Save Our Sidmouth

Category Archives: Sidford Fields – AONB or business park?


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Planning applications imminent, for Knowle, and for Sidford employment site.

SOS Chair, Richard Thurlow has the following message for Sid Valley residents:

“We understand that Pegasus has submitted the planning application for the Knowle. This is being validated at the moment by EDDC to see whether they have conformed to all Planning requirements for submission.
As soon as we learn that the planning application is in the public domain, we will advise you of this.
We would urge all concerned residents to consider the plans and comment accordingly.

Also, we believe that Fords are on the point of submitting a planning application for construction on the Employment land at Sidford, despite the overwhelming objections by the public. We will advise when the planning application is available for comment.”


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Public servant at centre of ‘remarkable event’ should ‘consider his position’

The conduct and comments of EDDC’s most senior officer at last week’s Extra Ordinary Council Meeting, continue to cause shock waves in the press.
The letter copied below, from Save Our Sidmouth member, Robert Crick, appears in Pullman’s View from Sidmouth (9th February, 2016).

‘On behalf of the Save Our Sidmouth campaign our widely respected neighbour Richard Eley read a short statement during public questions before last Thursday’s District Council meeting. The statement expressed regret at the problems the Local Plan process had caused over the past few years, and reminded members that residents regarded the proposal to build an industrial estate on the Sidford Flood Plain as an act of folly.

Mr Eley then stated that since this process has now come to an end, Save Our Sidmouth recommends a fresh start to rebuild trust between the authority and the town of Sidmouth.

After putting their questions, members of the public then witnessed a remarkable event.

A non-elected public servant appropriated elected councillors’ speaking privileges by rounding on the people of Sidmouth. He angrily blamed us for having delayed the process by daring to question the Council’s original proposals. He then denounced Mr Eley personally, claiming he had called Inspector Thickett “an idiot”.

Challenged by the meeting, he refused to acknowledge that he had misrepresented Mr Eley’s words. When forced to admit his error, he absolutely refused to apologise.

Councillor Stuart Hughes, Chair of the Council, finally gave a dignified apology, which allowed the elected members to proceed and adopt the Local Plan.

It was evident to all that the paid official has a deep-rooted and obsessive personal animosity to the town and people of the Sid valley, which must surely disqualify him from a continuing role as a servant of East Devon. Perhaps it is time for him to consider his position. ‘


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Local Plan “a deeply flawed document”?

Evidence was offered to the EDDC Extra Ordinary Meeting (28 Jan 2016), by SOS member, Jeremy Woodward, in the following speech:

‘Mr Chairman,
Would you not agree that the Local Plan which you and your colleagues are being asked to adopt is in fact a deeply flawed document?

As an illustration, if I might quote from the submission made by the Vision Group for Sidmouth to the Local Plan on 8th June 2012.

I begin:
“The influence of the East Devon Business Forum on proposals for employment land and housing in the draft Local Plan should be considered. In January 2007, a Sub-Committee was established by the Forum to consider ‘amending the Atkins report’:

To refer to the
“Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the East Devon Business Forum on 25 January 2007

“Atkins Report:

“Graham Brown reported that he had attended a meeting with the Corporate Director – Environment to discuss the preliminary findings of the Atkins Report. The findings included the conclusion that East Devon did not need as much employment land as [the] East Devon Business Forum had recommended. Forum members discussed how the findings of the Atkins Report would be amended as they were not in step with East Devon’s needs.

“A Sub Committee of the Business Forum would need to investigate employment land availability, where there was potential for growth and where the business community would like to see development take place.”

End of minutes.

It appears that a group of business people comprising this Forum reviewed the publicly-funded [independent] Atkins Report and then determined that the employment land provisions were insufficient; they subsequently proceeded to derive their own projections, which the District Council then adopted as “evidence” for the increased employment land figure which ensued:

To refer to the
“Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the East Devon Business Forum on 31 January 2008 [a year later]

“Update on Employment Land Issues:

“Members noted that the work the Business Forum had done on the Atkins Report had made an enormous difference to the final report prepared by the Employment Land Issues Task and Finish Forum. This had been accepted by the Executive Board. The report was now being used by the Development Control Committee as a base when considering planning applications for employment land.”

End of quote.

Again, Mr Chairman, would you not acknowledge that the Local Plan is a deeply flawed document?

Because, if we chose to take the Council’s own calculations of one new home to one new job, this deliberate inflation of employment land undermines fundamentally the housing figures proposed in the Local Plan.

Thank you.