East Devon results:
UKIP – 14475
Tories – 13647
Green – 4975
Labour – 3623
Lib Dems – 3085
Category Archives: EDDC
And we’ve saved the best till last! How EDDC is going to “transform” itself when (if?) it moves to Skypark!
[square brackets and BOLD are our comments]
Transforming the council
Relocation is a central part of our plans to transform this Council into an organisation that meets the needs of its residents and businesses in an accessible, cost effective and joined up way [oh, no, the dreaded jargon joined up!]. So that we can keep abreast of customer demand and rising customer expectations, East Devon is working hard to transform and modernise the way staff go about their work and the ways in which customers can do business with the council. Key to these new ways of working are a number of projects which include the following:
Mobile device policy rollout – this will ensure that officers will have the right IT equipment to allow them to work from home, flexibly (between home and office) or in a mobile way. [Er, does this mean an iPad for every worker perhaps and no-one ever needing to actually work at Skypark?]
Creating a fully ICT equipped mobile workforce will help us improve efficiency and customer service.
Open for business – web channel – this project will see us totally revamp our website using the principles already established by the successful gov.uk website. As well as fresh content which is easier to find, this project will deliver 230 additional on-line services for our customers [230 more online services – can you imagine it – well, if you don’t have a computer you can’t]. We know from the feedback in from our Viewpoint Survey that 72% of our customers are satisfied with our services [anyone see the survey? It would be ripped to shreds by any professional survey organisation!] but we want to improve this figure by offering our services where and when our customers want them [er, I think you will find they want them in Sidmouth, or possibly Honiton but certainly not Skypark!].
In addition to this East Devon is currently reviewing facilities across the district to understand what existing space we can use for mobile officers to ‘touch down’ across the district so that they will not need to make unnecessary journeys back to the office [a new phrase! we are not having “hubs” any more – they are “touch downs”!]. We are also drawing up proposals to firm up what service provision will be available for customers across the district following relocation [translation: we have no idea what we are going to do].
Public and stakeholder engagement and consultation
[Isn’t this interesting: the headline shows that EDDC doesn’t consider the public to be stakeholders!]
We will be carrying out consultation with our equality partners and from a Best Value perspective to help us understand what service provision customers, key stakeholders and partners would like to see around the district following relocation. [Anyone like to try to translate what seems to be like meaningless jargon again?]
Communication
We continue to update staff on progress and following this report further staff sessions will be arranged. Additionally, we continue to communicate externally and our communications strategy is constantly under review. The stakeholder meetings, East Devon Extras and engagement with all media channels regarding office accommodation have been helpful in getting our messages out there. These will continue. [groan, groan: sounds like the staff are going to be brainwashed and the media is going to continue to be blasted with pro-move propaganda]
AND naughty DCC and Planning Inspectorate – you have upset EDDC too!
Same agenda as post below
Extract:
Rights of Way
Another approach to attempt to restrict the Council’s development plans for parts of the Knowle has been Right of Way (RoW) applications.
These applications were originally rejected by Devon County Council but on appeal against that decision the Inspector directed the County to make Orders in respect of two routes (one of which itself splits into two routes). The County made the Orders in March and the Council (and others) have lodged objections to the Order.
The Planning Inspectorate will now deal with the matter. It is anticipated that the appeals will be heard (method yet to be decided) in the Autumn. The Council may well choose to withdraw its objections, which may shorten the process slightly, but it will still be determined by the Inspectorate due to other objections (unless they too are withdrawn). It is probable that a final outcome (so either a dismissed appeal or confirmed Order) is likely to take until early winter.
As was made clear in the Feb 2014 Cabinet report there are a number of ways that objections may be mounted toward the Council’s relocation plans. Project costings have reflected the potential impact of delay and the costs that such objections may result in for the Council.
Oh, naughty Knowle Residents Association – you have upset EDDC!
Cabinet agenda HERE
Extract from page 55:
Town and Village Green (TVG)
Using the vehicle of a TVG application, a group of objectors, under the banner of Knowle Residents Association (KRA), are attempting to inhibit EDDC’s ability to develop part of the areas of Knowle designated within the draft Local Plan for residential use.
A TVG application was made after the rejection of the Knowle outline planning application in 2013. Should the application be wholly successful it would prevent development of Knowle outside the immediate boundary of the current offices. Evidence was submitted by both parties to Devon County Council as the determining authority and EDDC has been pressing for a resolution since the autumn. A one day inquiry was held in the Council Chamber on 10 April 2014 for a barrister appointed by Devon County Council to hear legal argument.
