Ministers must do more to help struggling coastal communities around England with levelling-up policies at risk of failing to turnaround decades of inequality, a new report warns.

[Preview, report to be published Wednesday]

BBC News www.bbc.co.uk

Nearly one in five jobs pay below the living wage, the study says, with household income almost £3,000 lower than in non-coastal areas.

Poorer health, education, transport and broadband links are also highlighted.

The government said it continued to provide support to coastal economies.

The report was commissioned by the Coastal Communities Alliance, the Local Government Association Coastal Special Interest Group and the Coastal Partnerships Network and the BBC has been given exclusive access to it ahead of its publication on Wednesday.

The report – called Communities on the Edge – warns levelling up’s focus on regions means “massive challenges” faced by some smaller, remote parts of the country are “hidden” and likely to be missed by the government.

It points to the East of England, which has the third-highest regional average weekly pay despite parts having some of the lowest earnings in the country.

• Many areas have lower wages due to jobs being seasonal and part-time in the tourism sector, or with small firms.
• A lower proportion of children achieve GCSE qualifications in maths and English, with children more likely to regularly miss school.
• Fewer council houses mean people rely on private rentals where costs are higher, and cars are needed because of poor public transport.
• Coastal areas have higher rates of depression, suicide, alcohol-related hospital admissions and emergency admissions for lung conditions.
• Limited gigabit broadband and 4G provision causes a “digital divide”.

It described the issues facing such areas as having been “years, if not decades” in the making.

Challenges ‘entrenched’

Commenting on its findings, Sally-Ann Hart MP, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Coastal Communities, said: “The additional challenges faced by people living on the coast are so entrenched that help is needed from central government to stop them falling further behind.

“Our beautiful coastline is an incredible national asset. But it urgently needs sustainable long-term investment to make the most of the opportunities for growth – particularly in green jobs which can support the government’s climate goals.”

Wages are ‘pretty grim’

Six miles from Lands End and home to the last onshore lighthouse in Britain, Pendeen in Cornwall is a community surrounded by stunning scenery. But like many coastal villages, that charm masks inequalities.

Jennifer Dines recently moved to the area and is able to take advantage of hybrid working, which means her commuting costs are lower than for some other residents.

“I’m one of the lucky ones who can work from home some days,” she says.

“No-one local can afford to buy a local place. Prices aren’t reflected in wages at all.

“It’s pretty grim how much people earn here, trying to buy places that are ridiculous amounts of money.”

What can be done?

The report calls for the government to target deprived areas by changing its levelling-up criteria and funding formulas. It also recommends helping projects financially over their full lifespan rather than for a short, defined period.

The right support, it argues, “would boost growth and see coastal areas contribute far more to the wider UK economy”.

Among the key opportunities it identifies are the move to hybrid and home working which it says gives younger people the chance to remain in their local areas rather than move away to find work.

And with coastal areas already involved in industries such as offshore wind, it argues the transition to green energy could provide hundreds of thousands of highly-skilled, well-paid jobs.

Additionally, it says developing ways to extend traditional tourist seasons beyond summer months would enable areas to benefit from the current growth in UK trips and visitors.

‘We’ve been forgotten’

Once a thriving place, Newbiggin in Northumberland was heavily affected as industries such as fishing and mining wound down.

Retired teacher Sheila Harrison said she despaired at a lack of investment and opportunities for young people.

“Over time, the fishing industry shrunk, mines closed and railways closed,” she said.

“Consequently, the place just deteriorated.

“Governments haven’t really invested in the area in the last 20 or 30 years. There are few jobs now and only very low-paid ones in service industries or retail.

“Newbiggin is a bit of a forgotten area, but it’s got so much to offer. It has a beautiful south-facing bay and lots of potential, but needs money from the government.”

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said coastal communities “play a key role in levelling up and we continue to support them to improve their economies”.

“Since 2012 we have invested over £229m through the Coastal Communities Fund to run 359 projects throughout the UK’s rural and coastal communities helping to create jobs and boost businesses.”

It added Levelling Up funding of £2.1bn announced earlier this month – to be shared across more than 100 places nationally – would help “to create better-paid jobs and spread opportunity right across the country”.

Environmental campaigners have unveiled mock blue plaques to ‘honour’ the MPs and the Government who voted against tougher laws on dumping raw sewage in our oceans. Members of ESCAPE (End Sewage Convoys And Pollution Exmouth), Transition Exmouth, Plastic Free Exmouth, Tidelines, Women Swimmin’ and TEDS swimming group joined together as part of a national day of action with Extinction Rebellion across the UK.

Olivier Vergnault www.devonlive.com

They were joined in Cornwall by members of Extinction Rebellion, Surfers Against Sewage, local medical professionals to highlight issues of decreasing water quality around the UK from sewage discharges into the sea and rivers due to storm overflows. The gatherings were part of a national day of action, with those involved saying more needed to be done to prevent pollution incidents. There were similar protests in Teignmouth too.

In October 2021, the vast majority of Conservative MPs, including Simon Jupp, MP for Exmouth, voted against an amendment to the Environment Act 2021 that would have placed a legal duty on water companies not to pump waste into rivers.

Local councillor Joe Whibley who took part in the day of action, said: “This is an awful situation for our environment, not to mention the fact that it could devastate our growing watersports-related tourism ventures. We’re horrified every time a BBC crew turns up to report on the state of the waters.

“South West Water have so far offered nothing quick and nothing concrete. Together with the Environment Agency, we need our representatives to create tougher standards for what is, and more importantly what isn’t, acceptable.”

Mary Culhane of Women Swimmin’ added: “As year-round swimmers we’re taking risks entering the water – the situation is so bad that last year Exmouth was ranked as the second worst Blue Flag beach for sewage spills in Devon, with the beach closed to swimmers in September. Profiteering water companies rake in multi-million-pound profits and hand huge bonuses to their CEOs whilst we are left to swim in raw sewage.”

South West Water (SWW) said it had been working hard to reduce such incidents. It added that, in the last bathing season, it had “reduced spills by 50% on the previous year, with the duration of those spills down by 75%”.

However according to figures gathered by campaign group Surfers Against Sewage, the utility company’s Maer Lane works spilled sewage at Exmouth beach 62 times for a total of 857 hours during 2020, increasing to 74 times for 1,128 hours during 2021.

Environmental groups said the situation is made worse by the fact that the company also treats huge amounts of sewage from other parts of Devon which only adds to the problem. The campaigners Over 26 million litres were trucked in during 2020 from 16 locations throughout East Devon in 3,008 HGV movements. That’s enough to fill more than 10 Olympic-sized swimming pools with human faeces. Since 2021, data from South West Water shows that 80 tankers a month bring sludge into the town.

ESCAPE has been working locally with Surfers Against Sewage and Exmouth Town Council to raise awareness after examining data. An ESCAPE spokesperson said: “A revolving door of Environment Secretaries and a government in disarray has led to little action being taken to hold water companies to account, especially the poorest performers like South West Water.

“Instead, we just get empty threats from government and lethargy from industry regulators. To my mind what we’re seeing can only be described as complete abandonment of responsibility for pollution on the part of water companies and the Environment Agency.”

Anne-Marie Culhane from Tidelines added: “Storm sewage overflows can contain anything that goes down the drains – from human waste to household chemicals, pharmaceuticals and plastics. As well as potentially harming human health, frequent sewage discharges can seriously damage river and ocean ecosystems, for example by creating algal blooms.

“Chemicals in the water can harm fish, shellfish and other species and reduce oxygen levels in the water which impacts aquatic insects and other species throughout the whole ecosystem and food chain. This is a critical issue. All of us should be bending over backwards to keep our rivers and oceans clear and healthy. What is the Exe/Isca ‘river of fish’ without life?”

