Tonight, Channel 4, 8 pm
The title says it all.
Our current MP, Hugo Swire, is a Minister.
Category Archives: General Election
Short statements from your East Devon Parliamentary candidates – except Hugo Swire who appears not to (yet) have had the time …
Claire Wright: latest meetings at Woolbrook (1 April) and Exmouth (16 April)
Press Release:
Claire Wright, the Independent candidate for Devon East in the General Election, will be in Woolbrook, Sidmouth, on Wednesday, 1st April. Everyone is invited to this free meeting, the latest in a series, which begins at 8 pm. The venue is the St. Francis Church Hall.
Following a short speech, in which the candidate will outline the key points of her campaign, concentrating on important local issues, there will be an opportunity for questions and discussion.
Claire, who was born in Devon and who has always lived in the area, launched her manifesto in Exmouth. She will explain how the results of her comprehensive survey, completed by many hundreds of local people, have revealed the concerns of the voters of East Devon.
Additionally, more than a thousand conversations with local people and many visits to local businesses, as well as her experience as a town, district and county councillor, mean that the candidate is very familiar with the constituency and its problems. Indeed, it was the enthusiastic and extensive support in her successful bid for a seat on Devon County Council that prompted her to run for Parliament. Claire Wright will say how, if elected, she would be an active and energetic MP, working for the constituency.
The next public meeting, commencing at 7 pm, will be in Exmouth on 16th April at the Exmouth Rugby Club, Imperial Road.
Vision for East Devon …”superstore & factory” ?
Local literary links have inspired this poem, sent in by a correspondent:
A Vision
(with apologies to Coleridge)
In Honiton E.D.D.C.
Says its new offices shall be –
Far from the town where, as we know,
The office workers like to go.
No longer all Knowle’s greenery
But superstore and factory.
An Exmouth office, too, a place
Where few will find a parking space –
The building looks like an old barn,
Not like the “dome” in “Kubla Khan”.
But, Oh, the waste of public money –
The ratepayers don’t think it funny:
To build a glass and concrete shed
And trash the park and Knowle instead,
For “Our Great Leader” and his crew
Have no care for the public’s view;
Nor badger-setts, nor many a tree;
Nor office blocks, built ’83;
Nor Chambers, used by you and me;
Nor weekend tourist-parking, free;
Nor jobs and trade Sidmouth will lose;
Nor all the lovely parkland views –
All sold to builders for a fee –
And all for what? For vanity?
This Council, with no Local Plan,
Lets builders build where’er they can.
Yet in my crystal ball I see
A new look for E.D.D.C.:
Independents there will be
As councillors for you and me,
Come from every town and shire
With the Wright One to remove Swire,
Who all will cry: Please be aware:
We will not relocate somewhere
Based on false claims that there will be
“Big”(?) savings made in energy.
We come to bring Democracy,
And Probity, Transparency.
You all know there’s a better way –
It’s signposted by E.D.A.* ,
So, all you readers, lend a hand
And save our green and pleasant land.
(*EDA is East Devon Alliance)
Councillors “like puppets on a string” over Knowle sale
Mike Temple’s letter in today’s Sidmouth Herald blasts the “cracking good deal” myth put about by Honiton Cllr and Tory Whip,Phil Twiss.
Here’s the letter:
‘Popping up like puppets on cue, Cllr Diviani’s obedient cabinet, aided and abetted by Sidmouth’s own Tory District councillors, nodded through the sale of Knowle last night (March 11) in the latest stage of the long-running farce that is the office-relocation.
According to the puppets, Sidmouth will never have had it so good. It’s getting “a cracking good deal,” piped Cllr Twiss (he who’d rather stick “hot pins in his eyes” than engage in a public debate with an Independent candidate – a serious case of “frit” perhaps). After all, Sidmouth is gaining a retirement community and we all know we need more of them, especially the expensive second-homes we so desperately lack.