Whilst prospective developers can accommodate a degree of risk when calculating a value to offer for a development (Judicial Review for example) a TVG is a potentially draconian restriction. The Knowle Residents’ Association original application included Knowle car parks, depot and the external space around the offices including the terrace : sites identified by EDDC for residential development in the Draft Local Plan.
The KRA has subsequently retreated from trying to designate the Knowle Depot site but continues through the remainder of its TVG application to try and prevent development of the upper carparks and immediate surrounds of the office buildings.
At the time of writing this report, we await the inspector’s report to County on his view of the TVG application. Pending clarity on the next steps we have paused the marketing exercise for Knowle and Manstone. The TVG application has added time and cost to the Council’s relocation planning.
Knowle should not be marketed until after outcome of village green application say experts
Page 55 of agenda for EDDC Cabinet merting of 4 June 2014:
Marketing of Knowle/Manstone
It was our aim to carry out a marketing exercise in time to report to July 2014 Cabinet and Council on developer interest. Land agents have been interviewed and, in discussion with the Relocation Executive Group, it is recommended the Council employs Savills, an experienced property agency, to manage a marketing exercise for Knowle and Manstone. The tendering exercise for the section of consultants has been completed, and marketing could commence. However, whilst all agents regard the sites as an attractive development proposition of significant value, their advice has been to hold off commencing marketing until there is clarity regarding the outstanding Town and Village Green application for parts of the Knowle.
Gittisham tries to work out what they can do to avoid the disaster of 300 extra houses
https://susiebond.wordpress.com/
Once again local communities are left to fund their own objections to unsustainable developments passed by EDDC – as happened with the Seaton/Colyton green wedge and Feniton where local people raised funds and overturned the decisions.
So what happens if an incident occurs at an EDDC “hub” when they move to Skypark?
£705,568 – the minimum spent or pledged so far on the move to Skypark (according to our council’s own figures)
Cabinet Agenda 4 June 2014
Click to access cabinet_040614__-public_version.pdf
Page 53
4.
To approve next phase of project funding.
A further £203,882 is projected to be required for the remainder of 2014/15 bringing total project development cost to £705,568
East Devon landscape makes money..amongst other good things, says RSPB.
See http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/s-time-leave-children-better-environment-act/story-21126750-detail/story.html
para 3 – about importance of nature to our wellbeing
para 4 – fundamental to the economic prosperity in Westcountry, “quality of the landscapes that makes the region an attractive place to visit, to work, and to do business.”
para 6 – importance of bees and hoverflies to pollinate crops
“Should we build less…?”
Are large developments on greenfield sites the only way to solve the housing crisis? Here’s some practical lateral thinking:
http://www.theglasshouse.org.uk/reflections-from-the-glass-house-debate-series-2013-14/
Bloody noses, but will they listen?
Warning shots fired over the bows of all the major parties and now the war is escalating and there are likely to be major casualties – mostly US. Will the major parties (which now presumably includes UKIP) listen?
We will be here.
Performance targets can produce perverse results
In particular, the target that all planning applications should be determined within 13 weeks – something we have had rather a lot of trouble with in East Devon when contentious planning applications have been rushed through with the excuse that the target must be met:
Minister friend of Cameron attacks Boles (but only in words!)
Full article from today’s Daily Mail (link at the end of the article)
The countryside could be swamped with thousands of unwanted homes under new planning laws, a minister warned yesterday. In an outspoken attack, Ed Vaizey says his own government’s ‘presumption in favour of development’ is artificially raising estimates of housing demand. In a letter to planning minister Nick Boles, the culture minister lays bare Tory fears that the coalition’s decision to tear up planning laws risks alienating traditional supporters and costing votes.
Mr Vaizey, who is one of David Cameron’s closest allies, says the projected levels of housing need in parts of the countryside – including his own Oxfordshire constituency – are up to three times the true figure. He warns this has ‘significant consequences for many local communities which are now faced with levels of growth that will fundamentally change the nature of settlements’. He calls for an ‘urgent review of the planning methodology that leads to such massive numbers of homes being planned, so that more realistic outcomes result’. He says councils are being forced to earmark more and more land for housing or risk falling foul of the development presumption that leaves them little power to block projects they think excessive.
In his reply, Mr Boles defended the push for new housing, saying: ‘One of the key constraints that is affecting growth in some of our most prosperous and dynamic regions are high house prices and affordability. I am sure you will agree this is something we are all working hard to change.’ And he suggested that Mr Vaizey had got some of his facts wrong. He said the new assessment of housing need ‘did not automatically invalidate’ local housing plans and confirmed building on the green belt should be allowed only in exceptional circumstances.
Mr Boles said Oxfordshire should consider creating a new garden city if local communities were unhappy with the idea of expanding existing developments. Mr Vaizey had warned that the lax rules around infrastructure meant that developers often delivered vital services such as roads and schools years after the houses are built.
