So what about open and democratic councils ?" Is the council fit for purpose or are the councilors negligent?"

Having asked a question under the freedom of information act I have had a reply to say firstly that the clerk is away until 30th October which I already knew but that is followed by a statement that he will be sending me a "bill" for the costs of getting the information together i have asked for information about how the budgets are set out not as ball park numbers but to give an accurate indication of what the council intends to spend our taxes on. this bill will be based on £25 an hour plus any postage photocopies etc. How on earth in these times can this be justified/ it should be evident that when preparing the draft budgets all of the figures are recorded so that a true cost can be forecast or has this been done on the back of the proverbial fag packet?
What this has proved to me is that again there is evidence that the Town council is falling down on its duties which begs the question" Is the council fit for purpose or are  the councilors negligent?"

Full time Town clerk?

Exmouth employs a full time town Clerk, or do they? he is away from his post again and not back until 30 October. it looks as if this person has more holidays than you can shake a stick at.
 If he is not needed for so much of the time then exactly why do we need to employ him as a full timer anyhow? There is a requirement for a clerk but he or she is not required to be full time. Many Parish councils manage with a clerk who is part time, and many of whom are shared between nearby councils to save money. I wonder what a question at the next full council meeting will flush out?

Town council open meetings?

have any of you out there noticed the trend for the Town council to hold special meetings to discuss things which become important? the latest was the special meeting that was convened to debate the impending closure of the TIC located in Travel world. Why this is happening is a great concern to anyone who treasures freedom of speech and democracy. All council meetings are supposed by law to be held in the evening after 6  pm if it is a parish council (which Exmouth is) so that there ks an open and democratic process that can bee seen to work by the public who are able to attend.
Simply put the town council is stopping the public from seeing democracy at work and is creating a sense of distrust in their workings,

How to NOT run the local finances

Our Town Council has at its last meeting been investigating just how the local taxpayers can be ripped off even more than they now are. Rather than taking a hard look at what they do and see if savings can be made the debate was centred almost entirely upon how much the precept could be raised next year, not with improvements to services in mind but because the Exmouth precept is the lowest in East Devon. something that when I served the people on the Town Council we were very proud of because it showed just how much we cared about the people and just how carefull we were with the public purse. Not that there was any shortage of costly functions which we undertook.  Some I must include and liost here.
Grant funding local organisations
grant funding the Visitor centre
grant funding the TIC
Grant funding the CIB
Grant funding the Community bus service.
Grant funding evening bus services in the town
Grant funding for the new shelters on the railway station
Grant funding new bus shelters on the Parade In Exeter Road and Salterton Road.
Grant funding repairs and refurbishments to all the other council owned bus shelters in Exmouth including relocating those no longer used
Grant funding the water sports centre
starting the Exmouth festival as a MUSIC AND ARTS festival
Employing a festival organiser.
Starting Town management partnership and employing a Town Manager who was also the part time deputy Town clerk
Budgeting for an extended Town management partnership with a full time manger and an assistant manager
Budgeting to take over some of the functions that EDDC said they could no longer afford ( toilets and flowers with some extra street cleaning.
Take over the administration of the Gorfin Hall and pay for it to be updated with new windows kitchen units etc.
Take over the reception area in the town hall when EDDC resolved to close it after relocating local services to Street Scene office at Camperdown depot

I have been very poorly of late but am back now feeling far better and will be able to get on with spilling the news as soon as it breaks.

Does Exmouth want or need another Supermarket?

There is a long standing plan by East Devon District council (EDDC) to build another supermarket on the Estuary side. This time the project would be to use the current rugby ground after relocating Exmouth Rugby Club to another site out of the town centre. Not wishing to prevent the club from moving I will not comment on that but do feel it will not be a great benefit to them in the long run. The whole question of another supermarket in the town would look to be based on a flawed assumption that the buyers would use the opportunity to make linked trips to other shops so increasing trade generally. I and many others very much doubt this and feel that the main reason for promoting the scheme is purely a financial one. EDDC will get a lot of cash for releasing the ground for development which they can use (squander) on other poorly thought out schemes which the public do not have an appetite for.

If there is a need to have another supermarket should it not be built on the edge of town or at least nearer to the centre of population? This would mean having a store either on the western end of the existing Dinan way or on the employment land in pound lane. Either of those would put a store near to where people live and also cut the over use of the Satlerton Road Tesco store although why we should worry too much about the business success of that company I just cannot see .The advantage of a Dinan way store would be to cut the lorry traffic into the town centre and would stop the need for lorries to go through residential streets to get to Pound Lane, but either would allow a better shopping experience for the locals than having to drive into the Town with the cost of fuel and parking to be added to the shopping bill

It is not too late for everyone to register their interest and opinion.
If we all pull together then it is very possible that any proposals can be overturned before they start remember the ASDA fight a few years ago public opinion stopped that store so we can do it again if we stand together.

