Link to an article in this week’s Pulman’s View from Sidmouth (page 5):
http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk//launch.aspx?pbid=b553c14a-f023-4ec6-a5ac-b9d745b0d550
Author Archives: transparencyforeastdevon
West Country councils see little benefit from rural grants
EDDC “Member Champions” – who are they and what do they DO for US?
EDDC has 16 member Champions
According to the dedicated EDDC web page they:
Each Member Champion keeps a focus on their area of responsibility by:
- Raising the profile of the issue and showing the communities of East Devon the Council’s commitment to the issue.
- Fostering the engagement of a wider range of Members in the review and development of the issue.
- Promoting effective communication and positive working relationships both within the Council and amongst partners, stakeholders and community groups.
- Promoting the positive work that is being undertaken within the District, both at a regional and national level.
- Providing positive support, and on occasions constructive challenge, to officers in driving forward the Council’s agenda on the issue.
and
to fulfil their role effective a Member Champion also needs to be able to:
- foster cross-party co-operation and be able to engage community groups and officers
- understand and express the opinions and priorities of the community
- be sensitive to Council priorities; although they may be advocating the opinions of the older people, for example, they should not do so at the expense of Council Policy and Corporate Policies. Champions cannot allow themselves to “go native” and forget about their broader role as a Councillor.
- Lead and respond to the whole range of issues rather than focussing upon a pet interest.
So, let’s examine them individually:
Asset Management – Bob Buxton (Dunkeswell)
Now, we plebs actually don’t know what happens at Asset Management meetings because they are held in secret with no agendas or minutes. So how do we know what he is championing and why?
Business – Mike Allen (Honiton St Michaels)
The man who was in charge of the second round of Local Plan meetings and doesn’t know how Sidford Fields crept into it. Perhaps kinder to skip this one …..
Culture – John O’Leary (Honiton St Pauls)
This pretty much seems to mean publicising the Thelma Hulbert Gallery at every opportunity – the loss making “asset” that we all own and throw money at and the Beehive in Honiton to which we have ALL contributed so many hundreds of thousands of pounds via EDDC grants. Oh, and he lets us know what is on at EDDC owned facilities such as the Manor Pavilion – at least I think he does.
Customer Services – Vivien Duvall Steer (Exmouth Halsdon)
Ah, the lady who is presumably standing up for all those of us who won’t be able to get to Skypark. No? Why not?
Exmouth Town – John Humphries (Exmouth Littleham)
A lot of unhappy people in Littleham these days – which is not at all Little any more. Plus the demolition of Elizabeth Hall and the “regeneration” of the seafront into money-making businesses is not popular either.
Health and Wellbeing – Peter Sullivan (Sidmouth Town)
Er, anyone know what EDDC is doing for our health and wellbeing? OK, he does have a Twitter feed where in April he suggested that people take their dogs for a walk! But Googling him doesn’t uncover anything else.
Member Development and Engagement – Maddy Chapman (Exmouth Brixington)
Oh dear, given that our members keep being hauled before the Standards Committee because they are being naughty seems to show that she isn’t having much effect!
Planning, Design and Heritage – Alan Dent (Budleigh)
Anyone want to point out anything he has done to protect our heritage or improve design of buildings – he certainly won’t be able to point to anything about planning given the mess that EDDC is currently in.
Flood Alleviation – Peter Bowden (Broadclyst)
Well, at least he lives in a flood prone area! But the Chief Executive has taken charge of flood grants. Hope he gets a look in.
Procurement – Mark Williamson (Exmouth Littleham)
Ah, procurement – another of those things that no-one tells us about. We are not even sure what he oversees about the subject. Procuring Skypark? Paperclips? Who knows? We are certainly not allowed to see documents about procurement so quite why WE have a champion for it is a moot point.
Rural Broadband – Mike Howe (Clyst Valley)
Er, not progressing very well at all – some areas of the district barely have a snails pace service and dates for upgrade keep getting pushed back and back. BT appears to have the monopoly. Not sure what he can achieve.
