “address the austerity-driven collapse” in frontline services; and for councils to get a statutory voice within Whitehall. These are big changes, but local government is in big trouble.

Without much evidence, Whitehall has believed that larger councils are more efficient. The average size of English local authorities is now 10 times that found in comparable western European countries. The US state of Wyoming has more than 170 units of local government to serve 580,000 people. The more populous North Yorkshire region, stretching 110 miles from Whitby to Skipton, is represented by one unitary council. The last royal commission to consider the future of local government reported in 1969. In their book The Strange Demise of the Local in Local Government, the academics Steve Leach and Colin Copus say it “struggled to balance its desire to recommend larger units of local government with its recognition that such units would have a damaging effect on voter engagement”. This remains a central question of governance. Democracy in England suffers without an adequate answer.

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Extinction Rebellion hits out at ‘plastic pitch’ plans for Exeter, fearing no worm food for birds

Extinction Rebellion has hit out at ‘plastic pitch’ plans for Exeter claiming the move to artificial turf could harm birds relying on ‘up to 2.5 million worms’ living under a rugby ground.

Local Democracy Reporter eastdevonnews.co.uk 

Exeter environmental campaigners have made another move in their ongoing protest against an artificial turf pitch planned at a city green space, writes local democracy reporter Bradley Gerrard.

The city’s Extinction Rebellion group has attached what it called a “hard-to-remove” banner high above Flowerpot Playing Field, near St Thomas, where Exeter College is planning to install a new playing pitch.

The campaign group’s banner reads “Save our green space from wildlife destruction and plastic pollution”, and marks the ongoing fight against the scheme that was approved by Exeter City Council in February last year.

The group in action, putting up a protest banner. Photo: Exeter Extinction Rebellion.

A spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion said the group feared the impact on local wildlife from an artificial playing surface.

“There could be up to 2.5 million worms under the Flowerpot rugby pitch,” the spokesperson said.

“The birds in the fields need these worms for food.

“For some species of UK birds numbers are just a quarter of what they were 50 years ago, and each small decision that makes their lives harder means more birds die.

“We must not allow their extinction.”

Exeter College, which has not yet started the implementing the scheme, said it is committed to “embedding the principles of sustainable living and development” across all its activities, and that the pitch would help ensure a healthy lifestyle for its students as well as the city’s residents.

“The Playing Pitch Strategy for Exeter has identified a lack of facilities for the local and wider area,” a spokesperson for the college said.

“This is stopping local rugby clubs developing more teams, particularly for women and girls.

“The new 3G pitch will help to address this concern, as it will be available when other facilities may be out of action due to the weather.”

The new facilities, once complete, will be available for local teams in the same way as the college’s existing facilities are, and available for hire in the evenings and weekends when they aren’t being used by the college.

Extinction Rebellion believes few people know the new scheme will be surrounded by a three-metre-high fence, and that public feeling about what it calls a “plastic pitch” are negative.

Exeter College said, however, that it is “taking every step possible to ensure the project would enhance wildlife” – including by planting new trees and a wildflower grassland.

Furthermore, it said the pitch has been designed using the “highest environmental standards and uses the latest materials and techniques” to minimise its impact in use and at the end of its life.

The synthetic turf will use a single polymer construction, which the college said is “fully recyclable”, rather than latex.

The pitch will use also 100 per cent natural wood pellets, which can be recycled, rather than rubber crumb, which is conventionally used on such pitches, and sand will also be used.

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14 Apr 2024

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Devon’s children’s social services are now improving

But improvements are still required

Devon’s children’s social services are now improving, four years after it was rated inadequate by the regulator.

Bradley Gerrard, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk

In a letter following a visit in March, Ofsted, the education regulator whose remit also covers children’s services, outlined clear progress but also highlighted area where further work is required.

It said a key failing at its last inspection following a period of “slow and inconsistent progress” was that senior leaders did not have what they called a clear line of sight into what was happening to children.

“Positively, the current leadership team, including heads of service and service managers, has improved its line of sight by introducing manageable spans of responsibility, and staff report a more open culture that encourages them to raise concerns,” inspector Steve Lowe said.

However, he noted that quality assurance – essentially the assessment of its decision about children – had increased in volume “but is yet to become the valuable, independent insight into practice that is required as an additional safeguard to children.

“Rapid improvement in the impact of quality assurance, primarily within children’s social care but also alongside statutory partners, is a key next step,” Mr Lowe added.

A crucial development, however, was the moves the council has made to improve what Ofsted calls the county’s ‘front door’ – essentially the point at which children connect with the service.

At its monitoring visit last summer, Ofsted said the new senior leadership team had identified a “significant number of children” referred to the front door who had not had the risks they faced assessed for several weeks, leaving many vulnerable.

