Knowle site identified [correction – identified as Stowford Lodge site]
Category Archives: Accountability
NHS: “losing all we have achieved since 2000” say NHS bosses
“Hospital bosses have taken the unusual step of publicly drawing attention to the NHS’s declining ability to treat patients quickly enough, with one comparing lengthening waits for care to the huge delays last seen in 1999.
Four NHS trust chief executives in England have posted comments on Twitter since Tuesday lamenting the challenges the service is facing while it struggles with a tight budget and mounting staffing problems.
Their interventions reflect acute anxiety within the highest levels of the NHS that patients are being let down and that it could collapse if there is another winter crisis.
NHS boss puts service on high alert in case of heavy winter flu burden
Andrew Foster, the chief executive of Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS trust in north-west England, tweeted on Thursday: “A perfect storm of funding and workforce shortages vs an abundance of patients. I see people everywhere working unbelievably hard.”
Tony Chambers, from the Countess of Chester hospital, suggested that lengthening waits for treatment meant the NHS was heading back to the long delays and patients stuck on trolleys that helped prompt Tony Blair to introduce maximum waiting time targets.
Their remarks were prompted by Sarah-Jane Marsh, the chief executive of Birmingham Women’s and Children’s trust, tweeting on Tuesday about declining performances over waiting times. “It’s hard to watch us lose all we have achieved since 2000. But every year of reduced funding per patient and it seems further from our grasp,” she said.
Jackie Daniel, boss of University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay trust in Cumbria, retweeted Marsh’s post, adding: “The current situation is soooo frustrating. Every CEO I speak to is focussed and doing all they can but more is needed.”
Their comments follow disclosures by the BBC that more patients are waiting longer than the NHS Constitution says they should for A&E care, cancer treatment and non-urgent hospital operations.
Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents hospital trusts, said: “Chief executives tell us that they feel the NHS is under the greatest pressure in a generation – ‘it feels like a return to 1999’. Trusts are doing all they can to continue providing great care but the triple whammy of rapidly rising demand, the longest financial squeeze in NHS history and growing workforce shortages are taking their toll.”
A Department of Health spokeswoman said: “We know winter is always challenging for the NHS, but this year we are supporting hospitals with an extra £100m for A&E departments, as well as £2bn for social care. NHS national leaders are working with chief executives across the country to discuss the challenges they face.”
Last week Philip Dunne, the NHS minister, insisted that the NHS had enough money to do its job properly.”
It’s the same the whole world over – rich man’s pleasure, poor man’s blame!
“Currently, 45 per cent of Britain’s wealth is concentrated in the hands of the richest 10 per cent of the population. On the contrary, the less well-off half of the UK’s population (50 per cent) owns just 9 per cent of Britain’s wealth, according to the research.
Average household wealth among the least well-off half of Britons is just £3,200 in net finances, property and pensions, compared with £1.32million held on average by the wealthiest 10 per cent.
Wealth inequality among British households is double that of income inequality, which instead refers to how much each family takes home. …”
Reminds Owl of the old Cockney song of which the lyrics of the chorus are:
“It’s the same the whole world over
It’s the poor what gets the blame
It’s the rich what gets the pleasure
Ain’t it all a bloomin’ shame?”
The new way to stay in power – do nothing (and just one Tory rebels)
The new way to stay in power – abstain on anything important
“… Dr Wollaston, chairwoman of the health committee, at one stage threatened to vote against the Government unless ministers recognised they need to address a “fundamental flaw”.
… Dr Wollaston rebelled against the Tory whip by voting in favour of Labour’s motion.
She was the only Conservative MP to do so, according to the division list.
The result of the vote released by the House of Commons also said DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds voted in the aye lobby in support of Labour’s motion.
But Mr Dodds told the Press Association he did not vote in the aye lobby, adding: “They made a mistake.”
Labour MP Anneliese Dodds (Oxford East) was not listed on the ayes despite speaking out against UC roll-out in the debate.
Raising a point of order after the vote, Ms Abrahams said: “This is a major defeat for the Government on their flagship social security programme.