No matter about the loss of community assets like the fine chambers used for concerts, religious services, talks and wedding receptions. No matter about the loss of 150 parking places for weekend visitors to a tourist town. No matter about the loss of the best of its unique woodland park, namely its magnificent prospect, the loss of which will trash the rest of the gardens – which no doubt can be built on later.
What’s more, it was all the fault of a vocal Sidmouth minority (like the 4,000 on the march) who , according to Cllr Diviani, prevented the Council from getting £10 million for the Knowle when its own plan to build all over the park was refused.
Yes, it’s all Sidmouth’s fault and all Sidmouth’s “gain”. And what goodies are we next promised? Well, look forward to Sidford Business and Industrial Park and then a superstore at the Alexandria Road estate and even more empty shops in town to let…’
Green Party research paper on the housing crisis
EDDC Tories promise more ….. of what exactly?
East Devon Conservatives have taken a half page advertisement in the local press this week (* see link below). In this advertisement they make claims for what they have achieved during the last 4 years.
Let’s take a look at these claims.
First though let’s look at what ISN’T in the advertisement:
No Local Plan – four years and still nowhere near completion, the lack of a Local Plan has allowed a development free-for-all throughout the entire district.
No Knowle relocation – the vanity project of the Leader and three of his Executive Board councillors (see blog of Councillor Ian Thomas:
Using the construction estimate of £2,439/m2, and a building size of 2,776m2, overall construction costs at Honiton are expected to be £6.77M. However, the market value of the resulting premises is estimated to be only £3.25M. From an investment point of view, this indicates that there is an immediate deficit on the project, of £3.52M.
https://eastdevonwatch.org/2015/03/14/tort-cabinet-member-notes-knowle-relocation-risks/
Those claims
A RECORD OF ACTION
Local homes for local people, building and buying homes for rent
Look at their latest press release dated 15th March 2015, which begins:
“Due to high house prices, relatively low incomes and a high need for affordable homes but limited existing stock, we have a major shortfall of affordable housing in East Devon. To overcome this shortfall, new residential development will need, in most cases to include some affordable housing.
However, recent developments have been allowed to cut their affordable proportion to NIL (e.g. Tesco site, Seaton) as house builders have pleaded poverty and EDDC has gone along with them. Saying you need affordable housing is not the same as getting it!
Waiting list cut from over 3 years to less than 1 year
In 2011, EDDC said that:
As at 17 January 2011 there are 2,800 people on the council’s housing register. There are currently 45 empty council owned properties in total. About a third of these are “long term voids” which are being re-developed, have serious structural problems or have suffered fire/flood damage.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/affordable_housing_3
Many councils have cut their waiting lists by simply deciding that certain people will no longer qualify for social housing – e.g. people under 25. Where have all our housing waiting list applicants gone. Certainly not into affordable homes.
Community Development Workers to help local communities
Thriving communities do not need Community Development Workers – they are usually employed either in new towns (such as Cranbrook) or towns with multiple social problems or deprivation. Indeed at one time having a Community Development Worker was seen as a bad thing!
Cranbrook – a new town with employment opportunities close by
Well, yes, but have you been there and seen it! Tiny houses, tiny “gardens, narrow streets, very little parking, currently one shop (a pharmacy). Housing for Exeter people with Exeter jobs!
Supporting leisure opportunities, encouraging a healthy lifestyle
“Supporting” – such a useful word. Not “funding” – “supporting” – that’s all you really need to know!
Good development in the right places.
Now, that’s rich: in the last year we have had so much bad development in the wrong places, perhaps they have run out of wrong places! Just about every town, village and (currently) hamlet has its own “development horror story” and it is about to get even worse.
LOCAL ISSUES, LOCAL ACTION
Council Tax frozen for the 5th year
Sure, but many services have been stopped or charges raised, or they have been taken over by town and parish councils. It is simply the transfer of costs from EDDC to them which means an increase for us!
Supporting our local economy through regeneration projects
There are two: Exmouth and Seaton. Exmouth consists of a concrete jungle of paid-for “leisure facilities” and Seaton’s consists of a small Jurassic Coast Visitor Centre, a Tesco and over 200 high cost homes on the regeneration site (the developer having pleaded poverty and had 40% affordables reduced to 20% and then zero)
Improving recycling rates
Councils are penalised if they do not achieve certain recycling rates. EDDC still does not collect cardboard.