The result, he says, is that ‘new and existing residents suffer a severe decline in services for a number of years’. Mr Vaizey’s comments are focused on the situation in Oxfordshire, where there is controversy over official projections that the county needs 100,000 new homes. He says demographic trends in his own district of the county, the Vale of the White Horse, suggest an extra 468 homes a year are needed. But the ‘national methodology’ has produced a figure up to three times higher.
Four local councils in Oxfordshire have raised concerns about the plans. These include West Oxfordshire, which is run by Mr Cameron’s election agent Barry Norton. Mr Norton said official housing projections were wrong and were likely to be challenged by the council.
The Prime Minister this week defended the planning changes, and said the result was that ‘planning applications are going up, house building is going up – a 23 per cent increase in houses built’. He said the planning system was locally driven, and denied claims that Tory councils were blocking housing developments. He added: ‘We’ve been building in West Oxfordshire more houses than was actually set out under our plan. I don’t accept that all these councils are nimbys.’
‘East Devon Alliance recap major planning applications’
Link to an article in this week’s Pulman’s View from Sidmouth (page 5):
http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk//launch.aspx?pbid=b553c14a-f023-4ec6-a5ac-b9d745b0d550
West Country councils see little benefit from rural grants
EDDC “Member Champions” – who are they and what do they DO for US?
EDDC has 16 member Champions
According to the dedicated EDDC web page they:
Each Member Champion keeps a focus on their area of responsibility by:
- Raising the profile of the issue and showing the communities of East Devon the Council’s commitment to the issue.
- Fostering the engagement of a wider range of Members in the review and development of the issue.
- Promoting effective communication and positive working relationships both within the Council and amongst partners, stakeholders and community groups.
- Promoting the positive work that is being undertaken within the District, both at a regional and national level.
- Providing positive support, and on occasions constructive challenge, to officers in driving forward the Council’s agenda on the issue.
and
to fulfil their role effective a Member Champion also needs to be able to:
- foster cross-party co-operation and be able to engage community groups and officers
- understand and express the opinions and priorities of the community
- be sensitive to Council priorities; although they may be advocating the opinions of the older people, for example, they should not do so at the expense of Council Policy and Corporate Policies. Champions cannot allow themselves to “go native” and forget about their broader role as a Councillor.
- Lead and respond to the whole range of issues rather than focussing upon a pet interest.
So, let’s examine them individually:
Asset Management – Bob Buxton (Dunkeswell)
Now, we plebs actually don’t know what happens at Asset Management meetings because they are held in secret with no agendas or minutes. So how do we know what he is championing and why?
Business – Mike Allen (Honiton St Michaels)
The man who was in charge of the second round of Local Plan meetings and doesn’t know how Sidford Fields crept into it. Perhaps kinder to skip this one …..
Culture – John O’Leary (Honiton St Pauls)
This pretty much seems to mean publicising the Thelma Hulbert Gallery at every opportunity – the loss making “asset” that we all own and throw money at and the Beehive in Honiton to which we have ALL contributed so many hundreds of thousands of pounds via EDDC grants. Oh, and he lets us know what is on at EDDC owned facilities such as the Manor Pavilion – at least I think he does.
Customer Services – Vivien Duvall Steer (Exmouth Halsdon)
Ah, the lady who is presumably standing up for all those of us who won’t be able to get to Skypark. No? Why not?
Exmouth Town – John Humphries (Exmouth Littleham)
A lot of unhappy people in Littleham these days – which is not at all Little any more. Plus the demolition of Elizabeth Hall and the “regeneration” of the seafront into money-making businesses is not popular either.
Health and Wellbeing – Peter Sullivan (Sidmouth Town)
Er, anyone know what EDDC is doing for our health and wellbeing? OK, he does have a Twitter feed where in April he suggested that people take their dogs for a walk! But Googling him doesn’t uncover anything else.
Member Development and Engagement – Maddy Chapman (Exmouth Brixington)
Oh dear, given that our members keep being hauled before the Standards Committee because they are being naughty seems to show that she isn’t having much effect!
Planning, Design and Heritage – Alan Dent (Budleigh)
Anyone want to point out anything he has done to protect our heritage or improve design of buildings – he certainly won’t be able to point to anything about planning given the mess that EDDC is currently in.
Flood Alleviation – Peter Bowden (Broadclyst)
Well, at least he lives in a flood prone area! But the Chief Executive has taken charge of flood grants. Hope he gets a look in.
Procurement – Mark Williamson (Exmouth Littleham)
Ah, procurement – another of those things that no-one tells us about. We are not even sure what he oversees about the subject. Procuring Skypark? Paperclips? Who knows? We are certainly not allowed to see documents about procurement so quite why WE have a champion for it is a moot point.