“Conservative whips and the Prime Minister have spent today strong-arming Conservative MPs to vote against a pause of the rollout of Universal Credit.
“While the Secretary of State has retreated on various aspects of his Universal Credit policy, in a panicked attempt to appease Tory MPs who know that the policy is not fit for purpose.
“Yet again, the Prime Minister and the Tories cannot command a majority in the House of Commons.
“The Prime Minister is in office, but not in power.”
Commons Speaker John Bercow said: “A resolution of the House of Commons is just that, an expression of the view of the nation’s elected representatives in the House of Commons.
“Constitutionally, and this is important…the House cannot direct ministers, and it is for ministers in the Government to decide how to respond to the clearly expressed view of the House.”
Mr Bercow added that he felt confident ministers would do so, having granted an urgent debate on the Government’s response to opposition day debates just two weeks ago
Tory MP Peter Bone (Wellingborough) said it would be helpful where a substantive motion was passed that the Government came to the House to explain what they intended to do about it.
Mr Bercow responded it was “a statement of fact” Labour’s motion was passed, adding: “I think it highly desirable that the Government, in the light of the result, should come to the House and show respect for the institution by indicating what it intends to do.”
Tory former minister Sir Edward Leigh questioned what the point of the Commons was if it merely expresses opinions “for the sake of it” as he made a point of order following the vote.
He said he had trooped through the lobbies to vote on hundreds of divisions on Wednesdays over 34 years as an MP, and that he was “under the impression that it served some purpose”.
And what worries me is that surely there is some sort of precedent here.
“This is not and should not be a university debating society, what is the point of the House of Commons if we just express opinions for the sake of it and surely when we vote it should have some effect?”
The division list was later updated, with Mr Dodds’ name no longer on the ayes list and Ms Dodds’ name appearing on the list of Labour MPs who supported the motion.”
http://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/totnes-mp-dr-sarah-wollaston-649637
Want to comment on LEP’s business plan for us? Go to Torbay council website says Sidmouth Herald!
Sidmouth Herald (as part of Archant a BIG supporter of our LEP) prints a press release on the Sidmouth Herald website on “consultation” on the LEP’s new, improved, answer to all our prayers business plan, citing the enthusiastic words of Paul Diviani, the Deputy Chair of an un-named committee.
Unfortunately, according to the press release, the consultation document appears to be only on Torbay’s website! No link to an EDDC website or the LEP’s own website!
Sloppy.
Perhaps the first consultation comment might be: put your own house in order before you attempt to put a nuclear cell in those of other people!
Here is the press release, in full, in all its glory, where 20 or so business and council members, many with nuclear interests or nuclear-industry-supporting industries attempt to persuade the rest of us that most of their (ie our) money going to Hinkley C is a good thing:
“County and district councils in the two counties, along with the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), Dartmoor and Exmoor national park authorities, and NHS commissioning groups from Northern, Eastern and Western Devon, South Devon and Torbay, and Somerset, have worked together to come up with a draft productivity strategy for the area, referred to as the Heart of the South West.
This has now been put out for a consultation, which will run until November 30.
The partnership is said to be seeking the views of businesses, organisations, groups and individuals.
It says its ambition is to double the size of the area’s economy to £70 billion by 2036 and is seeking the right interventions and Government backing to achieve this.
The partnership says the area has ‘unprecedented opportunities’ in sectors including nuclear, marine, rural productivity, health and care, aerospace and advanced engineering, and data analytics.
Councillor Paul Diviani, deputy chair of the prospective joint committee of the leaders of the Heart of the South West, said: “The Heart of the South West economy is larger than that of Birmingham, so we need to be recognised for our true potential as a cohesive economic area.
“Our vision is for all parts of the Heart of the South West to become more prosperous, enabling people to have a better quality of life and higher living standards.
“To achieve that, we have to create a more vibrant and competitive economy where the benefits can be shared by everyone, and by working in partnership we can present a stronger proposition.
“We urge our stakeholders in business and the wider community to give us their views and help us create an effective strategy for delivery.”