Rural Communities (including Post Offices) – Newton Poppleford and Harpford
Oh dear – the rural community of Newton Poppleford is NOT a happy one – did he stick up for it recently? Er ….
Rural Communities (incorporating Post Offices) – Ken Potter
Anyone see him at the Feniton inquiry or the Colyford Green Wedge? No? When you read EDDC Minutes he does attend a lot of meetings and reads a lot of Post Office literature.
Seaton Town – Stephanie Jones (Seaton)
Seaton: the town that has more old people than just about anywhere else in the country and which is about to have even more on its “regeneration area” – the one where Tesco can’t afford affordable houses. Promised so much, delivered so little. I wouldn’t put that on my CV!
Tourism – Sheila Kerridge (Sidmouth Town)
Sheila who? Tourism – East Devon? Surely some mistake, we don’t do tourism we only do building lots of houses in inappropriate places and huge sheds for “employment”.
Youth – Christine Drew (Sidmouth Sidford)
Youth services which are being decimated across the district. I can only refer you to this interview that she had with a work experience person at EDDC. She does “loads” of things but can name only one though she does go to lots of youth clubs (well, that’s about to stop now DCC is closing them all) and, as she says, does have children.
So, there we have it – LOTS of Champions but it seems that really their job is not that of Champion of the People but (at least those whose heads appear above the parapet) instead they do PR for the majority party – but even this some of them do woefully or not at all.
Still, they probably go to a lot of local, regional and national events and have lots of canapés for us.
But what exactly have they achieved for US? Over to you.
What the general public thinks of the “housing crisis”
The BBC has a “Your Say” section on its website and it recently published an article about the housing crisis. Here are the comments which produced the three most popular comments:
We’ve got around 850,000 empty houses in this country. Unfortunately, many of them are in the ‘wrong place’ – in economically deprived areas rather than in the South East. The solution is to regenerate these areas and draw people to them, taking advantage of much cheaper housing in the process. But this would deflate the bubble the govt is anxious to create in the illusion of economic competence.
The problem is the phrase ‘shortage of housing’ always getting linked to lack of building activity. The problem is that over a million homes have been removed from the market by buy-to-let investors who with tax breaks have pushed up prices beyond the means of the people who would normally purchase such properties. That’s your problem
The public have been warning the “experts” for months that the housing market is oveheating despite Osbournes assurances that it wouldn`t. What`s needed is a lot more affordable housing. The “Help to buy” scheme also needs to be downgraded to morgages up to £200,000 and not the current £600,000. If you need help to buy a £600,000 house then you`re over-stretching yourself.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27459663
They do things differently in Scotland: Councillor suspended for 5 months
Suspended for 5 monthhs for being aggressive to members of the public whilst Chairman of a committee:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-27377867
and
Really interesting if somewhat long – his register of interests dealings are quite something!
http://www.publicstandardscommissioner.org.uk/decisions/decision/419/las1215
No Local Plan until “at least 2015”
http://www.devon24.co.uk/news/local_plan_delayed_until_next_year_1_3601887
No burning the midnight oil, then – just a nice, slow amble.
“The delay in finishing the Local Plan is expected to cost taxpayers a further £12,000 in consultants’ fees in addition to an ‘inspection budget’ for 2013/14 of £110,000.”
But still they must move to Skypark: bet the midnight oil IS burning for that one!
The “duty to co-operate” – how abour some co-operation to take OUR overspill now?
The National Planning Policy Statement requires councils to alert other councils around them when it seems that they cannot build enough houses in their own district and to ask those councils to take some or all of their overspill.
Exeter, of course, now has not only Cranbrook to take its overspill in East Devon but also the thousands of extra houses agreed by EDDC’s Development
Management Committee in the EDDC area adjoining Pinhoe.
Now we have an application for (initially?) 300 houses at Uplyme to accommodate the “needs” of Lyme Regis (perhaps for more second homes?) on the A3052 at Uplyme in East Devon.