Rural Broadband – Mike Howe (Clyst Valley)
Er, not progressing very well at all – some areas of the district barely have a snails pace service and dates for upgrade keep getting pushed back and back. BT appears to have the monopoly. Not sure what he can achieve.
Rural Communities (including Post Offices) – Newton Poppleford and Harpford
Oh dear – the rural community of Newton Poppleford is NOT a happy one – did he stick up for it recently? Er ….
Rural Communities (incorporating Post Offices) – Ken Potter
Anyone see him at the Feniton inquiry or the Colyford Green Wedge? No? When you read EDDC Minutes he does attend a lot of meetings and reads a lot of Post Office literature.
Seaton Town – Stephanie Jones (Seaton)
Seaton: the town that has more old people than just about anywhere else in the country and which is about to have even more on its “regeneration area” – the one where Tesco can’t afford affordable houses. Promised so much, delivered so little. I wouldn’t put that on my CV!
Tourism – Sheila Kerridge (Sidmouth Town)
Sheila who? Tourism – East Devon? Surely some mistake, we don’t do tourism we only do building lots of houses in inappropriate places and huge sheds for “employment”.
Youth – Christine Drew (Sidmouth Sidford)
Youth services which are being decimated across the district. I can only refer you to this interview that she had with a work experience person at EDDC. She does “loads” of things but can name only one though she does go to lots of youth clubs (well, that’s about to stop now DCC is closing them all) and, as she says, does have children.
So, there we have it – LOTS of Champions but it seems that really their job is not that of Champion of the People but (at least those whose heads appear above the parapet) instead they do PR for the majority party – but even this some of them do woefully or not at all.
Still, they probably go to a lot of local, regional and national events and have lots of canapés for us.
But what exactly have they achieved for US? Over to you.
They do things differently in Scotland: Councillor suspended for 5 months
Suspended for 5 monthhs for being aggressive to members of the public whilst Chairman of a committee:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-27377867
and
Really interesting if somewhat long – his register of interests dealings are quite something!
http://www.publicstandardscommissioner.org.uk/decisions/decision/419/las1215
No Local Plan until “at least 2015”
http://www.devon24.co.uk/news/local_plan_delayed_until_next_year_1_3601887
No burning the midnight oil, then – just a nice, slow amble.
“The delay in finishing the Local Plan is expected to cost taxpayers a further £12,000 in consultants’ fees in addition to an ‘inspection budget’ for 2013/14 of £110,000.”
But still they must move to Skypark: bet the midnight oil IS burning for that one!
The “duty to co-operate” – how abour some co-operation to take OUR overspill now?
The National Planning Policy Statement requires councils to alert other councils around them when it seems that they cannot build enough houses in their own district and to ask those councils to take some or all of their overspill.
Exeter, of course, now has not only Cranbrook to take its overspill in East Devon but also the thousands of extra houses agreed by EDDC’s Development
Management Committee in the EDDC area adjoining Pinhoe.
Now we have an application for (initially?) 300 houses at Uplyme to accommodate the “needs” of Lyme Regis (perhaps for more second homes?) on the A3052 at Uplyme in East Devon.
It might seem now, that having accommodated Lyme and Exeter we have run out of space for our own houses.
So, what about South Somerset which conveniently shares a Chief Executive with us and is also coincidentally in similar trouble with its Local Plan.
There are plenty of green fields between Axminster and Chard (particularly around Yarcombe in the Blackdown Hills near the border) and so convenient for commuting to Exeter, Taunton and beyond, especially if the A303 is widened.
Why hasn’t the Chief Executive been talking to himself?
East Devon Alliance welcomes dialogue with local councillor for Uplyme
We welcome Cllr Ian Thomas’s contribution to the early discussions about the prospective planning application near Uplyme in the AONB (see post and comment below). Open discussion through forums such as this (or by the soon to be restricted contributions at East Devon Development Management Committee meetings) is essential at this vulnerable time. Thank you, Ian.
We applaud Ian’s stated support for AONBs and the natural environment, but he may perhaps concede that the actions of his party in this district have spoken more loudly than his words: EDDC’s tardiness in getting its act together on the Local Plan and a five-year land supply have surely put greenfield sites, including those designated AONB, at risk”.
It was clear, too, from a recent Development Management Committee meeting to discuss an action plan for the revised Local Plan that there is likely to be much more development near Exeter as well as around selected villages and in the area near Lyme Regis. Coupled with the Planning Inspectorate’s observation that EDDC had failed to co-operate with West Dorset on the Local PLan, it seems to a number of us that the Uplyme proposal could be the first cuckoo in this unwelcome spring.
East Devon Watch 