Here’s the link: http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/WMN-Letters-Great-support-candidate-cares/story-26373893-detail/story.html
Category Archives: Latest news
It’s another sign!
Approach to the election, on the A 35.
Meet the candidates…if they deign to turn up!!
Town Council hustings tonight in Sidmouth (21 April, 6.00pm -7.30 pm, in Sidmouth College).
Organised by Vision Group for Sidmouth (VgS) http://www.visionforsidmouth.org
Wonder if any of the current councillors will show their mettle and be there to face questions? Only ONE representative came to the crowded VgS District Council hustings last week, with lame excuses for the rest.
Voters’ verdict: Could do better?
Cameron-style, local Tories avoiding open debate?
Further to our post (16 April) about this week’s hustings organised by Vision Group for Sidmouth (‘Vigorous and optimistic public meeting with candidates’ ), East Devon Watch has been reliably informed that the Council meeting the 6 Tories used as an excuse for not attending had finished in time for Cllr Christine Drew to get there…. Meaning the others could have made it too. Not the fault of VgS that they did not come!
Vigorous and optimistic public meeting with candidates
Congratulations to Vision Group for Sidmouth (VgS) for organising last night’s hustings, in a particularly civil atmosphere, thanks to the VgS Chair, Dave Bramley.
All candidates standing in Sidmouth and Sidford Wards, for election to East Devon District Council, had been invited. ONLY ONE current District Councillor, Christine Drew, turned up, making the absence of all the others appear all the more reprehensible.
Candidates who did take this opportunity to engage with the public were: Dawn Manley (East Devon Alliance Independent,iEDA, Sidford Ward); Matt Booth (iEDA, Sidmouth Town Ward);Cathy Gardner (iEDA, Sidmouth Town); Marianne Rixson (iEDA, Sidford);Christine Drew (Conservative, Sidmouth Rural); David Barratt (Independent, Sidmouth Rural); John Dyson (Independent, Sidmouth Town).
A broad range of topics were raised, including affordable housing; interaction between Town/ District/ and County Councils; current EDDC management style: neighbourhood plans, etc. All were thoughtfully addressed.
Hats off to the iEDA Independents,for their positive message of how together they could improve the way things are done at District Council. Their pooled knowledge of local issues, and individual expertise in such things as sources for grants; tourism and marketing; and most urgently, the importance of encouraging neighbourhood plans, was impressive.
Next VgS hustings, for Sidmouth Town Council candidates, is at Sidmouth College, 6pm, on Tuesday 21 April. Wonder how many candidates will take advantage of this pre-election platform offered to them? We’ll see.
As election looms, only a week left to make sure you can vote
If you haven’t checked that you are registered to vote, time is running out!
The deadlines for registering, and for postal votes, are in this press release (14 April) from EDDC:
Last chance to join the register before polling on 7 May
Residents of East Devon are reminded that there’s just under a week left to
ensure you have registered as an elector and can vote on 7 May. The last day
for receipt of applications is Monday 20 April.
If you are already registered, but want to have a postal vote rather than
going to a polling station on election day, time is also running out. You
must apply by 5.00 p.m. on Tuesday 21 April to ensure you can vote by post.
Details of all the candidates in the Parliamentary election and for district
and parish council wards are now on EDDC’s website at:
http://www.eastdevon.gov.uk/elections-and-registering-to-vote/election-documents
The website also carries information about the opening times and locations
of polling stations around the district.
Register online
Don’t forget that under the new system of Individual Elector Registration
(IER) it is up to each individual to register, not the head of the household
as before. If you still haven’t registered to vote, you can do so online at:
http://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
To get help with registering to vote or to ask for a postal voting
application form, you can also contact the district council’s Electoral
Services team on 01395 517402, or email: electoralservices@eastdevon.gov.uk
With the General Election and local elections now less than a month away,
being registered as a voter is obviously necessary so you can have your say.
