A Wiltshire Council gritting yard is being used as a make-shift morgue after its local hospital hit capacity. Bodies are being stored at High Post Salt Store near Salisbury in response to an increase in need across Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust.

Hannah Currie www.wiltshirelive.co.uk

The trust has confirmed that security guards will monitor refrigeration units at the site, used to cope with an increase in demand, for 24-hours a day. They added that despite the location, it will treat “deceased and loved ones with dignity and respect at all times regardless”.

A spokesperson for Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust said: “We can confirm that we have opened additional mortuary capacity to accommodate an increase in need across the local community.

“Our mortuary service operates to the national standards treating the deceased and loved ones with dignity and respect at all times regardless of location. All our additional capacity provides privacy and has 24/7 security” it added.

Cllr Richard Clewer, Leader of Wiltshire Council, added: “We are supporting our partners at Salisbury District Hospital during this period of extreme pressure for the NHS.

“The site at High Post is private and is an appropriate location to provide this facility, and it is guarded by security at all times. Our staff are specially trained to work in a professional and proper manner, and behave respectfully and sensitively at all times.”

East Devon leads the way in showing how essential it is for the “ABCs” (anyone but the conservatives) to form alliances and coalitions – they work! – Owl

The Conservatives will continue running Plymouth City Council despite suffering a twin by-election defeat.

www.bbc.co.uk

Will Noble gained a seat for Labour in Moor View and the Greens’ Lauren McLay took Plympton Chaddlewood.

Following the election on Thursday, Labour has 25 seats and the Conservatives 23.

However, neither party has the 29 councillors needed for an overall majority.

Conservative leader Richard Bingley said he would not resign.

He blamed the defeats on “national issues” for his party and said the results were a “litmus test” for the Conservative government.

Will Noble, who won the Moor View ward for Labour, said: “There’s a lot of worry and disappointment at the way things have been run and the way things are going and it’s about trying to offer people a bit of hope that actually services and things can improve and that things won’t just get worse.”

Analysis from Ewan Murrie, Political Reporter

It was a set of results that many Conservatives had privately expected – but the party will still be worried about the direction of travel.

Last night, the Greens clinched their second council seat in less than a year in the previously blue ward of Plympton Chaddlewood.

Labour says its win has bolstered hopes of winning back the Moor View parliamentary seat – which it lost to the Conservatives in 2015.

The Tory council leader has pinned blame for the defeats on his party’s national woes, calling the by-elections a “litmus test” for the government.

But infighting among the local Tory ranks will not have gone unnoticed. The group’s on its third leader since 2020 and has also lost scores of councillors.

Plymouth remains under no overall control.

Labour is unlikely to call a no confidence vote before the May elections – leaving the Tories to push through a difficult budget in February.

Lauren McLay said: “It means that we can hold the administration to account better.

“It means that we can scrutinise more. And it also means that we will be able to stand up and present our ideas a little bit more. But ultimately, I just hope that it means that the people that we represent have better representation.”

The election was prompted after the previous councillors stood down following complaints they had moved out of the area and could no longer serve local residents.

Turnout in Plympton Chaddlewood was 23.76% and in Moor View it was 26.04%.

As reported earlier, the Down and Carter families, who own land between Crealy Theme Park and Greendale, are lobbying hard.

Their preferred site for a new garden village didn’t make the EDDC short list.

No doubt they miss the influence the East Devon Business Forum (EDBF) once had.

[All you need to know on the EDBF can be found here on this 2014 post, one or two of the old members are still lurking around in addition to Down and Carter such as Conservative leader Cllr Philip Skinner. They are all name checked on the referenced post.]

They have had to resort to using facebook and this attractive and official looking marketing website https://www.greenhayes.info/

This is Mark Hawkins’ constructive comment on Planning permission sought to raise Exmouth football pitches::

Could the two councils, County and District, perhaps work with the applicant on this?

There’s not enough on the application to explain to me why it might be necessary to actually raise the ground level here, and it doesn’t really tell me anything at all about their plans.

This is the pitch 2 area which is already above the level of the internal road and houses at the south eastern end.

It’s not accurate to describe this as poor drainage. It is failed drainage, despite there having been a clear maintenance obligation on the lease between former leaseholder Exmouth Amateurs and landlord East Devon District Council. I have seen evidence of polite requests, complaints, and even a partial rent strike, going back well before the 2008 financial crash, before the lease was forfeited with highly selective justifications in 2016.

Then there was a further period with bad faith being shown to numerous other sporting organisations before the current administration returned it to the community in the form of Exmouth Town Youth in 2020, with the decision being taken by decent members of all parties. I understand that all officers involved acted in good faith on this occasion, including the one who had been apparently unable to fulfil specific promises in 2016, though the legal aspects took a surprising amount of time.

The new lease has apparently transferred the drainage obligation to the tenant, but although the council has undone part of the wilful harm of its predecessors one would hope they could do more.

The reason I believe the County Council have an obligation in this is that it is substantially their water, the main incursion being from the dip in Halsdon Avenue being piped under a bungalow and into the ground, leading me to speculate that the other “springs ” in the bank are from the other Halsdon Avenue gullies. So taking short cuts in the development of Halsdon Avenue apparently created a problem for those coming after.

Another breach of leaseholder obligation was in failing to deal with trespass from neighbouring properties, including to fly tip gardening waste. Some of which may well have contributed to the silting of the drains.

One would assume that East Devon have plans of the existing draining system, and indeed that those were given to the surveying engineers in 2018/19(?), in order that they didn’t cause more damage by drilling.

Neglect of this lovely facility has been going on for 20 years, often despite the best efforts of leaseholders and with the active obstruction of the landlord. Despite this it has provided so many of us with very happy memories. What better summer evening for a dad with his teenage son to kick a ball purposefully for an hour or so and then relax watching the fox cubs play. I do hope they manage to achieve the functional restitution of the facilities but retain enough space for the wildlife.