Conserving the Jurassic coastline, our nature reserves and AONB’s
One phrase: “Sidmouth’s beach management plan” – rather like the local plan – the promise of jam tomorrow, or maybe the day after, or maybe not.
Conservative East Devon offers “excellent value for money”*
*Independent auditors report
Ah, best not dwell on what this blog, others such as Sidmouth Independent News, and http://futuresforumvgs.blogspot.co.uk/ have said about this – just that a cosy relationship breeds contentment on both sides!
Here’s the EDDC ad. in question: Toryad17thMarch2015
Claire Wright: press releases on local meetings, MP buddying, National Planning Policy Statement
Meetings:
COME AND MEET CLAIRE osm 16.3.15
MP buddying:
Claire Wright Buddy press release 16.3.15
National Planning Policy Framework
Claire Wright NPPF press release 16.3.15
Another Green Wedge for East Devon? Don’t miss DMC next Monday, 23 March.
Some points DMC may keep in mind are pictured here:
:
and here (Sidford-Sidbury road):
and more (as recently referred to on EDW) here: http://saveoursidmouth.com/2015/03/16/what-eddcs-revised-local-plan-specifies-for-the-sid-valley/
Can EDDC be serious, with revised Local Plan?
More East Devon AONB under threat
Just heard from an EDWatcher, who says: “Did you know that Clinton Devon Estates are applying for 22 houses in East Budleigh AONB…? 14/2959/MOUT ”
Missing voters being urged to register
” … A drive to recapture the nearly one million voters who went missing from the electoral roll in 2013 starts today. A £2.4m advertising campaign, featuring secretly-shot footage of members of the public flipping out when deprived of basics such as tomato ketchup or the use of a lift, has been designed to make it clear that, unless people sign up by 20 April, they will not be able to vote 17 days later.
It seems like a mad dash. Research carried out last year showed that a quarter of 18 and 19-year-olds, and the same proportion of black people, were unregistered. Last month, the Commission reported that there were 920,000 fewer people on the register in December than expected, mainly students and those who have moved house and failed to register.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jenny-watson-chair-of-the-electoral-commission-the-idea-of-marking-an-x-in-a-box-probably-seems-completely-alien-10109799.html
Well, we know where at least 6,000 of them were – here in East Devon!
EDDC Revised Plan- directly affects CLYST ST MARY
Gaeron Kayley, leading the Save Clyst St Mary campaign, urges you to read his message:
There has been a significant development regarding the Clyst St Mary planning applications of which you need to be aware.
We have been advised that East Devon District Council, in its amended Local Plan, has now stated that our village is to take an additional 200 new homes (on top of the 95 that we have already agreed to.) Moreover, the Friends Provident and Plymouth Brethren sites are the proposed locations of these new homes.
It is important to note that this news concerns East Devon’s Local Plan – it is not a result of the specific hearings for which we have all battled so hard to object to (these planning applications are still to be heard). This announcement is part of a totally separate decision where, for reasons we are not party to, our village seems to have become the exception to the apparent aim of preserving East Devon villages’ identity; it is believed it is due to our ‘proximity to Exeter’.
As you can imagine, having devoted a large part of our spare time to this campaign for several months, we feel, as you probably do, utterly devastated to hear this shocking news. There remain many questions unanswered and we would, in the longer term, be keen to hear your views regarding the group’s response and possible actions. In the first instance, we desperately need speakers at the meeting at the Council’s headquarters on Monday 23rd March at 10am. It is crucial our voice is heard. Would you be prepared to speak? If so, please respond to this email – or call 01392 969100 – as soon as possible. Anyone that is prepared to speak must have a booking made by mid day with EDDC. We are hoping to arrange a short get together for anyone prepared to speak on Tuesday evening.
