Category Archives: Accountability

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8 May 2017

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Accountability, Claire Wright, Democracy, General Election, Hugo Swire

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Independent Claire Wright to challenge Hugo Swire again

“Claire to stand for East Devon seat

Since the snap election was announced I have been inspired by hundreds of emails and calls urging me to stand and offering help. Following my decisive win in the county council elections, I have decided to say YES to my army of supporters by once again challenging the sitting Conservative MP.

In the 2015 parliamentary election I came second, with a 24 per cent share of the vote – more than Labour and the Lib Dems combined.

People are telling me that they are angry and frustrated with the current government’s policies. East Devon residents are looking for someone different, someone who will work solely for them, without being tied to a political party.

As a direct result of this government’s policies local NHS provision is under threat, education budgets face massive shortfalls, local businesses will suffer hikes in business rates, local council services have diminished under massive government cuts – and national debt has actually increased.

As well as this there are real fears of a damaging hard Brexit if the Conservative government is re-elected with a substantial majority, as is predicted.

In 2015, although a long-standing and hard-working local councillor, I was a parliamentary newcomer.

Now I have a track record that shows how local people are prepared to back me. I am the only candidate who can win this seat from the Conservative MP.

I am calling on everyone in this constituency from the youngest to the oldest voter to join in a campaign based on progressive values and to return me as their MP.

As an Independent MP I would be free from the party whip and I would campaign on the issues that local people tell me are important to them. I would be free to speak and free to act.

If every resident who would like to see change in East Devon votes for me, history can be made in East Devon.”

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8 May 2017

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Accountability, Democracy, General Election, Voting

Government will not fund young voter registration drive

“Youth vote campaigners are warning of a democratic deficit in the general election as it emerged that the Cabinet Office will not provide funding to groups focused on increasing turnout among young and marginalised people.

As the electoral commission launches a campaign to increase voter registration before the deadline on 22 May, the Guardian has learned that funding provided by the Cabinet Office in past general elections will not be available this time because the pre-election period has already begun.

Lucy Caldicott, chief executive of the youth leadership organisation UpRising, said: “We are in an environment where many charities are already working really hard to get our campaigns to encourage young people to vote up and running but we are asking just how much of an impact we can make in such a short time.

“There is a real risk of there being a democratic deficit in this election due to the lack of notice and short campaign. Do we continue to focus on our core long-term activity or throw our assets behind getting a few thousand more votes out, as important as that is? We will of course encourage all those young people we work with to take part by voting on the 8 June.”

Young people could be left feeling ignored and marginalised as charities have to choose between risking their long-term financial stability and ploughing resources into getting out the youth vote. Campaigners say that as the election falls in the middle of the exams period, some students are unsure whether to register at their university address or at home.

The election also coincides with the Muslim month of Ramadan, ranising questions about a further potential barrier for ethnic and faith minorities who are already under-registered.

After a huge push to get voters to register for the EU referendum, some organisations have been left with little in reserve to engage young people in an election that will shape their futures for the next five years and beyond.

Young people have been repeatedly accused of moaning about Brexit despite failing to vote in the EU referendum, with one estimate soon after the referendum claiming that only 36% of 18- to 24-year-olds had taken part.

But analysis by the London School of Economics of detailed polling conducted since the referendum by Opinium suggests turnout was as high as 64% among young people registered to vote, and that more than 70% of young voters choosing to remain in the EU.

Elisabeth Pop, voter registration campaign manager at the anti-fascism group Hope Not Hate, said: “The big question at this snap general election is: who will decide Britain’s future? With less than a month to go until voter registration ends, there is a real risk that students and certain other vulnerable groups will miss out on their chance of a voice.

“Our research clearly shows that traditionally underrepresented communities and social groups – such as students and young people, ethnic minorities and renters – remain at risk of not having a say come 8 June.”

In a series of emergency meetings in recent days, groups have been devising urgent action plans and putting themselves on a battle footing despite time and financial pressures.