South West Water said it had been “working hard to reduce the impact of storm overflows”.

Simon Jupp, MP for East Devon, said: “I recently met with some of the campaigners who were involved in this protest and we’ve started working together to hold South West Water to account. I would never vote to pollute our water, despite some politically motivated claims suggesting otherwise.

“I’m from Devon, I live near the sea in Sidmouth, and I love where we live. If campaigners truly want to hold South West Water’s feet to the fire over their failures, I’d encourage them to put down their placards and work with me. I will continue to work with local groups and councils to get South West Water to clean up their act.”

[Simon Jupp’s and the government’s record on “light touch” regulation including abandoning the principle of a legal target for river health, and postponing a deadline for agricultural run-off reduction by three years (from 2037 to 2040), announced in December, can be found here. What goes in our rivers ends in the sea. – Owl]

The crispy lettuce wins again! – Owl 

Rishi Sunak has sacked Nadhim Zahawi as chair of the Conservative party after an investigation found he was guilty of a “serious breach” of ethics rules.

Hugo Gye, Paul Gallagher inews.co.uk 

Sir Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister’s independent adviser on ministerial interests, concluded that the minister had repeatedly failed to be open and honest about his tax affairs.

Mr Zahawi was first probed over his taxes by HMRC in April 2021, Sir Laurie revealed – more than a year earlier than was previously known.

But the minister did not tell civil servants about his discussions with the authorities at the time, and publicly denied being under investigation.

After he became Boris Johnson’s final Chancellor in July last year and HMRC stepped up its investigation, Mr Zahawi did inform civil servants about the probe.

But he did not tell Whitehall officials, Liz Truss or Mr Sunak that he had agreed to pay a £1m penalty to settle the dispute over his taxes, meaning that neither of the incoming prime ministers knew the full details at the time they reappointed him to their Cabinet.

In his four-page report into Mr Zahawi, Sir Laurie concluded that the minister had not declared his financial interests properly and had made inaccurate public statements on the issue.

He told Mr Sunak: “Mr Zahawi’s conduct as a minister has fallen below the high standards that, as Prime Minister, you rightly expect from those who serve in your Government.”

On Sunday morning the Prime Minister wrote to Mr Zahawi saying: “It is clear that there has been a serious breach of the ministerial code. As a result, I have informed you of my decision to remove you from your position in His Majesty’s Government.”

He praised him for his ministerial work, in particular overseeing the Covid-19 vaccines rollout, and added: “It is also with pride that I, and previous Prime Ministers, have been able to draw upon the services of a Kurdish-born Iraqi refugee at the highest levels of the UK Government. That is something which people up and down this country have rightly valued.”

In his response, Mr Zahawi did not apologise for his conduct but pledged to continue supporting the Prime Minister from the back benches. He took a swipe at the press, complaining about one news outlet’s headline which said “the noose tightens” in reference to his chances of professional survival.

Seven breaches of the ministerial code

April 2021: HMRC commences its investigation of Mr Zahawi’s tax affairs, which includes a meeting with him and his tax advisers in June 2021. Mr Zahawi, who was a business minister at the time, told Sir Laurie Magnus, the prime minister’s ethics adviser, he was under the impression he was “merely being asked certain queries”. Sir Laurie says he should have understood it was a “serious matter”, informed his permanent secretary, and disclosed it in his ministerial declaration of interests.

September 2021: Mr Zahawi was promoted to education secretary by Boris Johnson. He did not declare the ongoing HMRC investigation into his tax affairs, “despite the ministerial declaration of interests form including specific prompts on tax affairs and HMRC investigations and disputes,” Sir Laurie says.

5 July 2022: After he was appointed chancellor, Mr Zahawi completed another declaration of interests form, which again “contained no reference to the HMRC investigation”. Only after receiving a formal letter from HMRC on 22 July did he fill in a “later form” acknowledging that he was “in discussion” with HMRC, in an attachment.

10 July 2022: After a number of press reports about his tax affairs, Mr Zahawi said publicly: “There have been news stories over the last few days which are inaccurate, unfair and are clearly smears.” He did not correct the record until earlier this month. Sir Laurie says the delay in correcting an “untrue public statement” is a breach of the ministerial code.

August 2022: Mr Zahawi reached an in-principle agreement with HMRC, while he was still chancellor, including a penalty. He finally settled the following month. Sir Laurie found that this fact “requires declaration and discussion” and is ”a relevant interest which could give rise to a conflict”, particularly for a treasury minister.

September 2022: Liz Truss appointed Mr Zahawi to the role of chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Again, he failed to declare the HMRC investigation or the penalty he had agreed to pay.

October 2022: Mr Zahawi was handed the job of chair of the Conservative party by Rishi Sunak. Yet again, he did not make a declaration about his tax affairs nor declare the fact he had received a penalty for tax avoidance.

Mr Zahawi, who has been MP for Stratford-upon-Avon since 2010, had said that HMRC concluded there had been a “careless and not deliberate” error in the way the founders’ shares, which he had allocated to his father, had been treated.

He had also insisted he was “confident” he had “acted properly throughout”.

Labour accused Mr Sunak of being too slow to act. The fact that Mr Zahawi had paid millions to HMRC was first reported a fortnight ago, and it emerged a few days later that the £5m payment included a payment for an error which the minister said was “careless and not deliberate”.

The Liberal Democrats said that given the seriousness of the breach, Mr Zahawi should “do the right thing and resign as an MP”. The party’s deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “He is unfit to serve in Cabinet and unfit to serve the people of Stratford-on-Avon.”

But Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove rejected the call. Speaking to Times Radio, Mr Gove said: “I don’t think Nadhim should resign as an MP, absolutely not.”

A correspondent writes:

Having read your very useful summary of the Humphreys investigation, I have a number of questions regarding the officer or officers of EDDC who participated in the LADO meetings.  It is impossible to say whether one person attended all meetings or different officers attended different meetings.

My questions are as follows:

1.  How was the initial contact made with EDDC about the LADO meetings and who was it with?  Did that officer delegate someone to attend the meeting(s) or attend themselves?

2.  Once the officer(s) who attended these meetings knew of the allegations, what was their duty at EDDC, given that there were safeguarding issues and legal issues involved?  

3.  If they were senior officers, to whom did they report the information from these meetings? What action (or inaction) was subsequently decided upon?

4.  Was the Monitoring Officer at the times of the LADO meetings made aware of the meetings?  If not, why not?  If so, who did the Monitoring Officer inform?

“Monitoring Officer:

It is the role of the Monitoring Officer to report on matters they believe to be illegal or amount to maladministration, to be responsible for matters relating to the conduct of councillors and officers and, to be responsible for the operation of the council’s constitution. They are often, but not always, the head of legal services in a local authority.”

5.  Section 1.2 of the EDDC constitution (Standards for Officers)  states:

You must report to the appropriate manager any wrong doing or legal, or ethical, breaches of procedure. Alternatively, you can use the procedure outlined in the Whistleblowing Policy.

Did anyone do this and to whom?

6.  The report states that JH allegedly blackmailed an adult member of the gay community.  If the identity of this person was known, was that person connected in any way to EDDC?

So many questions, no answers.

Rishi Sunak and his demons; Inquiries into Partygate, Nadhim Zahawi, Dominic Raab and the BBC chairman… how does the prime minister sleep at night?

The independent review into the response of Devon County Council’s LADO Service regarding the case of John Humphreys

(LADO – local authority designated officer for the safeguarding of children)

Link to review 

Synopsis 

The independent reviewer looked into the record of three meetings held by DCC, following an initial referral by the NSPCC in 2014 and follow up meetings in 2016. The paper review was followed up by discussions with LADO services and workers acting then and now, supplemented by contemporary information regarding John Humphreys (JH) historical involvement with schools.

