Hilarious! Don’t you just love the folk of Honiton’s reaction to being the “canned audience” for Sunak’s flying visit (down by train shoulder to shoulder with real people but returned by private helicopter)?
As before Simon Jupp has a very small walk on part. Blink and you miss it. Maybe he is practising auditioning? – Owl
Councillors heard that occupancy is currently 10 per cent below break-even.
In 2015 Owl wrote: It seems all is not well at these so-called high-tech industrial areas [Sky park and the Science Park] on the outskirts of Exeter and Cranbrook. Yet thousands of houses are already being built for people supposed to be working in them. Recipe for disaster? [Exeter Science Park was “topped out” ten years ago in August 2014] – There’s plenty more in the EDW archive to follow this saga.
Guy Henderson – Local Democracy Reporter www.radioexe.co.uk
Exeter City Council has been urged not to ‘crash’ the city’s Science Park project as it tries to recover a £1 million loan.
The authority has decided to convert the loan into shares in the company running the high-tect park near Exeter Airport after hearing there is no prospect of the money being repaid when it becomes due next January.
The city council advanced the initial loan in January 2015, and it is due to be repaid – plus interest – after 10 years. But a report to an extraordinary meeting of the council said: “There is no security for the loan. The council is an unsecured creditor. Exeter Science Park Ltd is unable to repay the loan when it falls due.”
The council had the option to take enforcement action, but was warned that this was likely to undermine the company and deter potential investors. Converting the loan into equity would give the city extra security for its money.
Exeter Science Park is just off the M5 and the A30 east of the city. It sits within the East Devon District Council area, and is owned by four shareholders, Devon County Council, Exeter City Council, East Devon District Council and Exeter University.
It was set up to cater for businesses working in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine. It currently hosts 45 companies, creating 750 jobs, across six high-specification buildings.
But councillors heard that occupancy is currently 10 per cent below break-even.
Council leader Phil Bialyk (Lab, Exwick) told the meeting it was important to reaffirm the city’s support for the project as a driver to deliver high-quality jobs.
“I don’t think crashing the science park is the answer to getting our money back at this stage,” he said. And he said he accepted some criticisms from opposition councillors that the authority should not have been in the current position.
“Perhaps we have not had our eye on this particular ball,” he said. “We need to put that right going forward, and I think we will.”
But Cllr Tammy Palmer (Lib Dem, Duryard and St James) said the council risked making ‘yet another poor financial decision’. She went on: “We took a large chunk of public money and invested it without asking any of the right questions.
“We need to reassure people that we’re not just wasting money on vanity projects.”
And Conservative group leader Anne Jobson (St Loyes) said converting the loan into shares was the wrong approach.
“Surely our duty is to recover those funds?” she said. “We can’t afford to be generous with council taxpayers’ money. This is all too speculative, and there is no evidence that there is any further investment in the pipeline for the Exeter Science Park.
“Council taxpayers can’t rely on speculation.”
Progressive group co-leader Diana Moore (Green, St Davids) put forward amendments calling for greater scrutiny and accountability. She said the council had to learn lessons from previous ventures, including the demise of affordable its housing company Exeter City Living.
The amendments were defeated, but she said it was important that Exeter Science Park’s fortunes were turned around.
“I want to see real action and real change in the way this company is operating,” she said.
“The time to act is now.”
Because of possible contamination from hydrocarbons, following a long standing fuel leak.
Readers may remember South West Water was fined £233,000 in 2022 for supplying “just add lemon” water to residents of Bratton Flemming in 2022. – Owl
Meanwhile Devon cryptosporidium victims hit 100 and residents told water is STILL too contaminated with faeces…www.dailymail.co.uk
Hundreds of homes get ‘do not drink water’ warning
More than 600 households in a Surrey village have been warned not to drink tap water after tests carried out by Thames Water following a previous fuel leak.
Amy Walker, Julia Gregory & Victoria Park-Froud www.bbc.co.uk
The water company said it was issuing the advice as a precautionary measure for properties in Bramley, where there has been concerns over several months about the spill from a petrol station.
Thames Water said “concerning results” had been identified in three areas., showing “elevated” levels of hydrocarbons, which petrol is made from.
Bramley resident Helen Melia said: “It’s hugely inconvenient – hugely worrying.”
Tess Fayers, Thames Water’s regional operations director, told BBC Radio Surrey: “It is all linked to an issue with a fuel leak which has been plaguing the town of Bramley for quite some time”.
Residents were visiting local shops to buy bottled water on Friday morning.
Catha Holt said she had been drinking only bottled water since the start of the year because of concerns about the water supply.
She added that the notice was “quite worrying for people”.
Raymond Vincent, who lives outside of the affected area in Bramley, said he had bought bottled water “because I’m taking a precaution”.
Steve Hardstone, landlord of the Jolly Farmer pub, said it had the only deep cellar in the high street, and the smell of fuel had “permeated the whole building”.
“It’s damaged us massively… We’ve had customers literally walk in and walk out again,” he added.
But the pub is not covered by the advisory notice, and Mr Hardstone said it would continue to use water “with some reservation” on Friday.
Bottle banks have been set up outside Bramley library and at Artington Park-and-Ride.