The youth voter movement Bite the Ballot promises “weeks’ worth of unconventional activities” to get out the youth vote, and will be partnering with high-profile companies to reach as many young people as possible.

Hope Not Hate and Bite the Ballot will team up for TurnUp – eight days of concentrated action and a digital push in the run-up to the voter registration deadline; while UpRising will work with young people on its programmes to ensure they are registered and encourage them to get involved in the debate.

“The main thing we will be up against is voter fatigue,” said Kenny Imafidon of Bite the Ballot. “A lot of people don’t understand why we are going to the polls again. Our message is that there is power in participation. This election is not just about Brexit, it’s about big issues facing young people like housing, employment, education reform. Our role is not to tell people who to vote for, but get them to ask critical questions.”

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/may/08/snap-election-raises-risk-of-democratic-deficit-say-youth-vote-campaigners

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8 May 2017

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Accountability, AONB, EDDC, NPPF, Planning System

Councils ‘ignore powers to limit building on green belt’

“Communities face a postcode lottery over how much of their countryside is blighted by new homes because some councils fail to use powers to protect it, research has found.

Some local authorities choose to protect their green belts but others accept much higher housing targets and allow developers to build on environmentally valuable land.

The different approaches mean some areas are being earmarked to have thousands more homes than necessary, according to research by the Campaign to Protect Rural England.

Councils are planning more than 360,000 homes on England’s 14 green belts, which are rings of protected land designed to prevent urban sprawl.
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), introduced in 2012, requires all councils to determine their “objectively assessed need” (OAN) for housing, which is the number of new homes required to meet market demand and social need.

Councils do not have to accept the targets produced by the assessment if they have large amounts of green belt or other protected land, such as national parks, areas of outstanding natural beauty and nature sites.
Brighton and Hove council has set a target of 13,200 homes by 2030, less than half the 30,120 determined by its OAN. In its local plan it said it cut the number “to respect the historic, built and natural environment of the city”.

Watford, Hastings and Crawley have also set housing targets of only half their assessed need.

By contrast, the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, which includes the prime minister’s constituency, is planning to meet its full OAN of 14,200 homes by 2033 despite 83 per cent of the borough being green belt.
Simon Dudley, the leader of Windsor and Maidenhead council, is strongly supporting housebuilding in the borough, including 6,000 homes in the green belt. He has been accused of sacking a fellow Conservative councillor who questioned the plans.

Mr Dudley has previously said that his plans would only reduce his borough’s green-belt land by 1.7 per cent.

Christchurch and East Dorset is also planning to meet its full OAN of 8,490 houses over 15 years, despite 84 per cent of the area being green belt, an area of natural beauty or other protected land.

Paul Miner, the CPRE’s planning campaign manager, said that there was a postcode lottery on housing targets.

He said: “Councils have got scope to reduce their housing numbers but some are not doing so. Reasons include pressure from developers and also the political leadership of the council seeing an opportunity to make quick money from the new homes bonus.”

The government has promised to pay councils a new homes bonus, typically worth £9,000, for each home they build.

The planning framework states that there needs to be “exceptional circumstances” to amend green-belt boundaries. Elmbridge borough council, in Surrey, wrote to Sajid Javid, the communities secretary, asking him to define exceptional circumstances.

In his reply, seen by The Times, dated March 20, Mr Javid said that green-belt losses would have to be offset by improvements to remaining green-belt land, but added: “We would be disinclined to go even further into listing what might be considered an exceptional circumstance.”

Source: The Times (paywall)

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7 May 2017

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Accountability, Democracy, Spin

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How to manipulate local “news”

“The Conservatives have spent tens of thousands of pounds buying wraparound adverts on local newspapers across the country, pushing deep into Labour-held constituencies with a tactic that shows both the ambition of their election campaign and the party’s ability to make the most of legal loopholes in campaign spending rules.

