East Devon Alliance: CEILIDH: Saturday 26th October

Mischief and Mayhem will be playing at Sidford Social Hall later this month:

Mischief and Mayhem are a 3 piece ceilidh band based in East Devon. We perform with a caller who will lead you gently through the dances and when the dancers need a rest we enjoy playing tunes and singing songs. Mischief and Mayhem are available for weddings, parties, barndances, ceilidhs etc.
HOME - Mischief and Mayhem

East Devon Alliance
.
.
.

East Devon Business Group: disbanded

This appeared in today's Express & Echo:

Re-branded East Devon Business Forum disbands after councillor row

By Exeter Express and Echo

Friday, October 04, 2013

A heavily criticised business collective in East Devon has disbanded, six months after its disgraced chairman resigned and after members deemed its objectives “unviable”.

In July, the East Devon Business Forum announced that it had re-launched in a bid to make a “fresh start” and the first meeting of the East Devon Business Group took place.

1. ​
   Graham Brown

But a subsequent meeting to appoint a chairman was cancelled and instead, following a series of meetings over the summer, business community members resolved to disband the group.

The forum was initially set up to “improve communication” between businesses and East Devon District Council, to meet and agree “so far as possible” a common approach. But the forum’s relationship with the council was criticised by residents and councillors throughout the district due to the perception it had “significant influence over how much land is developed in the area”.

A Task And Finish Forum was set up to look into the workings of the forum, branded a “lobby group for developers”, and its relationship with the council.

In March, [East Devon Business] Forum chairman and Feniton and Buckerell councillor Graham Brown resigned both posts after he was caught on camera boasting that he could secure planning permission in his role as a planning consultant. It is not illegal for councillors to work as paid consultants but Mr Brown subsequently became the subject of a police investigation into whether he had committed a criminal offence.

Previously the group received about £5,200 of officer support from the district council, which was withdrawn by council chief executive Mark Williams after the revelations.

This summer independent auditors scrutinised East Devon District Council’s governance proceduress at the request of the Audit and Governance Committee. The audit looked at the procedures and checks in place at the council to make sure they are robust enough so if there ever were any perceived conflicts of interest, whatever they may be, they would be identified. Auditors and were satisfied with these.

When the East Devon Business Group re-branded, as part of its new constitution it was decided that serving councillors would not be eligible to serve as officers of the group, but where appropriate representatives from authorities at local, county and regional level would be invited to attend to hear the considered views of business.

The group it wanted to emphasise the existing premise that all businesses, large and small, were welcome. But members have since decided that it is unviable for a single umbrella group to adequately cater for the needs of such a broad spectrum of businesses.

Group members identified that there are “already in existence several well established and successful organisations that provide help and support to local businesses. It was further identified that these organisations, including the Association of East Devon Chambers of Commerce and the East Devon Branch of the Federation of Small Businesses, well represent the interests of small businesses, whereas since the demise of the business forum, larger businesses are devoid of a membership organisation to represent them.

Val Baker, who was acting secretary of the group, explained that the withdrawal of council support did not have significant bearing on the decision to disband and said the catalyst for the review was the issues surrounding Mr Brown. She added that the larger businesses in the district may decide to form a new organisation.

Meanwhile existing groups, such as the Devon Branch of The National Farmers’ Union, the Exeter and Heart of Devon Hotels and Restaurant Association and the chambers of commerce have agreed to continue to meet “as necessary” and meetings will be chaired by an independent retired businessman who does not belong to any of the organisations.

“Members didn’t really think that a ‘one size fits all’ group was really workable,” she added. “Perhaps not surprisingly, it was felt it was a bit ambitious to try and address the needs and cater for the interests of all businesses of different sizes and agendas, sitting round a table. Time was needed to review the group and over the last six months it’s become apparent that actually the biggest void is that the bigger businesses don’t have an organisation to represent them.”