The overall conclusion reached by the reviewer is that no missed opportunities to safeguard children during the period covered by the review were identified. 

Comment

This might come as a surprise to many. JH had held positions of influence and authority in the community, including time as a primary school governor, as a local councillor (including being appointed to the position of mayor) and as a provider of work experience for young people through his landscape gardening business. 

Critique

In Owl’s opinion this conclusion cannot be said to be robust because the independent reviewer himself lists a series of inexcusable failures in the document trail and records of meetings. The review does make a number of criticisms.

The impression one is left with is a complete lack of accountability especially within DCC. At no time did anyone seem to think it necessary to act, there was never “sufficient evidence”. There was even confusion in the record of who actually chaired meetings

The last meeting reviewed took place at a significant moment in April 2016 as the police were on the point of arresting JH. The DCC legal representative at the meeting expressed concern about the potential for JH to have contact with children if he continued in his role as a local councillor after being arrested. This legal representative appears to have been the only individual at any of the meetings to have “raised a red flag” throughout the referral process. What we don’t know are the terms, if any, that were set on granting JH police bail.

Despite this, no decision seems to have been taken other than to have a follow up meeting when further progress had been made with the police investigation. 

There was no follow up meeting. 

JH continued in his role of councillor until May 2019, and was made an Honorary Alderman in December 2019. He stood trial, was convicted for historic rape of minors and sentenced to 21 years in August 2021.

Hiding behind the veil

East Devon have issued the following statement:

“East Devon District Council never officially knew that John Humphreys had been charged by Devon and Cornwall Police until this news was made public.

“The EDDC officer who had attended the LADO meetings mentioned in the DCC report was in attendance under the strictest condition of maintaining confidentiality.”

Hiding behind a veil of secrecy in this case to justify taking no action must be challenged. It is an extreme interpretation of what maintaining confidentiality is intended to mean. Why attend meetings of such a sensitive nature if no action could be taken as a result?

The independent reviewer records that the meetings lacked clarity and purpose but did not raise confidentiality as a bar to this. To claim that East Devon never officially knew that JH had been charged until the news was made public seems at odds with the record. EDDC attendance was recorded in both the DCC referral meetings and this fact has not been redacted in the review DCC has placed in the public domain, where many other redactions have been made.

What answer does EDDC give to the DCC legal representative who expressed concern about the potential for JH to have contact with children if he continued in his role as a local councillor after being arrested? Sorry chum we weren’t really there?

When conflict in duties occurs, individual must make a judgement call. In this case, it seems obvious to Owl that the duty to safeguard must take precedence over any perceived duty of confidentiality. Discreet use of this information could, and should, have been  used without any damage to JH’s reputation, especially after his formal arrest in 2016.

In making him an Honorary Alderman in 2019 EDDC has been brought into disrepute.

Conclusion

The review, possibly constrained by its terms of reference, lacks depth and leaves many unanswered questions.

Evidence substantiating this critique

First Meeting: referral from NSPCC

This followed the NSPCC referral and was held on 14 April. Surprisingly, DCC appeared, at this time, to have no single individual in charge of safeguarding. 

Quoting from the review (with emphasis added): In April 2014 a referral was received from the NSPCC. At the time this referral was received Devon did not have a dedicated officer in the role of LADO. The role was managed on a rota basis by several officers alongside their substantive roles  

Not only that, but this extraordinarily inaccurate description of JH was recorded:

“The referral identifies JH as ‘the Mayor […], a Conservative MP, a member of the Devon District Council’, and says he ‘is believed to be governor of [a] Primary School.’” 

We also learn that:

“The original NSPCC referral is not in the records provided.” 

Information from this referral is recorded (second hand) in the minutes of this first meeting.

The decision taken at this meeting was to take no further action. The information in the NSPCC referral concerned historic abuse of children who were then adults; and the police confirmed that they were taking no further action. 

Quoting from the review: There is no detail in the record of the allegations made by  ##  to the police, or of any discussion about how the police had evaluated these to reach the conclusion that no action was to be taken. Similarly, there is no record of discussion about the information in the NSPCC referral about JH potentially being in regular contact with children. 

 Second Meeting. “Initial Strategy”

 An “Initial Strategy Meeting”, was held two years later, in March 2016, attended, inter alia, by an EDDC officer. This initial strategy meeting was chaired by a ‘Senior Manager’ (the attendance list does not say from which agency, although the same person has signed the foot of minutes identifying themselves as the LADO).

Quoting from the review: Under the ‘Purpose of the Meeting’ section, the minutes recorded that ‘[JH] was under Police investigation for alleged historic sexual offences against 3 young males; rape, sexual activity with a child (male victims around 13-15yrs old), and blackmailing an adult in the gay community. The offences span was 1980’s and 1990’s. [JH] had not been arrested at this time.’ 

The main action from the meeting was that the police would continue their investigation, with a specific point about the police checking if JH was involved in any local charities. 

Third Meeting: Strategy reconvened

This meeting reconvened a month later, in April. At this third meeting, again attended by an EDDC officer, the minutes describe plans for the police to arrest JH soon. 

It was agreed that there would be a follow up meeting ‘when there is further progress with the police investigation’. 

Reading between the lines of the text as published it seems reasonable to conclude that the EDDC attendee has had his or her name redacted, in the review. Why?

Quoting from the review with emphasis added: Again, there is no record of any discussion about whether ##### JH #### were aware of the allegations, or whether ##### should have been informed of these, despite the presence of ##### a representative from the council JH was a member of. [The symbol # is used here to indicate redaction but the reader cannot infer from this the length of the redaction.] 

THE FOLLOW UP MEETING NEVER HAPPENED! 

Formal Recommendations from the review:

• The service should make sure that there is clarity about the role of the LADO service both within Devon County Council and with partners so that the service has oversight only of those cases which meet the remit set out in guidance
• The service should make sure discussions are recorded sufficiently thoroughly so that the rationale behind decisions, including decisions about holding meetings and who should attend these, is clear
• The service should make sure that the discussion of allegations is fully transparent to those against whom these have been made, in line with the need to keep children safe
• The service should track work effectively to make sure this is brought to a clear conclusion and not allowed to drift or be lost

Unanswered Questions 

Questions prompted by Devon County Council John Humphreys report.

Complied with the help of a correspondent

1.Why did LADO not compile a list of all organisations who had provided work experience students to John Humphreys?

2.Did the reviewer not have access to a single person who attended the meetings in 2014 and 2016, and did he not request any such meetings?

3.There is an apparent contradiction between the reviewer pointing out it was not appropriate for the strategy meetings taking place without JH or +1 being aware of the allegations and pointing out that there is no record to clarify whether or not they were aware. Of course JH was aware from 2004 if not 1991.

4.Why does the period of review only commence from 2004? The abuse case from 1990/91 involved retraction of allegations while the victim was in a secure unit. Against an unnamed man but where the victim knew his home address and work van and where the victim had the abuser’s phone number.

5.An attentive professional would pick up that both the police in the case and the staff at the secure unit had either failed to act on this information or failed to create a safe environment where the victim felt secure enough to offer it. Presumably the secure unit was a DCC or other authority social services facility.

6.Was the reviewer not informed of this?

7.Was the reviewer provided with any DCC social services records dating from 1991, when the accusation was made by a minor, or did he request them?

NB this victim was picked up aged 12 for the first offence outside a public convenience well known to the police as a cottaging venue and which faces the entrance of the former social services offices in Exmouth Town Hall. When did this building cease to operate as a social services office?