The results from the consultation will be considered by the joint committee of the leaders of the Heart of the South West and the Heart of the South West LEP board, before a final productivity strategy is agreed early in 2018.
The consultation documents are available to view on Torbay Council’s website at
http://www.torbay.gov.uk/devolution.
http://www.sidmouthherald.co.uk/news/south-west-business-plan-up-for-consultation-1-5242862
Emergency cash for public services is just a “sticking plaster” not a solution
“Plugging funding gaps in critical public services will cost £10 billion over the next five years without fixing deep-seated problems.
The Institute for Government (IfG) and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy have concluded in a report that spending on frontline services has become trapped in a “reactive cycle” of allowing problems to mount until there is a crisis and an injection of emergency cash is the only solution, denying money for “transformative” projects.
Emily Andrews, of the IfG, the report’s author, said: “If the chancellor and government cannot break out of this cycle they must accept that budgets will rise or services will deteriorate.”
Emergency cash had already been pumped into schools and social care, the report notes.
The report says that even if should good decisions be taken by Philip Hammond in his November 22 budget, they “will not solve the underlying problems which have allowed this government to get into this reactive spending cycle”.
Times, pay wall
Telegraph: “Elderly patients could be put at risk by pressure to empty NHS beds, warns social care chief inspector“
“Pressures on hospitals to empty thousands of beds ahead of winter could risk the safety of frail elderly patients, the chief inspector of social care has warned.
Andrea Sutcliffe said she was concerned that vulnerable patients would be moved into inadequate facilities, after councils were told funding could be cut if they do not reduce bedblocking rates in their local hospitals.
She told a conference: “I worry that if people focus just on moving people through the system quickly then does that mean that they will force the discharge of somebody that is old and frail into a service which we have rated ‘inadequate’, which would put them at risk potentially.”
Urging council leaders to focus on protecting the vulnerable, “whatever the short term imperatives are,” she raised concern about a “heightened level of tension” between councils and NHS trusts, over who was to blame for the number of elderly people stuck in hospital for want of social care.
People really have to hold on to what are the right things to do – hold on to good relationships and also make sure they are not compromising on safety,” she told the National Children and Adult Services Conference last week, Local Government Chronicle reported.
Simon Stevens, chief executive of the NHS, in September ordered hospitals to free up more than 2,000 beds amid fears that bed occupancy levels are too high for services to cope, as winter pressures mount.
NHS England’s director for acute care, Prof Keith Willett on Wednesday said it would be “extremely difficult” for the health service to get back to the performance it achieved four years ago without increased funding.
Nationally, the NHS has not hit any of its three key targets for 18 months, with longer waits in A&E, as well as for cancer treatment and other planned surgery.
A spokesman for NHS England said: “Hospitals and GPs are preparing intensively for this winter, and would remind people of the importance of having a flu vaccination. There are 21 million people eligible this year, but last year eight million people missed out and that is something we can all definitely change.”
A spokesman for the Department of Health said: “No one should have to stay in hospital longer than necessary – it undermines dignity and reduces quality of life so it is right that we are tackling delayed transfers of care as part of our wider efforts to improve care for patients.
“We’ve already provided £2 billion in additional funding for social care and committed to a consultation to ensure the sector is sustainable in the long term.”
Lack of home care keeps elderly in hospital longer
But, but, but – hospitals are fined for bed-blocking!!! Except in East Devon – where there are almost no beds to block. Which makes you wonder how early-discharge elderly people are really coping.
“Older people spent twice as long stuck in hospital waiting for home help last year compared with five years ago, according to analysis by Age UK.
Patients spent a total of a million nights in hospital because they were waiting for social care of one kind or another in 2016-17, up 27 per cent on the year before, the charity’s report said.
Some 342,000 of these nights were spent waiting for care in their own homes, up from 144,000 in 2011-12. The official figures are considered to be an underestimate, with NHS and council leaders arguing over who is to blame.
Doctors and academics said separately that families should urge elderly relatives to take the stairs and go for walks to help them carry on living independently.