It is ironic that this has cropped up just as Cllr Skinner has commenced the Conservatives’ campaign for this year’s district elections, telling us how we need a change of administration. There couldn’t be clearer evidence that the recent history here of how the change of administration has been a gain for the community, and of course Skinner himself was significantly implicated in the shameful events of 2016.

Boris Johnson has received a donation of £1m from a Thai-based British businessman who had previously given millions of pounds to Nigel Farage’s Brexit party, the newly released register of MPs’ interests has shown.

Peter Walker www.theguardian.com 

Christopher Harborne, a tech industry investor who had previously donated to the Conservatives but gave the Brexit party £6m before the 2019 general election, handed the £1m donation to Johnson’s personal office, set up after he left No 10.

The Office of Boris Johnson Ltd was established in October last year. Companies House records show its sole original director was Johnson’s long-time aide Shelly Williams-Walker.

She has since been replaced by Ann Sindall, another close ally of the former PM, who was his secretary when he edited the Spectator magazine and went on to work with him when he was London mayor.

The Companies House entry lists the purpose of the company only as “other business support service activities”. Former prime ministers often set up offices to manage their post-Downing Street activities.

However, the size of the donation, one of the biggest recorded to an individual UK politician rather than a party, and from a strong Brexit supporter, will increase speculation that Johnson could be planning some sort of comeback.

Harborne, who began as a management consultant, has lived in Thailand for about 20 years, where he is also known under the Thai name of Chakrit Sakunkrit.

The register of interests, updated monthly, shows that in addition to this donation Johnson earned just over £250,000 for two speeches in December, meaning he has made more than £1.2m from speeches since leaving No 10 in September.

It also shows that Johnson and his family are still being supported by the billionaire Bamford family who are close friends of the former PM and also strong Brexit backers. Anthony and Carole Bamford provided two homes during December, declared as costing £10,000 each for the month.

The Bamfords – Anthony Bamford chairs the eponymous family digger firm – have provided the Johnsons with free accommodation since he left Downing Street.

Johnson also declared the free use of a VIP suite at Heathrow airport on two occasions in late November and December. He has used such VIP facilities at Heathrow or Gatwick 15 times since August.

This is a story about lobbying.

The Down and Carter families who own land between Crealy Theme Park and Greendale are behind plans to support their proposals for a site for a new town in East Devon.

Unfortunately for them, this site they have called “Greenhayes”, has not made it onto the EDDC short list.

According to this report, more than 70 local people have already submitted comments in support of Greenhayes. To put this in perspective, Owl understands that the number of comments on the Local Plan are running in excess of 6,000.

FWS Carter and Sons are regular donors to Simon Jupp. – Owl

“Greenhayes is an opportunity to build the homes East Devon needs in the right way, in the right location and with the right character, facilities and infrastructure. All in a way that is sensitive to the environment.”

Daniel Clark www.devonlive.com

Developers are calling on the public to support a discounted proposal for a new town in East Devon. East Devon District Council is consulting on their local plan for where homes will be built across the district, with Sunday the closing date for submissions.

A ‘second Cranbrook’ as a new town on the edge of Exeter is among the plans for new homes as part of the East Devon Local Plan. The new development could include up to 8,000 new homes along with a range of community facilities and amenities.

The preferred site for the new town would span land north of the A3052 near Crealy Adventure Park to the A30 near Exeter Airport. The indicative boundary would see it spread towards Farringdon in the east, and out towards Westpoint to the west. To the north, it would run towards the junction between the A30 and Exeter Airport, and across the farmland between the sites. A site spanning from the edge of Clyst St George to the west, to Woodbury Salterton to the east is listed as an alternative.

But prior to the Draft Local Plan being published, a third location was discounted as a potential new town site. This site – Greenhayes – would have bordered the A3052 next to Crealy, running out towards Greendale Business Park to the south of the road, and out towards Farringdon and around Hill Barton Business Park to the north of the A3052.

The option would have been a zero-carbon community known as Greenhayes, which is proposed near Exeter close to Crealy Theme Park and Greendale Farm Shop. Campaigners and developers behind the site are asking East Devon District Council to look at the location again.

The council is instead proposing to makeup a shortfall of 1,800 homes by identifying sites they class as second-rate including across Exmouth, Budleigh Salterton, Honiton and Axminster. More than 70 local people have already submitted comments in support of Greenhayes.

Greenhayes development masterplan

A spokesperson for Greenhayes said: “The council is proposing to shoehorn around 1,800 new homes into sites it classes as second-rate across East Devon’s towns and villages. Why put additional pressure on these communities? There is a better way.

“As local residents ourselves, we understand the concerns about spreading development across our towns and villages. We have an alternative that will help the council build the homes East Devon needs whilst protecting the environment and delivering vital infrastructure – that alternative is Greenhayes.

“We’re excited by the support we’ve already received. We encourage anyone else who doesn’t want to see unnecessary development in their towns and villages to come forward and tell the council they support the alternative before it’s too late.

“Greenhayes is an opportunity to build the homes East Devon needs in the right way, in the right location and with the right character, facilities and infrastructure. All in a way that is sensitive to the environment.”

Greenhayes will be zero-carbon and create a 20% net gain in biodiversity. The plans include a new school and healthcare facilities, along with a park and ride and a village centre anchored by the award-winning Greendale Farm shop. The proposed community is directly adjacent to several thousand already existing jobs, with good connectivity into Exeter, Exeter Airport and across the district.

Plans for Greenhayes are driven by two local farming families who own the land between Crealy Theme Park & Resort and Greendale Farm Shop and Café as well as the Greendale Business Park. You can visit www.greenhayes.info to find out more and to submit comments that will be passed onto the council for consideration as part of the consultation. The team can also be contacted on 0800 148 8911.

East Devon District Council’s consultation runs until by 15 January 2023.

