The photographs/videos on the Devon Live website do seem to show very dark-coloured material in the dredger that is licensed to dump it at Sprey Point:
https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/fight-continues-stop-catastrophic-effect-1269626
The Marina is owned by F C Carter & Co, who also own the Greendale Business Centre.
And wouldn’t you think the safety changes might have been foreseen?
“Peter Quincey, director of Grenadier Estates, said: “Following our community consultation and the feedback received, we have focused on water safety in consultation with East Devon District Council and have made amendments to the design.
“The amendments to the design include setting the building back by four metres to allow a more substantial space between the building and the sea wall, and increasing the rigging areas to accommodate additional water sports equipment.
“To improve the visual appeal of the building further, we have included additional stone cladding and designated more space for planting trees.
“These additions have resulted in a reduction of 14 parking spaces.”
The words “planning application” appear in quotes because it barely meets the requirement for an outline planning application, let alone a full one!
More haste … more money?
The planning application reference is 17/2944/FUL and must be quoted at all times.
You may write, email or login to the planning portal
http://eastdevon.gov.uk/planning/view-planning-applications-enforcements-and-planning-appeals/
to place your objections. If you wish to speak to someone in planning the number is 01395 516551.
Please note that your objections must be to EDDC by 17th January so it is too late to write.
Owl says: Amazing how some district councillors can change their attitudes when EDDC development is in THEIR town’s back yard!
“Town councillors have again refused to support an application for temporary attractions on Exmouth seafront.
Planning committee members decided not to support the proposal to install pop-up food outlets and a large to screen to show live sport, such as World Cup football matches, at the former fun park site in Queen’s Drive.
If given the go-ahead, East Devon District Council’s (EDDC) plan could also see the former boating lake filled in for a hard or soft seating area and a fenced-off children’s play zone created.
The current proposal is a full application and town councillors have suggested that it should be reverted to an outline plan. They say it could progress to a full proposal, with more detail, later.
The amended plans now include a letter intended to dispel previous objections over the lack of information in the application and the permanent infilling of the boating lake.
EDDC says the lack of detail was due to a ‘tight timescale’ and there is no ‘specific engineering solution’ for how the infilling will take place.
Objecting to the installation of the big screen, Nick Hookway, chairman of campaign group Save Exmouth Seafront, pointed out that an extensive environmental monitoring programme had previously been recommended for the site.
He said: “I think that the presence of a large number of people on that site will be highly damaging to that site itself.
“Will this present application prevent damage to the site or merely get the public to do the council’s work?
“Will this application have the same environmental mitigation conditions that the reserve matters application had?”
Exmouth Town Council Planning Committee members voted to oppose the amended proposals, saying the blueprint has not answered their original concerns and the plan should come back as an outline application.
In the additional information, EDDC says it wants the application to be decided on by its development management committee in March.
Councillor Bill Nash said: “March is plenty of time for this application to come back in to this committee as an outline application, which I think would be considered properly and probably be acceptable.”
And all for £35,000 … our PUBLIC open spaces paying for their new HQ?
Or planning a money-spinner for Grenadier?
“East Devon District Council agenda papers say the authority is planning to close public spaces like Manor Gardens and Exmouth beach for privately-rented events.
Exmouth’s beach, parks and gardens could be closed to the public for privately-rented events such as weddings and festivals, under new proposals.
According to East Devon District Council (EDDC) agenda papers, the authority is considering hiring an events officer to ‘actively market’ its open spaces.
Previously, Exmouth’s Manor Gardens has been closed to the public for private occasions such as weddings and an open-air cinema. An area on the seafront was also used for the observation wheel last summer.
Proposals in the joint overview and scrutiny committee agenda say that these sites could be used for a big screen to show sports and music events.
There could also be Christmas markets, food fairs, and beach volleyball or surf lifesaving championships.
The agenda, for the meeting taking place on Wednesday, January 17, also says £100,000 could be set aside from EDDC’s capital reserve and that charges would be ‘in line with the private sector’.
EDDC says all parks, gardens and beaches are being considered as host venues and that town and parish councils will be consulted.
An EDDC spokeswoman said: “As part of the council’s objective to develop an outstanding economy through being more commercial, we have been making steady progress in improving our events offer and rentals of our assets such as parks and gardens.
“Last year we increased events income from £10,000 to £35,000.
“This has already included a wedding in Manor Gardens, Exmouth, the Exmouth Observation Wheel and other ticketed events such as open-air cinema, where the park or area was closed to the public.
“We consult with the local town or parish council and elected members before such events go ahead.