Writing in The BMJ, they also said that hospitals must encourage elderly patients to walk around wards and perform chair-squats to halt dangerous declines that condemn them to care homes.
Scarlett McNally, an orthopaedic surgeon and lead author, said that there had been too much discussion of how to pay for social care and not enough on how to avoid the need for it in the first place. “Loss of fitness is not inevitable,” she said.
Nights in hospital cost about five times as much as a care home. Help at home with tasks such as washing and dressing is cheaper again.
Plans to reform social care have been delayed until next year after Theresa May dropped an election campaign pledge to require older people to pay more towards their care, widely dubbed a “dementia tax”.
Caroline Abrahams of Age UK said that the charity’s analysis showed the “impact of our failing social care system on the NHS, as well as on older people”, adding that it cost the taxpayer more than £173 million last year. She said that more people were “marooned” in hospital, risking infection and losing muscle while they were fit to leave.
The Local Government Association said that 60 per cent of delays were due to the NHS, adding: “Councils are doing all they can to try and help people live independently . . . But with unprecedented funding cuts since 2010 and social care services facing a £2.3 billion funding gap by 2020, this is becoming increasingly difficult.”
David Oliver, vice-president of the Royal College of Physicians, said: “Some delays are due to systematic cuts to social care budgets and provision. Others are due to a serious lack of capacity in community healthcare services.”
Times (pay wall)
DCC has no evidence that new way of working – is working!
From the blog of Independent East Devon Alliance county councillor Martin Shaw (Seaton and Colyton) who fought valiantly with Independent DCC councillor Claire Wright to save our community hospital beds, which was defeated by Conservative block voting for the closures.
“There is new evidence that Brexit is adding to the NHS’s chronic staff shortage. Far fewer nurses and doctors from other EU countries are coming for jobs in the UK, while many of those already here are leaving – or plan to leave.
Locally, the RD&E is struggling to recruit care workers for the ‘new model of care’ to replace community beds. Council officers freely admit that Brexit is making Devon’s social care recruitment crisis worse, and at the County Council meeting on 5th October I asked for figures on the number of people from other EU countries in health, social care and education in the county. The answer was that the Council can’t produce them – in a follow-up question I asked the Cabinet to remedy that, and also to reassure EU citizens that they are valued here.
Many people voted for Brexit partly to help the NHS – but are now realising that it is doing the opposite. Of course the Leave campaign said that it wanted to allow professionals like nurses and doctors still to come to Britain – it was more the unskilled workers it wanted to stop (although where that would leave our farming and tourism industries is another problem). What this argument overlooked is that doctors and nurses who move here are not just making a decision about a job – they are looking at whether the country is open and welcoming. The message that Britain didn’t want foreigners went out loud and clear to the people we need to keep our NHS going, as well as everyone else.
Leave voters rightly hoped to see more money go to our underfunded NHS. However it is now universally recognised that the Leave campaign’s idea of saving ‘£350 million a week’ was utterly misleading. Much of the money never goes to the EU (because of the rebate negotiated by Margaret Thatcher) and most of the rest comes back to support things like agriculture, scientific research and regional development in places like the South West – expenditure that the British government will need to replace. Recently it has become clear that the economy has fallen back since the referendum to the extent that the Government is already losing much more in tax revenues than it will eventually save by leaving the EU. So the NHS has no hope of gaining money from Brexit, and is hit on the staffing side too.”
A hint as to where Devon’s “health service” could be headed
No more prescriptions, instead:
“We are all used to going to the doctor and have them write a prescription for medicine. But what we are less used to is the idea that the doctor or nurse or social worker might give us a prescription for a walking group, soup and sandwiches in the local village hall, an Age UK befriending service.”
Patricia Hewitt, ex-New Labour Blairite MP, privatisation enthusiast and now chair of the Norfolk & Waveney Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP)
Needless to say, the walking classes which would likely be volunteer run for free, soup and sandwiches in the village hall perhaps provided by the food bank and befriending by an already overstretched and underfunded charity – definitely NOT by her STP!