Richard Foord MP Tiverton and Honiton www.devonlive.com 

It’s January, a time to look to the future and consider what we want to build in 2023 while the year is still young. I have heard many people speculate that we may see some political boredom this year, following on from the ‘excitement’ of 2022.

Some of that drama was beyond the control of the Conservative Government, such as the conflict in Ukraine, but much of it was of their own making – with the return of sleaze, a lack of integrity at the top and stark mismanagement of the economy through the September mini budget.

This cocktail of issues caused energy bills to soar and mortgage rates to rise. It caused some people to sit in the cold because they couldn’t afford to put the heating on. Bills are set to climb even higher in March, with the only consolation that we hope to use less energy as the weather warms.

This doesn’t just affect residents and families; it also hurts local high street businesses across our towns and villages, and those living off-grid – many of whom are still waiting for financial support. I have raised this delay many times in Parliament, and yet we are still waiting to see when it will actually land in people’s bank accounts.

I don’t want to watch the Government continue to shirk their responsibility to act in the interest of rural areas like ours. We need action to bring down ambulance waiting times, boost NHS dental appointments, invest in local high street businesses, strengthen our public transport links, and deliver real long-term support with the cost of living.

I want 2023 to be the year that, post-pandemic, our part of Devon comes roaring back. This may seem difficult, but with firm decisive action the Government can start to make progress.

The first chance for this is at the end of January, when will see the Government announce successful bids for the next wave of Levelling Up funding. I am proud to back the bid for East Devon, that will see the sea front at Seaton renovated and more business facilities created in Axminster.

I am a serial optimist – I believe that if we work together and challenge the status quo we can achieve so much good. And we are fortunate that this year poses another opportunity for us to help shake things up.

In May, we get to elect a new wave of local Councillors to represent our communities. East Devon District Council manages some of the key services we rely upon, from Council Tax to recycling, bin collections to the state of our roads. So who we elect really can make a difference.

Just as my election sent shockwaves through Westminster, these elections can make waves here in our part of Devon. The Conservatives have repeatedly neglected our communities – with even the current Conservative leader of Devon County Council saying his Council is not getting the funding they need from their own Government in London.

By working together, we can elect a wave of hard-working local champions to make change happen. Only by doing this can we deliver the transformational work that we need and send a clear message that our part of Devon will not be taken for granted anymore.

Patients in the South West of England are having to wait nearly three and a half times longer to get out of ambulances and into A&E compared to the national average.

Dan Whitehead news.sky.com 

Analysis of NHS data by Sky News has found in the week ending 1 January 2023, it took an average of two hours and 39 minutes to hand over patients to hospitals in the region, compared to 46 minutes nationally.

The target in England is 15 minutes.

Figures also show the six NHS Hospital Trusts with the longest handover times in England are all in the South West.

They are: University Hospitals Plymouth, Torbay and South Devon, Great Western Hospitals, Royal Cornwall Hospitals, North Bristol and Gloucestershire Hospitals.

So bad is the problem, that hospitals in the region have begun discharging patients who are well enough into local hotels, usually used by tourists, in a bid to free up bed space.

Sky News also found 55% of ambulances in the South West had handover delays of more than an hour, twice as bad as the England average of 26%.

An older population, spread more remotely, is part of the reason, but NHS England told Sky News that staff recruitment and illness, the number of sick patients and delays in discharging patients from hospital are all causes.

In Helston in Cornwall, 85-year-old Koulla Mechamikos is recovering from a broken hip.

She fell in her hallway last August – and had to wait 14 hours for an ambulance to arrive – and then another 26 hours in the back of an ambulance outside the Royal Cornwall Hospital.

‘I would have been better to die’

“They said we are just waiting for an ambulance to free up to come to you – we don’t know how long it’s going to be as we are so busy,” said Koulla’s daughter, Marianna Flint.

“It was a bit panicky because with that length of time, mum was then getting to a point of looking quite pale and was in a great amount of pain,” she added.

While she praised the care the paramedics and hospital staff gave her mother, having to wait in the back of an ambulance for more than an entire day was worrying.

“Basically the ambulances are now waiting rooms – because there’s no room in the hospital to take them – there’s no extra wing, there’s no bed space.”

Koulla told Sky News she remembers being “freezing” while on the floor. “It was scary, more scary than anything. I lost my mind completely. I would have been better [to] die…so many hours.”

The Royal Cornwall Hospital offered its “sincere” apologies to Koulla and Marianna.

Anne-Marie Perry is CEO of AbiCare, a company that has run so-called ‘Care Hotels’ since the COVID outbreak.

“One of the blockages coming out of hospital is community care provision, social care,” she said.

“So, if there’s no provision in the community, you can’t get people home, if you can’t get people home, they stay in hospital. If they stay in hospital, there’s a whole host of challenges associated to that hospital acquired dependency.”

She told Sky News the care offered can be cheaper than hospital beds.

“These are people that are deemed medically fit to get out of hospital to go home, but they can’t go home because there isn’t a package of care to wrap around them.

“We offer rehabilitation, we offer exercise classes, we offer social activity as well. So we’re a great interim.”

What the NHS had to say

Responding to the situation in the South West, a spokesperson for NHS England South West said: “There are multiple interdependent reasons for ambulance handover delays including the number of sick patients being seen at hospital, staffing recruitment and staff sickness, as well as delays with discharging patients when they are well enough.

“We are working hard with integrated care boards, hospital trusts and our ambulance service to address these delays and ensure patients are handed over at hospitals in a timely way, to ensure ambulance crews can get back on the road to help other patients as quickly as possible.”

From a Correspondent:

I spotted this tribute to Paul Diviani from EDDC Chief Executive in www.devonlive.com:

“EDDC’s Chief Executive Mark Williams added: “Paul was a joy and an inspiration to work with and I have many happy memories of much fun and laughter at the various events and meetings we attended together as leader and CEO over the years that I knew and worked with him.”