“Any East Devon District Council parks, gardens, beaches or open spaces will be considered by the council for events bookings or private functions.
“Charges will be in line with the private sector and anyone interested in making a booking, should contact the council on 01395 517528 or visit http://eastdevon.gov.uk/events.”
http://www.exmouthjournal.co.uk/news/exmouth-beaches-parks-rented-out-privately-1-5351545
“THE company behind one of Torbay’s best-known hotels has gone into administration. But company boss Keith Richardson said all the hotels remained open and it was ‘business as usual’. …
… The companies operate a collection of five hotels including the Grand Hotel in Torquay, The Royal Beacon Hotel in Exmouth, The Falmouth Hotel in Falmouth, The Fowey Hotel in Fowey and The Metropole Hotel in Padstow.
All have either three or four stars and are notable for their prominent seaside locations, period architecture and award-winning dining.
All five hotels will continue to trade on a business as usual basis while the administrators assess the current financial position and available options. …”
http://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/top-devon-hotels-administration-boss-1033893
“The holiday park, at Sandy Bay, is holding an open day on Saturday, January 20, from 10am until 3pm, where applications will be accepted for more than 400 vacancies.
Pat Titley, talent manager at the holiday park, said staff training starts at the end of January in readiness for March 1 and the new holiday season.
Allen Main, Devon Cliffs Holiday Park assistant general manager, said last year more than 23,000 families holidayed at the attraction. …”
Would you or I get away with this?
Exmouth Town Council arranging hurried meeting on 6 January 2018.
Let’s see what they think (Tory dominated, don’t build up you expectations!)
From EDDC to Town Councillors – how to justify the unjustifiable!
One for the Scrutiny Committee? Oh no, wait – not allowed to discuss individual planning applications! But maybe CAN investigate how there are double standards in planning – one for their own officers and one for everyone else.
No – even that’s not right! One for EDDC and its developers and one for the rest of us.
“Queen’s Drive Temporary Uses Planning Application Response to Concerns Raised by Exmouth Town Council
1. CONCERN ABOUT TOO LITTLE DETAIL IN THE APPLICATION.
The lack of detail in the planning application is a result of the tight timescale that we are faced with in delivering the temporary uses.
Time is a key driver for the delivery of the Temporary Uses project. We aim to have new facilities available by early spring 2018.
In order to achieve this, we have to secure a planning permission first, before starting work on the installation of the new facilities.
We also have to go through the research and then procurement process to find the suppliers (and operators where appropriate) for the new facilities.
We realised that if we are to achieve this tight timetable, we would need to undertake tasks concurrently. So we would need to submit a planning application without necessarily knowing the detail of exactly what the facilities would be and who would be supplying them.
We discussed this with our planning advisor and the Local Planning Authority and identified that we could submit a planning application that provided a general description of what we propose to do (and was therefore without too much detail), where (if approved at committee), the planning authority could put conditions on the permission and request the detail at a later time.
We agreed on a strategy for the planning application that would show the three zones for the three different “themes” of what will be on offer. Namely: children’s play, food and drink, and a range of one-off events.
2. CONCERNS ABOUT RESIDENTIAL AREA AND NOISE.
The District Council will have to apply for necessary licences to cover the hours of opening for the operation of the events on site. Again, as yet we do not know the detail of what the events will be as we are still in the research and planning stages. We would not expect that any event would be later than midnight. But note that this will only be on odd occasions – not every night. This application will be heard by the Licensing Committee in due course.
3. CONCERNS ABOUT THE FILLING IN OF THE PONDS.
We do not yet know the specific engineering solution for how the ponds will be filled in. It is thought that this will be loose material topped with sand. Whatever is used to fill the ponds could be removed in the future if required.
4. CONCERNS ABOUT THE TIMING OF SUBMISSION.
We are aiming for the application to be heard at DMC on 6 March 2018.
To meet this date and allow for the lead in period for the application to be processed, we therefore had to submit the application before Christmas (early December). It was not until early December that we had finalised the application ready for submission.
Alison Hayward
EDDC 3 January 2018”
“The deadline for comments to be submitted on plans for temporary attractions for Exmouth seafront has been extended.
East Devon District Council has submitted plans for a temporary use of land, buildings and structures for a 12-month period for the purposes of entertainment, recreation and leisure on the site of the former Fun Park.
… The initial deadline for comments to be registered was January 12 – and some residents reported that during the Christmas holiday period, they were unable to either access the application or submit any comments.