Re-branded East Devon business forum disbands after councillor row | Exeter Express and Echo
See also: Claire Wright - Your Independent East Devon District Councillor for Ottery Rural
Futures Forum: Lobbying: East Devon Business Forum
.
.
.

The Commons Select Committee on Energy and Climate Change is encouraging local production of renewable energy.
This is to be considered for the Sid Valley on 14th November:
Futures Forum: Back to the Future: SVEAG at the Observatory: Thursday 14th November

"Support communities who want to install renewable energy systems"

06 August 2013

Businesses, cooperatives, local authorities, schools and housing associations should be given financial support to install medium-sized renewable energy generating systems - such as solar arrays, wind turbines and district heating systems - because of the benefits these projects can bring to communities and the country as a whole, MPs on the Energy and Climate Change Committee have said.

• Report: Local Energy
• Report: Local Energy (PDF)
• Energy and Climate Change Committee

Speaking on behalf of the Committee, Dr Alan Whitehead said:

"Encouraging schools, businesses and local authorities to generate some of their electricity locally can bring big benefits to communities and the UK as a whole.

Businesses can reduce their energy overheads, locals can potentially benefit from cheaper electricity or heat, and councils can use projects to tackle fuel poverty, cut costs and reduce carbon emissions.

Medium-scale power plants could also help to boost energy security. Local heating schemes in particular could be helpful in balancing out peaks and troughs in electricity supply and demand by storing energy as hot water when there is a surplus of electricity being generated. If small-scale power plants fail it would cause less of an impact than if a large power plant fails."

Government provides support to households who install small-scale renewable energy systems through Feed-in Tariffs (FiT), while large scale projects like off-shore wind farms will soon be supported through new fixed-price Contracts for Difference (CfDs). Medium sized energy projects of between 10 – 50 Megawatts (MW) currently fall in the gap and will struggle to access support, being too big to receive FiTs yet too small to take advantage of CfDS.

Giving communities a stake in local energy projects has the potential to broaden public understanding of energy issues by encouraging energy-conscious behaviour and greater public engagement in carbon reduction initiatives, according to the report. Greater use of local energy could also enhance the security and efficiency of the energy system as a whole.

The report identifies a number of barriers that can prevent local energy projects getting off the ground. Securing funding and Power Purchase Agreements, connecting to the grid and overcoming public opposition can all prove difficult. Obtaining planning permission can be costly and time-consuming, and the risk of losing tens of thousands of pounds if permission is not granted is a huge obstacle for community groups or small cooperatives. Larger companies and utilities can shoulder these costs as they may be applying for a number of projects simultaneously, but smaller bodies must take considerable risks with no guarantee of recovering expenditure.

The MPs conclude that some form of support mechanism is needed alongside a comprehensive package of measures addressing finance, planning, grid access and advice. The Government must bring forward a proposal to support schemes within the 10-50MW range to incentivise the development of medium-sized projects which are not served by either FiTs or CfDs. The Green Investment Bank could provide seed funding and project development funding for feasibility studies, grid permits, etc to reduce some of the risk in getting projects through the planning process.

Dr Alan Whitehead MP said:

"We support the Government’s ambition to return decision-making powers to local authorities, but carbon reduction is a national priority.

Although it is unlikely that local energy projects will eliminate the need for larger, centralised power stations completely, with some Government support they could provide a significant proportion of the UK's energy capacity while reducing carbon emissions and increasing efficiency."

Government needs to do more to encourage local authorities to identify suitable areas for renewable energy development as recommended in the National Planning Policy Framework. Ministers should also encourage local authorities to develop clear guidance about what is expected from local energy projects, to reduce uncertainty and risk in the planning process. This approach would also help to prevent bad projects from coming forward. National level planning guidance should be provided on technical issues that hold up planning consent for wind turbines and other low-carbon technologies. This would help to improve consistency between different local authorities and ensure that only genuinely local issues were addressed through the local consenting process.

