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15 Jul 2015

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Democracy, EDDC, Freedom of Information Act, Transparency

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EDDC Freedom of Information overload: it’s all the fault of heir hunters!

It’s Happy-Clappy Midweek Herald day again – all the local good news (apart from shed burglaries) until we get to page 25. There we find a story that EDDC wants to recruit an extra officer to deal with Freedom of Information requests.

Yes, you might think, they certainly need one after two high-profile run-ins with the Information Commissioner recently, one of which led to EDDC appearing in court (in a case which they lost) and one which criticised them for not offering basic guidance on what was needed for them to comply with a request. Both cases involved serious questions about relocation from the Knowle.

But no, it isn’t planning issues (which, from the whatdotheyknow website form a large part of their enquiries), it’s:

companies asking questions about council contracts

and

heir hunters asking about public burials and next of kin!

Now, this raises a fair few questions.

Why are there so many requests from companies asking about council contracts? We know from Information Commissioner v EDDC that the general public are certainly not allowed to see contracts – commercial confidentiality is always cited as the reason not to provide information. But it seems that companies may be getting information we don’t get.

And surely heir-hunters are seeking information already in the public domain.

Whitewash, hogwash and brainwash – with all the washes being given a fast spin by EDDC’s poorly-named “Communications” Department.

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East Devon Watch

Posted on

14 Jul 2015

Posted under

EDDC, Mark Williams CEO EDDC, South Somerset

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1 Comment

Mark Williams to leave South Somerset by the end of this month?

Oddly, discussions on alternative arrangement have taken place only with Conservative and Independent councillors and this is on the council’s agenda for this Thursday:

” …the Leader and Deputy Leader together with the Conservative Group and Independent Group Leaders met with the Leader of EDDC to discuss the current situation and the resolution of Council. As a result of those discussions it has been agreed with EDDC, subject to approval by Council, that the existing agreement be terminated by mutual consent and that to reflect the fact that EDDC could have insisted upon being served 12 months’ notice by this Council from 1st October 2015 that the Council pay 6 months’ worth of the fees due to EDDC. This equates to a one-off payment of £42,124.87. In addition it has been jointly agreed that if approved by Council, termination should take effect from 31st July 2015.”

Click to access 8%20Council%20Report%20July%202015%20FINAL.pdf

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East Devon Watch

Posted on

14 Jul 2015

Posted under

Cranbrook

Just how big is Cranbrook going to get – two railway stations big!

http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/Second-station-planned-Cranbrook-despite-long/story-26898509-detail/story.html

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East Devon Watch

Posted on

14 Jul 2015

Posted under

Asset Management Group, EDDC, Transparency

“Clean, green and seen” or still “Pale, male, stale”?

Eight meetings advertised in the current Knowledge e-newspaper from EDDC. 5 of the meetings are secret – just as well Diviani didn’t give a “clean, green, seen” speech:
https://eastdevonwatch.org/2014/07/18/clean-green-seen-or-pale-male-stale-you-decide/

this time around!:
Manor Pavilion Steering Committee
Recycling and Refuse Board Partnership
Finance briefing for all councillors
Joint scrutiny event (East Devon, Exeter, Teignbridge)
Asset Management Forum
http://eastdevon.gov.uk/media/1214693/the-knowledge-10-july-2015-issue-9.pdf

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East Devon Watch

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14 Jul 2015

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Brownfield sites

Brownfield sites -where’s yours?

What are the brownfield sites in each locality that could – without too much trouble – be turned into housing sites? Anyone got any bright ideas?

Remember, it has to be accessible, remediable without too much money being spent (e.g. the Exmouth site that has millions of plastic bags under it) and able to support not just housing but to be in an area where schools, doctors, etc are not overloaded already.

EDDC has already identified Manstone Depot – anyone else see brownfield opportunities?

Developers prefer green field sites – they can build the expensive houses they want in the locations people want to buy in. How are we going to persuade them that there are brownfield sites that local people will welcome development on? Are there any?

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East Devon Watch

Posted on

13 Jul 2015

Posted under

Asset sweating, Seaton/ Colyford / Colyton

Extra parking in Seaton is a “cash cow for EDDC” says district councillor

A £250,000 project to add an overflow car park with 69 parking spaces has been approved despite opposition from some residents. …

… East Devon District Council’s (EDDC) development management committee said it is looking to reverse some of the losses caused by the creation of the Seaton Jurassic Centre.