It might seem now, that having accommodated Lyme and Exeter we have run out of space for our own houses.
So, what about South Somerset which conveniently shares a Chief Executive with us and is also coincidentally in similar trouble with its Local Plan.
There are plenty of green fields between Axminster and Chard (particularly around Yarcombe in the Blackdown Hills near the border) and so convenient for commuting to Exeter, Taunton and beyond, especially if the A303 is widened.
Why hasn’t the Chief Executive been talking to himself?
East Devon Alliance welcomes dialogue with local councillor for Uplyme
We welcome Cllr Ian Thomas’s contribution to the early discussions about the prospective planning application near Uplyme in the AONB (see post and comment below). Open discussion through forums such as this (or by the soon to be restricted contributions at East Devon Development Management Committee meetings) is essential at this vulnerable time. Thank you, Ian.
We applaud Ian’s stated support for AONBs and the natural environment, but he may perhaps concede that the actions of his party in this district have spoken more loudly than his words: EDDC’s tardiness in getting its act together on the Local Plan and a five-year land supply have surely put greenfield sites, including those designated AONB, at risk”.
It was clear, too, from a recent Development Management Committee meeting to discuss an action plan for the revised Local Plan that there is likely to be much more development near Exeter as well as around selected villages and in the area near Lyme Regis. Coupled with the Planning Inspectorate’s observation that EDDC had failed to co-operate with West Dorset on the Local PLan, it seems to a number of us that the Uplyme proposal could be the first cuckoo in this unwelcome spring.
No hotel on the Seaton regeneration site: more retirement housing
Is EDDC out to make sure that Seaton has more retirement housing than current leader Christchurch?
Pretty soon you won’t get accommodation in Seaton unless you show a bus pass!
McCarthy & Stone will share its proposals with local residents at a public exhibition on Thursday, May 29, between 3.30pm and 7pm at Seaton Primary School on Valley View.
Anyone who is unable to attend the public exhibition or would like more information can call a freephone information line on 0800 298 7040 or view the proposals online at http://www.mccarthyandstone-consultation.co.uk/seaton
Voting at the European elections on Thursday: a handy guide
How does your vote work on Thursday’s European Elections?
The EDA research team has found that most of the people they talk to haven’t a clue as to how the European Election works. When you read this you may not be entirely surprised. But it is important for the democratic process that you do understand before you get to the ballot box.
The voting system used is a form of proportional representation called the – “closed list”.
Who am I voting for?
Between three and ten Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to represent your region. The UK is divided into regions, one for each of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales and nine covering England. Each region is allocated a number of MEPs according to its population. Our region is the South West and we are represented by six MEPs.
How do I vote?
Well, always read the instructions for filling in the ballot paper carefully, even if you have voted before. The ballot paper lists political parties and independent candidates. Under each party name is a list of candidates who wish to represent that party. Simply put an X (a cross) next to the party or independent candidate that you wish to vote for. If you make a mistake then you can ask the polling staff to give you another ballot paper. You may also be voting in other elections on the same day. In our region (super constituency) we have no independent candidates but we have eight parties to choose from. Remember with no independents we cannot vote for a candidate, only a party. We have one vote although we are electing six MEPs.
So who is elected? (Take this slowly- it is not quite a complicated as it sounds).
In a given region the allocated seats are awarded using a quota system in successive rounds of counting, until all MEPs are elected. For each round the quota for that round is the total number of votes received by a party (or independent candidate) divided by the number of seats already gained in that region +1. So, for a party with no seats (and for the first round) the number of votes received is divided by one, and so stays the same. If the party already has one seat then its number of votes is divided by two, if it has two seats it is divided by three, and so on. This means that the more seats you have already won, the harder it is to gain extra seats, so the overall allocation of seats is more proportional to the number of votes received. The first seat that a party wins goes to the first person on its list, the second seat to the second person, and so on, until the party has either not won any more seats or has run out of names on its list. An independent candidate is treated as though he or she were a party with only one name on its list. –
See more at:
http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/how_do_i_vote/voting_systems/european_parliament_elections.aspx#sthash.dR8dQIRf.dpuf
What are the Eight Parties standing and who are their candidates?