An East Devon District Council spokesman said: “We are not aware of any issues with accessing the application on-line. It certainly appears to be working perfectly at the moment and the site was periodically checked over the festive period to ensure that it was working. We are therefore content that there is no problem with the system and our web-site.
“We have received some additional information from the applicant in the last couple of days. This information is now available on our web-site and to enable interested parties to review and comment on this information the consultation period has been extended to January 17, 2018.”
http://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/deadline-extended-comments-temporary-attractions-1011312
Reminder to people to comment on EDDC temporary attractions planning application to replace the Fun Park.
Closing date 12 January 2018
17/2944/FUL
However the comment page for this planning application was inaccessible over Christmas this should mean that the consultation period should be extended.
Another story from the Christmas break:
Our district council is the local planning authority and has professional planning staff – yet it can’t put in a decent explanation of what it will put on Exmouth seafront next year to replace the businnesses it evicted this year.
Can you imagine if you put in an outline planning application for a house with a line around the property and just words like “bedrooms might go here” or “the kitchen might be here” but “then again I might change my mind – and maybe have a conservatory over there , I’m not sure – but give me planning permission and I’ll sort it out”!
AND it’s a regeneration site!
From Exmouth Journal:
“Concerns have been raised over a lack of information on the attractions, which also includes pop-up food outlets and a children’s play area, set to be in place for 12 months from March next year.
An outline planning application is for the Queen’s Drive site – formerly home to Exmouth Fun Park which was evicted in September this year.
EDDC says the attractions will stop the site from becoming ‘unused and derelict’ prior to its redevelopment as part of phase three of the Queen’s Drive regeneration scheme.
At a planning committee meeting this week, Exmouth Town Council opposed the application raising concerns over the lack of information given on the nature of the attractions.
At the meeting, councillor Bill Nash branded the plans ‘a blank piece of paper’.
He said: “There is insufficient information for a decision to be made and I would ask the applicant to withdraw this application and resubmit it.
“The documentation says that at this stage because the end users are not being specified, the size, extent and nature of the structures cannot be identified – how can we give approval on something if we don’t know what it is?”
Nick Hookway, chairman of the Save Exmouth Seafront campaign group, said: “The idea of slicing up the site with three categories of attractions is to be deplored as being quite unnecessary. The application is lacking any form of detail as to the type of facilities that will be available next summer and in no way makes up for the closure of the popular, successful and much valued ‘fun park’.”
An EDDC spokesperson said: “This planning application is for uses that are specifically temporary and it responds directly to town council and wider public concern that the Queen’s Drive area might be unused for a while as development of sites happens.
“It is unfortunate that the town council felt unable to respond positively and promptly to the district’s desire to pave the way for a mix of new, temporary attractions.”
“The number of second homes in Exmouth has fallen by almost three per cent since 2015. But, the town still has the second highest number in East Devon.
An FOI request, submitted by the Journal, revealed that on average, for every 38 properties in the town, there was one second home.
The statistics revealed there were 16,987 households in Exmouth and of these 422 were second homes, meaning they made up around 2.6 per cent of the total number of properties.
Over the last three years, the number of second homes across the district has slowly been decreasing. Across East Devon there are 69,333 households, with 2,339 being used as second homes. This has fallen by 2.8 per cent since 2015.
In Exmouth, the drop was slightly more, with a three per cent decrease from 459 to 442. Estate agents have suggested this is down to the increase on stamp duty when purchasing a second house. Mike Dibble, a director Bradleys Estate Agents, said anybody who bought a second home now paid an extra three per cent in stamp duty. He added: “For example, if you are a first-time buyer and purchase a home for £250,000, the stamp duty would be £2,500.
“But, if you are buying a second home or a buy-to-let then you would pay an extra £7,500, paying a total of £10,000 in stamp duty”.
Mr Dibble added the estate agents sold ‘nowhere near’ as many second homes as they used to.
The town with the most second homes was Sidmouth, which by April of this year, had a total of 471. The town has half the number of households compared to Exmouth and statistically, of Sidmouth’s 7,885 properties, six per cent are second homes.
The third highest was Seaton where around 5.4 per cent of the total number of properties are second homes – for every 19 properties in Seaton there is around one second home.
An East Devon District Council spokeswoman said: “There are a large number of second homes in East Devon for which the owners pay council tax in the same way as do all other home owners in the district.”
Source:
Journal 14 December 2017
The original article:
Only one area in the south-west: Purbeck, Dorset. None in Devon or Cornwall.
Red flag ,..
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/dentists-jeremy-hunts-constituency-refuse-11712710
Friday 19th January 2018.
