Vote Lib Dem in Tiverton and Honiton (Neil Parish)
DO NOT VOTE LIB DEM IN EAST DEVON (Hugo Swire) – vote Claire Wright (Independent)
General election, Hugo Swire and Neil Parish
East Devon Watch will NOT report any “good news” stories from Hugo Swire or Neil Parish between now and the election unless it can be proved (by very strong evidence) to be accurate – and not just convenient pre-election speculation.
Are homes in National Parks REALLY more expensive than in East Devon?
Owl is informed that a correspondent carried out some research on house prices yesterday, using Rightmove and Zoopla, because they thought – is the old chestnut that housing in national parks ismore expensive – or do the Tories et al use it just an excuse to do nothing?
It turns out, Cranbrook is already on a par with 2 bed terrace house prices within Dartmoor national park. In East Devon, Budleigh Salterton and Sidmouth prices are higher, but maybe they attract a premium already as coastal locations – the premium is said to be about an extra 10%?
Hopefully, this should mean that prices will not increase dramatically in this area if we were to gain national park status…
Over to you those councillors who want to keep a tight hold on planning and a very loose hold on developers …
How you can (try to) get a cash machine back in your community
“… Following our analysis, Link launched its Community Access to Cash Delivery Fund, which invited local communities to apply for a free-to-use cash machine. The network today announced it had already had 100 applications in the first month.
As a result, the new tool has been developed to meet the swell of demand.
To use it you just need to go to the website:
https://www.link.co.uk/consumers/request-access-to-cash/request-an-atm/
fill out your details, suggest a site for the ATM and explain why it is needed.
Link promises it will respond to the requests one by one and assess whether it can find a viable location to get an ATM up and running in the area. …”
‘Request an ATM’ tool launches for areas hit by cash machine closures
Policing – who broke it, is it being fixed?
“Register by 26 November to vote in December’s general election – here’s what you need to know”
Jurrasic Park: a Halloween scary story
A scare story fit for Halloween. So scary that Owl is hooting with laughter.
Here is Owl’s dissection of the substance of the scare story recently spun by EDDC ex-Tory Councillor (and ex-leader) Ian Thomas, previously posted here:
Whilst he may now claim to be “Independent” the “Project Fear” he spreads is the established view of the previous Tory Council (and many in the current council).
It’s all about the proposal to create a new National Park by combining the East Devon and Dorset AONBs.
This proposal is not new. Like the creation of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site before it, a considered and reasoned case has been building for a number of years now.
The bit that SCARES Cllr. Ian Thomas (and others in the council) is that, despite EDDC attempts to pour cold water on the idea in the past, it has now been given endorsement by the Glover Review. (The Glover Review of Designated Landscapes was commissioned by Michael Gove to report in the 70th anniversary year of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act).
It calls for National Parks and AONBs to have a clear national mission to reverse environmental decline and specifically calls for the creation of two new National Parks and a National Forest – one such park being the area of the Devon and Dorset AONB/World Heritage site.
Click to access landscapes-review-final-report.pdf
Cllr. Ian Thomas’ stated FEAR is that house prices in East Devon could rise ‘considerably’ if proposals for a new ‘Jurassic’ national park’ covering East Devon and Dorset are successful (when did prices last fall,in the recession)?
The REAL FEAR, however, is, Owl thinks, loss of power, particularly the power of development. As Ed Freeman (Service Lead Planning) put it in the penultimate paragraph of his review of Glover Report for Cllr. Susie Bond’s Strategic Planning Committee:
“….there may also be felt to be concerns around loss of power by this authority to another body.”
Click to access 4Protected%20Landscape%20Report.pdf
It is interesting that Dorset has no such worries and has enthusiastically endorsed the idea.
How fitting then at Halloween that Owl should do the scary thing and examine the FACTS!
In terms of protective policies, both National Parks and AONBs have identical aims. These are to “conserve and enhance natural beauty”. (National Parks have the further responsibility to conserve and enhance “wildlife and cultural heritage” as well.) National Parks also have a duty to seek to foster the economic and social well-being of local communities within their park (note – communities not just developers). The Glover review proposes that in respect of this duty, National Parks should go further and “respond proactively to local housing needs”.