“Gambling machines with £100 stake are only allowed in UK”
It is thought the Chancellor is loath to change odds because the gambling industry contributes large sums to the Exchequer (and, coincidentally, of course, to Tory funds by their directors):
“Britain is the only developed country to have high street betting shops that allow people to bet up to £100 every 20 seconds, according to a report.
The government should cut the maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) from £100 to £2 because such high stakes destroy jobs, devastate communities and are “highly destructive” to family life, the Conservative think tank Respublica argues.
Phillip Blond, co-author of the report, said: “Conservatives should not support a piece of New Labour legislation that has wrought destruction throughout some of our most disadvantaged communities.”
“Now police chief Alison Hernandez faces a no confidence vote from her own former colleagues”
It seems only local Conservative politicians are prepared to keep her – what a surprise! In any other walk of life she would probably now be at the job centre. What a waste of our money.
“Police and crime commissioner Alison Hernandez faces another vote of no confidence this week – from her own former council colleagues. Ms Hernandez was a member of Torbay Council before she took on the job as Devon and Cornwall’s police chief.
Now her old council will be the latest to move for a vote of no confidence in her. The Conservative commissioner has already endured votes of no confidence from Plymouth City Council, which she lost, and another by the police scrutiny panel, which she won.
Devon County Council’s cabinet also backed the commissioner last month. Cornish councillors are also expected to have a similar discussion this month.
Now Liberal Democrat councillors in Torbay have her in their sights. They are angry at police cuts as well as Ms Hernandez’ comments on using armed volunteers in response to terrorist incidents and her attempts to appoint a deputy.
They have also not forgiven her for taking a ‘selfie’ with firefighters at the Exeter Royal Clarence Hotel fire.
A motion to the council meeting on Thursday, proposed by Nick Pentney and seconded by Cindy Stocks, is headed ‘Crisis in Frontline Policing in Torbay’ and reads: “Torbay Council is extremely alarmed that under the watch of Alison Hernandez, there has been a drastic reduction in the number of PCSOs, the eyes and ears of the force in Torbay. …”
http://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/now-police-chief-alison-hernandez-632726
Independent East Devon Alliance councillors spearhead rethink on Port Royal development
“Cllr Cathy Gardner, who jointly led the ‘Three Rs’ campaign to retain, refurbish and re-use existing buildings at Port Royal, said: “I’m delighted that the reference group has reacted to the views of residents and the consultant will reconsider their recommendations.
“The redevelopment of this area of town is important to all of us and a chance to do something wonderful for the town.
“The Three Rs campaign group will be working to encourage a community-based solution that makes the most of the heritage of the area without over-commercialisation.”
Tick-box “consultations”
“Consultations are often a legal requirement for government departments – but this sometimes means they are formulaic and ineffective. In an extract from his report, Creating a democracy for everyone: strategies for increasing listening and engagement by government, Jim Macnamara (University of Technology Sydney/ LSE) looks at some of the failings of government consultation, and the problems with one NHS consultation [NHS Mandate public consultation conducted in October 2015] in particular.”
45% of south-west rivers unacceptably polluted by raw sewerage
See page 28 for ways to design developments to reduce problems.
“Sainsbury’s faces anger over London plot with just 4% affordable homes”
683 homes on a prime London site and Sainsbury’s says it can afford for only 27 of them to be affordable … beggars belief. PLEASE, PLEASE get this government – which not only allows this sort of thing but encourages it – OUT!
“Sainsbury’s is facing housing campaigners’ anger over a proposed high-rise development surrounding an east London superstore that includes just 4% affordable homes.
Local opponents have described the supermarket’s proposal that just 27 of the 683 homes in the Ilford project will be available for affordable rent as “insulting”.
Planning experts for the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, have said the offer “falls substantially short” of City Hall’s plan to deliver 17,000 affordable homes per year – equivalent to 40% of the strategic housebuilding target.
It also falls well short of the London Borough of Redbridge’s target of 50% affordable housing across all new developments. There are currently over 8,000 households on the waiting list for affordable housing in the area, and more than 2,400 living in temporary accommodation.