“At the point of the last monitoring visit, the senior leadership team had already prioritised making this service safer,” Mr Lowe said.

“The team’s response has been effective, eradicating the waiting list and establishing a permanent workforce in the multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH) that is making better use of simpler processes.

“During this visit, inspectors did not find any decision in the MASH that had left children at unassessed risk of significant harm.”

While inspectors said “substantial improvements still need to be made”, they acknowledged that senior leaders have a “credible plan” for change.

Ofsted said the service “too readily accepted” parents’ refusal to let social services visit their children alone to carry out assessments.

“Too often, this focus on adults rather than children leaves children without a voice,” Mr Lowe said.

Encouragingly, the service’s response to demand is “now under control, with minimal delay in decision-making by team managers” – an improvement from concerns about children being “unmanageable” at previous Ofsted visits.

Elsewhere, Ofsted said the council’s children’s services need to keep better joined-up records, noting that only some information is kept about families, “reducing the ability to analyse cumulative risks”.

It added that records of whether children had benefited from lower-level, non-statutory support were “not linked to children’s records, increasing the likelihood that the same solution will be offered in the future despite not having been effective the first time.”

Councillor Andrew Leadbetter, the council’s cabinet member with responsibility for children’s services, said it is “important to see, and for inspectors to note, the improvements that our teams are making.

“For that, I want to thank our teams for their hard work and commitment. But it’s equally important for us to hear from inspectors that we’re not yet there, and that further improvements are needed in some areas of our work.

“Today’s report should be seen on the one hand as saying we are a council that is making the right moves in the right direction, but also that we have room to improve and that we must continue at pace with our improvement plans.”
 

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Volunteers need £40 kits to test water quality

Pressure is to be put on South West Water to fund water testing kits so it can carry out regular monitoring on the Taw and Torridge rivers and their tributaries as North Devon Council steps up its campaign for clean water sources.

Alison Stephenson, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk

It follows a public meeting organised by the council in February when organisations including South West Water and the Environment Agency agreed to work together to find solutions.

The water company, which reported 38,000 sewage spills in 2022, is investing £2.8 billion into improving water quality with a pledge to fix storm overflows at beaches and eradicate pollution.

But it says it is only responsible for 30 per cent of water quality issues, with agricultural and surface water run-off from developments accounting for many incidents.

Eighty-three out of the 98 bodies of water tested in North Devon have failed to meet good ecological standards.

While the district’s beaches are mostly rated excellent, rivers and steams have most problems.

An army of volunteers in the district have been trained as ‘citizen scientists’ by the Westcountry Rivers Trust to test water for phosphates and add their findings to a national database.

When 12 or more surveys are taken over a year, a scorecard is produced for the catchment, summarising the state of the water.

Cllr Peter Jones (Ind, Witheridge) who has been driving North Devon’s approach, told the council’s policy development committee that there is no shortage of people who want to become volunteers. But funding kits is more challenging as they cost around £40 each.

“I don’t think it will be a problem to get a venue and organise the training, it’s the kits we need, and it would be good if South West Water offered to help us fund them. It’s hard to justify using council money on this at the money.”

Other grants will be sought and parish councils will be asked if to contribute. The committee was told that a holiday complex at Croyde Bay is supporting Georgeham Parish Council to test local water courses.

Members agreed to support the West Country Rivers Trust on social media, and invite stakeholders to another meeting within the next year to discuss progress.

They will also ask planning officers how they think changes can be made to stop pollution occurring from new developments. They are prepared to lobby South West Water and the government if legislation needs to change.

The water company says it is looking at working with councils to find green solutions like reed bed sewage systems which treat waste water naturally before it is discharged back into the environment.

Councillors said old combined sewage systems which meant that rainwater, domestic sewage and industrial waste water are conveyed in the same pipes to sewage treatment works are a big part of the problem when they overflow, dumping raw sewage in rivers and coastal waters.

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13 Apr 2024

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IS WATERFIT FIT FOR PURPOSE? Andy Tyerman, Escape, asks questions, does he get satisfactory answers?

Owl wonders whether South West Water staff attended the same training programme as the Post Office “Horizon” team?

Andy Tyerman

I raised a number of issues I have with the current WaterFit site using the Independent Customer Panel. They responded positively and asked SWW to address my points. So far so good.

Today [posted 2 days ago]  I have received a response where they have ‘endeavoured’ to answer the issues.

I will leave it up to you to judge whether you think this is a company who is listening to it’s customers.

Here is the letter in full starting with an outline of my queries:

We have endeavoured to answer your queries with regards to WaterFit Live, which the chair of the WaterShare+ panel forwarded to us.