I too have memories of Paul Diviani and Mark Williams, slouched in their seats, laughing and talking together (they appeared very convivial and it was just after lunch) whilst a councillor was arguing the case for EDDC to cooperate with Dorset in the bid for a combined East Devon and Dorset National Park. As a member of the public I found this behaviour between the committee chairman, Paul Diviani, and the Chief Executive to be  totally unprofessional, indeed unacceptable. It was obvious that they couldn’t care less about what was being said.

I felt so strongly at the time, but who could I complain to? All channels of complaint flow through Mark Williams!

Do we know where all these historic landfill sites are? Most estuaries were a soft option, some are now covered by car parks. Extraordinary that this was deemed an acceptable practice as late as the 1970s. Lyme Regis is an obvious example of erosion spewing old landfill onto the beach from the cliffs above.- Owl 

Sandra Laville www.theguardian.com 

Hundreds of ageing landfill dumps on the coast of England containing plastics, chemicals and other waste are a ticking timebomb threatening to leach pollution on to beaches and into the sea, new research shows.

The waste sites date back 100 years in some cases, and little is known about what has been dumped in them. Climate breakdown with associated rising sea levels and flooding are increasing the risk of a cocktail of pollutants entering the sea.

More than three-quarters of the landfill dumps identified in a survey by the local government association are adjacent to designated environmentally protected areas.

The survey, by the Local Government Association coastal special interest group (LGA Coastal SIG), in collaboration with coastal group network, shows that 26 coastal councils have sites already spilling large amounts of waste on to cliffs and beaches.

The councils that responded to the survey identified 195 coastal landfill sites as being at risk of tidal flooding and/or erosion. But it is thought there are approximately 1,200 to 1,400 historical coastal waste dumps in the UK currently at risk of erosion and flooding, according to the LGA Coastal SIG.

Mark Stratton, officer lead for coastal landfill at the group, said: “There are hundreds of coastal landfill sites at risk of tidal flooding and erosion. During visits to sites, I have been overwhelmed by the scale of the problem, especially the threat of waste eroding or leaching out on to the often-designated natural coastal environment.

“The landfill sites have been inherited by councils, and stretch from the north to the south of England.”

The councils are asking for government help to tackle the threat, shore up the dumps to stop the leaching of pollution from sites that are already eroding or being flooded, and carry out an investigation into what the sites contain.

David Renard, Local Government Association environment spokesperson, said: “Our coastlines need urgent support. This problem will not go away, and funding is needed to prevent hundreds of disasters on our shores. Councils want to protect their local environments but need urgent support from the government to save our coastlines from this ticking timebomb.”

A spokesperson from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “We are committed to working closely with local authorities, who have the responsibility of ensuring historic landfill sites are managed in a consistent and environmentally friendly way. Findings from the LGA survey will help inform our planned national assessment on the impacts of coastal erosion and flooding at historic coastal landfill sites, which will help improve management of these sites in the future.”

The result of 13 years of Conservative government – Owl

Fifty thousand more people died last year than normal, with NHS delays blamed for one of the most deadly 12 months on record.

Chris Smyth, Kat Lay www.thetimes.co.uk

Excluding the pandemic years, 2022 brought the highest excess deaths total since 1951, according to an analysis by The Times.

There were 1,600 more deaths than usual during Christmas week as long waits for ambulances, cold weather and surging flu infections increased mortality rates by a fifth.

Covid accounts only for a minority of recent extra deaths, focusing attention on “compelling” evidence that the crisis in the NHS is killing hundreds of people a week.

Untreated health problems as people were urged to stay away from surgeries and hospitals during the pandemic are also thought to be contributing to the deaths. Experts have also cited lingering after-effects of Covid infection.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics yesterday showed the third consecutive week of more than 1,000 excess deaths in England and Wales and confirmed that last year one of the highest death totals in Britain was recorded.

Ministers say that countries across Europe had high excess deaths last year, pointing to a big increase in flu. But others pinned the blame on the government’s handling of the NHS, where there are long waits for 999 ambulances and emergency treatment in hospitals.

Today 999 call handlers will join paramedics in a second day of strikes in the ambulance service as an estimated 25,000 staff walk out. With ministers publishing draft laws to restrict strikes in the NHS and other public services, health leaders have accused the government of using the powers to “silence workers in their hour of need”.

Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said the latest death figures were “shockingly high”. He acknowledged it was “extremely difficult to determine the causes” but pointed to studies showing deaths rose with longer waits at A&E.

“Our own analysis indicates that an estimated 300-500 patients are dying per week across the UK associated with long waiting times in emergency departments,” he said. “This is awful, distressing and completely unacceptable. The health system is not functioning as it should. Our priority should not be to quibble about the data, but to mitigate the harm of this crisis.”

Overall the 656,735 UK deaths last year were 51,159 above the pre-Covid five-year average. The figure was exceeded only in four years prior to 1951 since records began 130 years ago.

Although 2020 and 2021 brought higher excess death totals as the pandemic hit, excess deaths last year were predominantly not driven by Covid. Stuart McDonald, a partner at LCP Health Analytics who works on the Faculty of Actuaries’ Continuous Mortality Investigation, said that even looking at figures adjusted for age, 1963 was the last time deaths had jumped so much above the rate three years earlier.

“Had we not just had two years of very extreme mortality, 2022 would really stand out,” he said, adding that it was most unusual for there to be month after month of high deaths. “At the start of the year we were seeing fewer deaths among older people because a lot of those people had frankly already died [of Covid], but it was clear even then that we were seeing higher deaths among younger people. Since the spring and beyond we’ve had fairly consistently high levels at all ages”.

McDonald said “it’s undeniable that the NHS crisis is part of the story”, adding: “Access to healthcare has been a problem all year and that’s been increasing — waiting times for ambulances [and] A&E. We also know there are people who should have got diagnosed with high blood pressure or should have had a statin who missed out [when the pandemic began].”

