Both voted again to go along with Mrs May’s plan.
Category Archives: Misc
Shell CEO’s pay more than doubles to £17.2m – 143 times greater than average pay of oil company’s UK workforce
And they add to pollution!
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/mar/14/shell-ceo-ben-van-beurden-pay-doubles-oil
What is an Owl?
Thanks to a reader for this:
Persimmon
Just a reminder …
Just because YOU can’t see OWL doesn’t mean OWL can’t see YOU
“Persimmon Homes slammed over new homes plan and accused of being unreliable”
Coming soon to a HUGE development near you, Axminster!
“Calls for a £1m performance bond to be placed against housing developers Persimmon Homes were made by councillors who said ‘we cannot rely on them to deliver what they promise’.
Cllr Phil Bullivant launched a stinging criticism of the company when their plans for 99 new homes on green space at Ogwell Mill Road, Newton Abbot, were being discussed by Teignbridge District Council’s planning committee.
He outlined his concerns with the planning application that they have submitted, but added that he had an issue with the developer because of the fact they have created so much trouble at the Hele Park development they have been building.
Cllr Bullivant said: “At Hele Park they have just ignored the conditions that we put down and they still haven’t put in the green space and allotments, seven years down the line. There are still unadopted roads in the estate and they have ignored the advice of a planning inspector.
“We cannot rely on this developer to deliver what they say they will and any performance that we give to them has to come with a caveat that they will deliver what they say they will deliver.”
He said that the faults of Persimmon Homes led to the council being ordered by the Local Government Ombudsman to apologise to a member of the public and pay him £300 in recognition of the frustration and inconvenience he has experienced because the council had failed to deal with a breach of planning control at the Hele Park site.
Larkspur Drive, between Thistle Close and Mile End Road, was being used as an access road, contrary to the planning permission granted to Persimmon Homes.
At the Hele Park development of 650 new homes off Ashburton Road, to the west of Newton Abbot, councillors had previously been told of a ‘catalogue of errors’ from Persimmon Homes, with pavements not linked, no allotments coming forward, the road not being adopted, a close being called a close when it is a through road, roundabouts in use that shouldn’t be, and a lack of bus services.
Cllr Bullivant added: “There should be a £1m performance bond attached to them that means if they don’t deliver what they say they will in a reasonable time then we can do it for them.”
But Nick Hill, the council’s planning solicitor, said that even though the committee may have a concern about a developer, their previous reputation isn’t a material consideration that can be considered during the planning process, they have to look at the application, not the applicant, and the council does have enforcement mechanism they can use.
The committee though raised a litany of other issues that they had with the development, which is included in the Local Plan for at least 70 homes.
Cllr John Nutley said: “I have concerns over the amount of houses being built and the design of them, as it is atrocious. This will be a complete blot on the landscape.”
Cllr Richard Keeling said that the design looked very similar to the ‘horrible box houses’ being built at the Penns Mount estate in Kingsteignton, Cllr Mary Colclough said the designs were abysmal, while Cllr Alistair Dewhirst said: “The designs look like children’s drawings.”
Cllr Bullivant added: “I called this in to the committee as I considered this was overdevelopment, and when I look at the detail, this is overdevelopment so much so they cannot even design space for bins to be stored.”
A whole range of problems were raised by Cllr Jackie Hook, who said that some of the houses that were being built were so small that housing associations won’t take them on as ‘they cannot even fit a bed in a bedroom’. She said that the committee couldn’t approve this and should either refuse it or defer it for more discussions to take place.
But Cllr Mike Hocking said that the application was much improved from the initial one that they proposed. He said that the originally proposed 109 homes had been reduced down to 99, the location of the houses had been moved further down the hill, and that the access to the site was now going to be from Emblett Drive and not from Ogwell Mill Road, next to Bradley Barton Primary School, and originally proposed.
He said: “I think 99 homes is too many so something closer to 70 would be more realistic, but then we start to lose some of the affordable homes. We have done a good job in persuading them to tone down the development, but this will be built on at some point.
“If we turn this down then Persimmon will go to appeal and we may well lose all the benefits that officers have worked hard to try and get.”
Planning officers had recommended that full planning permission for the development be granted, but Cllr Hook said that as there were still a lot of outstanding matters and that councillors were unhappy about parts of it of the plans, a decision should be deferred so further discussions between the council and the developers to address the concerns could take place.