10am-12.30pm.
The Gipsy Hill Hotel,
Gipsy Hill Lane,
Pinhoe, Exeter
EX1 3RN
Guest speakers:
Rt Hon Sir Hugo Swire MP;
George Marshall, Greater Exeter Strategic Plan.
How many new homes are planned for your community and where?
Please join us for this important opportunity to find out more about the Greater Exeter Strategic Plan for Exeter, East Devon, Mid Devon and Teignbridge and the plans for new housing.
All welcome.
Places must be reserved – to book a place please contact us on
01392 966737
or email:
director@cpredevon.org.uk
From the people who are continuing to try to build on the Seaton/Colyford green wedge, destroying rare bat feeding routes and breathtaking views of the Wetlands comes another BIG BIG idea:
http://fenitonpark.co.uk/east-devon-marina/4592689237
Is it a plan for when (as we read) the UK becomes a tax haven after Brexit – just like Monacco?
As one commentator said: well, at least that would keep a team if dredgers in business until the first big storm!
“Children from deprived backgrounds face the worst prospects in some of the richest parts of the country, according to a damning new study that lays bare deep geographical divisions across Britain.
An annual report by the government’s own social mobility watchdog warns that while London and its suburbs are pulling away, rural, coastal and former industrial areas are being left behind.
The State of the Nation report finds that some of the wealthiest areas in England – including west Berkshire, the Cotswolds and Crawley, deliver worse outcomes for their disadvantaged children than places that are much poorer, such as Sunderland and Tower Hamlets. …
… Other findings include that:
51% of children on free school meals in London achieve A* to C grades in English and maths GCSE compared with a 36% average in all other regions.
There is a gulf between the highest figures of 63% in Westminster and the lowest, 27% on the Isle of the Wight
Meanwhile in Kensington and Chelsea, 50% of disadvantaged youngsters make it to university compared with just 10% in Hastings, Barnsley and Eastbourne
Some of the worst performing areas, such as Weymouth and Portland, and Allerdale, are rural not urban
In fact, in 71, largely rural areas, more than 30% of the people earn below the voluntary living wage – with average wages in west Somerset just £312 a week, less than half of the best performing areas
In Bolsover just 17% of residents are in jobs that are professional and managerial positions compared with 51% in Oxford
The study says that a critical factor in the best performing councils is the quality of teachers available, with secondary teachers 70% more likely to leave the profession in deprived areas.
Although richer parts of Britain do tend to outperform more deprived areas overall in the social mobility index designed by researchers, that isn’t always true. Some of the most affluent areas do worse for the poor kids than some of the least well off.
Coastal areas are a focus of the report, with warnings about schools being isolated. Recommendations include more collaboration between schools and subsidised travel for disadvantaged young people in isolated areas. The commission also calls for central government to fund a push for schools in rural and coastal areas to work together.
They also say that the government should rebalance the national transport budget to help tackle regional disparities. …
…. The report calls for the Department for Education’s £72m funding for opportunity areas to be matched by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in order to link up schooling and workplace opportunities.”
”A report into Britain’s seaside towns says there are still perceptions of them as old-fashioned, closed in the winter and difficult to get to.
The conclusions come from the all-party Parliamentary Group for the Visitor Economy, chaired by St Austell and Newquay Conservative MP, Steve Double.
The group has been looking at how the seaside economy could continue to thrive if and when European funding is withdrawn once the UK has left the EU.
They’ve come up with a list or recommendations which include reducing VAT on tourist accommodation and attractions to 5%, introducing more frequent bus services, and reducing the aggressive behaviour of seagulls in some resorts which have been putting visitors off.
Mr Double said the British coastline was a national asset with great potential and which, with the right investment, could drive regeneration, economic growth and job creation.”
“The chancellor, Philip Hammond, will announce in next week’s budget a “call for evidence” on how taxes or other charges on single-use plastics such as takeaway cartons and packaging could reduce the impact of discarded waste on marine and bird life, the Treasury has said. …”
“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.”
Seems counter-intuitive to us who choose to live in East Devon but more city development would certainly make a dent in coastal town/rural area calls for more development there:
“Contrary to popular belief, busy city centres beat suburban living when it comes to human wellbeing, as socialising and walking make for happier, healthier people, according to a new report.
Downtown residents – packed together in tight row houses or apartment blocks – are more active and socially engaged than people who live in the sprawl of suburbia, according to a report that aims to challenge popular beliefs about city life.
Its authors said their findings should encourage politicians to promote the benefits of built-up city living.”
East Devon Watch 