The Times reported last year that Professor Sir Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, had been raising alarm in government about an increase in heart deaths in the middle age linked to missed care during the pandemic.

Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, a statistician at Cambridge University, said it was “very difficult to divide up the causes of the excess, but I find evidence around delayed admissions compelling”.

He said that since the summer there had been more than 40,000 excess deaths in England and Wales. Adjusting for an ageing population and subtracting Covid “still leaves an average of around 450 excess non-Covid deaths each week since June”. Spiegelhalter said “multiple factors will be contributing to this: early flu, Covid, the impact of disrupted care in the pandemic, and the acute crisis in the NHS”.

Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, blamed “13 years of Conservative mismanagement of our health service”, saying: “The NHS is in the biggest crisis in its history and the crisis has a cost in lives.”

The Department of Health said: “There are a wide variety of factors that may be contributing to excess deaths and the health and social care secretary continues to receive regular briefings on Covid and flu cases.”

Britain’s largest housebuilder, Barratt Developments, has introduced a hiring freeze and is “significantly” cutting back on buying land as it steels itself for a further slump in the UK housing market.

Kalyeena Makortoff www.theguardian.com

Barratt said it was responding to a “marked slowdown” in the UK housing market after a rise in interest rates that had made mortgages more expensive for prospective homebuyers.

The company said the average weekly net number of private reservations of properties fell in the second half of last year, down from 259 to 155.

It was also forced to scrap building plans for 3,293 land plots, cancelling out the 3,003 plots that proceeded with construction. The net cancellation of 290 plots compares with the net addition of 8,869 a year earlier.

“The first half of the financial year has … seen a marked slowdown in the UK housing market,” said Barratt’s chief executive, David Thomas.

“Political and economic uncertainty impacted the first quarter; this was then compounded by rapid and significant changes in mortgage rates, which reduced affordability, homebuyer confidence and reservation activity through the second quarter.”

Barratt is warning that the outlook for the first half of 2023 is “uncertain”, adding that the health of the UK housing market would depend on homebuyer confidence and the availability of competitively priced mortgages.

Lenders have increased mortgage borrowing costs in response to rising UK interest rates, which have increased nine times in the past year. Lenders raised mortgage rates even further in the wake of the government’s disastrous mini-budget in September, as the resulting market turmoil led some lenders to pull their mortgages off the shelf, while others raised the costs of borrowing in response to the uncertainty.

The turmoil has increased costs for those needing to remortgage their homes, and depressed appetite among homebuyers, with the latter pushing down house prices across the UK.

Halifax, which is part of Lloyds Banking Group, the UK’s biggest high street bank, reported last week that the average UK house price had fallen for the fourth month in a row in December.

Last month, the lender predicted that rising interest rates as well as the broader cost of living crisis would dampen house prices by about 8% over the course of 2023.

Soaring interest rates have already had an impact on the construction sector, which contracted in December as housebuilders took on fewer projects.

However, Barratt said the group was still in a strong financial position. “This provides us with a robust platform and gives us flexibility to continue to respond to market conditions as they evolve throughout the coming year,” the company said.

“This government will have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level.” – Rishi Sunak

This is the sort of thing you expect from dictatorships, but is now happening in Tory Britain. A “Secretary of State”, no less thinks, this behaviour is OK. Nothing “bizarre” about it. What next? – Owl

Boris Johnson bizarrely photoshopped out of picture Grant Shapps tweeted about space launch

Poppy Wood inews.co.uk 

Grant Shapps has denied doctoring a photograph of himself on a visit to Spaceport Cornwall in which former prime minister Boris Johnson appears to have been digitally deleted.

The Business Secretary shared a picture of himself visiting the rocket site in June 2021 ahead of Virgin Orbit’s unsuccessful satellite launch last night.

It showed Mr Shapps speaking to Virgin Orbit chief executive, Dan Hart, and another member of the space team in front of the LauncherOne rocket.

But canny observers on Twitter noticed that an almost-identical picture previously shared by No 10 had also featured then prime minister, Mr Johnson, standing in between the space scientists and Mr Shapps.

The pair visited the Spaceport site in Cornwall almost two years ago to discuss how Virgin Orbit would “help boost the UK’s incredible space industry, inspire the next generation, and enable vital environmental monitoring”.

The Business Secretary shared a picture of himself visiting the rocket site in June 2021 ahead of Virgin Orbit’s unsuccessful satellite launch last night

An almost-identical picture shared in June 2021 showed Mr Johnson standing between Mr Shapps and the space scientists (Photo: Grant Shapps/Twitter)

Mr Shapps has since deleted the tweet in which Mr Johnson appears to have been erased.

A source close to Business Secretary said: “Grant wasn’t aware anyone had edited the picture. He removed it as soon as it was pointed out. Obviously he wouldn’t endorse anyone rewriting history by removing the former PM from a picture.”

It comes as senior Tory MPs continue to distance themselves from the former prime minister as they attempt to rehabilitate the Conservative Party’s reputation following a slew of scandals embroiling Mr Johnson.

A Labour Party source said: “The Tories might want to erase their own leaders — but the country is stuck with the consequences of their appalling record: a crashed economy, a broken health service, and an asylum system that doesn’t work.”

The debacle comes after Virgin Orbit’s first space launch from UK soil ended in failure last night despite a promising start.

The evening had started out successfully with LauncherOne taking off at around 10pm while operators at Spaceport Cornwall blasted out the Rolling Stones hit Start Me Up.

But shortly before midnight, the US space company announced there had been an anomaly which meant the rocket containing nine satellites was heading back down to Earth. The rocket is assumed to have burned up on reentry, destroying all the satellites on board.

A former Conservative minister has quit the party, claiming it is dominated by “ideology and self-obsession”, and has instead thrown her support behind Keir Starmer.