Your queries covered the following:

1. National consistency – in the SW we have 10 million visitors every year. There are three water companies and Surfers Against Sewage who issue nearly real time reports on storm overflows. Each has set its own criteria for reporting spills. A spill in Exmouth will be shown for 12.5 hours whilst the same spill in Portsmouth will be shown for 72 hours. In a recent Westminster Hall debate North Devon MP Selaine Saxby spoke of the ‘recommended gold standard of one full tidal cycle’ (12.5 hours) to clear pollution – a standard she has not provided the source for and no one else has heard of. Without national standards for reporting the public cannot be expected to know the different reporting standards for each water authority region.

2. History – WaterFit Live reports only the most recent spill however short. So a CSO could spill for many days stop and then spill for five minutes. A member of the public using the site will only see the five minute spill. A recent history would give much better context and information for water users to make an informed decision about using the water.

3. Types of pollution – WaterFit Live only reports on spills from Combined Sewage Overflows (CSOs). Although water pollutions can be from other sources beyond the water company’s control there are steps that could be taken to cover more threats to water quality. Within the infrastructure a burst pipe or a spill from an Emergency Overflow will not currently be reported on WaterFIt Live. Recently in Exmouth we have had spills from the pumping station at North Exton and the Environment Agency has issued Advice Against Bathing notices whilst WaterFit has shown no alert. (The EA widget is available on the WaterFit site but only at the second CSO level – why would you look if the beach level is showing clear?

4. Accessibility – WaterFit Live is a conventional website there is no capability of setting a favourite beach or receiving push notifications. The site is confusing to navigate with priority given to proposed spend on the location rather than informing of any threat to water quality.

5. Customer input – Since the launch of WaterFit I have sought to work with the team at SWW to provide user feedback. Most recently I suggested a user panel to Susan Davy at the Barnstable meeting and also in a meeting with Laura Flowerdew. I have yet to receive a response.

Below you can find our response:

Our aspiration and commitment over the next two years is for WaterFit Live to become the single, go-to resource for customers and communities seeking information about storm overflows in their local water environment. Starting initially with our bathing beaches and ultimately moving inland to our rivers

The Environment Agency’s online tool SWIMFO Bathing water quality (data.gov.uk) can be used to choose where and when to swim based on the pollution risk forecasts and advice from the Environment Agency.

The bathing waters in the South West region are typically fully tidal; open coastal sites with good tidal exchange volumes (large tidal ranges) over a single tidal cycle of 12.5 hours. This means that they are swept within one full turn of the tide and a bathing water will no longer be impacted after this time. Our historic water quality sampling carried out at bathing water sites following pollution incidents demonstrates tidal exchange over 12.5 hours, with background conditions/good water quality being re-established with this timeframe. We therefore retain our Beach level ‘amber alerts’ on WaterFit Live for 12.5 hours. We are working with others across the water industry to develop a more consistent approach to sharing this data.

SAS state that their justification for retaining an alert on their App for 48 hours is based on World Health Organisation research. This research incorporated coastal environments across the globe, including bathing waters where tidal movement is minimal and where there is therefore very limited tidal exchange (for example the Mediterranean and Caribbean). These environments are very different to those in the South West of England.

It is important to note that we currently also share the start/stop activation data for those storm overflows associated with our bathing waters. This information can be found on our beach level maps. For each storm overflow, a red pin shows that a storm overflow is active, a green one shows that it is not active, and an amber pin shows that it has been active in the last 24 hours. We also share the most recent activation information.

Individual companies are making their own decisions about the specific data they share. While there is no requirement under the Environment Act (2021) to provide historic storm water overflow performance data, we are providing information on the last EDM activation, along with the current near real-time information that is require under the Act. This is our current position.

While we don’t currently have plans for a user panel, this is an interesting idea. Currently, our WaterShare+ Panel receive regular updates on WaterFit Live whilst our WaterFit Live Steering group receives customer feedback and considers how it can be integrated with our plans, ensuring WaterFit Live continues to be useful and effective.

Andy Tyerman Author, responds:

Besides ignoring most of the points I raised the argument around the clearing in one tidal cycle may apply in some coastal areas without a large estuary and complex arrangent of sandbanks such as we have in Exmouth. If they are so sure why do other WCs and most other countries adopt a longer period for alerts. This is a public health issue and a longer alert period should be the default.

This response clearly shows South West Water priority is to remove alerts as soon as possible rather than ensuring the public is safe.

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The comments Simon Jupp doesn’t want you to see

Simon Jupp’s latest facebook post is all about him “reaching out” in Honiton.

All seeing Owl caught the first three comments this provoked from his adoring public which he pretty quickly “hid”.

Here is Simon’s excuse to be in Honiton:

“Local charities and voluntary groups in our part of Devon make a big difference to people’s lives.

It was lovely to be asked along to the Beehive in Honiton today to chat with Citizens Advice East Devon, Ottery Help Scheme, Exeter Community Energy, Devon Communities Together, and TRIP Transport Honiton.