There are strong indications that some level of local ownership can help to boost support and reduce opposition to energy infrastructure projects. The MPs say that the Government should encourage industry to offer a stake to local residents for all new developments or consider the option of making a community ownership offer mandatory for all new developments.

Image: iStockphoto

More news on: Energy and environment, Energy

"Support communities who want to install renewable energy systems" - News from Parliament - UK Parliament
.
.
.

Fracking: pros and cons considered again

Following on from 
Futures Forum: Fracking: pros and cons
this is the latest from the New Economics Foundation:

How much do you know about fracking? Is it as dangerous as people say? Or is the real risk to the UK down to the carbon it will produce? It's impossible to have a proper debate without all the facts. But fracking, like many environmental issues, are either sensationalised or just ignored by the mainstream media. That's why we're taking matters into our own hands and launching a new Energy Crunch bulletin. Get all the information you need Every fortnight, we'll e-mail interested supporters a round-up of the latest news stories on energy, climate change and the environment, along with analysis of what they mean for our vision of a sustainable economy. We'll let you know what really matters, and what news you can't afford to miss. Sign-up to get our new energy updates In this week’s update we’ve focused on the serious cracks now appearing in the argument that unconventional oil and gas might be a sustainable energy source. Just take a look at the graph below, comparing US rig count with oil production. It seems the recent surge in production, largely dependent on fracking, could soon be over. Photo credit:   [ henning ] AUGUST 9, 2013 // BY: SIMONE OSBORN , EDITOR, ENERGY CRUNCH Three things you shouldn't miss this week: US rig count vs oil production. Is the recent fracking-fuelled surge coming to an end? Source: Stuart Staniford, Early Warning Blogspot   Despite the boom, higher costs are pushing Big Oil into a slump(AP) Commodity super-cycle in rude health despite shale (Telegraph) Sign up to get our fortnightly energy updates George Osborne, the newly appointed minister for shale gas development, might have expected some rough headlines this week, but he could hardly have guessed who would supply the fuel. The reaction of the residents of Balcombe in Sussex was predictable enough, but it was hardly helpful when his own father-in-law, Lord Howell, told the House of Lords nobody would care if fracking took place in “uninhabited and desolate” north-east of England. Still less when he said he had mis-spoken and really meant the north-west. What, desolate as in the Lake District? Not to be outdone, junior minister for shale gas development Michael Fallon railed against southern nimbys and looked forward to seeing how the “commentariat” would enjoy “flaring at the end of the drive!” It’s almost enough to make us sympathise with executives at Cuadrilla, who must be thinking ‘with friends like these…’ Through the red-mist of their fracking-fever, ministers might like to note, however, that drilling licences have been issued in many of their own constituencies, posing a particular threat to Tories in the cabinet. Still, perhaps that threat will come to nothing. Lord Deben, chairman of the Committee on Climate Change, and a former Tory minister himself, tweeted sweetly: “How very inconvenient of shale gas to choose places where planning permission will be most difficult”. Whatever your position on fracking, it is clear that some serious cracks are now appearing in the story of unconventional oil and gas as a sustainable energy source in any sense of the word. Shell was forced to write off more than $2 billion on liquids-rich shale assets that hadn’t delivered — prompting analyst Oswald Clint at Bernstein Research to write “shale oil bulls take note!” Our chart of the week suggests the recent surge in US oil production, depending entirely on a massive increase in fracking, may soon be over. The results of the other super-majors were hardly better (see FT headline:‘Big Oil: vanishing act’), as they struggle with higher costs, falling output and dwindling returns. As Ambrose Evans-Pritchard points out in the Telegraph, “output of the big five oil majors — Exxon, BP, Total, Chevron and Shell — has fallen by 26pc over the past nine years, despite a relentless hunt for new fields”. Evans-Pritchard sees fracking as a ‘godsend’, but to us it is looking more like desperation. Sure, fracking — if it ever gets past public opposition — may feed the beast for a little longer. But then what? Regardless of when the oil peak arrives, carbon content of existing oil and gas reserves dwarfs that which we can afford to burn while standing a reasonable chance of keeping global warming below 2C. One way or another we have to get off fossil fuels, and fast. The idea floated by British Gas last week of free electricity on Saturdays to smart meter customers drew cries of “gimmick”, but at least it brings the concept of active demand management and reduction of peak load to a larger audience. A new report from the Energy and Climate Change Commission on Local Energy found opportunities for more community engagement on medium-sized renewable energy supply and demand management. ISSUES Energy & Climate Change