“Seaton Town Council’s Jim Knight voiced his concerns in the planning officer’s report, calling the decision ‘unwanted and a cash cow for EDDC’.

He said: “There will be more congestion from all the new entrances being allowed on The Underfleet road with severe speeding problems and the loss of a very valued amenity and no proof that it is needed.”

Cllr Knight added that there would be a decrease in the quality of life in the area with the possible increase of noise and light pollution.”

http://www.midweekherald.co.uk/news/go_ahead_given_for_250_000_car_park_1_4150211

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East Devon Watch

Posted on

13 Jul 2015

Posted under

Asset sweating, Austerity cuts, Seaton/ Colyford / Colyton

Seaton wartime searchlight building renovation – a fortuitous coincidence

http://www.devon24.co.uk/news/seaton_s_searchlight_building_set_for_grand_unveiling_1_4151316

Lovely. The renovation wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that EDDC has put the building up for sale would it? No, just a coincidence.

Posted by

East Devon Watch

Posted on

13 Jul 2015

Posted under

Exmouth, Knowle/Honiton/Exmouth relocation

Comments

1 Comment

Exmouth slipway work postponed “because of mating birds”

Anyone find this story a bit odd? Did no-one realise that birds mate? And how come concern for mating birds in Exmouth and no concern for Horshoe Bats at Knowle?

And when the over-wintering birds have gone north, surely they are replaced by the over-summer birds from the south – and north!

You can tell that the owl is no ornithologist.

http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/Work-1m-slipway-Exmouth-postponed-avoid-upsetting/story-26891834-detail/story.html

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East Devon Watch

Posted on

13 Jul 2015

Posted under

Planning System

When roof extensions go bad

Londoners are to be given automatic planning permission to add roof extensions to their properties as long as other properties in the area have done so:

Source:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2418937/Lofty-conversion-Tycoon-ordered-pull-villas-built-poles-roof-factory-China.html

And this is what happens when it goes REALLY bad (yes, there is an apartment there):

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East Devon Watch

Posted on

13 Jul 2015

Posted under

Affordable and Social Housing, Planning System, Rural communities

Scrapping planning laws doesn’t speed up house building

…”Planning experts say that countries with zonal systems usually have quite tight constraints on, for example, the design and quality of what can be built on them; abolishing the need for planning permission, without putting something of the sort in place, risks merely constructing tomorrows slums. And more than a few brownfield sites are important for wildlife: two evocatively named species – the Streaked Bombadier Beetle and the Distinguished Jumping Spider – entirely depend on them. Ending the need for planning permission puts it at greater risk.” …

…”Big housing estates may be waved through by central government without locals having a say – something the coalition considered but then dropped as inconsistent with ‘localism’ – under plans to legislate to allow “major infrastructure projects with an element of housing” to be determined in Whitehall. And though the document proposes speeding up implementing or amending local plans, it looks as if councils without them (about half the total) will remain at the mercy of speculative builders wishing to put developments wherever they like.” …

…”Above all, however, the government assumes too easily that freeing up planning will get more houses built and that building more houses will necessarily bring down prices. Housebuilders often sit on land, while its value goes up, instead of developing it: at present they are holding enough land, with planning permission, for 400,000 homes, enough – even if built in a traditional terrace – to reach from London to Rome.

They also naturally prefer to build expensive homes than cheap ones and may well restrict supply to keep prices up. And supply and demand works differently in housing than many other markets; the relatively wealthy often buy second and third homes as investments or to rent, pricing out those who most need them.

So despite some improvements in today’s document, the Government still has a way to go in working out how really to tackle Britain’s scandalous housing crisis.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/11732373/Despite-some-positive-signs-the-Government-still-has-some-way-to-go-to-tackle-our-housing-crisis.html

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East Devon Watch

Posted on

13 Jul 2015

Posted under

AONB, Local Plan, Sidmouth/ Sidford/ Sidbury

Developers eye Sidmouth AONB

According to Sidmouth Herald story on their Twitter feed:

Bloor Homes has made a last-ditch bid to see its vision to transform 16 acres of farmland – outside of the town’s A3052 ‘boundary’ – included in a blueprint for the future of East Devon.