The borough estimates it needs an extra 15,000 affordable homes by 2033. The case is set to go before a public inquiry starting on Tuesday, but the project appears likely to go ahead after the council withdrew its opposition on Saturday.
Sainsbury’s says the “maximum reasonable” amount of affordable housing it can include is 14 one- and two-bedroom flats, a dozen three-bedroom units and a single four-bedroom property. It estimates making a 20% profit selling off the private flats, according to planning documents. At current local prices that could exceed £40m.
It has described it as “a financially challenging project”, partly because of lost revenues to its retail operation when it closes its existing store for construction. It has also agreed to pay Redbridge £11.4m in community infrastructure levy, although this cannot be used to fund affordable housing.
But Meenakshi Sharma, co-founder of Ilford NOISE, a local residents group, said the amount of affordable housing being offered was “ridiculous and insulting”.
“People can’t believe it is 4% especially with all the publicity about the need for affordable housing,” she said. “And yet this still carries on. They don’t take any notice whatsoever. There’s a big housing need in the area. There are lots of people in temporary accommodation and lots of overcrowding.”
It is the latest in a series of high-profile battles over the financial viability of private housing schemes in the capital with councils seeking to maximise the number of cheaper homes in developments and developers seeking to minimise them. Previous disputes have centred on central London sites where developers have argued that the high cost of land limits their ability to subsidise affordable housing, but the row over the Ilford site suggests the issue is spreading to the outer London suburbs.
Affordable in this case means rents capped at 60% of market rates. Sainsbury’s is increasingly moving into housebuilding, using the space above its stores for housing. The Ilford project is its largest yet, but it has also built 650 homes around a store in Nine Elms and 500 homes above a store in Fulham, both in London.
Redbridge had originally rejected the application because of the lack of affordable housing and was planning to oppose it at the public inquiry, but it has now reversed its position and accepted the 4% offer.
On Friday, a spokeswoman for Redbridge told the Guardian: “We declined the application because of the huge gap between the borough’s expectations on affordable housing in new developments, and the proposals we were given. The capital is critically short of housing, especially affordable housing and we need to increase the stock in the borough.”
But on Saturday it told the planning inspector it was withdrawing its opposition and would not resist Sainsbury’s appeal against its original refusal.
In a letter to the planning inspectorate, the head of planning, Joanne Woodward, said it had agreed common ground on the financial viability of the project and a planning deal, although without any increase in the affordable housing included in the development.
“The council will attend on the first day of the inquiry to explain how the position it has now adopted has been reached,” she said.
Sainsbury’s said: “Our plans will help kick-start Ilford’s future regeneration by driving growth and job creation, as well as provide a broad mix of housing for local people. We look forward to the outcome of the appeal. We have agreed with the council to review the provision at certain points throughout the development, and if we can increase the number of affordable homes we will.”
Is it right for charities to offer services you pay for if the NHS or social care system isn’t picking you up?
Does this let Jeremy Hunt off the hook and allow underfunding to continue? Is it privatisation by stealth or just local people doing good deeds for payment and to be encouraged and applauded?
“Ottery Help Scheme has launched a new chargeable service to offer more support to the community as well secure its future for years to come.
The charity says it is trying to be proactive by running a home services as it currently relies on donations from grants and members of the public. Through home services, user can pay a fee and book a member of the team come out to them. The employed staff will be able to assist with in a range of ways including cleaning, shopping, meal preparation and gardening as well as offering to sit in for carers. This will sit alongside the help scheme’s free or subsidised befriending, memory café and transportation services.
Last year, more than 100 helpers gave up nearly 6,000 hours in the community, with volunteer drivers driving 49,228 miles to take residents to appointments.
Helen Harms, chief officer for the help scheme, said: “The NHS is looking for schemes to help with allowing people to stay in their own home. “We are trying to become self-sufficient, we are trying to provide services which help people stay independent and living in their own homes and provide an income to sustain the help scheme for the future.