8.In the light of this victim being an opportunistic pick up, by a manipulative serial offender, why does the report focus so deliberately on access to children through work experience? To such an offender any minor contact opportunity boosts familiarisation for future exploitation.

9.Was the reviewer provided with any social services records from 2004-7, or did he request them?

10.Was the reviewer presented with any social service records from the case of the 3rd alleged child victim, date of offences and complaint(s), dates unknown, or did he request them?

11.Was the reviewer given a reason for this alleged victim not coming to court, or did he request one?

12.Was the reviewer given, or did he request, access to records from the DCC boarding facility to which Humphreys might have access to students, either on or off site, from 1992 onwards? This boarding facility closed down in 2018, on cost grounds, midway through the investigation.

13.Did DCC place boarding students at this school?

14.Did DCC place vulnerable boarding students at this school?

15.When DCC visited schools in 2022 to apparently build a picture for the reviewer, why was this school not visited?

16.When DCC visited schools in 2022 why did they not visit the other schools in Humphreys’ ward, Exmouth Littleham? As a newly elected parent governor in either 2009 or 2010 I was introduced to him as a ward councillor at Beacon School summer fayre. He told me he was looking for someone to pass on his business to. What a bizarre thing to say, but one which bears the hallmark of the contact process outlined in court regarding his 1999 onwards work experience victim.

This was in the grounds of Holy Trinity church so he would not have had to sign in, but he would have had to do so on other occasions, when he entered the school.

17.When DCC visited schools in 2022 why did they not ask for a check of signing in records? 

Views are invited from next month to help shape the future of a new public meadow of 25 acres set in East Devon.

Becca Gliddon eastdevonnews.co.uk

East Devon District Council (EDDC) is launching a six-week public consultation, from 10am on February 6, until 4pm on March 20, inviting comments on its proposal for land earmarked for the Clyst Valley Regional Park.

The draft proposals for the public meadow, near Broadclyst,  includes ideas for habitat creation, a multi-use trail, network of circular paths and a small car park.

A drop-in session has been arranged the Broadclyst Victory Hall, East Devon, on Thursday, February 16, from 3pm until 7pm, to see the proposals, ask questions and see a short, recorded, presentation.

The presentation will be repeated at 4pm, 6pm and once the consultation starts, will be available online for those unable to attend the venue.

The area is close to Cranbrook and is intended for walking, relaxing and nature spotting in East Devon.

It was bought by the council  for an undisclosed amount in 2022 and is expected to be ready to use this year.

EDDC urged people to make their views known – saying proposals had already been changed in response to residents’ suggestions.

Cllr Geoff Jung, EDDC portfolio holder for coast, country and environment, said: “We are thrilled to be able to progress plans for this new area of green space for local people to enjoy.

“It’s really important to us to listen to views and to accommodate these as much as possible.

“We had some really helpful informal consultation with local residents last autumn and we’ve altered our proposals as a result.”

An EDC spokeswoman said: “Local people are being invited to share their views on 25 acres of land, acquired by East Devon District Council for a new nature-rich, accessible green space.

“The new green space is an important milestone in the creation of the Clyst Valley Regional Park.”

The area covered by the proposed Clyst Valley Regional Park. Image: EDDC

A landowner who successfully overturned the right to wild camp on Dartmoor may have to return to court after the national park announced it was seeking permission to appeal against the decision.

Helena Horton www.theguardian.com 

Alexander Darwall, who bought 1,620 hectares (4,000 acres) of the national park in 2013, took the park authority to the high court, arguing that the right to wild camp without a landowner’s permission never existed. Earlier this month, a judge ruled in his favour, ending the decades-long assumption that the activity was allowed.

However, lawyers acting for the park argue the judgment could be flawed because it hinges on a narrow definition of open-air recreation, where only activities such as walking, horse riding and picnicking are permitted. They also argue that it fails to take into account the historic understanding of the law, which thousands of people including the park authority took to mean a right to camp and leave no trace.

Kevin Bishop, the chief executive of the Dartmoor National Park Authority, announced the decision on Friday: “The high court judgment raises important issues of public interest that are central to the purpose of our national parks. For this reason, the authority has determined to seek permission to appeal against the judgment.

“Our national parks are largely owned by private individuals, and we respect their rights. However, our national parks were designated by parliament for their national importance. They have twin purposes: to protect and conserve, and to provide opportunities for all parts of society to responsibly enjoy them.”

Lewis Winks, from the Stars Are for Everyone campaign, said: “We welcome this decision and applaud the national park for standing firm against an attempt to rob the public of the historic right to camp on Dartmoor. This decision reflects the spirit in which national parks were founded – for public benefit, and with public hope.

“The Dartmoor case has significantly catalysed public appetite for wider and more inclusive access rights, as we begin to see the real possibility of an emboldened right to roam in England. Today we celebrate a step toward a time when we have access to more of the countryside, including the right to sleep under the stars in our national parks.”

The judgment caused widespread outrage, with more than 3,000 protesters travelling to Darwall’s land last Saturday, and cross-party MPs speaking out against the decision in parliament.

The Labour MP Luke Pollard, who represents Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport, near Dartmoor, said the park authority’s decision would have the support of thousands of people across south-west England.

“The right to wild camp under the stars on Dartmoor is part of our ancient inheritance on Dartmoor,” he said. “If the courts can’t protect this right then parliament will need to reaffirm it and lock into law. Labour will extend the right to roam after the next election but the Conservatives could do it today if they wanted to. Let’s keep the pressure on.”

The shadow environment secretary, Jim McMahon, revealed in an interview with the Guardian this week that Labour would extend the right to roam if in government, and that if any appeal against the ruling failed it would enshrine the right to wild camp on Dartmoor in law.

McMahon had met national park executives and right to roam campaigners and urged them to appeal against the decision, saying: “I urge Dartmoor to appeal the wild camping judgment, but where on earth is the government on this? Ultimately, if an appeal isn’t successful, it isn’t right that this right can be taken away by one landowner. So it’s parliament’s job to make sure it is enshrined in law.”

Darwall has argued that wild camping is not under threat because he has entered a permissive agreement with the national park under which he will allow camping on part of his Blachford estate and be paid an annual fee. Unlike under the previous understanding of the law, this permission can be revoked by the landowner at any time.

He and his wife, Diana, said it was “very regrettable that [the case] has caused unnecessary worry”, adding: “We are now in a much better place to cooperate and work with the DNPA in a positive way for the best outcome for everyone.”

Airline Flybe has cancelled all flights to and from the UK after going into administration.

www.bbc.co.uk 

A statement on the airline’s website said it had “ceased trading” and told any passengers expecting to travel with it not to go to the airport.

It added that it would not be able to help passengers arrange alternative flights.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said it would provide advice and information to those affected.

This marks the second time the airline has gone into administration in recent years.

In March 2020, it announced it would cease trading, citing the coronavirus pandemic as a contributory factor.

The company was rescued after being bought by Thyme Opco, a firm linked to US hedge fund Cyrus Capital and subsequently renamed Flybe Limited.

The airline resumed operations in April of 2022 with a plan to operate up to 530 flights per week across 23 routes.

Until the most recent collapse, it operated services from Belfast City, Birmingham, and Heathrow to airports across the UK as well as to Amsterdam and Geneva.

A statement published on the Flybe website early on Saturday said the High Court had appointed joint administrators for Flybe Limited.

“Flybe has now ceased trading and all flights from and to the UK operated by Flybe have been cancelled and will not be rescheduled,” it read.

“If you are due to fly with Flybe today [Saturday] or in the future, please do not travel to the airport unless you have arranged an alternative flight with another airline.”