The firm has urged a government inspector to include three fields, situated between Sidmouth Garden Centre and Core Hill Road, in the latest draft of the district council’s Local Plan.

And in a separate move, Persimmon has called for its plot west of Woolbrook Road – which could accommodate more than 100 houses and a public transport hub – to be incorporated as well.

A concept layout of the Bloor Homes site submitted to East Devon District Council (EDDC) shows provision for around 100 dwellings – as well as allotments, an orchard and a play area.

The developer has argued that EDDC’s current growth target of 150 homes for Sidmouth over the next 16 years is insufficient to meet the town’s needs.

Consultants acting for the firm say that housing on their site would ‘contribute towards the delivery of much-needed housing for Sidmouth’.

They say failing to provide the right type and quantity of new homes could lead to an ‘imbalanced community’ if young people are forced to look outside of the town for somewhere to live.

The land in question neighbours Sidmouth Garden Centre, but owner of the business Ian Barlow – who has previously championed the idea of an eco-friendly business park on the plot – said the proposed housing scheme was nothing to do with him as he does not own the site.

Mr Barlow said: “I have disagreed, and still disagree with building homes on that side of the road. I think the A3052 would have been a nice boundary to defend the AONB.

“There are other sites in the town that would be much more suitable.”

The submission by Bloor Homes will be considered by planning inspector Anthony Thickett.

http://www.sidmouthherald.co.uk/news/developer_targets_16_acres_of_aonb_1_4145733?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

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East Devon Watch

Posted on

12 Jul 2015

Posted under

Axminster, NHS (local), Ottery St Mary, Seaton/ Colyford / Colyton, Sidmouth/ Sidford/ Sidbury

Demonstration against Ottery and Axminster hospital closures

Claire Wright’s blog:

There will be a placard demonstration at

12.30pm on Thursday 16 July,

outside Newcourt Community Centre, Exeter – map here – https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Newcourt+Community+Centre/@50.701755,-3.474879,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0xd9a1e2f62015b734

The Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group will meet at 1pm and will take a decision on whether to shut all the beds at Ottery and Axminster Hospitals, moving them to other local hospitals, as well as closing minor injuries units at Axminster, Ottery, Seaton and Sidmouth.

We are not allowed to speak during the meeting, although questions can be submitted in writing to staceyavery@nhs.net

For more see – http://www.claire-wright.org/index.php/post/the_last_battle._d_day_for_ottery_hospital_please_attend_this_meeting

This is our LAST CHANCE to be heard. Please come. And bring your friends. I would be grateful if you would drop me a line at claire@claire-wright.org if you plan on coming. Thanks very much.

http://www.claire-wright.org/index.php/post/demonstration_planned_for_last_battle_to_save_east_devon_hospital_beds_and

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East Devon Watch

Posted on

12 Jul 2015

Posted under

EDDC, Exeter City Council, Teignbridge

What is the legal status of the East Devon/Exeter/Teignbridge partnership?

It seems that the grouping of East Devon, Exeter and Teignbridge cannot call itself a combined authority, since this research briefing:

Click to access SN06649.pdf

says:

Currently, a combined authority cannot include only part of a county council (or other council) area. The Government has consulted on a change to this requirement, and issued a draft Legislative Reform Order in March 2015. ”

It goes on to say:

“To establish a combined authority, a local authority or authorities must carry out a ‘governance review’ which may recommend the establishment of a combined authority for their area, or including their area. They must publish a “scheme” for the creation of a combined authority. Publication of the scheme requires the consent of the local authority areas included in the scheme.

The Secretary of State must consult the authorities that would be covered by the combined authority, and must be satisfied that the establishment of a combined authority will contribute to economic development and transport policy in the area in question.1 There is also a requirement that:

(4) In making the order, the Secretary of State must have regard to the need—

(a) to reflect the identities and interests of local communities, and (b) to secure effective and convenient local government.2

Authorities may also be removed from the combined authority, or the combined authority may be abolished, again by statutory instrument. There is no power for public bodies other than local authorities to join a combined authority. ”

and then says:

“The 2009 Act provides that combined authorities may not include only part of a local authority within their area. Thus, they cannot include part but not all of a county council area. This is a potential obstacle for some of the current combined authority areas, as the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) associated with them cover wider ‘functional economic areas’. To circumvent this issue, the concept of ‘associate membership’ has been created. Hence the Sheffield City Region combined authority includes a number of district councils from north Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire as ‘associate members’.

