Save Our Sidmouth


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SOS to EDDC Councillors, re Skypark

Ahead of next week’s Full Council meeting, when Councillors will be asked to agree to the purchase of land at Skypark for a new Head Office to be built, this letter has been sent to all EDDC Councillors. It comes with full details of why the Knowle relocation is unsound, in the accompanying attachment (See link given below, SOS to EDDC Councillors):

Dear Councillors,

I would ask for a moment of your time to read this email and the enclosure as it relates to the one of the most important decisions that you will soon have to make. Your decision will affect the District for as long as it is in existence.

You have a full council meeting on the 26th February at which you will asked to approve the Cabinet decision to move to Skypark in the extreme west of the District.

I believe that you ought to consider the underlying assumptions and the effects of moving most carefully, for, as you know any decisions that you make, you will be accountable for as Councillors.

EDDC made the decision to move away from Knowle without a full investigation of all the options. It is clear that the choice to move was made on emotional grounds rather than on merit and without a full understanding of the fundamental considerations.. This is outlined on the attachment. Do please read it.

Cabinet has now created further complications by deciding to move to Skypark. This they have done on no financial or other grounds that have been disclosed . The only costs or considerations given in the minutes of the Cabinet meeting are that the cost of the site at Skypark will cost £1m exc VAT.

Leaving aside for one moment that we believe that the planned move from the Knowle should not go ahead as it is financially flawed, exceptionally risky in these difficult economic times and detrimental to employees and the town of Sidmouth, we fail to understand any rationale for the choice of Skypark..

It is not a “central” location as been one of the asserted objectives of the Council,
It has no supporting infrastructure for the convenience of staff or the public.
The location came last, (21%) as a choice of location, for staff polled recently by EDDC,
It will create great difficulties for travelling for EDDC staff from their current residential locations,
There is a great danger that, over a period of time the location will attract employees resident in Exeter and westwards, to the detriment of District residents currently employed.
The decision belies common sense. There is absolutely NO rationale for incurring costs of perhaps £15m at this time, even though the sale of “family silver” might raise sufficient sums to fund the move.

You, as Councillors responsible for the financial and economic well being of the District, should take a long hard look at the costs and reasons for the move and its destination. If you feel that you cannot vote against the motion for party reasons, you should at least consider abstaining.

Richard Thurlow

Chair SOS,

Chair SVA Conservation and Planning

Click here for “a long hard look” at the relocation plan, costs, and repercussions : SOS to EDDCCouncillors (Feb 2 2014)


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Unreliable statistics again, from EDDC?

Has East Devon District Council miscalculated once again? The 13,000 per annum figure (quoted on Radio Devon last week by Council Leader, Paul Diviani) for the number of visitors to the Knowle, seems remarkably low.
If the Knowle is open for 250 days a year, then this would equate to 52 visitors per day, that is, one every ten minutes, or just six per hour. In reality, there is almost always someone waiting at reception. The actual number is likely to be far greater than 13,000, so where did that figure come from? Was it derived solely from people signing in at the front desk? Does it include the many who don’t sign in; those members of the public who attend meetings; and attendances at private events?
Should the estimate be at least four times the 13,000 figure? Erroneous statistics were given at the time of the Knowle planning application. Is the same happening again?

Councillors and others will certainly want to get to the bottom of this, and to thoroughly check the reliability of other Knowle relocation figures, before any further steps are taken.

Big questions will be asked at the Full Council meeting (26 February, 6.30 p.m at Knowle)..which is expected to be …full!


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Call for call-in of Cabinet’s decision to move to Skypark

The following e-mail, dated 14 February 2014, has been sent to Overview and Scrutiny Committee Chair, Tim Wood, by Peter Whitfield of Save our Sidmouth. It is published here with Mr Whitfield’s permission:

Councillor,

As chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee you will be aware of the dismissive attitude of some senior council members towards the strongly expressed motions passed at the 30 January OSC meeting in relation to the relocation project.

We are told that the next full council meeting on Wednesday week will consider the Cabinet’s motion to relocate to Skypark, although the agenda has not yet been published. We do not therefore know whether your motions will appear on that agenda or, if they do, whether they will be put ahead of the Cabinet recommendation.

As it is apparently standard procedure for your minutes to be passed by Cabinet before becoming valid and it will not be meeting again before 26th Feb it seems possible that that may be used as an excuse for excluding your motions.

If that should happen can I ask that you consider calling an emergency meeting of your committee to call in the Cabinet’s decision as your published remit allows and thus prevent a premature decision being pushed through by the leadership in the face of much public bemusement by the Skypark location, and the lack of any published evidence as to why it was the best option as the decision was taken in a Part B session.

You are the public’s primary bulwark against ill advised or otherwise dubious decisions made by other arms of the council and we ask that you stand up for us on this issue.

Thank you

Peter Whitfield
Sidmouth