Save Our Sidmouth

Category Archives: EDDC


by 3 Comments

Time’s ticking away for Knowle: Why we should stop the clock.

The summary below is not comprehensive. It is intended as a guide to some serious concerns, and a reminder that the  public consultation on the Knowle Planning Application, ends at midday next Friday, 1st February (details on Dates for your diary, at http://sidmouthindependentnews.wordpress.com . Also on our own website, Jan 17 post. ) Please refer to DOCUMENTS page here,  for official responses.

KNOWLE’s GOOD for Sidmouth:
e.g.
It’s got parking places for weekend shoppers
Has bats and beasties ….Is part of the town’s green corridor
Acts as a soakaway, avoiding more flooding problems
Is Sidmouth’s biggest employer, with well-paid jobs
Has historic parkland, including Old Monty, the UK’s  broadest Monterey pine.

EDDC’s KNOWLE Plans are BAD for Sid Valley, and East Devon:
e.g.
New build Council HQ at Honiton could cost ratepayers a fortune, and soon be a white elephant.
Relocation means job losses in town, helping create artificial need to build business park on Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty at Sidford, on a floodplain
Trained staff are not locally available for the proposed 60-bed care home.
Affordable homes are a greater local priority than the planned luxury homes, which will inevitably attract older buyers,  adding to pressure on local health services.

Information on most of these topics can be found in the SIN blog archive http://sidmouthindependentnews.wordpress.com

Some relevant dates are:  Dec 8th; 18th ; Oct 19th (2 posts), 26th , 31st ; Nov 6th, 12th  (3 posts),17th ,23rd and 24th.

Items in our Knowle Watch category might also be helpful..e.g. Jan 8th , ‘True reasons…’


by Leave a comment

Time’s ticking away for Knowle: Green Corridors

Only 8 days are left for the public to send their comments (for the 4th time now!!) on EDDC’s latest revised Plans for Knowle. (For details, see 17 Jan post on this website, or Diary Dates at http://sidmouthindependentnews.wordpress.com or EDDC website).

A series of  Time’s ticking away posts will be added here in the coming week, with some of the Knowle issues, in no particular order.  ( Knowle Watch in our categories column, might also be helpful. It’s to the right of this page.)

Green Corridors is the first of these:

EDDC seek to damage the image of Sidmouth as a tourism destination.

A most attractive aspect of Sidmouth is the way in which the townscape respectfully engages with its spectacular natural setting.

Previous custodians have cherished the resort treasuring the fine balance of buildings and landscape trying to conserve it for the delight of future generations.

It is a major reason why the SVA has been fighting for over 160 years or so to protect our green and pleasant land.

Its green wedges have purposefully been established to preserve this harmonious co-existence between the man made and nature.

Some of the wedges follow the valleys and streams creating ancient ecological corridors for creatures and plants to pass through and spread.

EDDC plans, to eradicate fauna and concrete the green wedge linking the Knowle Park to AONB land at the Manor ,will choke an important eco-corridor leading to the heart of the resort.

Ignoring the wisdom of their forefathers the self-serving EDDC cabinet members (none of whom have a ward in Sidmouth) seek to despoil Sid Vale and destroy its fragile biodiversity.

SidmouthGreenWedge2

Information and picture supplied by Graham Cooper


by Leave a comment

Minutes Manipulation at EDDC?

….Or just another EDDC error?

Tony Green writes:

‘The chief executive’s letter* (22 Jan 2013)  claims that critics of the Business Forum were obsessing over its influence on the Local Plan. Not true – it’s much wider than that!

But, Mark Williams’  emphasis on the Local Plan may explain a suspected case of ‘minutes manipulation’ in the minutes of the December 11th 2012 meeting as published by EDDC.

They record me as saying:

“Tony Green a Sidmouth Resident stated that he had produced a paper on a review of the EDBF minutes. He was concerned that the TAFF’s scope excluded 2 of the key concerns, regarding the Local Plan and planning permissions”

Here’s what I actually said:

“Unfortunately the draft scope for the TAFF excludes two key concerns in that paper:
That the Forum had an undue influence on planning policy in East Devon.
That its legal status is so confused it risks seriously compromising the councillors and officers involved with it.” 

 

Postscript from SOS : *For the full correspondence, go to  http://sidmouthindependentnews.wordpress.com  23 Jan Whitewash?/Hogwash?/ It’s up to you to decide…