A pdf of the list of candidates can be found at:
http://www.europarl.org.uk/en/european_elections/candidates2014.html
“Town hall sexism turns women off local politics”
Story in today’s Sunday Times that the best way to get more women into local politics would be to set up a body that would examine reports of misconduct in local government.
The report says “sexism and sexual harrassment, which is being increasingly scrutinised in Westminster, is equally prevalent in the corridors of our local town halls” and goes on to say that some female councillors end up resigning because of sexist or inflexible behaviours that are hard to combine with family life.
It suggests that any aspiring female politicians, for whom local government could be a stepping stone to Westminster, are turned away by sexism. In England 32% of councillors and 12.3% of council leaders are women.
The society’s head of policy says, “Sexism in local government is both a cause and effect of the lack of women councillors. We have found numerous examples of male councillors making sexist, offensive and derogatory remarks”.
Lucky for us then that councillors such as Eileen Wragg, Claire Wright and Susie Bond continue to do their sterling work.
But how long before the situation changes?
EDA AGM – Chairman’s Report 2014
EDA AGM – Chairman’s Report:
The East Devon Alliance held its Annual General Meeting in Colyford on Friday 16th May. The evening was opened by retiring chairman Ian McKintosh with an overview of the EDA’s activities in the last year. These have ranged from support for major planning appeals in the district to contributing verbally and in writing to key planning enquiries, both locally and nationally. Ian also reported on the ‘progress’ of the investigation into ex-Cllr Graham Brown.
Election of Officers for 2014/15 then took place. Committee member
Paul Arnott was elected to be Chairman.
John Withrington was elected to stay on as Vice Chairman.
Nicky King also stays on as Secretary.
Sheila Smith was elected as new Treasurer.
The new chairman thanked Ian McKintosh for his energetic and astute leadership in the foundation of the East Devon Alliance, and also thanked retiring Treasurer Ron Roberts for putting sound financial structures in place for the EDA to build on. The meeting was pleased to note that both will continue to work with the EDA.
In his opening comments, the chairman outlined the many problems in East Devon in the current planning context. It is widely understood now that democratic practices by the governing entity are gravely insufficient to meet the current crisis created by EDDC’s failure to satisfy the Inspector with its proposed Local Plan, a failure made more acute by the government’s National Planning Policy Framework.
However, he emphasised that in the coming period when a planning free-for-all might be feared, examples represented in the room from Feniton, Talaton and Colyford/Seaton showed that major applications could still be defeated on “sustainability” grounds.
The discussion was opened to the floor, and largely centred on a forthcoming application in the Uplyme parish, where an overspill development is mooted in the AONB near Rousdon. Those potentially worst affected live a few yards into West Dorset, where they worry that Lyme councillors and West Dorset councillors are all in favour. Their plight is worsened by findings in the recent Inspector’s response to EDDC’s Local Plan, where he criticised the failure of EDDC to work with West Dorset to identify and meet housing need. No sooner was this finding made, than this new proposed plan arose. It was felt that Uplyme Parish Council will need to help defend their area, as will EDDC Councillor Ian Thomas and MPs Oliver Letwin and Neil Parish, who may be mindful of this being an election year .It was generally considered that all EDA members and those attending benefitted from this exchange of views and experiences.
Concerns were also raised from the floor about the disproportionate number of complaints being processed by EDDC against Independent councillors at every level, while complaints against those connected to the ruling party seem rarely to be green lit for further investigation. A discussion was had on Thursday’s pushing through at the EDDC Overview and Scrutiny Committee of proposed speaking restrictions at EDDC Development Management Committee meetings, and on the new plans to restrict councillors’ freedom to table motions.