More than a dozen titles across the country owned by major newspaper publishing companies – including Johnston Press and Daily Mirror owner Trinity Mirror – carried the wraparound adverts on Wednesday and Thursday. The four-page adverts, which replace the newspapers’ own front pages, barely mention the word “Conservatives” and instead focus on Theresa May’s leadership and the promise of Brexit.

As long as the adverts in local papers do not reference the local candidate or local issues, they are considered to be exempt from strict local constituency spending budgets, which can be as low as £12,000 per candidate for the entire campaign. Instead the Conservatives are able to count the adverts as “national spending”, which comes under the party’s central campaign spending limit of around £19 million.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/jimwaterson/how-the-conservatives-are-using-local-adverts-to-get-around

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7 May 2017

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Accountability, Democracy, Inequality, Lobbying

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“Loads of Britain’s 100 richest people have donated more than £19 million to the Tories and nobody’s at all surprised”

“Some 35 of the richest 100 people in Britain have given £19 million to the Tories, it was revealed today.

More than a third of the Sunday Times Rich List, published today, are Conservative donors, according to a Labour party analysis.

The wealthy backers, who include property moguls, financiers and retail CEOs, have a combined net worth of more than £123 million. …”

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/loads-britains-100-richest-people-10375139

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7 May 2017

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Accountability, Democracy, Inequality

Food banks: an interesting statistic

To which one can add this:

“Britain’s has more billionaires than ever, as the super-rich reap the benefits of a “Brexit boom”, according to this year’s Sunday Times Rich List.

There are now 134 billionaires based in the UK, 14 more than the previous highest total. Fifteen years ago, there were 21. …”

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/07/brexit-boom-creates-record-number-of-uk-billionaires-sunday-times-rich-list

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7 May 2017

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Accountability, Democracy, Spin, Transparency

Why voters must think for themselves

The focus of this article is Brexit but it could be anything – the NHS, education, the environment, foreign policy.

It’s about how shady companies manipulate news and advertising to serve the ends of those who employ them and how together they can create a fake world that people can be influenced by without realising it is happening, so good are they at the job.

Don’t let social media or newspapers or politicians with particular allegiances tell you what to think – don’t even let East Devon Watch tell you what to think! Look around you, see for yourself, listen to different views (the more different to yours the better), think about how your life is now and how you would wish it to be for yourself and others in future – then put your cross in the box that fits best with that vision.

“ …the capacity for this science [data analytics] to be used to manipulate emotions is very well established. This is military-funded technology that has been harnessed by a global plutocracy and is being used to sway elections in ways that people can’t even see, don’t even realise is happening to them,” she says. “It’s about exploiting existing phenomenon like nationalism and then using it to manipulate people at the margins. To have so much data in the hands of a bunch of international plutocrats to do with it what they will is absolutely chilling.

“We are in an information war and billionaires are buying up these companies, which are then employed to go to work in the heart of government. That’s a very worrying situation.”

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/07/the-great-british-brexit-robbery-hijacked-democracy

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6 May 2017

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Accountability, County councillors, Health and Social Care (local), Martin Shaw, NHS (local)

Seaton’s new County councillor starts crowdfund £20,000 by Monday to try to save Its hospital, with £1000 personal initial donation

“‘THE newly elected county councillor for Seaton and Colyton, Martin Shaw, has launched a last ditch crowdfunding appeal to support a judicial review of the decision to close Seaton Hospital beds – and has backed it with a £1,000 of his own cash.

The appeal comes just days after Seaton Town Council ruled out its support for such a bid.

Councillor Shaw, who was elected last Thursday, said: “Solicitors are preparing a letter before action to send to the NEW Devon Clinical Commissioning Group by the end of this week, giving the case why their decision-making was flawed.

“However Seaton Town Council has decided that it cannot underwrite the costs of this first stage of judicial review.

“The Hospital League of Friends are prevented by their constitution from underwriting them, but they have opened a special bank account and a BT MyDonate site to collect funds for a review.