We covered a lot of important topics, including housing, energy and food bills, mental health support, and long-term funding for charities.

I’ll always do all I can to support the charity and voluntary sector, just as they do for others. Thank you to them all!

Please reach out to me if you need help “

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Politimore House –  Crowdfunder appeal started 

Following the devastating fire The Poltimore House Trust has started a Crowdfunder appeal to raise funds.

www.creditoncourier.co.uk 

A spokesperson for the Trust said: “We are absolutely devastated that Poltimore House suffered a major fire in the early hours of April 9 with extensive damage to the house in a suspected arson attack.

“Over the past couple of years, the House and Grounds have become a major hub for our local community with a farm shop, thriving cafe, open house sessions and events – all supported by dedicated volunteers.”

Dr Peter Totterdill, Chair of Poltimore House Trust, added: “This amazing place has been loved by so many people over the years, and our heart goes out to all the many volunteers who have worked so hard to protect and restore Poltimore House. Everyone at Poltimore House Trust is shocked at the scale of the devastation.

“We know that many people love Poltimore House and Grounds and are distraught by what has happened and we are all feeling a deep sense of loss. 

“However, we are determined to save what we can of this important part of Devon’s heritage, and to hold on to our vision of Poltimore House and Grounds as a place for everyone.

“More than ever, we need everyone’s help to recover from this disaster and to move forward with optimism.”

The spokesperson added: “Please support our Poltimore House Emergency Fundraising Appeal so that we can clear up after the fire damage and make the site safe and accessible so we can welcome visitors again.

To donate, visit: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/poltimore-house-fire-appeal .

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Three candidates for the role of Police and Crime Commissioner

Three candidates are standing for election as Devon and Cornwall’s Police and Crime Commissioner.

The current PCC, Conservative Alison Hernandez, is running for re-election, and she’s up against a Labour candidate, Daniel Steel, and a Liberal Democrat, Steve Lodge.

Philippa Davies www.exmouthjournal.co.uk

Ms Hernandez has been in the role since 2016 and said she is proud of her achievements, having made ‘real, tangible progress’ in the four priority areas she set for policing in 2021: tackling violence, antisocial behaviour and drugs, and improving road safety. She plans to continue this work.

She said: “Devon and Cornwall enjoys the highest number of police officers that it has ever had. We see an estate of police stations and other facilities that has been well-managed, refreshed and renewed where needed, and we have seen a progressive investment in technology and resources. I am delighted to report that having listened to our communities, my programme of reopening police enquiry offices across our cities and towns has already seen 13 open where they are most needed, with more to come.”

But both of her challengers say more could be done to reduce crime and restore trust in the police.

Daniel Steel (Labour) said he would bring ‘strength, integrity and honesty’ to the role of PCC, and outlined the following pledges:

Put police back on the streets: More police officers and PCSOs on our streets to prevent crime, catch offenders and tackle anti-social behaviour.

Tackle the levels of violence against women and girls: By creating new police specialists to tackle violence and rape.

Prevent youth crime: Knife crime is soaring. I’ll ensure the police crack down on serious violence and prevent young people getting drawn into crime.

Boost crime prevention and victim support: To make it more local, and better focused on the challenges that face our rural areas and towns. 

Crack down on illegal sewage dumping: I’m backing Labour’s tough plans to ensure water bosses overseeing repeated illegal sewage dumping are prosecuted.

Steve Lodge said the Liberal Democrats ‘have sharpened their focus on law enforcement and criminal justice’ with crime and policing policies that ‘strike a balance between Prevention, Effectiveness and Trust. The party believes that ‘communication is the bedrock of effective policing’.

He said: “Current government policies have missed the mark and we need more innovative and community-focused approaches to crime and policing.

His pledges are:  

Engage our senior officers – committing to bridge the gap between the police and the communities they protect.

Back fair funding and smarter spending – Ensuring our police force has the resources required to fight crime effectively.

Steer a return to proper community policing – Strengthening bonds with local communities to prevent crime and improve safety.

Promote rehabilitation – Working to reduce reoffending and secure a safer future for all residents.

The election will take place on May 2, and the winner will serve a four-year term in the role.

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Children arrested following Poltimore House fire

Two children have been arrested on suspicion of arson following a fire at a historic manor house on the outskirts of Exeter.

Radio Exe News www.radioexe.co.uk

The blaze, overnight between Monday 8 and Tuesday 9 April, left the property severely damaged.

It’s thought to have been started deliberately.

The boys, aged 14 and 16, were taken into custody on Wednesday and subsequently released on police bail until 4 July while enquiries continue.

Anyone with information, who hasn’t yet spoken to police, is asked to call 101 using reference number 50240083403.
 