Aubrey Allegretti www.theguardian.com 

Claire Perry O’Neill, who was part of Theresa May’s cabinet and was briefly retained by Boris Johnson to help run preparations for the Cop26 summit, praised the Labour leader’s “sober, fact-driven, competent political leadership”.

Perry O’Neill, who was a Tory MP from 2010 to 2019, said she liked and admired the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, and the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt. But in an article, she said the pair had become too beholden to inter-party factions to “deliver the big changes we need in a fact-based, competent way”.

“I spend most of my time now working in the private sector and this is not the way to build back confidence and deliver investment, especially in the crucial energy sector,” Perry O’Neill wrote in the Times.

Since leaving the government, she has held senior advisory positions – including at the consultancy firm McKinsey & Co, as well as Scottish Power. Perry O’Neill said she had quit the Conservatives earlier this month.

“My former party’s often cavalier approach to business and academia coupled with a post-Brexit reluctance to strategically engage with our European neighbours has damaged our ability to deliver the energy system we need,” she said.

However, Perry O’Neill lavished praise on Starmer. She said Labour had put “energy at the top of their proposed new government inbox”, and applauded its ambitions for green technologies and a national low-carbon wealth fund.

She added: “Even more important is their proposed focus on a new way of governing, focused on measurable outcomes not short-term shout-outs.

“Building a low-carbon, secure, affordable energy system for the UK is an immense challenge that needs sober, fact-driven, competent political leadership. I sense that is exactly what we will get should Labour win the next general election.”

The move risks undermining Sunak’s attempt to cast himself as the leader of a united party.

Starmer addressed Labour MPs in a private meeting to kick off the party’s 2023 strategy on Monday night, saying the year would be spent “setting out the plan” for Labour in government.

He said of the two speeches given last week – by Starmer and Sunak – there were “competing visions for Britain … the prime minister setting the bar so low for his promises to the country that he could hardly fail to flop over it”.

Starmer insisted Labour was the party of hope, change and optimism – and had a “proper plan to make all that change happen”, referencing a pledge for further devolution, as well as policies on jobs, skills and the NHS workforce.

He said the prize at the end was “massive” – a chance to “add ‘24 to ‘45 and ‘97 in the history books”.

The nasty party in action, as the Plymouth Conservatives lose another councillor!  – Owl

Amber Edwards www.plymouthherald.co.uk

A Plymouth Conservative councillor and former council leader has resigned from the Conservative group. Patrick Nicholson will be seeking re-election to Plymouth City Council on May 4th 2023 as an independent when the Conservative’s proposed Council budget for 2023/24 is published, and following his de-selection by the Plymouth-wide Conservative approval panel.

Councillor Nicholson was first elected in 1992 and has served the Plympton St Mary ward throughout his time on the city council. He also served as the youngest city council leader in 2000 and as the youngest-ever Lord Mayor of Plymouth in 2005.

Cllr Nicholson was deputy leader of the council and of the Conservative group until March 2022 when, along with then council leader Cllr Nick Kelly and other cabinet colleagues, he stood down.

Cllr Nicholson said: “With the publication of the Conservative council budget with damaging proposals for district centre car parking charges, cuts to ward councillors’ community grants, potential cuts affecting important Plympton and Plymouth facilities such as swimming pools and community venues like Harewood House. I cannot and will not support the budget in its current form as it will damage my Plympton St Mary Ward residents.

“I am also appalled and disgusted with the treatment I have received by the current chairs of the three Conservative associations in Plymouth since last August when I submitted my application to stand again as a Conservative candidate, by de-selecting me as the Plympton St. Mary Ward Conservative Candidate.

“Along with the leader of the Conservative group Cllr Richard Bingley, many of these individuals have been Labour and UKIP Party members whilst over the last 30 years I have diligently sought to represent the residents of the Plympton St Mary Ward. I am confirming my intention to stand for re-election as an independent candidate in the forthcoming Plymouth City Council Elections in May.”

In order to campaign for his re-election Cllr Nicholson has tendered his immediate resignation from the Conservative group and will join the Independent Alliance Group of Independent Councillors to freely speak up for the Plympton and Plymouth issues that he is passionate about.

These include the unnecessary loss of trees in Armada Way and the impending council budget-setting meeting in February which is likely to see the introduction of car parking charges in the city’s district shopping centres like Ridgeway, Chaddlewood and Estover, as well as the potential closure of community facilities like Plympton’s Harewood House and the Plympton Swimming Pool.

Cllr Nicholson. said: “Over my long council service I have always put my Plympton St Mary Ward residents first and so my constituents should have the final choice of re-electing me or choosing a successor”.

In September 2017 Owl reported: We’ve had the Heart of the South West LEP! We’ve had the “Golden Triangle” LEP (Exeter, Plymouth, Torquay).We”ve even had the “Golden Quadrangle” LEP (Owl’s suggestion for adding in Cornwall or Dorset). NOW we have the “Golden Pentangle” (adding in Cornwall AND Dorset), yet ANOTHER unelected, unaccountable and non-transparent quango: The Great South West, the LEP for LEPs

Oh and who is the power behind the GSW economic strategy? None other than Pennon, the South West’s biggest employer and parent company of South West Water. So profit before investment – just what we need in the region! – Owl

Darren Slade www.bournemouthecho.co.uk

A DRIVE to promote Dorset as part of a “powerhouse” brand called the Great South West will share its vision of the future at the Houses of Parliament today [10 Jan]

The Great South West Partnership wants the name to sit alongside the Northern Powerhouse, the Midlands Engine and the Western Gateway as part of efforts to grow the UK economy.

The partnership recently held its first board meeting to discuss plans to build on the region’s natural capital, develop a clean, digital economy and tackle climate change.

It will host a parliamentary reception at the House of Lords today to showcase the Great South West prospectus and its vision for the future.