To say that we are shocked at this development is an understatement; now, more than ever, we have to stay strong and united as a group and really hope that, despite how recent events appear to have manifested themselves, ultimately justice, transparency and equality shall still prevail.
Gaeron
Relevant links:
The agenda for the Special Development Management Committee to be held on Monday, 23 March at 10amcan now be viewed at: http://eastdevon.gov.uk/media/990985/230315-special-combined-dmc-agenda.pdf
The revised draft New East Devon Local Plan can be viewed here: http://eastdevon.gov.uk/media/990979/230315-sp-dmc-local-plan-with-changes-for-post-hearing-consultation-ver-04-march-2015.pdf
The draft schedule of proposed changes to the East Devon Local Plan can be viewed here:http://eastdevon.gov.uk/media/990982/230315-sp-dmc-table-of-changes-to-local-plan-v3-march-15.pdf
Paper copies of the agenda, revised draft Local Plan and schedule of proposed changes have been posted to those committee members that would normally receive a paper copy of the DMC agenda.
Last night’s hustings
Organised by Federation of Small Businesses, at Sidmouth’s Kennaway House, appears not to have been too well organised. Public were supposed to have been excluded, then apparently there was a change of mind to include them and then a change back to no public. Irritated UKIP members invaded en bloc and the chairman (who seemed unsure where “Knowle” was) seems not to have understood his role.
Not a good start, though we hear Claire Wright was in very good form and Hugo Swire made some very strange remarks (possibly from a very large briefing folder he brought with him).
No doubt UKIP will blame the EU for the way the evening went.
Cautions for Councillors voting on relocation
Incursion into Knowle’s Public Open Space “has never been debated by councillors”
and from more than one senior Honiton Councillor, at various stages of EDDC’s ill-starred (jinxed?) ‘road to relocation’ project. Remember this SIN post, anyone? https://sidmouthindependentnews.wordpress.com/2014/02/17/watchdog-kennelled/
Knowle Public consultations, EDDC-style
An early example of EDDC’s valiant effort to engage the public was flagged up on the SIN blog https://sidmouthindependentnews.wordpress.com/2012/10/31/spot-the-knowle-consultation/
Click here for news of the most recent one : http://saveoursidmouth.com/2015/03/13/public-consultation-was-limited-to-two-ads-in-the-sidmouth-herald-admits-eddc-legal-officer/
Even Pope Francis wants election transparency!
Speaking in Argentina, he said that:
“Because many interests come into play in financing of an election campaign and then they ask you to pay back, so, the election campaign should be independent of anyone who may finance it.”
He went on to say:
“Many interests get into the mix, and then they send you the bill. Perhaps public financing would allow for me, the citizen, to know that I’m financing each candidate with a given amount of money”.
Everything, according to the Pope, “needs to be transparent and clean.”
Reminder: National Day of Action event at Knowle (12 April)
Details here: April 21 National Day of Action CoVoP Poster
The Knowle event is being organised by two East Devon Alliance members, Ian McKintosh and Mike Temple, who have joined the National Community Voice On Planning (CoVoP) as trustees.
CoVoP is constantly working for reforms in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), as this latest message shows:
‘Two letters from our members have appeared in the Telegraph this week – both were edited to remove references to CoVoP National Day of Action (12 April), but both expressed the key message that the Government is not listening to communities on planning. References to the 5 year plan supply have also been removed. The full text for both letters is here: letters to the Telegraph
Another member has written to Messers Betts, Pickles and Lewis expressing similar frustration.
“Dear Honourable Members
The NPPF is NOT working for local communities!
Further to the recent press release by the Communities & Local Government Select Committee on the operation of the NPPF I would like to draw your attention to further evidence that the NPPF is not protecting important local landscapes from inappropriate development and that Planning Officers appear to be ignoring sustainable planning principles outlined in the NPPF.
South Lakeland District Council (SLDC) planning officers regularly emphasise the ‘presumption in favour of development’ to their Planning Committee while failing to mention that all planning applications (even those for allocated sites in a Local Plan), must comply with core planning principles in the NPPF. These are outlined the NPPF (219 paragraphs) which also states (several times) that these sustainable planning principles are ‘material considerations’ when assessing planning applications.
