Monthly Archives: June 2013

My attention was drawn to this article published on the BBC Online website.

This is a simultaneously hilarious and sobering, account of a quite reasonable person who (quite reasonably) wanted to film a council meeting but was threatened with the police by councillors and officials because the council’s constitution had not yet been amended to allow such a thing to take place .....

Planning functions for the two government agencies responsible for looking after the environment may merge, it has been announced today.

Today’s Western Morning News publishes a story about a councillor at Newton Poppleford, who has been referred to the police, under new laws in the Localism Act.

Local press has already covered the story.

Enthusiastically pro-development planning minister, Nick Boles, got a justifiably tough time at the Campaign to Protect Rural England annual general meeting earlier this week, as he went along to try and convince them that they needed to allow large-scale building on greenfields.

New independent EDDC councillor, Susie Bond, has spoken publicly about her concern over councillors, who also act as planning agents.

The group that are moving forward plans for a cycleway in the Otter Valley, have launched an online petition for the scheme.

A fascinating and well researched article by Sidmouth’s Vision Group can be viewed by clicking on the link below.

In a meeting that could possibly have made the Guiness Book of Records for its speed this evening (it lasted half an hour!), a framework was agreed for examining the process by which the levels of employment land in the Local Plan, came into being - and the role played by East Devon Business Forum.

EDDC has called a special meeting of the development management committee (planning committee), to consider what are being described as “minor amendments” to the Local Plan.

East Devon District Council is set to consult its members on new national guidance, which advises against councillors acting as planning agents within their own authority area, even if they are not decision-makers on planning applications.

The missing link pavement scheme for West Hill moves a step closer next week, with confirmation that the scheme has been included in the Devon County Council transport plan.

Councillors came up with some proposals for altering public speaking rights at council meetings, at yesterday’s EDDC standards committee meeting.

A five point update has been posted on the Straitgate Action website, on where we are with the proposal to allocate Straitgate Farm, on the edge of Ottery St Mary, in Devon County Council’s minerals plan.