On 18th March  Cllr Phil Twiss, Whip of the Tory Group of EDDC councillors, sent them an email criticising Tony Green’s paper Planning in East Devon and the East Devon Business Forum which was sent to all councillors in October last year.
Tony Green has replied to Cllr Twiss in an open letter., a copy of which can be viewed in a post today at http://sidmouthindependentnews.wordpress.com .

Councillor Twiss’s e-mail can be read here:  Comments re Tony Green paper 16th March 2013

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) regulations will take effect in just eight days’ time (Weds 27th March), for all local authorities who do not have a 5-year Land Supply in place. This includes East Devon District Council.

A reminder of the consequences, and that all opponents are not simply Nimbys, is in this Telegraph article:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/greenpolitics/planning/9797252/Nimby-fight-of-planning-ministers-parents.html

The village of Talaton, mentioned at the above link, is just two or three miles from Feniton, another village under threat from developers. (Various parts of Feniton are in the Ward of MPs Neil Parish; disgraced former Councillor Graham Brown, and Hugo Swire, respectively.)

The Black Wednesday for the Countryside protest march at Feniton this Saturday (23/03), calls for a delay to the NPPF deadline, to allow more time for Councils to prepare their 5- year plans.

Organisers, the newly-formed East Devon Alliance (a non-party-political pressure group uniting the seven towns and villages across the district) expect a large attendance. Save our Sidmouth will represent just one of the many local groups who see a better future for East Devon than despoliation by, effectively,  a ‘developers’ charter’.

Protesters are asked to wear black. Details of the march are here: feniton-march-poster 23.03.13