It was considered that there are two key actions for the way ahead. The first is to tackle unwelcome overdevelopment applications as they arise, and support each other across the district in a context where councillors may not always be relied upon to act in the public interest rather than in those of their own allies. The second is that for real, sustainable changes to be effected at EDDC, many Independent council candidates will need to come forward in May 2015.
Thanks are due to our hosts at Colyford Memorial Hall for an excellent facility, and apologies that we seem to have completely run down their wireless microphone batteries after two hours of enthusiastic debate.
No sanctions to be taken against Cllr Graham Salter.
Councillors and officers..and all of us… are busy people. But there are signs that the Standards’ sub-committee were having their own time wasted, as well as Cllr Graham Salter’s valuable worktime (he’s self-employed) at this week’s hearing called by EDDC’s Monitoring Officer. It went on and on…..and after only a majority vote (2 to 1) , he was found to have breached the councillors’ code of conduct on one count. But it was clearly not a serious issue, as it was then decided no sanctions were warranted.
Consultants (paid) council officers (paid), Cllr Salter (unpaid ) and members of the public (unpaid) were obliged to wait for hours, while the sub-committee deliberated.
Had this been a serious case, the expense and length of the hearing could be seen to be justified…. and not perceived as part of a District-wide pattern of apparent attempts to gag dissenters.
Our earlier report on the same hearing is here: https://eastdevonwatch.org/2014/05/15/why-did-you-become-a-councillor/
A3052 today, Uplyme and Rousdon tomorrow – another Cranbrook?
A developer has put in an application for 300 houses on the land currently used for Lyme Regis’s summer park and ride scheme. The land is in East Devon but is adjacent to Lyme Regis. This was not in the last Local Plan and did not figure in the Current Local Plan.
The developer (Hallam Homes) had a poorly -advertised “consultation” exhibition in Lyme Regis recently but nowhere in East Devon. This is contrary to the requirement that a development in East Devon must be advertised “appropriately” within the district.
It may be that the villages of Uplyme and Rousdon do not think that this development will affect them. Think again. Today, it is one field on the A3052 but it is only a matter of time in this development-led era in East Devon that the current developers (or new ones) will decide to link up the parishes of Uplyme and Rousdon with the development now being planned. Before long this could be a new town the size of Cranbrook.
As an extension to Lyme Regis, this would totally be in East Devon and the Dorset economy would be stretched for doctors, dentists, schools, etc just as the East Devon economy would be stretched.
Is this “sustainable”? Who in their right mind would think so? Where are the jobs? How will people commute? Where is the necessary infrastructure?
This is the Jurassic Coast tourist route – already developers have their eye on the Exeter end of this road – how long before we have the road completely covered in a ribbon development of houses from Lyme to Exeter and from the A3o52 to Raymonds Hill?
EDA has new Chairman
At EDA’s well-attended AGM last night, some new officers were elected to posts.
Our new Chairman is Paul Arnott of Colyton, Vice-Chairman remains John Witherington of Feniton
More to follow.
Yet another councillor reported to the EDDC Standards Committee
Pattern? What pattern? (see post below)
http://www.eastdevon.gov.uk/axminster_town_council_code_of_conduct_finding.pdf:
Code of Conduct Finding
An investigation into a complaint by District Councillor Twiss (Conservative Council and Whip) about Axminster Town Councillor Cllr Hayward (known for his independent views) has concluded that Cllr Hayward breached the councillor Code of Conduct.
In paragraph 4(a) of the Code of Conduct, it says: ‘You must treat others with courtesy and respect’. The Investigator found that, in an email to a group of councillors, Cllr Hayward was disrespectful towards a member of staff at the District Council.
His report states:
‘Treating people with courtesy and respect involves having regard for them and their feelings and showing politeness towards them. The requirement to treat a person with respect applies even if they are not present.
I found that three of Councillor Hayward’s emails were written in his capacity as a councillor. Having examined the content of these, I have found that…Councillor Hayward was disrespectful…He therefore failed to follow paragraph 4(a) of the Code of Conduct.’
In the Complaints Procedure, where there has been a finding of a breach of the Code of Conduct, it is possible to resolve the com
plaint to both the complainant and councillor’s satisfaction. In this instance, Cllr Hayward has withdrawn his disrespectful comments and
accepted that the officer was not as he described. Cllr Twiss has accepted this, although he would also have preferred Cllr Hayward to apologise for his disrespectful and inappropriate behaviour.
During the course of this complaint, Cllr Hayward stated his wish to make a counter complaint against Cllr Twiss, however there was not sufficient evidence to warrant further action.
This Finding will be posted on the Council’s website on the Standards Committee page under public notices.
Denise Lyon
Deputy Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer
7 May 2014
Note from EDA: For the record, here are some possibly disrespectful comments made publicly by Councillor Twiss. The second example comes from his letter to a local newspaper, in his official capacity as Tory Party Whip.
… (about a councillor who used to be a Conservative but is now an Independent) “This is a bit rich coming from someone who now flies under a white flag having previously been a Conservative party Councillor and Whip who paraphrasing his wording presumably chanced his arm to get elected having jumped ship from one political group to another.”
….(about all Independent Councillors) ”Invariably a single issue with ancillary directly related ones is the overriding reason for Independents standing, holding back progress and directly disadvantaging their communities by paying little attention to other matters as a result.”
EDA would be interested to know if there have been any formal complaints against Cllr Twiss, and if so, how they have been dealt with.
For the full version of Cllr Twiss’s letter, and more comment, go to http://sidmouthindependentnews.wordpress.com/2013/11/29/have-whip-but-dont-ever-use-it/
Lies, damned lies – and Minutes!
It isn’t just Lord Salisbury and his Cabinet who would be proud of Norman Tebbit – he is almost certainly a hero to some at EDDC:
…. Finally, to the problem that bedevils coalition ministers: the feeling that after just one term in government, quite a few of them have been around too long. Francis Maude, Cabinet Office supremo and cutter-in-chief, is one such, and a peek at his parliamentary biog explains why: “Member for Horsham 1997–; Member for North Warwickshire, 1983-92; Contested North Warwickshire byelection 1900.” He didn’t win, of course. That’s a shame. Lord Salisbury and his cabinet would have thought the world of him.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/may/15/hugh-muir-diary-paxo-permutations
Greens say English housing system bust at every level
Councillor Key misses the (decimal) point!
What would you say was the average number of public speakers at planning meetings over the past year? 10? 15 perhaps? It’s actually 1.5.
Councillor Graham Troman presented his research on this to last night’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC), in the debate on how to shorten the length of the currently unwieldy planning meetings. Reducing the number of public speakers was one suggestion in Cllr Bloxham’s proposals for resolving the problem.
Cllr Troman found that between May 2013 and April 2014 (i.e. the latest twelve-month period), there were 165 applications heard by the Development Management, with 249 contributors (including parish councillors) to public question time (maximum of 3 minutes allowed per speaker)…so an average of 1.5 public speakers per planning application.
But these complicated calculations seemed all too much for Cllr Key to take on board. He remarked that Cllr Troman had “overestimated himself” , and that an average of 2 people was more accurate.
Which left more than one of his fellow councillors wondering, “If he doesn’t understand 1.5, does he understand 4.5 minutes (= the time limit for 1.5 public speakers)?
After a rather rambling discussion, which jumped from one agenda item to another, and saw a marked division in voting between the majority party (not all of whom spoke), and the other councillors, the motion to have new rules on speaking was passed., with some amendments. Amongst these were: listing and publishing in advance, the precise material planning applications to be addressed; introducing a buzzer system for time limits to speaking; insisting on pre-application for public questions; and stronger powers for the DMC Chair.
Cllr Bloxham’s report will now go to Cabinet, and then back to Full Council for approval.
East Devon Alliance AGM today
See above for information on the meeting at Colyford – all welcome
East Devon Watch 