It added that anyone who had booked a flight with the airline via an intermediary should contact that intermediary directly.

CAA consumer director Paul Smith said: “It is always sad to see an airline enter administration and we know that Flybe’s decision to stop trading will be distressing for all of its employees and customers.

“For the latest advice, Flybe customers should visit the Civil Aviation Authority’s website or our Twitter feed for more information.”

The Labour party will pass a right to roam act if it comes to power, the Guardian can reveal, after widespread outcry when wild camping was outlawed on Dartmoor.

Helena Horton www.theguardian.com 

In the bill, which is currently being drawn up by the party amid widespread but careful optimism that the next general election will see Labour return to office, there could be a new law that would allow national parks to adopt the right to wild camp, as well as expanding public access to woodlands and waterways.

Jim McMahon, the shadow environment secretary, said the court decision earlier this month to overturn the long-held right in the national park – the only place in England and Wales the ability still existed – shows that there needs to be a rethink of land access.

While the right to roam has been narrowly defined as the right to walk from A to B, he said this was missing the point and not in the spirit of those who first proposed the idea.

He said: “What I am interested in is the right to experience, the right to enjoy and the right to explore,” meaning that people should be allowed to fully enjoy an area, including taking part in activities such as swimming, camping, climbing and birdwatching rather than simply walking.

Visiting Hay Tor in the national park, McMahon said: “It’s not just about the right to pass through and explore. I think we do need to go beyond that, to look at the enjoyment aspect of it as well, which really hits at the heart of the Dartmoor case. The current right to roam gives people the right to pass through, but what about actually experiencing it, and to enjoy it? Our policy needs to give people more rights to do that.”

As ponies trotted by on the moor, he said a Labour government would create more national parks and open more of the countryside for people to explore.

“There are still huge parts of England and Wales that are off limits when it comes to the right to access, whether that’s woodlands, cliffs, rivers, where the rights that we are afforded in open countryside aren’t then mirrored in those places. That needs to change.”

Only 4% of waterways give people an automatic right to canoe or swim, and McMahon plans to significantly expand this in government. He said: “This is a scandal. A Labour government would clean up the UK’s waterways for all to enjoy – if people don’t have a stake in their environment they won’t fight to protect it.”

Alexander Darwall, a hedge fund manager and Dartmoor’s sixth-largest landowner, took the national park to the high court last month, arguing that the right to wild camp had never existed. The judge this month ruled that the right to roam means just that – the right to walk or horse ride on the common, not to camp.

Darwall, the owner of the 1,619-hectare (4,000-acre) Blachford estate on southern Dartmoor, offers pheasant shoots, deerstalking and holiday rentals on his land.

The court case has reinvigorated the right to roam movement, with 3,000 people last weekend travelling to protest on his land.

It’s a hot topic in parliament, too, with Luke Pollard, the Labour MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, calling for a new law enshrining the right to wild camp on Dartmoor.

Caroline Lucas, the Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, has her right to roam bill returning to parliament this spring, and Richard Foord, the Liberal Democrat MP for Tiverton and Honiton, has tabled a bill that would protect the public’s access to national parks.

Foord said: “Wealthy landowners should not seek to move in and overturn the ways in which our national parks have been used.

“If people choose to buy land in a national park, they must accept all the responsibilities that come with it. They should not be seeking to prevent respectful wild camping, or worse still, expecting taxpayer-funded organisations like the Dartmoor National Park Authority to pay the landowners for continued access.”

The park is in talks and deciding whether to risk appealing against the decision to overturn wild camping, which could mean spending vast sums on Darwall’s legal costs if they lose. It has to submit its decision by a week tomorrow.

McMahon called on the park to appeal against the ruling, and said the case showed the right to roam law needed to be clarified and strengthened.

He said: “Part of the reason we’re coming here, of course, is because of wild camping, but the case also poses an existential threat to what we’ve taken for granted, really, which is the access rights that we all enjoy, which were enshrined by the last Labour government in 2000. I think they’re under a fundamental threat if this is allowed to go unchecked. So then, the law needs to be basically clarified and strengthened.”

McMahon said a Labour government would enshrine the right to wild camp on Dartmoor in law if there was no successful appeal. He said: “Ultimately if an appeal isn’t successful, it isn’t right that this right can be taken away by one landowner. So it’s parliament’s job to make sure it is enshrined in law.”

Campaigners have asked the park authority to appeal. Lewis Winks, from the campaign The Stars Are for Everyone, said: “Dartmoor was the only place in England where the right to wild camping existed. We don’t want this to become a quirky historical anomaly, we want to see the same rights afforded to people in other national parks, so what happens today is of crucial importance to the newly reinvigorated right to roam movement. We need Dartmoor national park to step up and be courageous.”

In a statement, the Right to Roam campaign said: “We welcome the Labour party’s commitment to legislating for an expanded right to roam as part of their programme for government and look forward to engaging with them on the details.

“Last week’s historic protest on Dartmoor, attended by 3,500 people – following on from a year of mass trespasses organised by the Right to Roam campaign – demonstrates the huge public appetite for increasing access to nature.

“We call on MPs of all parties to publicly support a right to roam act to defend and extend the rights of all people to access nature.”

Mid Devon’s development company faces £1.6 million loss.

[After the 2019 election, the council was run by a Liberal Democrat-Independent-Green coalition. However, the Council Leader, ‘Independent’ Bob Deed, removed the three Lib Dem’s from the Cabinet in 2020, replacing them with Tories and in March 2021 removed the only Green from the Cabinet, ensuring a Tory Majority in Cabinet, and effectively creating a Tory Minority Administration. – Wikipedia]

Beware the “Blue rinse” “Indy” – Owl

Lewis Clarke www.devonlive.com 

A Mid Devon councillor has said going to the casino and betting on roulette would be a better way of making money than relying on the council’s own development company. It follows a meeting of Mid Devon District Council to discuss the business plan for Three Rivers Development Ltd (3RDL).

3RDL is a company wholly owned by Mid Devon District Council. And during the debate, Andrew Jarrett, Mid Devon’s deputy chief executive and Section 151 officer, said the company was looking at an estimated £1.6 million loss on its controversial development at St George’s Court behind Tiverton Town Hall.

He explained: “That includes all costs and projected income; sales, values and interest charges from lending from the council to 3RDL. That potential loss has been included in the financial update reports considered by the cabinet for many months, and most members will be aware of it.”

One councillor though questioned the point of the company. They said that there would be a better chance of making money from going to a casino.

Cllr Jim Cairney (Boniface, Liberal Democrat) said: “If you have a business that doesn’t make money, it folds. If you keep putting money into that business when it isn’t making money, it will fold at some point. Why are we not saying to the people running this business, ‘why are you not doing better?’. If my restaurant doesn’t make a profit, I go under, and I’m finished. I wonder why 3RLD is different.

“I understand it’s a long-term project, but surely we’d be better going to the casino, getting a bag of money and putting it on black and then we’ve got a 50-50 chance of making some money.”

Mr Jarrett took questions from councillors. Councillor Frank Letch (Lawrence, Liberal Democrat) said: “We’ve been going through a series of cutting £10,000 here and £20,000 there to try and make a balanced budget. These are diddly sums in a sense.

“What I want to know is, where in hell, if any money is going to be lent in the near future to 3RDL, where is this coming from? We are so strapped for cash we have to make changes to our budgets, increase fees to leisure centres, swimming and parking. I won’t mention the figure discussed, as it is big, but where will it come from? I am worried, as I don’t want it coming from my council tax.”