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Flooded farms in England refused compensation as ‘too far’ from river

Government recovery fund stipulates affected areas must be less than 150 metres from a ‘main’ river

Helena Horton www.theguardian.com

Farmers who have their entire cropping land submerged underwater have found they are ineligible for a government flooding hardship fund – because their farms are too far from a major river.

According to the Met Office, 1,695.9mm of rain fell from October 2022 to March 2024, the highest amount for any 18-month period in England since the organisation started collecting comparable data in 1836. Scientists have said climate breakdown is likely to cause more intense periods of rain in the UK.

Agriculture organisations said earlier this week that food production was down in the UK because so much cropland was underwater after the floods.

The government this week opened a farming recovery fund scheme, under which eligible farmers can access grants of between £500 and £25,000 to return their land to the condition it was in before exceptional flooding owing to Storm Henk in January.

But farmers have said they have had funding applications refused because they do not meet criteria such as being located near a designated major river.

John Charles-Jones is an arable farmer based in Nottinghamshire. He said he was six miles from the nearest river and not eligible for the fund. His farm has been waterlogged since Storm Babet in October, with most of his topsoil washed away, making it unviable for cropping.

His losses are expected to go into six figures as he planted a third of his planned crops in the autumn before the rain hit, and only 10%-15% of that planted crop will be viable.

Charles-Jones pointed out the farming minister, Mark Spencer, was himself from a farming background in Nottinghamshire, one of the worst-affected counties, but that farmers in the area had been blocked from the fund.

“The eligibility criteria for recipients are completely flawed,” he said, “How could anyone take so long to come up with such nonsense? I don’t think I have ever witnessed such an ill-thought-out scheme. It is difficult to know quite where to start in picking it all to pieces. For once I had higher hopes, with farming minister Mark Spencer actually living and farming in one of the worst-affected counties.”

Andrew Naish, also from Nottinghamshire, said he had faced the same problem. “Whilst grants are technically available, it looks like you will have to have walked on the moon to qualify,” he said. “We, like many farmers, have suffered flooding and large financial losses this winter but fail to meet the criteria for claiming because the government has set the parameters at unachievable levels.”

Henry Ward, an arable farmer based in Short Ferry, east of Lincoln, is perhaps one of the most recognisable growers who have been hit by recent floods. His farm has been shown on news programmes over the past few months as it is entirely underwater, with his farmhouse sitting on what resembles an island in the middle of murky water.

His application for the hardship fund has been refused, despite the fact his farm has been underwater for six months. This is because his nearby river, the Barlings Eau, does not count as a major river in the scheme. Ward told the BBC: “If I’m not eligible, then who on earth is? I’m sure everyone is sick of seeing the pictures in the news as much as I am – but our farmhouse and yard is literally an island in the middle of a 500-acre [202-hectare] lake.”

Ward said his losses were about £100,000, and that he was eligible to claim £3,000 for a small piece of land away from the main farm that was close to the River Witham, but not able to claim any funding for the main farm, which was responsible for the bulk of his losses.

Rachel Hallos, the vice-president of the National Farmers’ Union, said: “It has very quickly become clear that there are major issues with the newly announced farming recovery fund, which aimed to help farmers devastated by Storm Henk in January.

“We are hearing from numerous members who have suffered catastrophic impacts who have been told they are not eligible for the fund because some of their affected areas are more than 150 metres from ‘main’ rivers. These include members with 90% of their land saturated or underwater, and huge damage to buildings and equipment.

“We are taking this up with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs urgently. I cannot believe this is what ministers intended when they launched the fund, which was a welcome and well-intentioned development, which seems to have been fundamentally let down in the detail. While the impact of the weather goes far beyond Storm Henk, this could have been a good start but, as it stands, it simply doesn’t work.”

Defra has been contacted for comment.

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Eleanor Rylance laments the latest historic building to mysteriously catch fire – Poltimore House

The drawing room had a very special listing as the Treaty of Exeter marking the end of the English Civil war in Devon was signed there in 1646.

Readers of the “Watch” with really local connections might even have been born there when it was used as a hospital 1945-1975. Brief history can be found here.

Eleanor writes:

So, yet another landmark historic building catches fire and burns to a cinder- most people now barely seem to bat an eyelid when these conflagrations hit the press. With the ashes of the house still smouldering, the cause of the fire as yet it is unknown. So far so routine, you might think.

Except Poltimore House is and was very different. It has been widely described in the last couple of days by national reporters who’ve never visited as “derelict”. It is anything but derelict- it is in the process of being painstakingly restored.

When I moved to the area in 2003, The Friends of Poltimore had an open day. My family and I went to visit the mansion, at the time open to skies in places, with magnificent yet mouldering plasterwork, floorboards and walls. The drawing room had a very special listing as the Treaty of Exeter marking the end of the English Civil war in Devon was signed there in 1646.