So where is the scare?
Could it be that under past EDDC regimes AONB responsibilities to “protect and enhance” the area have simply been ignored, something that might be harder to do under different management and wider scrutiny?
If this is the case, then EDDC is in for a REAL SHOCK – a LOOK BEHIND YOU moment – because the Glover Review also proposes that both AONBs and National Parks should be staffed by a shared National Landscape Service and that AONBs should be given greater status in the planning system. AONBs should become statutory consultees, and should be supported to work towards local plans for their areas, prepared in conjunction with local authorities. For larger AONBs such as East Devon (specifically mentioned), this plan should have statutory status in place of local authority plans. So even if the National Park idea doesn’t get off the ground immediately, the cavalier approach EDDC has adopted in the past to its AONB will have to change if the Glover Report is taken up.
We don’t know what the next government might make of the Glover Review but, whatever political persuasionit has, we can safely assume it will look for ways of demonstrating its Environmental Protection credentials. Not pushing forward with Glover would be an obvious own goal.
There are many positive reasons to embrace the proposal to create a new National Park by combining the East Devon and Dorset AONBs with the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. Here are four in addition to the proactive management of local housing needs mentioned above.
1. Wildlife
East Devon and Dorset AONBs have distinctive and valuable ecologies which are important on a national scale. The East Devon Pebblebed Heaths, which forms 5% of the East Devon AONB is one of the largest areas of lowland dry heaths in England and has European designation. Consolidation of these two AONBs within a new National Park would increase the biodiversity of the environment creating a continuous wildlife corridor nearly 70 miles long.
2. Farming Culture and impact on Heritage Landscape
In the past, only the larger landlords like CDE had the management structure and financial stability to promote landscape enhancement projects within the AONB. However, subsidies based on acreage are going to be changed to supporting specific environmental enhancements, distributed more widely. Depending on how it is managed this could make significant changes to protected landscapes. For instance, there could be haphazard re-wilding on a considerable scale. AONBs in the future will need to be more involved and supportive of the independent sector of farming if the Landscape is to be conserved and enhanced, thus becoming more like National Parks.
3. Tourism and Economic benefits
National Parks promote understanding and enjoyment of their area’s special qualities by the public. A clear identity as a National Park would bring an economic boost to East Devon. The South Downs NP has attracted over £100M in core support and project funding since 2011 and it is reasonable to expect an East Devon and Dorset NP to attract a similar level of funding. On a smaller scale, experience from the Pebblebed Heaths are that funds and grants become more readily available with higher environmental designations, in this case SSSI, SPA and SAC.
4. Recreation and Well-being for an ageing and growing population
Encouraging Recreation is already a National Park priority. Improving public enjoyment would go hand in hand with promoting activities to improve health and well-being. Improving these will become an overriding priority in our area which is not only set to grow and age but already has more than 30% of the population aged 65 or older. It will become even more necessary if Cllr. Phillip Skinners dream of creating a North West Quadrant of linked villages to support immigration of 12,000 is realised.
https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/east-devon-could-getting-network-3454612
A confidant and forward-looking EDDC would now seek to form a joint liaison committee to work with the East Devon and Dorset National Park Team so as to get a seat at the table and maximise the opportunities, rather than continue to sulk in its (developer built?) kennel.
Are you scared now?
“Freezing home forces disabled Cranbrook mum to be separated from her young twins”
Is this the district heating? Not a good ad for Eon or Cranbrook …
“A young disabled mum with 15-month-old twins has told how the dream of finally moving into a permanent home in Cranbrook – after being rehoused four times since they were born – has turned into a nightmare.
Amber Owen-Jones has not seen her children for five days because they are having to live with her mother in Somerset as their new ‘freezing’ two-bedroom housing association property has no hot water or heating.