But there are other advantages too – like finding it easier to get a credit
card, take out a loan or even obtain a mobile phone.
Don’t delay. Do it today!
REMINDER: Meet the Sidmouth Candidates for District Council, TODAY, Weds 15 April, St Francis Hall, Woolbrook
As you can see on our HOME page, several pre-election hustings are being organised by independent bodies around the District. This evening, there’s one in Sidmouth, where for the first time, every single District Councillor is being challenged by Independent candidates. So, tonight’s hustings is a particularly newsworthy event for the press, who will be there.
St Francis Hall, Woolbrook, will be open from 7.30pm, and the hustings will start at around 7.50pm. Questions in advance, please, to Dave Bramley (VgS Chair) or submit them on arrival, to the organisers.
For details of the meeting, and to contact Dave Bramley, click here: https://www.visionforsidmouth.org/calendar/2015/april/district-council-hustings.aspx
The full list of Sidmouth Election Candidates is on the front page of the latest edition (14 April) of Pullman’s View from Sidmouth. You can’t miss the headline: ‘Independent alliance target Sidmouth’!
Urgent: Save Clyst St Mary public meeting 15th April re. Westpoint planning application
Westpoint has applied for an exemption to its planning permission to allow timed car trials on its site. Obviously this is a concern as it is likely to be very noisy and could potentially cause additional pollution to the area too..
This is the link to the planning application (15/0139/VAR):
https://planning.eastdevon.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=NIGLWSGHHHM00
Save Clyst St Mary spokesperson, Gaeron Kayley, says:
“Having spoken to The Parish Council, I can confirm there will be a public meeting in the School Hall on Wednesday 15th April Starting at 19.30″
‘Peoples’ Voice on Planning’ event has support from all but one Party!
About a hundred people from various parts of East Devon gathered on the lawn terraces at Knowle on Sunday afternoon 12th April to listen to speeches from parliamentary candidates and others about the national planning set-up.
The event was part of a nationwide Day of Action called for by Community Voice on Planning (Covop) and was organised by Covop trustees and Vision Group for Sidmouth.
Parliamentary candidates representing all parties, except the Conservatives ( from both the Honiton and Tiverton and the Devon East constituencies) gave their views on the national planning system and in particular the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).
All of them promised reforms, mostly involving prioritising brownfield developments, protecting the countryside and building more affordable homes for local people. Conservative candidates were unable to attend and failed to respond to requests to send a written statement.
The first speaker was ex-judge Ian McKintosh, of East Devon Alliance and Covop. After reviewing the situation nationally and locally, he argued that local communities were being ignored in favour of developers.
Caroline Kolek, Labour candidate for Honiton and Tiverton, claimed that Labour would stop land-banking and prioritise brownfield sites. She shared her slot with Henry Brown, district councillor candidate for St Paul’s ward, Honiton,who made the case for more affordables for local young people.
Paul Edwards of the Green party and candidate for Tiverton and Honiton, said the countryside was our greatest resource and should be protected.
John Kelly, standing in for Andrew Chapman, UKIP parliamentary candidate for Devon East, who was indisposed, argued that the planning crisis was caused by EU regulations.
Stuart Mole, Liberal-Democrat candidate for Devon East, contended that the reforms recommended by the recent Communities and Local Government committtee should be immediately instated, for instance the proposal that all planning permissions be counted towards the 5-year land supply.
Claire Wright, Independent candidate for Devon East, put the blame for the massive increase in inappropriate development squarely on the government’s deregulation of the planning system and on the Local Council’s developer-bias and failure to produce a Local Plan.
Robert Crick, for Vision group of Sidmouth, read a litany of some of the inappropriate developments approved in the district in the past three years together with statistics provided by the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England. These included the prospect of about a thousand houses a year in East Devon until 2031.
A Covop petition, to be presented to the new government, was handed out along with a short guide to the planning system and suggested reforms. The petition is available online at https://you.38degrees.org.uk/p/covop2015
Housing ‘crisis’ based on shaky foundations?