Mr Jarrett responded: “We’re talking about a treasury investment decision, not an expenditure decision. You will see in all the budgetary payments in the last months; the money will be coming from temporary treasury holdings the council holds because, from time to time, we are keeping business rate receipts and council tax receipts, and we have earmarked reserves. What the council decided in 2017 when it set up the property development company is that it could make a greater return if it lent that money to a third party, a property development company, which could significantly help the council’s bottom line thereafter.”

Cllr Ben Holdman (Castle, Liberal Democrat) asked: “At what point does the risk become unacceptable to the council?”

Mr Jarrett responded: “After receiving professional advice from me or others, that is down to the council to decide whether that risk is acceptable. It is not down to me to decide; I am just here to advise the pros and cons. I explain the associated risk and consequences of investment or not in the company in Part II of your reports pack.”

Cllr Luke Taylor (Bradninch, Liberal Democrat) asked: “How are the impairments written off, and does this mean there is a loss on our investment?”

Mr Jarrett responded: “You can assume from all of the financial transactions that we are making a return of about 13 per cent on all of the investments made in the company. However, one needs to consider potential, and it is estimated that the company has a projected loss of £1.6million and that is an estimate, which is less than the £2.2million that has already been made by the council for the operation of 3RDL, so there is a profit position at the moment.

“Is that what we estimated from day one of the inception of the company? No, it isn’t. It is less than what we’d anticipated, but it is very much skewed by one project that has been unsuccessful when set against the previous three and one entrained at the moment in Bampton, all delivering estimated profits. While one development has not been a success, you could argue the rest have.”

The district council gears up to hire a consultancy firm to pinpoint where improvements can be made

“Councillor Paul Arnott, EDDC leader, said: “We have received so many ideas and suggestions from residents, the local community and councillors on all levels on how we can improve Exmouth, shaping future developments and giving key sites a good facelift.”

Becca Gliddon eastdevonnews.co.uk

East Devon District Council (EDDC) said it was in the process of hiring a consultancy firm to identify areas in Exmouth where improvements can be made.

The consultancy firm will create a ‘placemaking plan’ – where residents highlight their priorities to improve where they live, and a council strategy is created setting out how the wish-list can happen.

The projects will be shaped by the views and ideas put forward as part of an eight-week consultation, held in the summer of 2022 by The Placemaking in Exmouth Town and Seafront Group – led by EDDC.

The district council said approved projects would ‘hopefully’ begin by summer 2024.

It said the ‘exciting new plans’ would  ‘regenerate and improve key sites across Exmouth town centre and its seafront’.

Councillor Paul Arnott, EDDC leader, said: “We have received so many ideas and suggestions from residents, the local community and councillors on all levels on how we can improve Exmouth, shaping future developments and giving key sites a good facelift.

“There were a number of key themes and characteristics that were highlighted as part of the consultation and I cannot wait to see the draft plans which will be based on everyone’s suggestions – making the area more attractive, welcoming and user-friendly with improved signage to the town centre and seafront.”

EDDC said the selected consultancy firm would take around a year looking at more than 1,400 responses from the Exmouth community – comments received through an online questionnaire, public workshops, and face-to-face street interviews.

An EDDC spokesperson said: “Once appointed, the consultancy firm will spend an estimated 12 months looking at the many options suggested, developing plans based on last year’s consultation results.

“Feedback will be welcomed on both a draft and final plan that will be published by the council, before decisions are made by EDDC. It is hoped physical delivery of projects can begin within 18 months.”

They added: “EDDC’s placemaking plans will be complemented by two separate levelling-up projects for Exmouth, which have secured 15.7million in funding through Devon County Council.

“This included funding for the Destination Exmouth project which will see improvements to the Dinan Way link road, helping to tackle congestion and remove traffic from the town centre.

“This will also help with EDDC’s plans to give the entrance of the town, for those visiting by road, rail or cycle, a much-needed facelift – making the area more attractive, welcoming and user-friendly, improving public transport.”

Exhortation from the Chair of Cons

Recorded crime in Devon and Cornwall has shot up by more than 10 per cent in the past year, with sexual offences double that and thefts and shoplifting by 50 per cent.

No selfie from Alison Hernandez? – Owl 

www.radioexe.co.uk

But the police service says a rise was to be expected, after a dip during the height of the pandemic.

Hello, hello, hello (image courtesy: Devon and Cornwall police and crime commissioner)

And they claim the region remains one of the safest places in England and Wales, given that across those two countries the average rise in crime was higher at 12.3 per cent, 1.3 percentage points lowe than Wiltshire, which ranks as first place for the lowest total number of crimes in the 12 months to the end of September 2022.

When compared to pre-covid crime levels in 2019, Devon and Cornwall has seen an increase of just 1.4 per cent.

Deputy chief constable Jim Colwell said: “These figures are a good indicator of where we need to make improvements to tackle crime across Devon and Cornwall.

“There has been a 19.2 per cent rise in reported sexual offences compared to the same time the previous year. Tackling violence against women and girls remains a priority for the Force, and we are continuing to encourage victims to report crimes. We are committed to preventing these offences, ensuring that victims are fully supported and that crimes are thoroughly investigated.

“We continue to work on making improvements in bringing sex offenders to justice, including our work with the national Operation Bluestone Soteria team to review our response to rape and sexual offences. This work will ensure that we provide the highest possible level of service and standards of investigation when tackling violence and sexual offences against women and girls.”

Victim-based crime in Devon and Cornwall has risen by 11.8 per cent. Theft from the person and shoplifting saw the biggest increase and have risen by 49.1 per cent and 28.8 per cent, respectively.

This increase in theft may potentially be due to the cost-of-living increase and the financial difficulties people are currently experiencing.

Mr Colwell continued: “We acknowledge how distressing it is to be a victim of burglary or theft, and we will continue to develop our response in tackling these crimes.

“Despite increases, as a force we have some of the lowest crime rate of in these offence types. Whilst theft from the person has a 46.9 per cent increase, this number translates to 592 crimes within that 12-month period.

“Theft from the person has a crime rate of 0.3 per 1,000 population, and whilst we have seen an increase compared to previous statistics, our national position has dropped to being the fourth lowest in England and Wales.

“Whilst these figures are one measure of performance, public confidence in policing from our communities is equally important and we appreciate their support as we continue our work to tackle crime that affects our communities in order to keep them safe.”

Police and crime commissioner for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Alison Hernandez, said: “I am pleased to represent the people of Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly with a police force area which has consistently achieved one of the lowest recorded crime rates in the country. This has been delivered through our largely law-abiding residents and visitors alongside many years of close collaboration between policing, partners and the communities we serve.

“However, these figures tell me and new Chief Constable Will Kerr, that there is much work still to be done, particularly in relation to the worrying rise in violent crime. We must continue our efforts to prevent violence and continue our work on focusing on young people to build this out of our community for the longer term.

“A more connected and accessible police force will ultimately deliver safer communities for us all and that is what we are focused on delivering. We have reopened six police stations to the public this financial year and plans for 2023-24 will see six more police station front desks reopened across Devon and Cornwall.

“Combine this community presence with our many hundreds of new police recruits and we are presented with a once in a generation opportunity to prevent crime at a neighbourhood level and create a policing model that will be the envy of the country.”

Dredging is likely to increase around the English coast, while pollution and sewage are piling pressure on coastal ecosystems, and an increasing number of people are at risk of coastal flooding, the Environment Agency has warned.

Fiona Harvey www.theguardian.com 

Three-quarters of shellfish waters around England failed to meet “aspirational” standards for environmental protection in 2021, the report by the agency’s chief scientist’s group found.