Please comment so that we can see how much  the people either do or simply do not want this to happen

Christmas cracker and the road closure details

Christmas Cracker 2013 – Road Closure

Great news!  We are delighted to announce that the Christmas Cracker, this year will be on Saturday 7th December, 2.00pm to 10.00pm with an illuminated night market and vintage Christmas theme.

Full details will be released through the local press but this year’s event has been significantly increased on last year.  Feedback from traders and the Town Team about what could have been done better has been factored into the overall event and part of this is to provide an improved link between the Strand, Rolle Street and the Magnolia Centre.

The section of Rolle Street between the Parade/Rolle Street round-about to the junction with Rolle Street/Church Street will be closed.  The road will be closed from mid-day until mid-night on Saturday 7th December.  

This will have an effect on the movement of deliveries and staff traffic during this time which we hope, given advance notice can be factored into your plans.  The London Inn car park via Church Street will remain open and a full diversion in place.  Please take this into account when planning any deliveries.  We ask that no large deliveries should be planned after 10.30am to ensure vehicles can unload and clear the site without problem.  When the road is closed it will be impossible for vehicles to move about in the designated area.  

To discuss this further or for more information please contact me at the Town Hall on 276167 or e-mail tmassistant@exmouth.gov.uk

We hope that the plans for this year will provide a significant boost to the late night shopping here in Exmouth by bringing many more people into their Town Centre and we ask that you make the most of this opportunity by opening late and embracing the event.

Regards

Suzanne Birkett

Town Management Project Officer

maybe East Devon councils are not so bad after all?

One North Devon Parish Council has realy upped the anti with regard to being stupid/ arrogant/ unelectable?
They have produced a Neighbourhood plan that would even have East Devon District Council hiding inshame. Read about it at the following link.

http://www.northdevongazette.co.uk/news/council_admits_it_made_a_mistake_over_village_boundary_plans_1_2208791

Volunteers needed

The council are looking to recruit a number of volunteer co-coordinators in Exmouth so that in the event of an emergency there are people who have local knowledge which the emergency services can link into. This is intended as an extension of the work already done by the flood-watch and snow teams, so if there are any of you who may be interested then first contact the Exmouth Town Clerk . Contact details can be found by visiting the website, or call into the Town hall and speak to him directly.
exmouth.gov.uk

devious Town councillors

there has been some considerable conflict in the Town hall over the eviction of the public from the Town councill meeting on 23rd September in order that wto items could be debated in in camera (part B) gthe fisrt was on the agenda as item14 and was to recieve the report from the arts Offgcer, but the second item was to debate and comment upon the laterst option that te County council are offering as the bus shelter on the strand. i have made a complaint about the proceedure over these matters to EDDC monitoring officer as i believe that the actions of the Council and the clerk have brought the Council into disrepute. several e-mails ahave been excvhanged with the clerrk over this but he has simply brushed all comments and complaints aside quoting irrelevant regulations ans some sections of the various laws regarding the actions and responsibilities of the council. I have pasted the content of my complaint below so that all can read what exactly I have said. asd things unravel i will keep this page updated so please follow the thread.

Complaint to EDDC Monotoring officer made 3/10/2013

That by the actions of the Town Clerk and the chairman (Mayor) Exmouth Town Council at its meeting on September 23rd brought the Council into disrepute Clerk inserted an item into the published agenda the be taken in part b which was a request for a matter to be consulted upon prior to an application to place a bus shelter on the Strand Exmouth. this has been a hotly debated matter for months getting on for years and the residents by a big majority in a survey conducted by the Town Council resolved that they only wished for a bus shelter to be built there, the ruling group at the Council however have made it quite clear that they wish for more, a covered  area that couild be used as a performance stage 
I believe tht by the actions of the two whom I haver inmdicated Exmouth town Council has brought itself into disrepute and that although the other councillors could have rescued the situation they in ngeneral by their inaction have subscribed to the chrge of disrepute being made against the council as a whole.seating area with removable seats to allow for a temporary performing stage to be used. the debate being held in part B effectively removed the opportunity for the public to see and hear the democratic debate and they have been denied the transparency that they deserve in all matters appertaining to their home town
At the same meeting also taken in part b a report was received and a debate followed on the arrangements for the Town Council managed, public funded Exmouth festival 2014. Again no member of the public has been allowed to see and hear rhe debate nor has in either case a minute of the item been made availble to the public although the local press have been able to make  a front page statement and another report on page 7 (Exmouth Journal 3/10/13)
i have had an e-mail exchange with the Town Clerk on this matter but he has effectivly brushed me off and I am not in antcipation of any more action by him