Energy round-up: a difficult week for George Osborne | new economics foundation
.
.
.

The Center for Climatic Research in Madison, Wisconsin... and climate change

From The Nation a couple of months ago - saying pretty much the same as the IPCC this week:

Frigid and Sweltering: The New Climate Normal

Madeline Ostrander on August 8, 2013 - 5:11 PM ET

Runge reservoir some forty miles north of Santiago February 3, 2012. (Reuters/Ivan Alvarado)

Climate change often seems more palpable (and gets more media coverage) at this time of year, after heat waves have hit parts of the country. But polls suggest many members of the public are confused about the connection between climate change and cold weather. As I noted in a post last week, belief in climate change drops among Americans during cold weather and dipped slightly after this past winter. Moreover, climate deniers and right-wing pundits tend to hype winter weather, as if climate models never anticipated another flake of snow.

But a new report produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, published on Tuesday in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, shows that both cold and hot weather in 2012 were heavily under the influence of climate change.

Among the highlights, the United States had its warmest year since the country began keeping records in 1895. Colorado, Montana, Nebraska and Wyoming had their driest years on record. Last summer, delivered the biggest wildfires in thirteen years, including the largest fire in New Mexico’s history (more than 460 square miles, or about the size of the city of Los Angeles).

But even though the planet as a whole is getting warmer, the report makes it clear that there are new trends of weird and extreme weather in all seasons. For example, Hurricane Sandy sent record early-season snow to central Appalachia.

In Europe, “an exceptional cold spell” fell over several countries last year. Berlin’s cold snap was chillier than the typical Moscow winter, according to the World Meterological Organization. Norway set new record cold temperatures for February (about minus-four degrees Fahrenheit in Hammerfest, for instance).

The causes of Europe’s more frequent cold snaps weren’t fully understood until recently.New studies, published a few months ago, revealed the reasons that climate change is sending more frigid polar air to Europe—because of a complex interaction between the jet stream and the amount of Arctic ice, which continues to shrink every year.

The tome-sized NOAA report is a reminder that the global climate is extremely complex, and climate trends can’t be easily simplified. But the planet is getting warmer, even while ski seasons in the western United States shorten and Europe gets more deep freezes.

Yes, this weather is crazy. And yes, it is our fault.

Frigid and Sweltering: The New Climate Normal | The Nation

Stephen Vavrus: Extreme Weather Is Man-Made

The Nation and On The Earth Productions 

April 26, 2011  

Humans have grown accustomed to the current climate, says Stephen Vavrus, a Senior Scientist with the Center for Climatic Research in Madison, Wisconsin. But the earth's delicate climate balance is now undergoing a radical, man-made transformation, and the changes will disrupt much in our world. Vavrus argues that we are now witnessing the immediate effects of climate change in the growing number of floods, droughts, snowstorms, heat waves and other unusual weather events going on around the world. According to Vavrus, scientists are convinced that extreme weather will continue to increase as climate change gets worse.

—Kevin Gosztola

Stephen Vavrus: Extreme Weather Is Man-Made | The Nation
.
.
.

Civic Voice

The Civic Trust has become the Civic Voice:

Home » About

Who we are

Civic Voice is the national charity for the civic movement in England. We make places more attractive, enjoyable and distinctive. We promote civic pride.