Councillors voted by 11 votes to 1 to defer the application until April’s meeting for further discussions.”
https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/persimmon-homes-slammed-over-new-2565871
“Pet Shop Boys lampoon Donald Trump and Michael Gove on new song”
British synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys have returned with a new song that makes fun of Michael Gove and Donald Trump.
Entitled Give Stupidity a Chance, the upbeat track is deeply ironic, calling for a world devoted to self-centredness and unencumbered by political correctness.
One lyric sung by Neil Tennant runs: “Intelligent people have had their say / It’s time for the foolish to show the way … We’ve had quite enough of experts and their dealings / Why face the facts when you can just feel the feelings?” This is a riff on Gove’s infamous statement ahead of the Brexit vote that “people in this country have had enough of experts”.
Yep, Swire still has his Maldives gig
Swire makes Private Eye – again
Christmas catch-up
Owl didn’t want to spoil Christmas but here are a few of the stories that would have done so over the ‘festive’ season:
Hedge funds win even if retailers fail:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/number-people-spending-christmas-day-13772221
France to overtake UK as world’s sixth largest economy:
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/france-to-overtake-uk-as-world-s-sixth-biggest-economy-post-brexit-a4025411.html
UK is institutionally ageist:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/dec/26/uk-is-completely-and-institutionally-ageist
Scrap the parliamentary lobby:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/26/scrap-parliamentary-lobby-westminster-journalists
Richest 1% will have two-thirds of the world’s wealth by 2030:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/apr/07/global-inequality-tipping-point-2030
Minister tells councils to put CLOSED libraries in failing high streets:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/tory-minister-slammed-telling-councils-13777880
Universal credit is damaging mental health:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8069484/universal-credit-making-brits-ill-mental-health/
Tory MP wants legal aid reintroduced now he needs it:
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2018/dec/27/its-completely-wrong-falsely-accused-tory-mp-attacks-legal-aid-cuts
90 people die each DAY waiting for social care:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/shocking-nhs-figures-reveal-90-13791144
NHS cuts halt 70,000 operations:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/tory-nhs-cuts-staff-beds-13795124
Councils ripped-off by private landlords:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jan/01/councils-ripped-off-by-private-landlords-experts-warn
and
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/homeless-accommodation-now-costs-1billion-13802618
15-year old talks more sense about the environment than top politicians
What’s our Local Enterprise Partnership up to these days?
You tell Owl. Here is their latest Newsletter:
https://mailchi.mp/heartofswlep/june-newsletter-8h8kvgd0ac-1566865?e=fa5cdb1f18
What do YOU take from it? Owl takes …. nothing at all! LOTS of words, Lots of CAPITAL LETTERS, lots of lists … saying … not very much.
Two degrees of separation: Paul Manafort and Hugo Swire
Manafort is heavily implicated in the Trump Russia scandal and facing jail:
“To recap some of the crucial plot points in the Paul Manafort story, based on my own reporting and lawsuits filed against him:
1. He owed millions of dollars to Oleg Deripaska, who invested in a fund that Manafort created for buying up assets in Russia and Ukraine.
2. Manafort was so deep in debt to Deripaska that he avoided him when the oligarch came asking for his cash in 2010.
3. When Manafort went to work for the Trump campaign, he suggested giving Deripaska “private briefings,” with the hopes of the Russian forgiving his debts. (All this is obliquely explained in emails obtained by The Atlantic last year.)”
Deripaska is closely linked to Sir Greg Barker – Chairman of Deripaska’s UK company EN+:
“This spring, a British lord with deep ties to the governing Conservative Party and a reputation as a do-gooder environmentalist arrived in Washington on an unlikely mission: to save the business empire of Oleg Deripaska, one of Russia’s most infamous oligarchs.
Mr. Deripaska was in deep trouble. In April, the Trump administration had announced sanctions on oligarchs close to President Vladimir V. Putin, and on their companies, as punishment for Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and for other hostile acts. A billionaire who controls the world’s second-largest aluminum company, Mr. Deripaska faced possible ruin.
Portrayed as little more than a thug by his critics and suspected by United States officials of having ties to Russian organized crime, Mr. Deripaska, 50, has spent two decades trying to buy respect in the West. London welcomed him; Washington still mostly has not. Successive administrations have limited his ability to travel to the United States.