Dredging and pollution have come under increasing scrutiny, after a mysterious big die-off of crabs and lobsters was recorded around Teesside on the north-east coast in the autumn of 2021. A report published last week found that dredging was unlikely to be the cause of the die-offs, suggesting an unidentified new pathogen could have been to blame, but the findings have been criticised by some scientists.

The EA report paints a bleak picture of England’s coastal regions, with fewer than a fifth of the UK’s estuaries judged to be at good ecological status. Only 45% of the marine areas assessed met the standard in 2021, according to the report, published on Thursday.

More than nine in 10 of the estuaries sampled had nitrogen levels that were too high in 2019, as did nearly half of coastal waters. Nitrogen pollution comes from agricultural runoff and sewage, and can cause harmful algae blooms that kill off marine life and smother seagrass and saltmarsh.

The report found that there had been “widespread damage to coastal defences, properties and infrastructure” during storms, with about 100,000 people at risk of significant coastal flooding.

Sand dunes were being lost to erosion, and wetlands were drying out under the influence of the climate crisis, the report found. About 85% of England’s salt marshes, a major carbon store, have been lost since the 1800s, along with about half of seagrass meadows and 95% of the native oyster population.

Added to this, many people in coastal regions are enduring economic hardship. Alan Lovell, chair of the Environment Agency, told the Coastal Futures conference on Thursday morning that coastal towns were among the most deprived in the UK.

“We need to work together with coastal communities to identify the best possible way to keep them safe and prosperous,” he said. “We need a concerted effort to better protect coastal communities and economies while enhancing the marine environment.”

More than a third of the UK’s population live within 3km (1.9 miles) of the coastline, Lovell noted. He said there had been some progress in combatting the multiple threats to the coastal environment, including an initiative to restore 15% of coastal and estuarine habitats that are judged to be priority areas by 2043, but that much more needed to be done.

About 1,200 hectares (2,965 acres) of salt marsh and mudflats have been created since 2005, the report found, and there has been progress on overfishing, with about half of stocks fished at sustainable levels in 2019 compared with about a tenth in 1990.

Charles Clover, executive director and co-founder of the Blue Marine Foundation, said that was still far from good enough. “The ocean faces numerous threats, and this report highlights that one of the largest is simply removing far too many fish from the sea – collapsing stocks and preventing recovery. The report also stresses the important role that the seabed can have in storing carbon, yet in the UK trawling is allowed in most of our so called protected areas.”

Rebecca Newsom, head of politics at Greenpeace UK, called for urgent action and stricter regulation. “Our seas are facing a perfect storm of rising temperatures, sewage discharges, plastic and chemical pollution and destructive industrial fishing. This is an existential threat to both marine life and the communities that depend on healthy seas for their survival,” she said.

“What we need are legally binding targets to cut single use plastic in half by 2025, a full and immediate ban on destructive fishing in all marine protected areas, and stricter penalties for water companies responsible for the sewage scandal,” she added. “The time for rearranging deckchairs is over – we need a joined-up, ambitious and properly funded plan from this government and we need it now.”

The chief executive of HM Revenue and Customs has told the public accounts committee that there are “no penalties for innocent errors” in an individual’s tax affairs.

https://committees.parliament.uk/event/17044/formal-meeting-oral-evidence-session/

www.theguardian.com 

Jim Harra has told MPs that officials would help “in any way we possibly can” with the inquiry by the prime minister’s ethics adviser into Nadhim Zahawi’s tax affairs.

Harra said that he could not comment on an individual’s tax affairs, but signalled that HMRC could offer a more public comment on a minister’s tax affairs under certain circumstances.

Being careful to point out that he was not discussing anyone in particular, Harra also said: “Carelessness is a concept in tax law. It can be relevant to how many back years that we can assess, can be relevant to whether someone is liable to a penalty and if so, what penalty they will be liable to for an error in their tax affairs.

“There are no penalties for innocent errors in your tax affairs. So if you take reasonable care, but nevertheless make a mistake, whilst you will be liable for the tax and for interest if it’s paid late, you would not be liable for a penalty.

“But if your error was as a result of carelessness, then legislation says that a penalty could apply in those circumstances.”

He pointed out, to laughter from MPs, that “innocent” was not the term used in legislation.

“If you have been careless in your tax affairs, and as a result of that carelessness have made a mistake, then you could be liable to penalty.”

Unemployed Exeter residents could find work in Cullompton if the town’s railway station is rebuilt, a local MP has claimed.

Ollie Heptinstall, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk

Liberal Democrat Richard Foord, whose Tiverton & Honiton constituency includes Cullompton, made the case for restoring the station during a debate in parliament on Tuesday [24 January].

Cullompton station closed in 1964, part of the now-infamous Beeching axe that slashed the rail network in Britain. However, work is now underway on bringing the station back to its former site by the M5 almost 60 years later.

The government awarded £5 million of business funding towards restoring Cullompton and Wellington stations in 2021. Following further work from local councils, the lead role for the project was handed over to Network Rail last year.

It is hoped the first passengers could board trains at Cullompton again in May 2025.

Nearby Okehampton station was the first beneficiary of the the government’s ‘restoring your railway fund’ – reopening in 2021 to great success. Mr Foord hopes Cullompton “will see the same railway renaissance as Okehampton has in the past couple of years.”

Outlining how there are “some parallels” between the two towns, he said: “Okehampton and Cullompton are both within commuting distance of Exeter and both have slightly more than 10,000 people currently living in and around each town.”

Mr Foord added: “It is a town with a tight labour market and currently has vacancies across a range of sectors, including retail, manufacturing and social care. In Cullompton, fewer than two in 100 people are unemployed, in contrast to the neighbouring city of Exeter, where unemployment is greater than three per cent.

“There are thousands of people in Exeter who are registered unemployed and looking for work who would be able to find jobs in Cullompton were they able to commute there.”

Cullompton is likely to see significant growth in the coming years, with plans afoot for a Culm Garden Village which Mr Foord says will expand the town “by more than 5,000 houses and perhaps an additional 12,000 residents.”

Stressing the importance of a new station, he explained: “We already have an air quality management area designation in the town of Cullompton; having a station in the heart of the town should serve to reduce traffic on the congested B3181.”

Railways minister Huw Merriman (Conservative) was then invited to visit the old Cullompton station site “to see how little work would be required to restore the station to its former glory and to transform a very friendly part of Devon into an environmentally friendly one.”

Mr Merriman responded by saying the Wellington and Cullompton project is “progressing to a full business case, and a decision will be made once that has been finalised.”

After many Cranbrook residents endured nearly a week of no heating while temperatures plummeted below zero last month, further misery and anger is being caused following claims that communal district heating provider E.ON has ‘ridiculously’ hiked up energy bills. One resident has reported that her heating bill for November/ December is £693.

Anita Merritt www.devonlive.com

Another claimed their latest bill has risen ‘ridiculously’ from £60 to £625 in a month. Noticeable differences have also been reported by those with meters.

A resident says a new meter was fitted in their property around six months ago and they used around 650 units in just under six months. During the time when some Cranbrook residents were experiencing problems with their heating and hot water supplies, the resident claims their meter ‘shot up to 1700 ish.’

E.ON has insisted that there are no known issues with meters and that bills will have increased this time of year. However, East Devon MP Simon Jupp says that after hearing residents’ latest concerns, he is striving to get more information from the energy provider.

Cranbrook is part of a ‘district heating scheme’, meaning they are all heated by an energy centre, rather than a boiler, located half a mile away which can only be run by one supplier, which is currently E.on. All 2,000 homes are signed up to E.on under an agreement which is in place until 2090.

Mr Jupp said: “At a time when customers on E.ON’s heating network in Cranbrook and Tithebarn were facing outages with shambolic regularity and were sat in freezing cold homes, many people still saw their bills continue to go up. I am very concerned to hear reports from residents that they’ve been charged for heat and water they obviously weren’t able to use a lot of the time.