At an SLDC Planning Committee meeting last December (attended by six out of 17 members), a planning application for a prime green field site, in the middle of Grange-over-Sands’ Conservation Areas, was granted. Committee members did not bother to discuss major infrastructure problems (drainage and roads), or the likely adverse impact on the town’s tourist economy. These problems had been raised at the meeting by local residents and Town Council representatives who also drew attention to the relevant paragraphs in the NPPF. No wonder people are losing faith in local planning procedures. This feels like a District Council dictatorship; not a local democracy.
We believe that District Councils are being ‘threatened’ with appeal cases by developers that they claim will be resolved in favour of granting planning permission. Also, we have evidence that our planning officers are also being pressurised into putting planning applications before the Planning Committee, due to perceived time constraints, even when the developer has not provided all the evidence needed to support their application such as an adequate flood risk assessment that considers the potential for flooding elsewhere.
We need more homes in areas where there are good employment prospects and good public transport links. We do not need them in areas with poor employment prospects, poor public transport links and inadequate infrastructure or where they will become second homes and have an adverse impact on Conservation Areas that are important to the local tourist economy.
I realise that you cannot do anything about specific issues raised above but I hope that the next Parliament will rectify some of the problems highlighted as a matter of urgency!
At the moment many of us do not know who to vote for at the next election because none of the main political parties have robust proposals for dealing with these serious planning inadequacies.
Yours sincerely”
We need to shout more loudly! Please demonstrate your frustration on 12 April.
Best wishes
Julie
Chairman of CoVoP
admin@covop.org
Community Voice on Planning
A National Alliance to provide communities with an effective voice on planning
http://www.covop.org’
Relocation…the key question
..was asked tonight by Sidmouth Cllr Graham Troman. Speaking at the special combined meeting two Committees ( Overview & Scrutiny, and Audit & Governance), he was bold enough to put the essential question “Could the contract (for sale of the Knowle) be signed before the election?” . “Yes”, said Chair-for-the-occasion, Cllr Tim Wood.
Later in the meeting, it was also confirmed that the sale contract could be signed within the so-called ‘purdah’ pre-election period.
Further report on tonight’s session, which became rather heated at times, to follow soon.
Two questions to Cabinet last night
One was asked by Dr Cathy Gardner, a member of East Devon Alliance, who found a discrepancy in figures in the external auditors’ report. Her question to Head of the Relocation Project, Richard Cohen, was: “In paragraph 2 of the report from Grant Thornton and GLEES, the annual maintenance cost allowance is £145,000 per annum, but the maximum spend over the past five years was around £65, 000. How do you explain this?
The answer, from Mr Cohen and three of his colleagues, seemed to confirm there had been managed deterioration of the Knowle buildings (a familiar practice, some might say).
The next question came from possibly the youngest person ever to speak at an EDDC meeting, and who received a round of applause from the public present:
Here’s what she confidently said:
“Good Evening,
My name is Gemma Manley, I’m a Sidmothian, I am 16 and I am currently studying for my A-levels.
When it comes to the relocation project, like many others I am completely against it. However my question tonight is not why East Devon District Council think it is appropriate to refuse to prove to the public why this building is not fit for purpose. Nor why East Devon District Council feel it is appropriate to borrow millions to fund their absurd move. Nor even how they can sell one of East Devon’s greatest assets. But I want to simply ask, “Can the Leader of the council justify making the final decision on the project just weeks before the general and district elections? Does he honestly believe that this is the most democratic timing, especially when councillors will be asked to vote just BEFORE a Tribunal ruling on whether more documents, which EDDC wants to keep secret, should be revealed.
Thank you.
In case you missed our earlier post on the Cabinet meeting, you’ll find it here: https://eastdevonwatch.org/2015/03/12/a-very-noisy-group-of-people-in-sidmouth-have-irritated-cllr-tim-wood/
East Devon Watch 