Even Mr. Putin was unable to resolve the situation when he interceded personally with Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama on Mr. Deripaska’s behalf.”
Sir Greg Barker has 50/50 stake in a company with Hugo Swire (Eaglesham Investments:
https://companycheck.co.uk/company/10520733/EAGLESHAM-INVESTMENTS-LIMITED/companies-house-data
The company (currently dormant) describes itself as “investing in “emerging economies”:
https://eastdevonwatch.org/2018/05/30/swire-and-his-investment-in-emerging-economies/
Brazil, China, India and Russia are currently considered the top 4 emerging economies:
https://www.thebalance.com/top-emerging-market-economies-1979085
“School Cuts: New £4.5bn Pensions Bombshell”
“Austerity-hit schools could be facing an eye-watering £4.8bn cuts bombshell if the government doesn’t fund a planned pension contributions hike.
Headteachers will be left with no choice but to slash spending on “the absolute basics” if Chancellor Philip Hammond does not plug the four-year shortfall at next year’s spending review, Labour has said.
The new figures, from the House of Commons Library, will pile pressure on ministers to act in the wake of a mass protest at Westminster by headteachers in September.
The Department for Education (DfE), however, said that the changes make teachers’ pension schemes “sustainable in the long-term”. …
In 2016, ministers admitted the pensions shortfall would amount to a sizeable £2bn, but that figure was revised up at the November budget and there is only enough cash set aside to cover costs for 2019/20.
It comes after respected think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found that per-pupil funding had fallen by 8% since 2010.
Labour MP Stephanie Peacock, who is a former teacher, said the government should match the commitment it gave to the NHS, which has seen its extra pensions contributions fully covered.
Strange goings on at Greendale Business Park ? Like Brexit – will we ever get the full story!
Councillor Geoff Jung Independent Councillor for Raleigh Ward and member of the Development Management Committee made the following statement at Tuesdays 4th of December meeting prior to 2 planning applications which were about to be discussed.
“Having taken legal advice, I feel I need to declare that I have a personal interest in the 2 planning applications regarding Hogsbrook Farm which are in the ownership of FWS Carter and Sons that we are about to debate.
There are two declarations and I must stress are totally unrelated.
Firstly, I need to declare that I am member of the Woodbury Salterton Residents Association because the Association have sent a response to these applications.
Secondly, I need to declare that I have been sent a letter from the applicant FWS Carter and Sons` Solicitor informing me that as:
… “I entered onto their property without the licence or consent of their client and took a number of photographs”.
They kindly sent me copies of the photographs which they claim is the evidence of my trespass.
The letter further informs me that unless I sign a written undertaking, court proceedings may prove necessary and they may seek significant legal costs to me personally.
I have totally denied this allegation and East Devon District Council officers have stated that the photographs were not from myself.
I have no knowledge of who took the photographs or who sent them to the Planning Team at East Devon District Council.”
However, I come to this meeting to discuss the applications with a totally open mind.”
Once the debate started a representative from FWS Carter and Sons who was the registered speaker was asked a question by Councillor Jung about a landfill site, which was the subject of the photographs, but the Chair told the meeting that it was not relevant.
Councillor Jung explained that the landfill site formed part of the planning application, but the Chair insisted, and Councillor Jung then said he had no other questions.
The two planning applications in question were for two Agricultural Buildings at Hogsbrook Farm near to Greendale Business Park at Woodbury Salterton 17/2430/MFUL and 18/0920/FUL which is proposed to be built on a raised landfill site.
These two planning applications had been originally approved at the October meeting at East Devon, but the Applicant had requested that they should be re-considered without a Legal Clause called a non-alienation clause, preventing the sale or letting to another party and requiring the buildings to remain in agricultural use.
This clause had been suggested at the previous meeting because of the applicant’s previous history of building agricultural units and then changing them to industrial, claiming the agricultural units were redundant, and then building more agricultural units.
The two planning applications were approved after a short debate with Councillor Jung abstaining from the vote.
After the meeting Councillor Jung said he was unable to provide further comment.
What is Trespass? A search on the internet:
“Unlawful physical entry to land or buildings can result in an injunction by the civil courts to prevent further trespass or damages. In terms of photographers or those filming video footage, taking photographs or footage from property where the person in question has the right to be is not considered trespassing.”
“Farmland is privately owned, and although you are free to walk through farmers’ fields without being a trespasser, farmers reserve the right to remove anyone from their land who they believe to be disruptive or otherwise a threat to their land or crops.”