At the time of my visit, the task of restoring the house seemed so huge, that I came away feeling that it was too Herculean to be even possible. But the Friends of Poltimore doggedly, persistently, proactively proved me wrong. They begged, borrowed, applied for grants, protected, restored, found new sources of funding, publicised. Every time a Friends of Poltimore Chair stepped back for a breather, another stepped forward to drive it forwards. I’ve never been more happy to be wrong about something. Poltimore House is the very embodiment of community spirit and the power of working together- and it continues to be despite still smouldering from the huge fire that engulfed it on the 9th of April.

This house has a past that touched many people’s souls. Everyone here knows someone who had been born or been nursed there during its time as a hospital. It had been part of local people’s landscape for their entire lives. The Friends of Poltimore wanted to preserve it for the people. Over the years it has hosted a huge range of events of all kinds- artistic, musical, camps. 

Just last week, I picked up my Easter lamb from the farm shop at the back of the hugely successful Branches café there. The place was becoming a true community hub, an oasis of calm on the edge of a city now reaching out to scratch the house’s parkland, and all run, restored and managed by volunteers -most of them living close to the house.

That’s why this house is so different. It is loved, not abandoned or derelict. Past and present are painstakingly being brought together to give it a good future and a central place within our communities. It is a vast, ambitious community project, one that has brought hundreds of people together for a quarter of a century.

The House has been here before. It has burned before. The volunteers have dusted themselves off after every setback, and kept on going.  I hope the spirit of the Friends of Poltimore can endure in the face of this latest event- more than ever, they and the house need us. This house is a testament to human endurance, ingenuity and resilience. For that reason alone the project must persist.

The Drawing Room and details of the plasterwork.

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“Delusional” Simon Jupp now masquerading as MP for “Mid Devon”

Dear Reader – No such parliamentary constituency exists or is planned, though there is a Lib Dem controlled “Mid Devon” District Council and Mel Stride (Con) is the MP for “Central Devon”.

Looks like the Tories are spending the Hester millions on leaflets – though Owl’s contacts in what will be the new Exmouth & Exeter East haven’t reported receiving this one.

Is Simon being deliberately misleading or is he so stressed by the thought of losing his seat he has become “confused”?

Perhaps some kind soul could refer him to Sidmouth’s memory clinic. – Owl

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Outrage over shock rise in Devon sewage spills – ‘deeply shameful’ says Richard Foord

An alarming 83% increase in sewage discharge into Devon’s rivers has sparked outrage and demands for government action

Lewis Clarke www.devonlive.com

New figures released by the Environment Agency show that sewage was discharged into local rivers and waterways for 530,737 hours last year, an 83% increase from 2022. 

Devon’s Liberal Democrat MP Richard Foord has called the revelation ‘deeply shameful’ and called for the Government to finally act on the sewage scandal gripping local communities by strengthening the powers available to regulators such as the Environment Agency.

[Note Simon Jupp’s is a signatory to a request to the government to strip power from Natural England] – Owl.

Across East Devon, there are several prolific discharge sites covered by South West Water. The worst local outlet was the storm overflow at Dulford, which discharged sewage into the River Weaver 258 times for a total of more than 5,212 hours. Several other notable sites include the overflow at Salcombe Regis, which saw 223 spills lasting 4,827 hours, the sewage treatment works in Honiton, which experienced 148 spills into the River Otter for more than 1,061 hours, and the overflow in Kilmington, which discharged into the River Axe for 1,391 hours over 171 individual spills.

South West Water says it is serious about tackling storm overflows and ‘change of this scale takes time, ambition, and increased investment’ – and that is why it is investing £850m in the region over the next two years.

Meanwhile, Richard Foord, MP for Tiverton & Honiton, has demanded that the Government follow through on their promise to stop water firms “marking their own homework” and monitoring sewage spills in-house. He has demanded a deadline by when the Government will mandate this data to be gathered by the Environment Agency.

Richard Foord, MP for Tiverton & Honiton, said: “Conservative MPs have consistently voted against measures which would have helped to tackle this scourge much sooner.

“It is a complete scandal that untreated raw sewage is being spilled into Devon’s rivers and onto our premier beaches on an almost industrial scale. This is harming our natural environment and risks making our waterways unsafe for people to enjoy. But it’s not just water companies who are at fault; Conservative MPs have voted time and time again to allow these polluting firms to get away with this environmental vandalism. Local people are rightly angry that the Conservatives have blocked tougher action to tackle this crisis.

“Our towns and villages are fed-up with pollution warnings at our beaches; fed-up of not knowing whether their local river is safe for their children or pets to swim in. We need to see real action, not more warm words and far-off promises. The situation we now face is a result of years of neglect, not just by water companies but also from Government ministers – who have repeatedly hollowed out our environmental regulators, leaving them unable to properly police the sector and hold failing firms to account.