…The Government issued a consultation in April 2014 on removing both these prohibitions on combined authorities via a Legislative Reform Order,6 and a subsequent consultation in December 2014. On 27 March 2015, a draft Order and explanatory note were published.7 The draft Order would remove both prohibitions noted above: on areas which are not geographically contiguous forming combined authorities, and on combined authorities including only part of a county council area. The Secretary of State would still have to be satisfied that the area of the proposed combined authority was a functional economic area, and s/he would be required to take into account the possible effects of establishing a combined authority on adjoining areas.8

Does anyone remember East Devon, Exeter and Teignbridge jumping through these hoops? If they did not are they allowed to combine and what is the legal status of such a combination? Especially its effect on adjoining authorities?

Posted by

East Devon Watch

Posted on

12 Jul 2015

Posted under

NHS (local)

Was YOUR cataract or hernia operation unnecessary? NHS supremo thinks so. And die at home to save the NHS more money

“As many as one in seven hospital procedures are unnecessary, leading to “profligate” waste in the health service, a senior NHS official has said. …

… 500 million a year could be saved by reducing the use of “low value” treatments and procedures such as cataract and hernia operations and tonsillectomies. Currently the NHS carries out more than 300,000 cataract operations a year at a cost of just over a quarter of a billion pounds a year, 79,000 hernia repairs at £147 million a year, and 52,000 tonsillectomies at £63 million. …

… £36 million a year could be saved if the NHS stopped over-treating patients dying of terminal illnesses such as cancer in hospitals. It would be better, and cheaper, for dying patients to receive expert palliative care outside of the hospital environment …”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/11733871/One-in-seven-treatments-not-necessary-warns-NHS-chief.html

So, if you can’t read or drive because of your cataracts, you can’t work because you have a hernia or you can’t die at home because there are no palliative nurses available – tough up!

IF some operations do not result in improvements, surely we should be training doctors to make better decisions with more care, not blaming them. Does anyone really think doctors offer these operations just to waste money?

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East Devon Watch

Posted on

11 Jul 2015

Posted under

Affordable and Social Housing, Brownfield sites

Osborne’s planning reforms risk creating ‘slums of the future’

… “Zoning is certainly not a panacea for speed,” says Janet Askew, president of the Royal Town Planning Institute, whose research has focused on regulatory systems in planning. “It is an incredibly complex process, with zonal plans undergoing convoluted discussions before they are agreed. The fact that land is zoned for housing doesn’t mean it goes through the planning system more quickly aht all.”

To Askew, introducing a zonal system makes little sense, because once land has been designated for housing in a local plan (which goes through a statutory consultation process), it will almost certainly get permission. “It simply threatens to remove power from the local authorities to negotiate over the crucial details of a scheme, in terms of mitigating what impacts it could have on the area,” she adds. “It completely flies in the face of localism.”

Kate Henderson, chief executive of the Town and Country Planning Association, agrees, arguing that granting automatic planning permission for housing schemes would “undermine any possibility for making good quality places where people want to live.”

“Our real concern is if you can’t have a conversation about things like internal space standards, accessibility and green space, we’re really risking creating slums of the future,” she says. “We appreciate the government wants to speed things up, but it shouldn’t just be about quantity but quality. If planning is deregulated any further, we’ll end up with places that we’re going to regret building.” …”

…”“What we really need is to rebuild the planning service,” says Henderson. “It is demoralised, deregulated and poorly resourced, which makes it challenging to make decisions quickly and efficiently. Rather than imposing harsher penalties, it should be about investing in skills.”

By prioritising his abstract dream of productivity over the reality of making decent places to live, Osborne risks ushering in a new generation of poorly planned and hastily built housing that will bring none of the community benefits the planning system is there to provide. Instead of relentlessly chipping away at local authorities (as a distraction from addressing the real obstacles to housing supply) he should be strengthening planners’ ability to plan – not to mention lifting the borrowing cap, reviving affordable housing grants and stopping developers squatting on empty land for years.”

http://gu.com/p/4ahhz?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

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East Devon Watch

Posted on

11 Jul 2015

Posted under

Affordable and Social Housing, AONB, EDDC, Local Plan, Natural England

Local Plan hearings

We can do no better than reproduce the report of Susie Bond, Feniton’s hard- working Independent councillor, from her blog:

“This week has been an extraordinarily important week for the whole of East Devon.

