A letter published today in Pullman’s View from Seaton,explains why:
‘It’s often said that journalism is the first draft of history.I’m hoping that your letters page will act as the second draft because I nearly choked on my porridge reading Councillor Helen Parr proclaiming her latest success in a planning matter… “to protect the landscape of East Devon against the wrong kind of development” (Pulman’s View From Colyton, January 28th).
The fact is that, in the months leading up to her planning committee’s decision on the green wedge development application between Colyford and Seaton, both Councillor Parr and her colleague Councillor Godbeer were making worrying noises about how “economic” arguments
might trump the green wedge preservation policy.
The View’s own correspondent wrote an accurate report of a meeting in Colyford, when a hall full of locals realised that they could not rely on their elected representatives to protect this site, and that they would need to go down with placards to the planning meeting. The attention generated by this put the application in the full media spotlight, as it deserved. I spoke at that meeting, and had dug out Councillor Parr and Councillor Godbeer’s manifesto for the last election, in which their number one promise was to protect the green wedge. I copied that promise to all members of the planning committee the weekend before and, together with 10 other technically-excellent speeches from the public, that left the committee no option in front of 100 or so people than to vote against. Councillor Parr, to
everyone’s mystification, and at our hour of need, abstained.
Howard and Anne West, and Robin and Bonte Pocock, then led a brilliant, selfless campaign to ensure our community was independently represented at the developer’s appeal, where it emerged that East Devon planning officers had not commissioned the requisite bat surveys prior to determination. This nearly fatally weakened one of East Devon’s strongest suits, but fortunately the inspector judged that the green wedge factor the campaigners had stressed would win the day.
The question for Councillor Parr is why, when Exeter had its Local Plan discussed four years ago and published two years ago, East Devon failed to do this. This failure of her allies on her watch left East Devon vulnerable to just such proposals for over-development as long as no plan is in place. This threat remains.
The credit for saving one of the most beautiful parts of the Axe Valley does not lie with her or her council, but with a model campaign by local people which, for the record, cost a number of locals rather a lot of money which she will, presumably, not be rebating from our
council tax. And her council’s actual reaction? A campaign to restrict public speaking rights in future!’
PAUL ARNOTT,
Colyton
East Devon Watch 