Monday deadline

“I have therefore decided to launch an urgent appeal to raise the £20,000 needed to fund this first stage of a review. I am asking everyone in the area who cares about the hospital keeping its beds to donate this weekend, so that I can go to the solicitors on Monday morning and say that we have the funds to take this forward.

“I am putting in £1,000 of my own money and I will use the rest of my councillor’s allowance of £10,000 to underwrite this campaign while donations come in.

“However we need donations, large and small, in the next 48 hours, if we are going to be able to proceed on Monday.”

The Seaton Hospital and District League of Friends fundraising site is at

https://mydonate.bt.com/donation/start.html?charity=129867

and in order to donate for judicial review, people must write ‘judicial review’ in the ‘personalise your donation’ box.

It is also important that people email Cllr Shaw cllrmartinshaw@gmail.com to inform him of their donation, so that he knows how much money has been raised.

The League of Friends has said that if money is donated which is not used for judicial review, donors will have the option of having their money returned, or donating it to support the work of the hospital.”

https://www.viewnews.co.uk/new-county-councillors-crowdfunding-bid-hospital-beds-judicial-review/

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6 May 2017

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Accountability, Bovis, Developers/ Development

Nationwide refuses to grant mortgages on new leasehold houses and flats in ground rent scandal

“Overnight, Nationwide building society has made hundreds, and possibly thousands, of new-build flats and houses almost unsaleable – and they should be roundly applauded for doing so.

In a surprise intervention into the scandal of leasehold flats and houses sold with spiralling ground rents, the society said that from this Thursday it will stop lending against any new-build leasehold flat or house where the ground rent is more than 0.1% of the value of the property. It will also refuse loans on new flats with lease lengths of less than 125 years or new houses with less than 250 years. Developers will now be forced, if other lenders adopt the same policy, to slash the absurd ground rents or find that they simply can’t get any buyers.

Take, for example, Berkeley’s 60-acre development south of Reading called Kennet Island. Prices for the remaining leasehold flats start at £249,950, but when we rang the sales office it told us the ground rent was £350 and would increase with RPI. That’s more than 0.1% of the value of the property – which means buyers won’t now qualify for a Nationwide mortgage. Either Berkeley cuts the ground rent or finds that buyers will melt away, unable to find a loan.

Coming so soon after Taylor Wimpey said it had set aside £130m to compensate buyers caught in the ground rent trap, it’s another small victory in the battle against leasehold abuse.

Robert Stevens of Nationwide said: “As a mutual building society that looks to protect its members, we have decided to make changes to the way we value new-build properties on a leasehold basis. We are doing this to address the practice of using leasehold tenure where this is unnecessary, particularly for new-build houses, and to ensure that onerous leasehold terms, including ground rents, are properly considered and controlled in order to safeguard our mortgage members.

“Nationwide is taking a proactive, leading position on this issue to address a significant risk facing our members and to challenge what we believe to be poor practice in the new-build market.”

The society is one of the biggest lenders in the UK, and hopefully this will now set a benchmark for other providers to follow.

Remember, we are not talking about service charges here. When leaseholders pay a service charge, at least they get something in return – such as the maintenance of the common parts of the building. When leaseholders pay a ground rent they receive absolutely nothing in return. It is little more than a medieval tax and should have been outlawed decades if not centuries ago. An ugly industry has built up among financiers who snap up leaseholds with ground rents, because in an era of a 0.25% base rate a stream of income guaranteed to go up by RPI – or double every 10 years in some cases – is an extremely valuable commodity.

The big developers reassure unsuspecting young buyers that the 999-year lease is “almost the same as freehold”, but then they sell it on, typically for 15-20 times the ground rent. It’s a lovely little earner for the developers but spells misery for the flat dwellers.