In a statement, South West Water said: “We care about our 860m of coastline, our regions 100% bathing water quality, which we have successfully maintained for 3 consecutive years and protecting the environment now and in the future.

“We were one of the first water companies to have all our storm overflows monitored meaning we know exactly what is happening, when and where, allowing us to target investment and make changes where it matters most. We are serious about tackling storm overflows and change of this scale takes time, ambition, and increased investment – and that is why we are investing £850m in our region over two years.

“The increase in the storm overflow spills this year can be accounted for by the amount of named storms and weather warnings in 2023. It’s clear we need to redesign our systems, which we are already doing. We will also be the first water company to meet the Government target of less than 10 spills per overflow, per year – a decade ahead of target.”

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Simon Jupp supports stripping powers from Natural England: Nicholas Pegg writes again

and again posts the text of his letter on social media “X”.

Nicholas Pegg

I have today written to my MP, @simonjamesjupp, to urge him to withdraw his support for an environmentally disastrous proposal to remove @NaturalEngland’s power to designate Sites of Special Scientific Interest: a flagrant #AttackOnNature which must not be allowed to succeed.

To Simon Jupp, MP

House of Commons

London SW1A OAA

Tuesday, 9th April, 2024

Dear Mr Jupp,

While I await your reply on the matter of the bogus web links which misappropriated the name of Richard Foord MP to divert traffic to your own campaign website, I find that I must once again write as your constituent to raise a separate and most pressing matter.

I am extremely disappointed to learn that you are among the signatories to a letter which was sent to the Environment Secretary on 15 March 2024, urging him to support or ‘otherwise enact’ the provisions of a private member’s bill introduced on 13 March by Derek Thomas MP

This bill proposes that the power to designate Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) should be removed from Natural England (a non-departmental public body which is independent of government) and instead be granted directly to the Secretary of State.

I can only assume that you were temporarily confused, or perhaps distracted by your urgent casework, when you agreed to sign a letter supporting such a damaging proposal – a letter which, unsurprisingly, all eighteen signatories kept very quiet about until its existence emerged yesterday.

The SSSI status is the foundation stone of nature conservation in England. Its strength lies in its designation being based purely on independent scientific evidence. If that power were to be transferred to the Secretary of State, it is all too clear that protected site designation would in future become compromised by political, economic and commercial considerations. In other words, this bill represents yet another ‘attack on nature’ of the kind advocated in September 2022 by the discredited former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, when he proposed measures to remove environmental protections – measures which were roundly condemned at the time by conservation charities including the Wildlife Trusts, the RSPB and the National Trust, and which contributed to Mr Kwarteng’s swift political downfall.

Mr Jupp, as your constituent I am calling on you to withdraw your signature from that ill-judged letter of support, and instead to speak and vote against this bill when it comes before the House for its second reading on Friday 26 April.

As an MP who professes to champion environmental issues, you must surely be aware that the only intellectually and morally justifiable choice open to you is to champion Natural England’s independence, and strive to ensure that the agency is adequately supported and funded to carry out its legal duties: specifically, to designate new SSSIs, to advise on their management, and, where appropriate, to use its legal powers to ensure their protection.

I look forward to your reply on this very serious matter, as well as on the very serious matter of the still unexplained website deception.

Yours sincerely,

Nicholas Pegg

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Rockfish reveals more details of Budleigh seafood café

Interesting to consider the details of this application for a conservatory addition to the Longboat Café with concurrent reports of Exmouth Seafront buildings collapsing in Storm  Pierrick and the need for “pebble resilience” in Budleigh’s new loos. – Owl  

Rockfish has provided further details about its planned takeover of the Longboat Café in Budleigh Salterton.

Philippa Davies www.exmouthjournal.co.uk

As reported in the Journal last week, the restaurant chain has submitted a planning application to upgrade the venue and turn it into a seafood café.

It will serve breakfast and coffee in the mornings, with fresh seafood on the menu from lunchtime: local crab rolls, shellfish, grilled and fried fish, along with cold beer from Salcombe Brewery and a small selection of wines. 

There will be a conservatory over the courtyard with a retractable roof for the summer and a log burner for the winter months.

Rockfish’s founder and chief executive Mitch Tonks said: “We are really looking forward to opening our seafood café in Budleigh that will carry all the much-loved hallmarks of a Rockfish, with fresh seafood, community and sustainability at the core.

“We know how much everyone in the town loves the café and how important it is to local life, so we will continue to build on the great work that Lisa, Myles and the team have done to ensure it remains that way.”

Rockfish’s planning application cancels out a previous planning permission, granted in 2013, to demolish the site and construct a two storey building.

This latest application will be determined by East Devon District Council at a later date.

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Exmouth seafront building collapses during storm

An Exmouth coastwatch building had to be evacuated after it was battered by stormy weather last night. It’s feared that the building may have to be condemned.