Simon Jenkins believes so. For those who missed it first time round, here’s his evidence…http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/9452952/the-myth-of-the-housing-crisis/
Meet the Candidates (East Devon PPCs, and for Sidmouth Town and District Council), organised by VGS
Click here for details: VGS hustings poster1.pages
Westpoint- Planning application to remove exemption for Speedway/Timed Car Trials. Public Meeting planned 15th April (tbc).
New concerns for Save Clyst St Mary campaigners, outlined in this message today from organiser Gaeron Kayley:
‘ In case you weren’t aware, Westpoint has applied for an exemption to its planning permission to allow timed car trials on its site. Obviously this is a concern as it is likely to be very noisy and could potentially cause additional pollution to the area too..
This is the link to the planning application (15/0139/VAR):
https://planning.eastdevon.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=NIGLWSGHHHM00
As you can see, there is barely any info about what it actually entails at present
Here are the links to the company’s website:
http://www.bhpperformanceshow.com/
and
http://www.bhpperformanceshow.com/gallery
It might also be useful to have a look at their own clip on YouTube:
Although the application is for one day, we fear this will be a sliding slope and that there might be additional requests for more days – hence the reason we have brought it to your attention.
Having spoken to The Parish Council, I can confirm there will be a public meeting in the School Hall on Wednesday 15th April Starting at 19.30 (This date and time is subject to confirmation once the school has re-opened).
On a different note, we understand there have been some recent changes in personnel at East Devon District Council, including a new Head of Planning. However, at present, there is no clarification of this on their website. To save time and ensure that we can have direct contact with the right people, if and when this is required,we would be grateful if any member of our group working for EDDC could contact us to confirm appointments and contact details. This will ensure we can get in contact with the right people and not disturb those unconnected with our interests!’
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Happy East Devon Easter!
Shaping East Devon’s future……Keith Owen’s inspirational legacy (thanks to the Sid Vale Association’s work!) is bringing much more than just spectacular swathes of Spring flowers. It’s hit the national headlines….and the tourism trigger!
And community spirit has been raised to a new high: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/11514052/Millionaires-valley-of-a-million-bulbs-dying-dream-fulfilled.html
Cranbrook to swallow Rockbeare?
Neighbourhood plans to the rescue?
Lympstone residents, Hugo Swire, and Ben Bradshaw, discuss this in the Sunday Politics show:
Going, going, gone!
Auctioneering, and electioneering, feature in the latest posts on http://realzorro1.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/independents-vote-in-change-vote-out.html
Marketing the Jurassic Coast…
….is a complicated business.
Latest aerial views keep us up to date with what’s happening, with EDDC planners’ approval:
http://futuresforumvgs.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/comparing-visions-for-development-of.html
And bodies such as the Environment Agency alert us to some of the problems..Has this one been solved?? : https://sidmouthindependentnews.wordpress.com/2013/07/16/east-devon-beaches-at-seaton-ladram-bay-and-budleigh-salterton-too-polluted-to-swim-at/
Relocation approval rushed through “in indecent haste, at the fag end of an administration” that may soon disappear”
Richard Thurlow’s speech, at the Extra Ordinary Meeting of Full Council last week, explains : https://saveoursidmouth.wordpress.com/2015/03/30/a-huge-number-of-uncertainties-and-unresolved-problems-being-glossed-over-yet-council-has-approved-eddc-office-relocation/
New Monitoring Officer for EDDC?
Will EDDC have three Monitoring Officers in the space of a year? A specially stressful job in an authority which engenders an unusually high number of complaints, perhaps? Or simply a natural process?
Rumour has it that Henry Gordon Lennox is now poised to take over from interim MO, Ian Clarke, shared with South Somerset District Council.
If so, wonder when and where the job would have been advertised? And how many people applied?
East Devon Watch 