EDDC’s headquarters in Sidmouth hosted the hearing sessions for the Examination in Public of the Local Plan before Planning Inspector, Anthony Thickett. His role is to listen to evidence from all parties as to whether East Devon’s Local Plan is worthy of being found sound.

The importance of the Plan should not be underestimated. For years, East Devon has found itself floundering in a planning vacuum, reliant on the vagaries of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) to drive planning, so that development is currently happening right across the district in inappropriate locations that were not of the choosing of the electorate nor, on some occasions of the District Council itself.

In my own ward, three sites in Gittisham and Feniton (a total of 382 houses) are in the process of development.

Much has been written about the parlous state of planning under the previous and current Government which has allowed insufficient time for district councils to put a plan in place, but this week all that was put to one side as participants thrashed out the finer points of East Devon’s plan.

The Housing session focused on the very high levels of housing suggested … 950 houses per year proposed by EDDC (whose only masters are the electorate) against the ludicrous levels of housing proposed by the developers (whose only masters are their shareholders).

Part of the discussion in the Hearing session was on Strategy 27, which lists the most sustainable villages in East Devon (including Feniton) and proposes that development should happen only within their built-up area boundary (BUAB) and any development outside the BUAB should be decided according to a community-led Neighbourhood Plan (NP).

Feniton has been working on its NP for the best part of a year now, engaging in public consultation events and leafleting every household in the parish. Neighbourhood Plans are enshrined in the Localism Act of 2011 and are designed to allow communities to have their say about how they develop, not just in the matter of housing, but about every aspect of community life.

Groundhog Day

Discussions on housing numbers waged back and forth for an entire day and I had the distinct feeling of déjà vu. The same developers who argued for higher housing numbers in March 2014 at the first housing session for the Local Plan were back to exercise the same arguments.

It was all so predictable.

The session heard seemingly endless representations from developers who had options on various parcels of land to the effect that their site was in the most sustainable location in East Devon. We heard from the Crown Estates which has land in Axminster. Their representative expounded at length on four separate occasions that his site should go forward.

Land at Uplyme was put forward to help the good people in Lyme Regis on to the housing ladder.

Feniton was not named at all, but developers with interests in Feniton rounded on Strategy 27 saying villages where Neighbourhood Plans are being carried out will just “pull up the drawbridge” and refuse any further development.

The excellent Dr Margaret Hall of East Devon CPRE flew in at this point saying she knew of several Neighbourhood Plans where development was considered to be vital for the community.

Indeed, the whole point is that communities want to be in charge of where that development should happen and not have landowners and developers calling the shots.

Brickbats to Natural England

Woodbury common(2)Natural England took up an immense amount of time arguing at every turn about horseshoe bats, Pebblebed heaths and how they hadn’t been consulted on planning applications. Several of us sat there with our mouths agape and eyes agog at such a misrepresentation of the reality of planning in East Devon.

Trying to get Natural England to comment on the major planning application at Hayne Lane in Gittisham was something of a marathon. The site will have an effect on the setting of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and therefore merited comment from a consultee such as Natural England. After numerous phone calls, they finally agreed to comment last year having argued that they didn’t have time to comment on any applications unless they were actually within the AONB.

As one onlooker to proceedings pointed out they did not expect Natural England to be the stumbling block and nor, they thought, did the officers present. Meanwhile, one Government department is telling us to stop putting barriers up to planning and another is stopping us creating the blueprint for development because of bird protection and access for dog walkers!

The Planning Inspector was quite concerned that Natural England hadn’t been involved as a consultee in the entire process of drawing up the Local Plan. As he closed the hearing sessions, he suggested that Natural England’s representative, Laura Horner, shut herself in a darkened room with planners to resolve her concerns. He also asked for a detailed report from planners proving that EDDC has a 5-year land supply.

East Devon awaits his verdict with interest … and not a little trepidation.

https://susiebond.wordpress.com/

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