Ms Melia said she had not received any bottled water from Thames Water, but had some in the house already to brush her teeth and make tea.
The company is advising customers to avoid using tap water to brush teeth or prepare food, even after boiling.
But it said the water could be used for bathing, flushing toilets and in washing machines.
Water supply in the village “has been safe to drink up to this point”, the firm said.
Results on Thursday indicated high levels of hydrocarbons – which are found in petrol, Thames Water said.
Ms Fayers added that it had “isolated” the issue and had retested the three locations which raised concerns, with results being processed at an independently-verified laboratory.
Evan Venn said he didn’t know about the issue until this morning
Evan Venn, 68, said he did not hear about the notice – which Thames Water issued on Thursday night – until this morning.
He said: “I drank two-and-a-half litres of tap water between last night and this morning. I went to the gym and had no idea.
“My wife told me this morning… she found out on Facebook.
“The communication is not very good full stop. I only found out this morning by opening the door that they had delivered the water and in there was the warning card.”
Peter Hall, 88, also wasn’t aware of the issue until this morning and has received a delivery of bottled water.
“We’d already had our breakfast, so we’d already consumed a quantity of the water and cleaned our teeth,” he said.
The alert comes amid an ongoing fuel leak from the village petrol station.
The Environment Agency said earlier this year it was continuing to investigate an “ongoing groundwater pollution incident in Bramley”.
The long-running issue has led businesses to say they have lost £100,000 due to the stench of fuel.
The firm is currently replacing a water pipe outside of the petrol station, with works set to last for about four weeks.
Thames Water has been regularly carrying out extra tests on water since October, but has recently ramped up efforts to about 12 a week.
It said that when ingested with drinking water, hydrocarbons “may lead to nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, however low levels of exposure are not expected to cause long term health effects.”
Jane Austin, a Conservative councillor on Waverley Borough Council (WBC), said the latest water warning was “just yet another horrible thing that’s happened to our village because of this fuel leak”.
She told BBC Radio Surrey: “We are so frustrated by what’s been thrown at us by something that’s completely… not of our choosing.”
WBC said it was working with Thames Water and other agencies to “mitigate the impact on residents”.
Earlier this month, thousands of people in Devon were told to boil their tap water before drinking it after a parasite outbreak was identified.
South West Water said the Hillhead reservoir and the wider Alston area was being investigated as a potential cause for the outbreak.
The number of confirmed cases of cryptosporidium has now reached 100, the UK Health Security Agency said on Thursday.
Separately, residents in Bramley have faced at least two water outages due to technical issues over the last year.
Let’s recall what the politicians have said and Defra’s knee jerk reaction to this “invasive” species
They are not essential. “For what it’s worth, I think there are more important things than beavers,” Thérèse Coffey a year ago June 2023.
From a Guardian article of 2014 soon after beavers were confirmed as living on the Otter:
If the government gets its way, the presence of these beavers in a corner of Devon – the first to be sighted in England for 500 years – will be a short-lived affair. This month, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said it planned to trap the colony and transfer them to a zoo or wildlife park, arguing they are an invasive non-native species and could carry disease.
The move has caused consternation. Almost 8,000 people have signed a petition against Defra trapping the beavers and animal rights campaigners are patrolling the banks of the river Otter, ready to raise the alarm if the hunters move in. There are whispers that hunt saboteurs are preparing to disrupt any moves to trap the beavers.
District councillor Claire Wright said [ten years ago] there was no logic in removing them. Like many, she disagrees with the government’s definition of them as invasive. “They are a native species. The obvious way forward is to monitor them carefully and see what impact they have,” she said.
Who has bee on the right side of history? – Owl
BBC News www.bbc.co.uk
Devon’s beaver population is playing a vital role in easing the impact of flood and drought in the region, according to researchers.
Experts from the University of Exeter and Devon Wildlife Trust have spent 10 years studying the effect beavers are having on the local environment.
They found that across four separate family areas, the beaver-created wetlands were storing more than 24 million litres (5.3m gallons) of water.
Researchers said this reduced river levels flowing through downstream communities during wet weather, whilst ensuring healthy stream flows during dry spells.
Dr Alan Puttock, Lecturer in Applied Nature Based Solutions at the University of Exeter said: “We have found that beaver-created wetlands contribute significantly to more resilient landscapes, reducing both the impacts of flooding and drought.
“Above flood-prone communities in the River Otter we have observed that beaver-created wetlands have significantly reduced storm flows.”
Devon Wildlife Trust is now using the research findings to make the case for creating more space for beavers and their wetlands.
The charity is also hoping to unlock more funding to compensate land owners who agreed to turn grazing land into habitats for beavers.
The Trust’s Green Finance Officer, Dr Holly Barclay, said: “We need to provide space along our waterways for beavers to live and create their wetlands.
“That’s why we are developing new funding streams which can reward land managers for the benefits they are providing to society – including flood and drought alleviation – by allowing beaver wetlands to develop on their land.
Wild beavers were found living in the River Otter in east Devon 2014 and given the legal right to stay in 2020.
The Devon Wildlife Trust monitors the animals and estimated the rodents are now living in 20 separate family territories along the river and its tributaries.
East Devon Watch 