Karl Tucker, chair of the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), said: “The Great South West is united by the idea that by working together, we can achieve more. It was therefore fantastic to come together with our partners to define our ambitions as a region, and set out our plan for becoming the country’s Natural Powerhouse.

“We are looking forward to the region’s green and blue opportunity being presented in Parliament, as part of our efforts to gain government support for the Great South West.”

Cecilia Bufton, chair of Dorset LEP, said: “I’m delighted that the Great South West Partnership is up and running, developing pan-regional activities in areas of our common interest. Thanks to the determination of many over the past five years, it is great to see the Great South West campaign move forward with such ambition.”

The partnership aims to unlock the region’s potential to be a world leader in clean growth. It wants organisations across the region to work together on business support, trade and investment, net zero, sustainable transport, clean energy, rural productivity and tourism.

It aims to make the south west the first net zero region, improving connectivity and supporting technologies that will help generate prosperity.

The partnership is made up of businesses, universities, LEPs and local authorities, including Dorset Council, BCP Council and Dorset LEP.

At their first meeting, the partnership agreed four initial funding awards:

• to support the high value manufacturing sector;
• to work with the Department for International Trade to deliver a regional trade and investment hub;
• to deliver a carbon emissions study;
• and to support the South West Social Mobility Commission.

Plans to tackle the housing crisis in part of Devon being putting refugees or homeless people on cruise ships will be explored. Torridge District Council voted to look into the feasibility of leasing or renting a vessel to accommodate emergency or other housing list people.

Lewis Clarke www.devonlive.com

Torridge District Council had previously declared that they were committed to tackling the housing crisis in the area. Previous ideas included the possible use of modular housing units, evaluating options to reduce the number of empty homes, and bringing forward schemes in partnership with local social housing providers

But at the full council meeting at the end of December, proposals to accommodate refugees or homeless people on cruise ships in Devon were discussed. Councillors voted ‘overwhelmingly’ in support of the motion put forward by Cllr David Brenton.

His motion said: “With the large numbers of cruise ships being scrapped or laid up due to a fall in demand following Covid. I propose that TDC explore the feasibility of forming a partnership with our neighboring authorities i.e North Devon and Exeter etc, with a view to leasing or renting a vessel to accommodate emergency or other housing list people.

“Cruise ships have a high standard of habitation and self-contained servicing and a suitable craft which would fit into Middle Dock could provide a quick solution for some of our desperate citizens needing housing.”

Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Brenton added: “We live in radical times which call for radical measures to alleviate them. We do need to look at what’s coming our way and it’s about to hit the fan. It’s getting quite serious now over the question of accommodation.

“The very fact that our Home Secretary – who I try not to listen to very often, if at all – did mention it in one of her speeches about cruise ships being used for accommodation. I then heard it from the Scottish National Party housing minister, also talking about it.

“It is feasible I believe. They are scrapping perfectly good accommodation because there is no demand for it. We are in a unique position where we own Middle Dock which has got a good birthing situation there, despite over the years the shipyard had bought out some vast vessels to park alongside there.

“This clearly needs a lot of work to be done alongside this. It may be an ideal thing for an intern or apprentice to do some homework on this, but also to contact our neighbouring authorities.

“I have spoken to the housing officer at Exeter City Council who expressed an interest, but not in writing yet. I would also like you to have somebody look into this as a possibility.

“Bear in mind that the Ukrainian refugees are coming to the end of their period of being with host families and there are those who would like to find a place to live, and that will not be easy. We have AirB&B and all sorts of things conspiring to stop people getting accommodation, so we need to consider any possibility.”

Cllr Rachel Clarke added: “The idea in principle is very good. My concern is that when you put lots of people in tight accommodation like that, you’ve got to think of diseases and illnesses which could happen. Do we have the right infrastructure for doctors and nurses which we have a major problem with?

“It needs a lot of work and you’ve got to spread it out as there are other things, such as alcohol or drug issues. It’s not an easy fix. We’ve just got to think it through properly.”

Cllr Simon Newton said: “Scotland have been using cruise ships to accommodate Ukrainian refugees as they came over, initially as a holding centre and then when they could be found permanent accommodation, they could then move out. The difference there and going along the line of what Cllr Clarke has just said was that a single focus group who were socially going to mix well and easily together. While they came with many traumas they were unlikely to create other issues, whereas there are quite clearly many other issues.

“The idea is a good one, it’s thinking out of the box, and from my background, we’ve used this type of accommodation around the world many times in the past. You can sail up an instant hotel and accommodate people on it.

“Where you put it, and how you do it, is a completely different game. But the idea of thinking out of the box is completely worthy.”

Cllr Peter Christie added: “When I saw this first, I suspect I had the same feeling as many of us that this was slightly crackers. Having said that, I think it is worth looking at.

“I used to be in the merchant navy, and the big problem with ships is maintenance. I think we need to approach the harbourmaster, Appledore Shipyard, and ask them about this. It could be an ongoing cost that is so high it would rule it out, but by all means let’s look at it.”

Second home owners in East Devon will have their council tax doubled if planned Government legislation goes ahead. 

 “In East Devon we have a shortage of properties to enable people to rent or potentially purchase and stay and live/work in the area. 

 “If this change frees up empty properties to come onto the rental or purchase market then I and my cabinet colleagues welcome that.” 

(Bearing in mind that only seven per cent of that increase would go directly to EDDC as the bulk (73 per cent) would go to Devon County Council and the remainder to the police and fire service.) – Cllr Jack Rowland

Philippa Davies www.sidmouthherald.co.uk

Under the plans by East Devon District Council (EDDC) the owners of empty houses will also be charged double rates after just one year of non-occupation, instead of two. 

The proposals were agreed by the district council’s Cabinet on Wednesday, January 4, with the final decision to be made at the next full council meeting on Wednesday, February 22. The aim is to introduce the extra charges in April next year. 