Last Friday, the 19-year-old and her partner Michael Korth, 21, picked up the keys to their new home and say that when they realised not all the utility services were working, a LiveWest employee notified energy provider Eon by emailing them their tenancy agreement to get a new account set up. …
However, they say they were told someone won’t be coming until today, October 30, and no time was confirmed.
Amber said: “Eon were refusing to turn our hot water and heating on. The house is absolutely freezing.
“My children even had blue feet as we have no carpets. Eon kept saying they will sort it out on Wednesday, but it’s not acceptable. …”
https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/freezing-home-forces-disabled-cranbrook-3478804
Tory slogan says you deserve better! People point out the obvious!
Election survival guide
Screwed NHS more screwed: Tory bed cuts cause chaos
“The NHS needs thousands of extra beds to prevent patients being subjected to “corridor care” this winter, doctors have said.
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) analysed NHS data and found that 4,000 to 6,000 extra beds were needed to “keep emergency departments moving” by ensuring that patients could be accommodated.
Katherine Henderson, president of the college, said: “Our number one priority is to put an end to ‘corridor care’ this winter. To do this we will need at least 4,000 extra staffed beds.
“Emergency departments aim to have most patients treated and back home on the same day, but nearly a third of all patients who go to major A&Es needed to be admitted to a bed.
“A lack of beds means that many patients have to wait long times in undignified conditions, often on a trolley in a corridor. Last year nearly a third of a million people waited for over 12 hours. No patient should have to experience this for even a couple of hours, let alone for over half a day as some do.”
It is deemed unsafe if more than 85 per cent of available beds are occupied at any one time because this would leave hospitals unable to cope with surges in demand. Last winter occupancy rates hit an average of 93.5 per cent, Dr Henderson said, adding that more than 15,000 beds, or about one in ten, had been lost since 2010.
This summer was the worst ever in terms of the number of patients waiting more than 12 hours for a hospital bed, she said.
“This is a difficult position to be going into winter in. Without more beds, with appropriate nursing staffing, we fear we may be in for another record-breaking winter,” she added.
An NHS spokesman said: “The NHS will indeed be opening up thousands of beds over the next few months, based on the local availability of nurses and other staff. Hospitals will also be working closely with community health services and local authorities’ home care and care home services.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “We have invested £240 million in adult social care to ease pressures this winter by getting patients home quicker and freeing up hospital beds across England.”
Source:Times (paywall)
Claire Wright’s thoughts on the upcoming general election
Her election team – so YOUNG, so diverse – hurrah!
“The news broke last night when I was in one of my regular election campaign team meetings.
Subject to approval by the Lords, there will be a general election on the 12 December.
So we’ve started the countdown to what is being dubbed the most unpredictable and epic general election in living memory.
The last December election was almost 100 years ago, and campaigning is going to tough, with dark nights, cold and possibly pretty awful weather.
But despite the challenges of leafleting and door knocking, last night the air of excitement was palpable. We sensed the enormity and potential of what we’re about to enter.
An election that is alive with possibility. Anything could happen, according to polling experts, like Professor John Curtice.
The next six weeks are for us, stretch gloriously out, full of intense activity, inspiring interactions with others and above all, hope. Hope that this time the East Devon constituency could finally break its 150 year Conservative rule and see an Independent MP elected, whose manifesto is based on local people’s views and who intends to truly represent the people of East Devon, with no party whip to get in the way of that representation.
This is my third general election. I have effectively been campaigning to be East Devon’s MP for six years, including over a year of preparation for this one.
The preparation we’ve put into this campaign is in sharp contrast to the snap election of 2017 where I was completely taken by surprise by the announcement, which arrived in the middle of the Devon County Council elections.
I had to gather a team and funding at what felt like 100mph, while still campaigning to retain my county seat!
And who would have thought that in this election, in a supposedly safe Conservative seat, an election would have been called with no Conservative candidate! Sir Hugo Swire, of course has announced his intention to resign.
This time feels different. It has a different energy about it. I’ve been a councillor for a decade. And I’m a seasoned campaigner, having fought five elections (this is the sixth) since 2011 and once again, I have a strong, committed and extraordinarily motivated and hardworking team around me. I am also very fortunate to have a much wider team of hundreds of leafleters and door knockers.