It’s great that Nationwide has set a new benchmark, but we need to go further. There is no reason why a ground rent should be any more than a peppercorn – say £5 a year. That would kill off this grubby trade overnight. Developers who trapped buyers in ground rents that double every 10 years should be forced to buy them out in the way that Taylor Wimpey has agreed to compensate its buyers.

Amazingly, giant builders such as Persimmon are still knocking out new-build estates where houses are being sold as leasehold, for which there can be no justification. Meanwhile, apartments should only be sold on a commonhold, not leasehold, basis. The legal structure is already in place – it just needs political will to force it on the developers.”

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/may/06/nationwide-housebuilders-leasehold-new-builds

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6 May 2017

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Accountability, DCC, Democracy, Exmouth, Regeneration

Exmouth: this is the sort of County Councillor you have elected

This is an extract of a Facebook page of County Councillor Richard Scott, who you have just chosen to represent you at county level, giving us his unique view on his colleague and regeneration. Here is its transcript verbatim:

“Waste of time Town Poll over and valuable money lost. Lets see what the outcome is and whether or not the Town Council has to, which it doesn’t, have to write a letter to, thats right a letter to EDDC. I bet they are shitting themselves. I wonder if the chief exec of EDDC will read it or put it in the bin, which should be a recycle bin by the way as they are a sustainable council. I wonder why our esteemed district councillor and leader of SES didn’t try to influence the district council in her role rather than abuse the town council, our money and a retarded local ‘referendum’ regulation that effectively has no force or power over the landowner, or is it just about causing trouble because and trust me on this they do not want consultation they just don’t want any development in [Exmouth]”

IMG_1624

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5 May 2017

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Accountability, Health and Social Care (local), NHS (local), Seaton/ Colyford / Colyton

Seaton Town Council will not challenge hospital bed closures

“SEATON Town Council has decided against seeking a judicial review of NEW Devon CCG’s decision to close beds at the town’s hospital.

Town councillors made their minds up after having taken initial legal advice.

Seaton Town Council met on May 2nd to discuss a report produced by solicitors.

The town council subsequently issued a statement this afternoon (Fri), which said: “Seaton Town Council voted against proceeding with legal action against the Clinical Commissioning Group.

“The potential cost of undertaking a judicial review is at least £100,000.

“Neither Seaton Town Council or Seaton Hospital League of Friends are in a financial position to underwrite this cost pending public donations.

“Both parties, having considered the advice given, felt the case for judicial review was not as strong as they hoped it would be.

“However, the council and the league of friends will continue to do everything that it can including lobbying the Devon County Council Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee, the local MP and the Secretary of State over the matter.”

Seaton mayor Marcus Hartnell said: “Whilst the council is not in a position to proceed to judicial review, this is not the end of the matter.

“We will work with our colleagues at the league of friends to continue to fight this decision.”

https://www.viewnews.co.uk/judicial-review-hospital-beds-closure-ruled-seaton-town-council/

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5 May 2017

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Accountability, DCC, Democracy, East Devon Alliance, East Devon Tories, Voting

Same old, same old … with one or two exceptions

Well, the bad news is that Paul Hayward and Marianne Rixson (East Devon Alliance)were unsuccessful in Axminster and Sidmouth but good news is Claire Wright (Ottery, Independent) was re-elected with her usual stonking majority and Martin Shaw (EDA) pipped nearest rival Helen Parr to the post in Seaton.

For Devon four years of mainly same old, same old but with the added twist of massive cuts, privatisation and bec closures in the health service, the decimation of environmental controls and increase in air pollution and an education system cut well beyond the bone.

Add our expensive Local Enterprise Partnership and Brexit to this mix and the air could get really toxic!

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5 May 2017

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Accountability, Democracy, Hugo Swire

Swire just scraped in his knighthood

“Theresa May has signalled an end to cronyism in the honours system by becoming the first prime minister not to publish a dissolution honours list in more than 60 years.

MPs who have chosen not to stand for re-election in June have been told not to expect an award, The Telegraph can disclose.