Mary Stenson www.devonlive.com

Exmouth has suffered some of the worst Storm Pierrick as a dramatic video showed waves crashing over the sea wall, drenching passers-by. A weather warning was put in place by the Met Office for gusts of 45-55mph for Monday night, while the Environment Agency warned that flooding was possible.

Volunteers at Exmouth’s National Coastwatch Institution (NCI) arrived to their lookout station this morning (April 9) to find that the foundations of one of the two buildings had collapsed into the sea. They said that the building was evacuated and had been “propped up” temporarily by East Devon District Council.

In a Facebook post, NCI Exmouth said: “Coastwatch House suffered damage last night in the storm. The property has now been evacuated, with the council propping it up temporarily. Looks like we will need a new home.

“Some people refer to this building as the “old First Aid Hut” but it’s been a Coastwatch building for the last 25 years.”

Station manager Peter Oliver told the BBC that contractors have started work to make the area safe. He says the other lookout tower has been unaffected and that their operations would continue there.

Peter said: “We believe the decision will be to condemn the building. We’ll lose our training facilities which is problematic but not insurmountable.

“We’ve been able to recover most of the materials inside and moved them into people garages, the team has been absolutely brilliant, you just can’t beat the sea.”

Coastwatch House in Exmouth was severely damaged during the storm (Image: NCI Exmouth)

Following the storm, the Environment Agency says that flooding is expected to continue to impact parts of England today. They have advised people to take care in coastal areas and avoid driving through flood water.

Harry Walton, Flood Duty Manager at the Environment Agency, said: “Due to a combination of spring tides and strong winds generating storm surge and large waves, minor coastal flooding impacts are probable for parts of England on Monday and Tuesday.

“Environment Agency teams are out on the ground, taking action to reduce the impact of flooding and support those communities affected. We urge people to stay safe on the coast, take extreme care on coastal paths and promenades, and we advise people not to drive through flood water as just 30cm of flowing water is enough to move your car.”

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More from Paul Arnott: ‘Simon Jupp’s misleading web domains need a full explanation’

Paul Arnott

This week’s column hangs on two well-known sayings. The first phrase, often but apparently wrongly known as a Chinese curse, is “may you live in interesting times”, by which it is actually meant, may your whole life is afflicted by chaos.

And interesting times have afflicted this week’s column. I had actually intended to focus on the superb new Pump Track opened recently in Cranbook. It’s a cracking example of Cranbrook Town Council and East Devon District Council working with others to fund a facility I would have adored when I was a kid. It’s a landscaped, profiled area in the Country Park, given an undulating hard surface to provide loads of fun for bikes, skateboards, roller blades etc. It opened, albeit in torrential rain, just in time for the Easter holidays, and I am told it has been packed with children ever since.

The reason I would have written about this is to show that with all the amazing hard work of local people in Cranbrook, facilities are arriving, albeit somewhat belatedly, and that East Devon will do all we can to try to cut through the red tape to help where we can. I might then have gone onto a bit of a serious think piece about how East Devon, having originally dropped the ball in planning the development of Cranbrook, with landowner and developer gain seeming to have been the priority under the Conservatives, is as keen as mustard to make amends for that.

However, that will have to keep for now. Because a second old saying has also come into view in these interesting times: “Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery”.

For there I was eating my Shredded Wheat on Friday when I was astonished to read in the i Newspaper online that someone had set up web addresses purporting to be for local Lib Dem MP Richard Foord which, on being innocently visited, took readers directly to a website for Conservative MP Simon Jupp. It’s almost a hundred years ago that the inimitable P G Wodehouse wrote a comic satire called “Something Fishy”, and heavens above, there’s something fishy going on here.

The story then gathered national attention from the likes of LBC’s James O’Brien and the very brave mathematical whizz-turned-commentator Carol Vorderman. Top class national broadsheet and broadcast journalists then spent hours trying to elicit from Mr Jupp any explanation. I understand that it was like getting blood from a stone and resulted in a six-word gnomic comment that he was “not responsible for the web domains”.

The problem for all people of East Devon is that with a general election looming this can’t be just written off as a bit of a lark. This week William Wragg, another Conservative MP, has been forced to resign various senior positions in the unfortunate matter of pictures of his anatomy and his somehow then providing personal data on other MPs to someone he met online!

With Donald Trump in the USA, and Conservative strategists in the UK, openly planning smear-based campaigns for 2024, we don’t want any of this chicanery in East Devon, and demand better. Mr Jupp can help with this by expanding his tight, six-word comment into six full paragraphs of what he knows, and who was responsible. And soon.

In the meantime, my thought for the week is directly attributable – to Sophocles – and has stood the test of time for two and a half thousand years: “I would prefer even to fail with honour than win by cheating.”