“I urgently raised this with E.ON who insist higher bills are because customers were using more heat and hot water during the colder weather. I have gone back to E.ON’s bosses with specific examples of unusually high billing so I can get clear answers for affected residents, who are quite simply fed up, and who can blame them?”

A closed meeting is said to be taking place between E.ON and its customers on January 25. Details have not been disclosed to DevonLive by E.On about why it has been called and the aim of the meeting.

Instead, an E.ON spokesperson said: “The details of the meeting have been shared with our customers. This is not an open event and all of our customers have been invited directly.”

Regarding the latest concerns raised over the hike in bill payments, the E.ON spokesperson said: “With the colder weather and darker evenings we have experienced over recent weeks, it is reasonable to expect that most customers will have been using more energy than in previous months to keep their homes warm and well-lit. Any customer who has a query regarding their bill should contact us directly to discuss this.

“We know these are incredibly difficult times and we continue to urge any customer who is struggling to get in touch as there are ways we can help.”

Last month, Mr Jupp intervened on behalf of Cranbrook residents when they were struggling without heating before Christmas. He expressed his concern at ‘E.ON’s ‘lack of pace’ to resolve the issue and slammed their response as “woefully inadequate”.

At the time, engineers believed the problems predominantly stemmed from an issue with valves situated within the heat interface inside some homes. Once supplies had been restored, E.ON said they would then assess what future actions need to be taken to prevent a repeat of this issue from reoccurring.

Last week, DevonLive reported the town had woken up to no hot water on January 16, after its communal heating supply was cut off. E.ON has said that the brief issue was an “isolated incident” caused by a fire alarm which cut off the energy centre.

It is likely that district and communal heat networks won’t be regulated by Ofgem until at least 2024, it has been announced recently. Householders who face issues of intermittent supply of their heating and hot water will remain at the mercy of their provider to find a solution, with no option to seek redress from a regulator.

Then there is the cost of providing “glossy brochures” in support of each submission in the “beauty contest” for funding under the various levelling up schemes, most of which fail. – Owl

Aubrey Allegretti www.theguardian.com 

Cash-strapped councils are estimated to have spent £12.5m compiling bids to launch low tax and regulation-lite “investment zones” that were binned by the government just weeks later, new figures suggest.

Labour, which compiled analysis about the waste suffered by local authorities, hit out at the “cost of Tory chaos” given the scheme was effectively ditched by the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, when he took over after Liz Truss’s short-lived premiership.

Initially billed as a major part of Truss’s growth agenda, the investment zones announcement saw a rush of interest – with 626 submitted from 90 councils across England.

But while many areas jumped at the chance to be granted slimmed down planning rules and have other regulations eased, as well as tax breaks to encourage investment, putting together the documents came at a cost.

Councils had to spend an average of £20,000 to £30,000 in each bid for central government funding, and sometimes lost staff hours while work was done preparing the submissions, according to the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives.

Taking the most conservative end of that estimate, the total cost to councils was calculated to have been £12.5m.

Using the same equation, Labour also said the 418 bids rejected last week out of 529 received for the second round of distribution from the levelling up fund amounted to a loss to councils of £8.4m.

The nature of the system that sees local authorities forced to bid for central government funding was criticised by Lisa Nandy, Labour’s shadow levelling up secretary.

She claimed struggling councils had been “forced to waste millions of pounds during a cost of living crisis on applications that now lie in a bin in Whitehall”.

Nandy said: “Many councils were rightly sceptical about investment zones but felt they had to engage with what seemed to be the only game in town. A huge amount of time and money has been wasted because of the Conservatives bouncing from one half-baked idea to the next with no serious plan for growth.”

She vowed that Labour would end the “Hunger Games-style approach to levelling up, which forces communities to go cap-in-hand to Whitehall”, and said the party had “set out a proper long-term strategy to grow the economy, create good jobs and shift power of out Westminster”.

The levelling up department was contacted for comment.

Previously, the Guardian revealed that all expressions of interest from councils in becoming investment zones were not being pursued by the government.

A drastically slimmed down and refocused version of the scheme is still being discussed between the levelling up department, Treasury and No 10 that will probably see the zones focussing on boosting research and development hubs at universities.

Sources have indicated Sunak wants to use the move as a sop to Truss and her allies to fend off criticism about a lack of commitment to her vision of growth.

The levelling up secretary, Michael Gove, will probably express his commitment to a reincarnation of the scheme in a speech to the Convention of the North on Wednesday, but an announcement about the future of the project is still thought to be some way off.

Paul Arnott www.midweekherald.co.uk

Throughout the two main years of the Covid-19 crisis, 2020 and 2021, our officers at East Devon (EDDC) gladly took on the extra burden of assessing and then distributing government funds to local businesses, as well as delivering extra help to individuals really struggling to cope.

One of the central boasts of 45 years of Conservative rule at EDDC until 2019 was the artificial suppression of council tax rises. This went hand in hand with not bothering to review car park charges, maintain assets such as the Exmouth Pavilion theatre, or do anything about our public loos.It also led to a “pared-to-the-bone” approach to Human Resources.

Yet despite this, in the middle of the pandemic, our officers were obliged to take part in “Levelling-Up” bids to government for “oven-ready” projects, with just weeks to get the paperwork in. Yet this was always a classic, all mouth no trousers, Boris Johnson approach to the serious matter of funding regional infrastructure. Nevertheless, our terrific officers burned the midnight oil to submit bids.

Devon County Council (DCC) is the highways authority and so (using much work by EDDC) submitted a bid for new works in the approach to Exmouth around the station. We were pleased with this, as it had the potential to fit in with out own Placemaking work in Exmouth of the last two years, soon to bear the essential fruit of well-consulted concepts, so that progress can be made with as much local support as possible.

DCC also included completing the Dinan Way road extension in the north of Exmouth, a piece of transport infrastructure first promised half a century ago as the exponential growth of housing in that area really took off. Ordinarily the funds for this might have come from the Highways Agency, but DCC saw an opportunity, won the signature of local MP Simon Jupp, and got the thumbs up last week at last. The Democratic Alliance administration will continue to work together with all parties to improve Exmouth.

However, the other scheme submitted – for works in Axminster and Seaton – lost its key signatory in the very week it was handed in. Neil Parish, the former MP, left office at a crucial time, having personally promised me (the day before he resigned) that he’d do all he could to get these projects approved too.

His replacement, Richard Foord MP (Lib Dem), moved like greased lightning the minute he was voted in to sign off in support himself. He also – quite rightly – backed the Cullompton relief road, a seriously overdue and desperately needed scheme in Mid-Devon.

Last week, it was announced that Axminster, Cullompton and Seaton were all unsuccessful. I offer no further comment.

However, to the people of Axminster and Seaton I would wish to assure them that we’ll be resubmitting bids at the next possible opportunity – there is meant to be a Round Three of Levelling Up. And we will read the feedback from government with genuine respect and in a spirit of seriousness.

On another front I’d like to thank the many friends and colleagues who went across to Dartmoor at the weekend to protest about the loss of the ability to wild camp. This seems to me about the difference between landowners who are genuine stewards of the land which they have the good fortune to own, and those who do not understand such obligations.

All of my four children took part in DofE or Ten Tors expeditions, as did most of their friends. The officers of the Dartmoor National Park authority will, I am sure, strive to negotiate with the landowners for maximum public access.

The protesters behaved immaculately. Now, following their example, it would be a good gesture for the Totnes Conservative Association to return the £5,000 donated to them by the landowner.