That’s not to say we don’t need more though. We do!
I hope that the election in East Devon will reflect the mood of the nation in that my opponents will be respectful and polite when challenging me and I in turn, also pledge to operate in the same way.
I’m really looking forward to getting out there and meeting lots of you!
I’m signing off now. There’s much to do!
I can’t wait!
Pic: Here’s some of my core team last night a few moments after we heard the general election confirmed for the 12 December.”
So, who is going to be the Tory candidate in East Devon?
A local person?
Someone parachuted in to what was once a safe seat (that’s how Swire got it with no connection to East Devon at all) but which is now very, very unsafe?
Will the Brexit Party contest it?
Will Lib-Dems split votes and allow a Tory to keep the seat?
So many questions, so few answers …
But at leadt it won’t be a very long campaign!
Students: apply for postal or proxy vote if you are not in the right place on 12 December
“Professor John Curtice Makes Surprising Prediction For General Election 2019”
East Devon: be a trendsetter – elect Claire Wright – Independent!
“Professor John Curtice Makes Prediction On General Election 2019
The UK’s leading election expert Sir John Curtice told LBC he expects parties other than the two major ones to have a record number of MPs in the upcoming General Election.
The UK is expected to go to the polls on 12th December after Jeremy Corbyn told Labour MPs to back Boris Johnson’s proposal for an early General Election.
Sir John is the man who predicted Brexit and has been in charge of the accurate exit polls in the recent elections in 2015 and 2017.
And speaking to Shelagh Fogarty, he gave a surprising prediction of what we can expect.
He said: “I think the safest prediction is that we will have a record number of non-Conservative and non-Labour MPs in this parliament.
“The SNP look set to win the vast majority of seats in Scotland. The Liberal Democrats given their position in the polls should do extremely well. We expect Caroline Lucas and the Green Party to hang on to her seat.
“We could have more than 100 MPs that do not belong to either of the other two parties.
“That matters for two reasons. The first is that it makes it difficult for either Conservative or Labour to win an overall majority if you’re taking the fact that 100 of the seats are already spoken for.
“Secondly, it matters because this is an asymmetric election. It’s an election that Boris Johnson has to win. If he does not get a majority or something very close to it, he will not be able to stay in government because the Conservatives do not have any friends elsewhere.
“The Labour Party, by contrast, at least has the possibility of doing a deal with the SNP, a deal with the Liberal Democrats, getting support of the Greens and maybe even the DUP not standing in their way.
“Bear in mind, this is not an election that Labour have to win to stop Brexit, but it is an election that they and the other opposition parties simply need to deny the Conservatives a majority.”
Tactical voting – and how Claire Wright could be a VERY powerful MP!
“The major UK political parties go into the election with radically different positions on Brexit. In short:
A vote for the Conservative party is a vote to take Britain out of the EU.
A vote for the Labour Party is a vote to put any Brexit deal to a referendum, in which voters could vote to remain.
A vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote to revoke Article 50 and cancel Brexit.
A vote for the Brexit Party is a vote for a no-deal Brexit.”
AND A VOTE FOR CLAIRE WRIGHT (INDEPENDENT) IS A VOTE FOR EAST DEVON!
Claire Wright could be a powerful figure if elected to Parliament. She could be amongst a handful of MPs that could tip the balance in a hung parliament.
EDDC spending £3.5 million in Exmouth: Tory gets the spotlight, Independent has reservations … dog, tail and wagging again?
Here’s Tory Skinner waxing lyrical about £1.5 million for Exmouth College (though Tigger Nick Hookway has concerns):
https://www.exmouthjournal.co.uk/news/cil-money-for-community-college-expansion-1-6344922
and here’s news of cash for the completion of a road in Dinham Way – with Skinner again seeming to have the biggest voice and Hookway again expressing reservations:
https://www.radioexe.co.uk/news-and-features/local-news/exmouth-projects-backed/
Tail … dog … wagging … again?
