Oh dear I went to a EDDC meeting (YAWN)

Yes true I went along to speak to the council about the probable loss of footfall in Sidmouth with the subsequential loss of trade in nthe town if EDDC relocate to Sky Park. i was one of many who spoke against the move but I hold little hope that we will be even considered as anything but a neusance by the Councillors The meeting was a very long drawn out affair that was rminiscent of the Dibley Parish council but run by Dad's army with Cpl Jones in the chair Even the Councillors failed at times to keep up with the meeting indeed when a recorded vote on the budget for the coming year was taking place one of the members was so fast asleep that he had to be prodded to briong him back in order to vote for the motion whatever it was he obviously had no idea of what had been said and so must have voted the way that he had been  programmed pre meeting.
Oh my what a way to run a Council, the ability to sleep though a debate and still vote the right way must bring some browny points at leas for representing the elctors asnd defending their interests so wellt!
I was so bored that I left long before the end after 2 1/2 hours I needed to get away ito some sort of fresh air and to redeem my sanity. i shant be going there again in a hurry but next monday at the Town hall Exmouth the regen and gp committee will be considering the motion that was removed from the council agenda last week to adopt thye structure on nthe Strand I have already had som econversations with Councillors about this and there is another cahnge of their stance It is no longer to keep people dry rather the structure is to protect the electrics and eencillors say that the 80 grqnd is earmarked for exmouth and it must be spent here or it goes to Honiton or somewhere like that Wy is this so important after all we are in recession and money spent in one place provided it is not frittered away is not detrimental to another where the project for which it would have been spent is not wanted by the public! Far better use for any money would be to us it as apothole filler here in Exmouth or to refill the youth fundacross East Devon, which is being slashed by DCC.

sorry I have been missing

With all of the toing and froing to the Hospital this blog has been neglected of late Now that it looks as if I am stabilized no doubt I can find a little more time and energy to get more posting done One of my big problems has been that medication makes me feel like death warmed up, I couldn't stay awake and completely out of touch with reality Now that the tablet dose is being reduced with a bit of luck it will all reset itself quickly I HOPE.
In the meantime there is to be an information fair on the Strand on Easter saturday from 10 to 5,30 local organisations are invited to set up a stall to pass on infgo or raise funds for their own organisations There will be a ban on any sales of food or drink that are to be consumed as soon as sold to safeguard local businesses.So far I can tell you that there are the following organisations in attendance Force cancer Charity, friends of Yarty (ELF) Exmouth and Lympstone Hospice care, National transplant register (Organ donors) Some of the Farmers market stall holders are expected to come as well as the scouts guides etc All day kink music will be provided by Bay fm.

Elizabeth hall to Premier Inn WHAT INN?

A request for information made by a local resident under the Freedom of information act through www. whrt do they know .com has come back with a funny reply which you can see via the link provided https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/elizabeth_hall_site_exmouth#incoming-331496

It is surprising to find that after all the agro EDDC have allowed Whitbread PLC. (Owners of Premier Inns) to take control of the Hall site and demolish the building without having been paid for it. strikes me as another instance of poor management and like the old swimming pool quite likely to still be hanging about for years to come. So much for the iconic development that we need on the Sea front!
What if Whitbread decide that it is too costly to build on the site because of the sand on which they will have to put their building Will EDDc build or have built a replacement hall or will the site be re advertised and sold to the highest bidder who may well or probably will be a residential developer with whom they are friends?

next Town Council meeting to consider the budget and set the precept for thew next Year.

 aper to the councillors setting out three options Option1 is the only acceptable one as it propses a standstill precept although because of the increase in property numbers and values there will be rise in the amount of local (precept) tax raised.
option2 is a slightly greater precept proposal but again is not acceptable in the financial climate which exists in the town and country in general Option 3 is an outlandish proposal to lift the precept by a very large amount in order to bring the purchasing power back to where it was some time ago.
There is no supporting paperwork which shows any justification for the budget headings in the proposals which indicates a view that money is being raised for the sake of it and with a view to satisfy the idea that many councillors have ("If we raise the precept we can do more")
But what more? Surely the people must be asked what they want rather than to be told what they are going to have(get)
I made  a freedom of information request to get a breakdown of the budget proposals but it was refused because the clerk said that the document doesn't exist!Apparently this is not true as is explained in the minutes of the last Council meeting because at the time that the information was requested the paper was still in draft form and having approved the budget it is now a definative document which is so I am told is available to be seen by the public!

---