Mrs May wants a clean break from the tradition of prime ministers using honours lists to reward close aides and advisers.

Her predecessor, David Cameron, was accused of degrading the honours system last year when he showered awards on party donors and Downing Street staff including his wife Samantha’s stylist and two of his former drivers. …”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/04/theresa-may-breaks-away-cameron-cronyism-mps-standing-told-will/

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4 May 2017

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Accountability, Democracy, Devolution, Local Enterprise Partnership

Undemocratic mayors, undemocratic scrutiny

“The mere election of a mayor … does not mean these new mayoralties are automatically democratic. Mayors work within combined authorities, with cabinets made up of council leaders – all of whom are indirectly elected through a broken First Past the Post voting system.

But there is no directly elected assembly to hold them to account, like that of the London mayoralty. Instead, the Mayor is scrutinised by Overview and Scrutiny Committees made of councillors and within the council chambers themselves. This means who sits on those committees really matters.

At the Electoral Reform Society, we want to see a better democracy. And the metro mayors are the biggest change to the governance of England in decades. They are an exciting opportunity to change the way our cities are governed to be more inclusive, more local and more visible.

But we are concerned that this structure passes up existing legacies of problems in local government to the new mayoralties, as we point out in our new report From City Hall to Citizens’ Hall: Democracy, Diversity and English Devolution.

Due to our electoral system, Britain has a multitude of local ‘one-party states’, with almost no opposition in the council chamber. Many of these abound in the areas electing metro-mayors, with some councils having just one member from outside the controlling party.

Previous work for the ERS has shown that these councils risk an extra £2.6bn on public procurement each year, due to a lack of scrutiny.

Concerns around scrutiny are particularly strong in some of the metro-mayor areas because the council leaders – who will make up the cabinets – lack any diversity whatsoever. Only two of the council leaders of the six areas electing combined authorities are women. Only one is from a BAME community. This carries with it risks within the policymaking process, narrowing the experience and knowledge-base around the cabinet table.

So far the combined authority scrutiny committees have also demonstrated a lack of diversity, both political and demographic. On the West Midlands Overview and Scrutiny Committee, for instance, ten of twelve political members are drawn from one party, and ten are men.”

Who’s going to hold the new metro mayors to account?

Owl says: Should Devon and Somerset EVER become a combined authority, our councillors and the Mayor will bend their knees to the nuclear and property vested interests of the majority of businessmen (men) who run our Local Enterprise Partnership – forget scrutiny. It didn’t help when the self-same people gave their CEO a 24% payrise and there was NOTHING councils could do about it.

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4 May 2017

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Accountability, Devolution, Local Enterprise Partnership

English devolution – undemocratic and unrepresentative

“… The ERS (Electoral Reform Society) has been vocal in pointing out the solely economic focus of devolution – and the corresponding lack of attention to the democracy of devolution. With the public largely shut out of the process, and models imposed rather than chosen, so far citizen involvement in the constitutional future of their own areas has been minimal. …

… The creation of combined authorities highlights a continuing shift in the role of the councillor. Where once councillors took decisions directly on committees they are increasingly scrutineers: holding to account formal executive structures in the form of mayoral or cabinet/leader structures, or scrutinising bodies such as Clinical Commissioning Groups, Local Enterprise Partnerships, Police and Crime Commissioners, and now combined authorities.

The traditional argument for First Past the Post: that it elects ‘strong’ governments, cannot hold up to the reality of modern councillor life in which councillors are as often scrutinisers as decision-makers, not only of their own executives but of bodies external to the traditional council governance structure.