“We do really rely on donations and if they one day stopped we would have to fund ourselves. We are being proactive to be self sufficient and not hoping of getting enough donations in, we have been very luck for such a long time and we have been going for 20 years.”
The charity has recently been boosted by the La La Choir, which raised £1,300 at its last concert. It is also being supported by a trio of East Devon law firms throughout October as part of charity will month. Gilbert Stephens, East Devon Law and Christine Ashby, will donate 50 per cent of the service fee to the scheme.
Helen added: “We are so grateful to these local firms for their support over the setting up this scheme to benefit the charity, a 50 per cent donation for their will writing service is a significant contribution.”
Problem with Hinkley C’s concrete base
EDF says the problem is limited to 150 cubic metres where pipes and cables are due to be laid. Weak, poor quality cleanliness and not wide enough.
Is Owl reassured? No. But our Local Enterprise Partnership, with its top-heavy nuclear interest Board members, will no doubt be …
Source: Times Business News (pay wall)
“Radical new strategy” (aka common sense) could release money for road repairs
Unfortunately, austerity cuts and HS2 (which has just been revealed is going through open-casr mining zones where big cracks are showing up) trump common sense …
“Pothole repairs and other local road improvements could be given a £400 million boost if Government funding mirrored rising income from fuel and motoring taxes, research shows.
The “radical new strategy” would help support the almost 30% increase in the number of vehicles on Britain’s roads since 2000, according to the Local Government Association (LGA).
The organisation, which represents more than 370 councils in England and Wales, wants the Government to match the increase in fuel and motoring tax income generated in the past 10 years in its funding for town halls.
This would mean an extra £418 million to improve local roads by fixing potholes, cutting congestion and protecting bus services, encouraging residents to use alternative transport where possible.”
Devon planners told they are not needed – part 2
See post below this for a somewhat puzzling company (Wilson Planning and Architecture) which appears to talk like a big developer but seemingly performs as an architect for single dwellings.
Firstly, it does appear to be Torridge [where EDDC’s former planning supremo Kate Little was once in charge) the company is talking about:
“LAND WANTED THROUGHTOUT TORRIDGE FOR A DISTRICT WIDE PLANNING APPLICATION, WE HAVE A SIGNIFICANT QUANTITY OF LAND BANKED ALREADY
We are actively seeking land sharing a common border with a village or town to assess the sites suitability for inclusion in a wider proposal to benefit the whole district. If you have land, email us the details and we’ll get back to you.”
(this has so far engendered at least 35 mostly less than supportive responses!)
Their earlier Facebook post (picked out by Andrew Lainton’s ‘Decisions, Decisions’ blog) seemed to imply that developers are now fully in charge in Devon, not planners, and that Local Plans are easily overcome, and indeed, the company has secured planning permission for individuals on contented sites.
They have many posts and tweets in similar vein on
https://www.facebook.com/WilsonPlanning1/
and
http://www.wilsonplanning.co.uk/
though some are more easy to understand than others.
For example on their home page they say:
“Having experience of working in the South West area for over twenty years, we have been able to build up significant and mutually respected relations with local authorities throughout the South West.”
but then it gets a bit confusing with the post we initially blogged:
“The land in our country and our district is irreplaceable. My [not sure who the ‘my’ is] proposal unites the land owners, puts differences aside and makes the actual most efficient use of the land humanly possible by collaboration. This proposal is for the good of each and every individual within the district. We have total flexibility whereas the local plan is rigid and doesn’t think on an actual district level, it’s fragmented and broken. Every single person should support this.”
to which a number of people have rightly responded on the lines “what on earth are you talking about?”!
Wilson Architecture and Planning appears to be in Bideford and seems to have started up in 2015 with George, Christopher and Paula Wilson (so presumably existed as some other entity prior to 2015 if they have been in business for over 20 years) though Christopher resigned in 2015 and was re-appointed again quite quickly:
Not a developer as such, then, but appears to think that developers are now (or should be? difficult to work out!) in charge of the county.
Elucidation appreciated!
East Devon Watch 