Comment by Paul Arnott:

“Dear Owl

Paul Arnott”

Few people will recall Tom Lehrer – mathematician, singer-songwriter and satirist, best known for the pithy, humorous songs that he recorded in the 1950s and 1960s. This is what he had to say about pollution all those years ago:

He is still alive (now 93) and has no worries about people reproducing any of his songs and has no interest in copyright.

These are the lyrics of the above song:

Dear Independents,

We have put our trust in you to be radically different to how local politics has been done for the last 45 years.

You have promised – and we expect: honesty, transparency and accountability.

We expect new, better ways of doing things. We expect residents to be put first – since you have no party politics to drag you, and us, down.

We expect to see a council that is in firm but fair control of its officers as they show them these new ways and insist on them being tried out.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-7-principles-of-public-life
No doubt sonetimes you will fail. If so, be honest, own up to it and fix it.

You can make the transformation we crave.

Make it work – for us as East Devonians and for you as individuals.

Stick with the Nolan principles of public life:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-7-principles-of-public-life

Nothing less.

We know you can do it, now show us we are right to put our trust in you.

Owl

Peter Quincey – who was in charge of operations for Exmouth seafront and the long-stalled St Margaret’s School site in Exeter – has sold his shares and left the company on 29 April 2019. Quincey had previously worked for Devon County Council. He had resigned from another Grenadier company last June:

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/officers/qBoe3oxzmWj2MAtlo_sQ0U7lWtk/appointments

Pauline Stott and John Mark Williamson are still shown as active directors of Queen’s Drive Exmouth Community Interest Company along with Glenn Woodcock of Grenadier, who replaced Peter Quincey on 29 April 2019 and who holds 16 directorships, mostly in Grenadier companies:

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/11017649/officers

though Owl assumes Mrs Stott and Mr Williamson will be replaced by current independent councillors, perhaps as early as tomorrow, as they are no longer councillors.

Owl suspects that – with the seafront still a building site – new Councillors may be inheriting a bit of a mess. And do recall that, as part of their contract, Grenadier must commence their seafront project within 4 days of the Queen’s Drive road completion and sign-off.

EDA Councillor Cathy Gardner elucidates!

Now the dust has settled on voting Owl has had chance to think what a rum lot the new Independents are …

A Tory councillor, who became EDA leader and then left to become an Independent Group councillor … Ben Ingham

A Tory who became an Independent but can’t say why … Ian Thomas

An Independent who was in the last Tory Cabinet and presumably still held in high regard by same Tories … Geoff Pook

An Independent married to a Tory … Kim Bloxham

An EDA councillor who became an Independent Group Councillor …Geoff Jung

Interesting times!

Over the whole of England Lib Dems gained 683 seats and lost only 7 – 43% of lost seats (2 of them) were losses in East Devon to East Devon Alliance – Peter Burrows (Seaton) and Douglas Hull (Axminster).

Tory turned “IndieLight” Ian Thomas remains Leader till then.

However, here is a list of your new councillors:

https://democracy.eastdevon.gov.uk//ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeId=151

Early on, Devonlive was quickest with results but presentation is clunky, Archant came second – too many photographs to scroll through before reaching results, EDDC third – their official result often trailing the other two.

Not to mention EDDC publishing the wrong result in Seaton (but Owl just did!).

However, Archant cleaned up their page a bit (though called JOHN Loudon David at one point); Devonlive needs far too many clicks to get to badly presented results, EDDC … well, it’s EDDC isn’t it! Where else would a district council count still be going on at 5 pm in two locations…

Well done, Archant – not something Owl says a lot …

Ian Hall (Conservative) – 818 ELECTED
Steve Holt (Conservative) – 640
Douglas R Hull (Liberal Democrats) – 560
Sarah Louise Jackson (Independent) – 1,001 ELECTED
Susan Patricia Kerr (Liberal Democrats) – 429

”

https://www.midweekherald.co.uk/news/election/east-devon-election-results-live-1-6029987

the

Thanks to the blog commentator who got back to me. It was, indeed, private.

The confusion arose because the sender did it as a blog comment and not as a direct private email to Owl.

For future reference to all – comments to the blog are assumed to be for publication. If a message is not intended for blog publication, please contact Owl direct on:

eastdevonwatch@gmail.com

stating clearly ‘not for publication’. Your wishes will be respected.

Cars outside polling stations for Woodbury and Lympstone elections:

Today is a BIG day for East Devon.  A handful if votes could mean the difference between “same old” and a new way of doing things – making local decisions with and for local people with NO party political interference!

It’s the day that WE get to decide just how our district will be run for the next four years.

If you want “same old” then vote Tory.  But, remember, something must be drastically wrong if the Conservative Leader at EDDC has resigned from the party!

Tory – pretty much pale, male, stale, no interest in protecting our community hospitals or our local NHS, presiding (even as governors) over local schools begging parents for financial help to survive , concreting over vast swathes of beautiful countryside to provide outrageously expensive houses (often for more retired people), or presiding over developers building expensive ticky-tacky boxes that our young people cannot afford, denying or avoiding tackling the climate change emergency.  If that’s what you feel comfortable with, vote for them.

BUT

If that ISN’T what you want – vote Independent.  Livlier people, MUCH more active in their communities, fighting for us 24/7,  living here 24/7 (because they aren’t trying to be in two places at once), refusing to accept “same old” when it so obviously isn’t working, not being anti-development, but only for development at the right price in the right place and with developers being expected to provide truly affordable housing from their vast profits, acknowledging that climate change is already affecting our coastal and rural communities and needs urgent action.

Independents have been already been representing some local communities for the last 4 years or more, but never as a majority.  They have seen at first hand the dubious decisions, the secret meetings,  the blind adherence to national Tory policies (what few there are these days) that just do not fit with local needs that permeates the ruling party.  They know what needs to be done to correct this and they are prepared to do it, along with new independent colleagues who share the same aims.

To bring in a new way of doing things needs a new way of voting. 

Out with the parties, in with the people whose ONLY driver is doing what’s best for their communities. 

Vote Independent – people before parties.