Yet, there are still many councils overwhelmingly dominated by a single party. …”

Click to access From-City-Hall-to-Citizens-Hall.pdf

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4 May 2017

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Accountability, DCC, Democracy

Colyton issue makes Express and Echo front page, our other MP makes it a double for Private Eye

Here’s Mrs Parr (you can find her today making the rounds of Seaton and Colyton polling stations in her bid to become the area’s Devon County Councillor):

and, coincidentally, Conservative MP Neil Parish appears in this week’s Private Eye:

only one edition later than our other Conservative MP Hugo Swire appeared in the publication:

And who can forget 2013 when disgraced Conservative councillor Graham Brown made this headline:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9920971/If-I-cant-get-planning-nobody-will-says-Devon-councillor-and-planning-consultant.html

There’s no such thing as bad publicity, they say.

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3 May 2017

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Accountability, Democracy, Transparency

The law on disclosable pecuniary interest

“What happens if I don’t follow the rules on disclosable pecuniary interests?

It is a criminal offence if, without a reasonable excuse, you fail to tell the monitoring officer about your disclosable pecuniary interests, either for inclusion on the register if you are a newly elected, co-opted or appointed member, or to update the register if you are re- elected or re-appointed, or when you become aware of a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not recorded in the register but which relates to any matter;

– that will be or is being considered at a meeting where you are present, or
– on which you are acting alone.

It is also a criminal offence to knowingly or recklessly provide false or misleading information, or to participate in the business of your authority where that business involves a disclosable pecuniary interest. It is also a criminal offence to continue working on a matter which can be discharged by a single member and in which you have a disclosable pecuniary interest.

If you are found guilty of such a criminal offence, you can be fined up to £5,000 and disqualified from holding office as a councillor for up to five years.”

Click to access Openness_and_transparency_on_personal_interests.pdf

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3 May 2017

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Accountability, Colyton, Councillor Helen Parr, Developers/ Development, EDDC, Local Plan, Planning System, Seaton/ Colyford / Colyton, Transparency, Voting

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Express and Echo names EDDC Vice-Chair Helen Parr as councillor under police investigation at Colyton

Councillor Parr is standing for the DCC Seaton and Colyton seat at elections tomorrow.

“The vice-chairman of East Devon District Council is under investigation over an allegation she influenced plans to develop her area while failing to declare an interest.

Councillor Helen Parr will be speaking to police officers on a voluntary basis, the Express & Echo understands.

The investigation into the councillor for Coly Valley regards late changes to the East Devon Villages plan made after she was among those who spoke at the meeting of the East Devon District Council strategic planning committee on February 20.

Cllr Parr is a director of a company which owns land next to the former Ceramtec factory site in Colyton. The factory was due to be slated for housing until Cllr Parr spoke at the planning meeting and it was decided to recommend that it remains for employment.

She told the committee: “The main concern and why people are not at all happy about what is proposed in the document is that the built up area boundary line now has suddenly, after the consultation, gone out round the built section of the Ceramtec site.

“It is a very large site and will accommodate, if it went only to houses, about 80 houses. It would be a large development for Colyton which nobody, until now, had any inkling of, in that the built-up area boundary excluded this site.

“There is concern because the bottom line for Colyton is that we lost 80 jobs when this factory closed and we would like to retained as much as possible for employment land.

“I would ask the committee to agree or to propose that the wording should make it clear that on the preamble to the plan that on page 20 it includes words that show that this is protected as an employment site and it should be retained for employment use.”

The East Devon Alliance – a group of independent district councillors – has raised concerns about Cllr Parr’s conduct with Devon & Cornwall Police.

Members say she should have declared and interest and not spoken on the issue.

Cllr Parr and her husband are directors of J & FJ Baker & Company Limited, which owns land at Turlings Farm, next to the Ceramtec site.

East Devon Alliance Councillor Cathy Gardner, at last week’s East Devon District Council meeting, revealed that there was an ongoing police investigation into the council’s handling of the matter.

A spokesperson for Devon & Cornwall Police said it could not confirm or deny the scope of the police investigation. Cllr Parr was asked for comment, but said that due to purdah – rules brought in before an election – she could not say anything.