Councillor Geoff Jung in his statement states he did not trespass and it seems that East Devon District Council have confirmed that the photographs did not come from him.
What the photographs show and who took the photographs remains a mystery but it’s clear the owners of Greendale are not very happy!
A good political example of an oxymoron
Oxymoron – definition:
“a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction”
A good example:
“Conservatives launch campaign to help low-paid women”
A Tory MP explains “whipping”
East Devon housing numbers – and do they matter anyway given that developers rule OK?
Owl says: does it REALLY matter just how many houses East Devon NEEDS when developers take no notice whatsoever and just build what they want where it is most profitable – knowing that the council will just be penalised by being told to … build more houses … anywhere? Time to stop this fantasy numbers game?
“East Devon Housing numbers, the debate continues!
The debate regarding the number of homes required to be built in East Devon and the enormous gap between the district low earnings but high house prices will be discussed shortly at a meeting at East Devon District Council
Following a meeting in October held by the Devon branch of the CPRE, (the Campaign for the protection of Rural England,) when they published a document:
“Devon Housing Needs Evidence”
This document questioned the excessive amount of house building within the county which is driven by the Government desire to build over 300,000 Houses per year.
Following the meeting of the CPRE a motion was put forward by the Independent group of councillors at last month’s Full Council meeting which expressed their deep reservations at the government`s requirements for future excessive housing delivery within East Devon.
It was agreed that Councillors will be debate the issue at theirStrategic Development Committee on Tuesday 27th Nov at the Knowle Sidmouth at 10am.
The committee will be considering the Independents groups proposal for setting up a “Member workshop” and an independent study to consider the specific housing needs of all groups within the community and how these needs make up the overall housing need for the area.
They are also being asked to approve a draft for a proposedresponse to the Government consultation on housing needssuggesting a revised approach to determine housing numbers.
The latest East Devon requirement for homes to be built in 2018, using the Government`s current methodology, is 698 “household projections” with a “workplace affordability ratio” of 9.84 and an “affordability uplift” of 37% to show an estimated housing needed of 953.
The uplifts are added to the base figure known as a “Workplace Affordability” to cover the districts aspirations of future workplace/commercial provisions, plus a percentage increase of 37% known as the “affordability gap” Whilst in some UK locations the employment or commercial growth is expected to diminish East Devon economy is expected to grow.
The affordability percentage figure is used to inflate house building projections where there is a substantial gap between the areas average earnings and the house prices in the locality. The ratio in East Devon between average house prices and isover 9 times against the local average household income. The theory behind this government thinking is the more houses built in areas of high unaffordability, will result in a reduction in house prices and therefore reduce the affordable gap, thus helping the younger generations now unable to purchase their first homes.
The report to Council says there is no apparent statistical or financial assessment behind these uplifting percentages toindicate any impact they may have on house prices. They appear be numbers that have no clear or articulated logic behind them.
The report also explains that Government own calculations on the national “need assessment numbers” fell from 269,000 in 2017 homes per year to 213,000 in 2018 but this outcome is clearly at odds with the Government`s stated requirement ofmore than 300,000 homes per year by the mid-2020s!
The report also proposes a response to the Government regarding these uplift figures.
“We express concerns around the robustness and more importantly the justification that underlies the affordability uplift calculation that also features in the standard methodology. We would accept that there is a need to uplift numbers to address affordable housing needs but the basis for the current uplift calculator is unclear.”
“We would reiterate that the critical issue in any needs assessment is that any housing needs figure generated is done so through a process of logical assessment and evaluation and can be justified by robust evidence.”
The report to Council full recommendations are:
1. Members to note the motion on future housing provision inEast Devon from the Council meeting of 24th October 2018.
2. That an independent study be commissioned to consider the specific housing needs of all groups within the community and how these needs make up the overall housing need for the area.
a. That the committee recommend to Council that a budget of up to £30,000 be set aside to meet the costs of the study.
b. That a Member workshop be set up in the new year toconsider the housing needs study and the overall housing need.
2. Approve the proposed responses to the Governmentconsultation on a proposed revised approach to determining housing numbers.
Remembrance
No posts today – a day for reflection.
Posts resume tomorrow.
Seaton beach searchlight housing sells at auction for £72,500
9 bidders pushed the price up quickly:
