Cllr Key made clear his view of the public, in this comment he made at tonight’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee. He left the Knowle Chamber smiling broadly, after he and his like-minded colleagues had voted in favour of restrictions to public speaking, as a solution to overlong Development Management Committee meetings.
More details to follow.
In a confusing decision at Knowle today, Newton Poppleford councillor Graham Salter was found guilty of a breach of the councillors’ code of conduct.
After deliberating for over two and a half hours, a majority verdict of an EDDC Standards Sub-committee (Cllrs Godbeer (Chair),Bond and Newth) ruled that Cllr Salter should not have spoken and voted at two parish planning meetings (May 13th and June 24th 2013) concerning Clinton Devon Estates’ (CDE) controversial King Alfred Way (KAW) application .
The grounds were that a “reasonable member of the public with a knowledge of the facts” would conclude that the proximity of Cllr Salter’s house to the KAW site meant he had a personal interest that must “have prejudiced his judgement”.
But the ruling seemed strangely at odds with the subcommittee’s acknowledgement that he had publicly declared a personal interest, and with their conclusion that he had acted “only in the public interest” (thereby apparently agreeing with his statement that he was representing the many residents who oppose the building of 40 houses on prime agricultural land, in the AONB, outside the built-up perimeter of the village).
Does this mean that the supposed opinion of a theoretical man or woman “on the Clapham omnibus” weighs more heavily in code of conduct considerations than the support of informed locals?
Cllr Salter commented after the decision that it would not affect his view of his role as a councillor. He added that he saw the complaint against him as part of a concerted campaign to silence his opposition to the CDE project.
Two other complaints were made against Councillor Salter at the same time as this one, and are thought to be from a single source,. Both have already been dismissed. One alleged that he had an undeclared Pecuniary Interest, and was sent to the police, who discounted it; the other, sent to the Standards Committee, complained that he bullied fellow councillors, but was similarly found to be groundless.
When asked by Cllr Susie Bond, “Why did you become a councillor?”, Cllr Salter, replied that he had been to a Newton Poppleford parish meeting where SHLA (Strategic Housing Land Allocation) figures were mentioned, and he noticed the figures were incorrect. Soon afterwards, a vacancy occurred, and villagers encouraged him to apply. “I went on the council to represent villagers’ views”, he said.
Cllr Chris Cole, the complainant, who has strongly supported the KAW application, did not attend today’s hearing.
At the time of “going to press” no sanctions had been decided, though “councillor training” for Cllr Salter seems most likely.
For background to this case, see AREAS Newton Poppleford, or LINKS for Sidmouth Independent News archive.
Well, after this ruling you might be successful!
As reported in the Sidmouth Herald, 11th May 2014, charges against Newton Poppleford Councillor Graham Salter, for alleged non-declaration of a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI) concerning the controversial King Alfred Way planning application , were dismissed by the police.
Nevertheless, Councillor Salter has been called to appear before an EDDC disciplinary committee tomorrow morning (see http://www.eastdevon.gov.uk/standards_hearing_sub_committee_agenda_150514.pdf )
This may well fuel the widespread suspicion that the allegations against him are linked to his vigorous criticism of the process by which the Clinton Devon Estates application was brought forward.
Some have also pointed out that the requirement to declare a DPI was intended to prevent councillors from making personal gain from planning decisions. As the Herald report mentions, who exactly brought the charges against Councillor Salter, remains unclear.
This Thursday’s Standards Sub-Committee minutes are awaited with interest.
The meeting, at Knowle, begins at 6.30pm on Thursday. Details at this link: http://www.eastdevon.gov.uk/os_agenda_150514_combined.pdf
The Council is seeking ways to reduce the length of some meetings, which have become unwieldy, particularly those including major planning applications. What is the best solution? Does the heart of the problem lie with too much participation from the public, or is it a question of better management required (e.g. advance notification and brief precision about the planning matters which can be addressed; avoidance of repetition and overlong reviews of officer reports, etc) .
This is a sensitive issue in the run up to the 2015 elections.
The man who encourages councils to build everywhere now sats “don’t build everywhere”.
It’s a sure sign we are in an election period when we see ministers rowing back from unpleasant policies they know will lose them votes!
Stop unnecessarily threatening the green belt, Nick Boles tells councils
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10828669/Stop-unnecessarily-threatening-the-green-belt-Nick-Boles-tells-councils.html
Please see following link and scroll down to East Devon Alliance to see our submission:
EDDC tries to silence minority councillors
http://www.claire-wright.org/index.php/post/eddc_to_impose_restrictions_on_motions
Police try to silence blogger:
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/may/12/police-ask-blogger-remove-legitimate-tweet-ukip
Is there a pattern here?
And here is an American view on it:
….. “Last year, Devon, Cornwall and Somerset attracted 1.3m visits from abroad – 536,000 in Devon (up 148,000), 319,000 in Cornwall (an increase of 16,000) and 496,000 in Somerset (up 101,000).”
Can anyone. recall any major initiative on tourism by East Devon District Council in the last few years? Anyone recall the name of the EDDC Champion for Tourism?
Read more at http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Foreign-tourist-lavish-552m-Devon-Cornwall/story-21086915-detail/story.html#FUWOoiyvj6dzSEcO.99
South Somerset is Lib Dem controlled but shares the same Chief Executive with East Devon District Council:
….; “Cllr Nick Colbert raised fears that the council had “not properly listened” to the inspector’s demands.
He said: “We can’t just say the inspector doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and I’ve got serious worries that this whole plan is going to go down.”
http://www.westerngazette.co.uk/Government-held-gun-heads-Local-Plan-south/story-20819075-detail/story.html
This is a somewhat technical article but one point made is that your Local Plan will fail if you have not documented and minuted things such as how you have dealt with the “Duty to Co-operate”.
Our council is very lax with its minutes: some meetings have no minutes at all, some have minutes that seem to bear little resemblance to the meetings that took place and some minutes are so secret that no-one except those in the meetings get to see them. Transparency pays off in the end.
And why, one asks, only Axminster?
Could this not be construed as political, especially as Councillor Chubb represents an Axminster ward and this is announced during the political “purdah” period before elections?
EDDC has listened to traders in Axminster and is proposing to launch a special car parking rate in all its pay and display car parks in the town – starting this month.
The move follows the success of an experimental Christmas parking promotion in December 2013, which proved successful in a number of East Devon towns.
Councillor Iain Chubb, EDDC’s Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “This scheme is an example of EDDC working smarter and engaging with communities. We have been working with town representatives to find a mutually acceptable way of supporting town centre economies. We remain open to innovative ideas to support other towns. We are continuing to have talks with the Association of East Devon Chambers of Commerce.”
At a meeting of Cabinet last Wednesday, EDDC Members backed a proposal to trial a promotional offer for up to six months.
During the trial period, running from the first available date in May until 31 October, and subject to certain conditions, there will be a tariff of £2 maximum charge for parking after 10am and for the rest of that day in any of EDDC’s pay and display car parks in Axminster.
Councillor Chubb added: “We are implementing this new car parks pricing initiative at the request of Axminster Chamber of Commerce. The trial has been designed to better serve the needs of the town.
EDDC will monitor usage and reserves the right to withdraw the offer before the closing date if car parks become unduly congested with cars parked by people abusing the spirit of the new system.
| Flood resilience support given approval |
| Measures designed to help home and business owners protect their properties from future flood events have been approved by the council. Last week, members agreed to give delegated authority to the chief executive to administer the East Devon elements of a scheme that forms part of a nationwide Government initiative prompted by the devastating storms and floods experienced during the past winter.The Government has launched a number of initiatives to assist householders and businesses recover from flooding and make their premises more resilient to future bad weather. Councils have been invited to administer several schemes to: The offers are available to owners of properties actually flooded between 1December 2013 and 31 March 2014 and for work designed to prevent future flooding as opposed to work that should be covered by insurance. Guidance issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government working with Defra means councils can administer the scheme on behalf of the Coalition. EDDC’s local scheme is based on guidance issued in March and is mostly concerned with administration of the Repair and Renew Grant, which councils can award and then claim back from Westminster.
Measures designed to help home and business owners protect their properties from future flood events have been approved by the council. The Government has launched a number of initiatives to assist householders and businesses recover from flooding and make their premises more resilient to future bad weather. Councils have been invited to administer several schemes to: The offers are available to owners of properties actually flooded between 1December 2013 and 31 March 2014 and for work designed to prevent future flooding as opposed to work that should be covered by insurance. Guidance issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government working with Defra means councils can administer the scheme on behalf of the Coalition. EDDC’s local scheme is based on guidance issued in March and is mostly concerned with administration of the Repair and Renew Grant, which councils can award and then claim back from Westminster. |
Typical EDDC: find a problem, blame other people and don’t even think of providing a solution:
And this at the time when East Devon is in the top 10 places for a majority of people being over 65 …
In our spirit of helping EDDC to do the right thing at the right time, we draw their attention to an update on Section 106 agreements:
A judge has ruled quite clearly that attempting to use figures that are pre-National Planning Policy Framework is NOT allowed:
http://www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1293181/local-plan-ruling-a-warning
… MPs sat for just 143 days last year prompting Margaret Hodge, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, to say: “We’re not spending enough time in Westminster. The public would be forgiven for thinking that MPs are lazy and Parliament is failing to provide value for money.”
In the council e-newsletter this week, the council mentions that they are repeating their “satisfaction survey” by asking 3,000 residents, randomly chosen, what they think.
They the mention last year’s survey and what they are doing about improving things.
Here is the extracy on planning.
Planning – residents said
49% of residents said the council doesn’t act on what residents say, mainly due to planning and development (stet – this doesn’t make any sense!)
16% said they were dissatisfied with planning services – the most common reason given was that the council doesn’t listen to what people say.
How the council has responded
They have:
Published an article in the summer edition of East Devon Connect setting out the planning process and use other communication channels to make residents aware
We are in the process of changing the letters sent out during the planning application process to help make them better understood and provide a better explanation why decisions are made
We have increased our communications about regeneration projects and developments particularly in Exmouth and Seaton.
So, there you are: EDDC is improving by: writing an article, simplifying paperwork for planning applications and, er, more press releases.
Anyone see the flaws in this? Do any if these things show that the council LISTENS?
East Devon Watch 