The changes are subject to the Government signing off the relevant legislation under its Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill. 

District councillors are supporting the charges to encourage owners to bring empty homes back into use for the local community. 

The higher tax could also help make up for the money lost through reductions in council tax for lower income households. 

Councillor Jack Rowland, EDDC’s portfolio holder for finance, said: “This change, if the parliamentary bill receives approval and full council accept the cabinet recommendation next month, would be effective from April 2024 so the people affected by the change will have a full year’s notice of the change. 

 “In East Devon we have a shortage of properties to enable people to rent or potentially purchase and stay and live/work in the area. 

 “If this change frees up empty properties to come onto the rental or purchase market then I and my cabinet colleagues welcome that. 

“Where the people affected by this change may still choose to keep the property empty or as a second home, then the additional council tax they would have to pay will help ensure the current services provided by EDDC will be maintained, bearing in mind that only seven per cent of that increase would go directly to EDDC as the bulk (73 per cent) would go to Devon County Council and the remainder to the police and fire service.” 

The full Cabinet report can be found on EDDC’s website. 

Dear Simon,

The baseline housing target the EDDC coalition has inherited is 64% higher than needed to satisfy demographic growth trends and “normal” levels of inward  migration

This is the consequence of  the Tory “Build, build, build” strategy pursued by Conservative controlled EDC for decades.

The late Paul Diviani, alongside the faithful Philip Skinner, was the architect and driving force behind the current Local Plan, adopted in 2015, which was based on an aggressive development target of 950 houses/year, driven by a “jobs led policy on” scenario. 

In fact only around 580 houses/year were required to satisfy purely demographic growth trends. 

This is a Tory uplift of 370 or 64% and is the “poison chalice” that the coalition has inherited.

If the council goes is to go back to the drawing board, as you suggest, then you might like to “have a conversation” with Blue Leader Cllr Philip Skinner.

Regards,

Owl

Simon Jupp MP www.sidmouthherald.co.uk

The Conservative government wants decisions about homes to be driven locally. Councils should therefore be working hand-in-glove with the communities they serve to ensure homes are built in the right places with the right infrastructure.

Last month, the Secretary of State set out some welcome breathing room. Councils will be able to calculate housing need as a starting point but ultimately must consider how to protect the characteristics of each area – be that precious countryside, the character of an area, or heritage. There is no truly objective way to calculate how many homes are needed in an area and, since becoming an MP in 2019, I’ve repeatedly told Ministers that East Devon’s housing figures were the product of fanciful Whitehall algorithms.

Too often, it feels like communities have to grin and bear new housing development. My postbag has been full of complaints about East Devon District Council’s proposals for where homes should be built because they won’t help people stay in their own communities, reduce travel, or keep families close together. We must build new homes, but they must compliment the area, not concrete all over it. 

That’s why as your local MP I have responded to East Devon District Council’s Local Plan consultation – particularly to reflect concern among residents of north Exmouth, Lympstone, Farringdon and West Hill. I’d warmly encourage you to have your say too. Visit eastdevon.gov.uk. The consultation closes on 15 January.

Residents in north Exmouth and residents in Lympstone are extremely alarmed by the volume of development that is getting proposed, effectively merging the two historic towns together. I’m meeting with the Northeast Exmouth Residents Group again this week to look at the plans in depth.

Farringdon villagers stand to have a new town of 2,500 homes built a stone’s throw away. The parish is the most severely impacted of all in East Devon. I’m sitting down with residents here too, because I want to make sure their voice is heard.

The council should go back to the drawing board. The power is now in their hands to make the right calls, thanks to the Conservatives.

In the words of “Blue Leader” Cllr. Philip Skinner:

Cllr Diviani was ‘instrumental’ in the creation of the Greater Exeter Strategic plan – although the council eventually pulled out of the proposed arrangement with other neigbouring councils in 2020 – and he praised his ability to “see the bigger picture.”

“He balanced providing good services but at the same time of course driving our economic agenda, which is the agenda I very much wish to promote myself.”

Owl remembers Paul Diviani, alongside the faithful Philip Skinner, as the architect and driving force behind the Tory “Build, build, build” strategy. This resulted in the current Local Plan having a development target of 950 houses/year, based on an aggressive “jobs led policy on” scenario.  Where only around 580 houses/year would be required to satisfy purely demographic growth trends. 

This is an uplift of 370 or 64% and is the target that the current EDDC coalition has inherited (is lumbered with).

Remember this when you read the next post on Simon Jupp’s position on local housing targets.

Former East Devon District Council leader Paul Diviani has died following a long illness.

Rob Kershaw www.sidmouthherald.co.uk

Mr Diviani joined East Devon District Council in 1999, becoming leader in 2011, a role he held up until he stepped down in 2018. He had also served on Devon County Council, representing Honiton St Paul’s, as well as being a board memeber of the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership, chair of the Blackdown Hills Area of Natural Beauty, and numerous other public service or community roles.

He joined East Devon Council at the same time as the district’s current Tory leader, Cllr Philip Skinner, a friend both in and out of politics, who paid a heartfelt tribute to him on Friday.

“Paul Diviani was a very selfless man,” said Cllr Skinner. “He was a man who was never critical of other people; he was more concerned about doing good things.

“He had a very good insight to vision work, and he was very much a strategic thinker. Strategic, not just in the planning process, but strategic in the way that the council should operate, and the way that it should run.

“He balanced providing good services but at the same time of course driving our economic agenda, which is the agenda I very much wish to promote myself.”

Cllr Skinner said that Cllr Diviani was ‘instrumental’ in the creation of the Greater Exeter Strategic plan – although the council eventually pulled out of the proposed arrangement with other neigbouring councils in 2020 – and he praised his ability to “see the bigger picture.”

The Conservative leader for East Devon describing Cllr Diviani as a ‘lovely, lovely man.’