Mission

Civic Voice works to make the places where everyone lives more attractive, enjoyable and distinctive. We speak up for civic societies and local communities across England. We promote civic pride. We are the national charity for the civic movement and have a strong local presence. We know how people feel about places because we feel the same way.

Civic Voice

Thanks to the East Devon Alliance for the latest info:

National Planning Guidance Draft The Planning Minister Nick Boles launched new national online planning practice guidance ‘for public testing and comment’. Comments can be made until 9 October; the finalised version that will accompany the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) should then ‘go live’ later in the autumn. You can access the Portal here. No current planning guidance and advice is being cancelled for the moment – none will be replaced until the final online guidance is in place. The new online draft is certainly shorter than the 7,000 pages or so of current guidance and advice that are in use. This reduction is a direct consequence of last year’s Taylor Review of planning practice guidance and a change that is in line with the Government’s response to the Review that was given this spring. The new draft practice guidance still runs to hundreds of pages, covering a vast range of issues impacting on local plan policy and decision-making processes – from ensuring the vitality of town centres, design, viability, the use of conditions and obligations, to environmental assessment… and much more. If you are looking at this guidance, please share with us your thoughts so we can feed this into our Planning Panel to review. Send any comments you have on this new "beta" guidance to info@civicvoice.org.uk. return to start Ex Minister joins APPG We are pleased to welcome Andrew Stunell MP as the latest MP to the All Party Parliamentary Group for Civic Societies. From May 2010 to September 2012 Andrew served as Local Government Minister following the formation of the Coalition Government. Andrew is a big supported of the civic society movement as he is also the Patron of the Marple Civic Society. Andrew is pictured here with Gillian Postil from Marple undertaking a street clutter udit as part of our Street Pride campaign. We have a target to increase the size of the All Party group to 100 MPs. Help us make this possible and in doing so increase the voice of the civic society movement within Parliament. Ask your MP to join the APPG here. return to start Planning in National Parks Speaking to MPs during a debate on planning policy, the Planning Minister, Nick Boles MP said there was a danger of some rural communities in National Parks becoming "embalmed" if they were not allowed to grow. The Minister said there should be more of a debate about "the balance between growth, development, economic and social development and protection of the landscape" in national parks. He told MPs: "Communities [in national parks] will only retain their appeal and retain life if they are allowed to change and to develop and wanted to find out" and "whether current legislation properly captures what we are trying to achieve and what communities in national parks want to see". These comments have been regarded as the Government indicating that they are considering relaxing strict protections for National Parks to help developers. We will be asking the Minister to clarify his position on development in National Parks and will keep Civic Voice members who live in National Parks informed. You can view the debate here. return to start England’s heritage threatened by loss of expertise A new report by The Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC), supported by English Heritage (EH), into England’s local authority conservation staffing, shows continued long terms cuts, with the number of conservation specialists in English councils falling by 4% in 2012, part of a devastating 33% cut since 2006. This massive loss in conservation knowledge and specialist advice equates to the reduction of one in three conservation officer posts in local government, threatening the proper care of heritage as well as the huge investment of public monies into England’s historic environment by bodies such as the Heritage Lottery Fund. Read the report here. return to start

In this issue Get recognised for making a difference Beyond the high street Delivering large scale housing National Planning Guidance Draft Andrew Stunell joins APPG Planning in National Parks England’s heritage threatened by loss of expertise Future events Attend the Civic Voice Convention Attend a free weekend course Sutton Coldfield Civic Society design awards for 2013 handed out

.
.
.

Plans for Port Royal: Drill Hall regeneration proposal - Sidmouth Drill Hall Hub

Following on from interest over Folk Week
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: latest on the Drill Hall
there have been further official meetings.
Here is a report posted last week on the Save Sidmouth Drill Hall Campaign site:

DRILL HALL REGENERATION PROPOSAL 

– SIDMOUTH DRILL HALL HUB

September 25, 2013 · by mbooth · Bookmark the permalink. ·

On 6th August 2013 at a meeting at the Knowle, the campaign leader for the redevelopment of Sidmouth Drill Hall presented a proposal to the leaders of East Devon District Council; Cllr Paul Diviani, CEO Mark Williams and Vice CEO Richard Cohen.