Last year J & FJ Baker & Company Limited bought land on the south side of Turlings Farm which connects the Ceramtec site to the farm that the Parrs own. They paid £1 for the strip of property.

Cllr Gardner said at last week’s meeting of East Devon District Council: “It may be proven that undue influence has distorted the content of the plan. If that does turn out to be the case, do you agree that it is the responsibility of this council to rectify the result of this influence – in order to ensure the residents of Colyton are not adversely affected and to do so before the plan goes to the (Planning) Inspector?”

In response, Cllr Paul Diviani, the council’s leader, said: “In terms of the village plan, I can’t see a reason why we should be inclined to second guess what an inspector or other authority or otherwise is going to do and in that respect I will reserve judgement as to when we actually do take action.”

An East Devon Alliance source told the Echo: “She is the vice-chairman of the council and has been the chairman of the planning committee for years, so she knows what she is doing, so we have got to pursue this.”

An East Devon District Council spokesman said: “Only the three statutory officers at the council together with one other officer were aware that there was a police investigation prior to the meeting of council on Wednesday and these officers have kept the matter confidential.

“Given that there is an active police investigation, and the sensitivities around purdah for both the county and General Election, it would be wholly inappropriate for the council to comment on the investigation at this time. The council also cannot comment on how Cllr Gardner became aware of the police investigation, and the chief executive and monitoring officer were surprised that she raised this matter at a public meeting.

“The process that has been followed for the village plan and the representations made/considered by officers and reported to the strategic planning committee, can be found on the East Devon District Council website.”

The East Devon Villages Plan – a blueprint for development in the area – is currently out for consultation”.

REPRODUCEABLE IMAGES:

UNFORTUNATELY SOME IMAGES IN THIS ARTICLE ARE NOT REPRODUCEABLE HERE – SEE LINK TO FULL ARTICLE AT END OF THIS POST WHICH IS REPEATED VERBATIM FROM THE DEVON-LIVE WEBSITE. FOR FULL STORY AND ALL EVIDENTIAL IMAGES SEE:

http://www.devonlive.com/east-devon-council-vice-chairman-to-speak-to-police-over-plan-changes/story-30310460-detail/story.html

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3 May 2017

Posted under

Accountability, Democracy, NHS (local), Voting

Make your vote count in tomorrow’s county council election

Vote only for those whose ACTIONS show their dedication to causes such as the NHS, education and the environment.

Independent – Claire Wright
Claire’s committment to these values at DCC has been shown on a weekly basis
Save our Hospital services speaker and supporter
Standing against Tory Tim Venner, who said Ottery Hospital was just a geriatric home
Garnered more than 13,000 votes when she stood in the last General Election against Hugo Swire, East Devon’s mostly absentee MP.

Independent East Devon Alliance:

Paul Hayward:
Axminster Town Councillor,
Clerk to 3 parish councils
Save our Hospital Services activist and supporter

Martin Shaw – Seaton and Colyton
Town councillor, Seaton planning committee chairman who puts the area first – spoke out against development of Green Wedge adjacent to Wetlands
Save our Hospital Services activist and supporter

Marianne Rixson
Sidmouth Sidford Town Councillor
Fighting to stop massive industrial development in Sidford
Save our Hospital Services activist and supporter

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3 May 2017

Posted under

Accountability, Democracy, General Election, Spin, Voting

Voters beware personalised Facebook spam from political parties

“A tool exposing how voters are targeted with tailored propaganda on Facebook has been launched in response to what is likely to be the most extensive social media campaign in general election history.

Experts in digital campaigning, including an adviser to Labour in 2015, have designed a program to allow voters to shine a light into what they describe as “a dark, unregulated corner of our political campaigns”.

The free software, called Who Targets Me?, can be added to a Google Chrome browser and will allow voters to track how the main parties insert political messages into their Facebook feeds calibrated to appeal on the basis of personal information they have already made public online.”

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/03/free-software-reveal-facebook-election-posts-targeted-chrome-extension