And so near general election time.
And when will other towns and villages get their shares of Community Infrastructure Levy goes into one big pot rather than being locality-based like Section 106?
Did our MPs vote for a 12 December election?
Of course they did.
Unfortunately, most other MPs didn’t, so it’s back to La La Land tomorrow …
Of course, Swire doesn’t care when it is … he’s off whatever happens.
EDF can’t manage its French sites, let alone Hinkley C
So, so nany of Devon’s economic eggs in Hinkley C’s basket – dropped in there by our Local Enterprise Partnership, with the vested interests of its board members uppermost.
And no wonder Germany has dropped nuclear in favour of renewable energy.
“An official report rapped French energy giant EDF on the knuckles Monday for lacking a “culture of quality,” as reflected in huge delays and price overruns at a nuclear plant it has been building for more than a decade.
The report was presented to EDF’s largest shareholder, the French government, which called for an urgent “plan of action” to improve standards at the company and get the much-needed plant online.
The delays at the Flamanville site in northern France come on top of a massive cost overrun at the Hinkley Point nuclear project EDF is building in Britain and a decade-long delay to the Olkiluoto plant in Finland.
EDF’s European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) reactor in Flamanville is now seven years late and costs have more than tripled to 12.4 billion euros ($13.7 billion).
Earlier this month, the company said fixing faulty welding on the Flamanville reactor will add 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) to the already swollen price tag.
When Electricite de France began work on the reactor in 2007 it targeted a launch date of 2012. It is now eyeing 2022.
Presented by Jean-Martin Folz, ex-boss of car-maker PSA, Monday’s audit report highlighted a loss of competence at EDF and slammed the company for lacking a “culture of quality.”
Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said the report underscored “an unacceptable lack of rigour” at EDF.
He ordered the company to put in place an action plan within a month to bring its nuclear project to the “highest levels”.
EDF chief executive Jean-Bernard Levy, at the same press conference, said he accepted the findings and vowed the company would “redouble its efforts” to boost skill levels.
Folz said that in spite of the problems, the EPR project has successfully demonstrated the “relevance” of the new technology.
– Frustration –
The EDF’s board a few months ago discussed abandoning the Flamanville project but the French state still supports the build despite frustration with the delays.
The project was meant to showcase the third-generation EPR reactor technology that EDF has sold to Britain and Finland.
In September, EDF announced that an EPR reactor it is building on Britain’s south coast would also be delayed, and cost between 1.9 and 2.9 billion pounds ($2.4-3.7 billion) more than initially estimated.
A similar EPR third generation nuclear power plant project in Olkiluoto in Finland is now 10 years behind the initial schedule.
The government acknowledges the delays risk severely denting France’s international reputation as a reliable provider of nuclear energy technology.
Folz said EDF would need to embark on a massive investment and recruitment drive, which was only possible if the government commits to “stable, long-term programmes for the construction of new reactors and the maintenance of the existing fleet.”
The state is considering building more reactors but Environment Minister Elisabeth Borne insisted Monday a decision cannot be taken before EDF has demonstrated the effective running of the EPR.
France relies on nuclear power for 72 percent of its electricity needs. The government wants to reduce this to 50 percent by 2035 by developing more renewable energy sources.
The government has said it would shut 14 of 58 reactors, spread across 19 power plants, by 2035.
But France, by far the country most reliant on nuclear energy, has no intention of phasing this source out altogether, like Germany.
The nuclear sector provides jobs for nearly a quarter of a million people.
Two reactors in Fassenheim in the east of the country are still online despite a 40-year lifespan that expired two years ago.
Last year, a parliamentary report highlighted failings in the safety and defences of the country’s nuclear plants, citing a series of shutdowns at sites around the country.”
https://www.france24.com/en/20191028-audit-raps-french-energy-giant-edf-over-nuclear-project
“Surge in voter registration applications as Boris Johnson pushes for December general election”
“Nearly 60 per cent of applications were from people aged 34 and under 34. …”
Are you one one of them? If not register at:
https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
East Devon Watch 