This was in response to their stopping demolition of the Drill Hall following a year long campaign (see below) and inviting us to present a proposal for alternative use.

This we did and have presented to them ahead of time.

The key points of the proposal that you can download here Sidmouth Drill Hall Hub are;

The vision for regenerating the Drill Hall is now focused with a number of partners on the following main areas:

•Community

•Education & Heritage

•Maritime & Fisheries

•Employment, Training & Apprenticeships

•The Arts

•Tourism

•Sustainability

The main things that we ask of EDDC are;

•Provision to Sidmouth Drill Hall Hub of a ‘peppercorn’ rent for the Sidmouth Drill Hall from 1st September 2013 for a period of no less than 3 years.

•Sidmouth Drill Hall Hub then able to contract surveyors via funding from the Keith Owen Trust to assess the cost of repairs.

•EDDC to work with Sidmouth Drill Hall Hub on the application of Community Asset Grants; Pre-Feasibility, Feasibility, and Capital, before all deadlines at 30th August 2013. That has now passed.

•EDDC to fix market value of Sidmouth Drill Hall at £440,000 as per Plymouth Land Registry value.

•Sidmouth Drill Hall Hub to then work, with or without EDDC, to attract stakeholder investors.

•EDDC to provide full allowance to Sidmouth Drill Hall Hub to renovate the building.

•Sidmouth Herald to track the renovation of the building.

•EDDC to be recognised as an essential and willing partner within a project that will support the community of Sidmouth and surrounding areas.

•Sidmouth Drill Hall Hub to pay off freehold at £440,000 to EDDC over a period of 3 to 5 years.

•EDDC to explore with Sidmouth Drill Hall Hub the extension of the cycle path from the Byes to Feniton via Sidford and Ottery St Mary. This to create access to a train link to London and elsewhere and greatly improve both the attractiveness of Sidmouth to younger generations but tourism and business within the town.

Proposed Layout and Design of and Activity Within the Renovated Building

Ground Floor

•A café and restaurant selling locally sourced food and drinks. To serve breakfasts, lunches, teas and dinners within a relaxed, family friendly and informal environment.

•Fish to be supplied by Sidmouth Trawlers, and a well stocked bar to sell drinks produced by existing and emerging local producers.

•Education will be provided within each menu and on easy to understand table cloths on the nature of local fishing and marine biology.

•A fish school.

•An apprenticeships, training and job referral programme.

•A Fish & Chips takeaway selling sustainable fish wrapped, with chips, in sustainably sourced paper that provides educational information on the fish you are eating and the importance of rotation of fish stocks.

•A 300 capacity live music, theatre, comedy and informative discussions and talks venue.

•A room for hire by local community groups and organisations.

•An innovation hub. The provision of computers connected to wi-fi and of an innovation hub to support start up businesses from Sidmouth and the surrounding area.

Basement

•A maritime and military museum to include the housing of a Gig Longboat and a range of information on the history of fishing from Sidmouth and along the South Coast.

•A military museum that will look at Sidmouth, and the Drill Hall’s, role in both World Wars in partnership with cities and regions in Northern France, Belgium (Flanders) and Holland.

We Need You Help!

Please contact us. We need your support, your opinions (for or against) and we need input into the Community Interest Company (CIC)  - Sidmouth Drill Hall Hub – that would manage the building and all related activity for the community of Sidmouth. It would be a not-for-profit business.

If you do not have email you can write to us at 119 Temple St, Sidmouth, Devon, EX10 9BH.

Thank you.

Drill Hall Regeneration Proposal – Sidmouth Drill Hall Hub | sidmouthdrillhall

.
.
.