All good things must come to an end: thank you and goodbye from the Futures Forum blog

We seem to have reached a certain point where we are very much looking to new futures, new starts and a lot of anticipation.

We have a substantially new Town Council in place - which met last night and voted for continuity but with renewed vigour:
Sidmouth Town Council appoints chair and vice-chair | Latest Sidmouth and Ottery News - Sidmouth Herald
Futures Forum: Sidmouth Annual Town Meeting > Monday 20th May > challenges and opportunities

The District Council is now dominated by Independents:
Futures Forum: District Council elections: "Independents deliver blow to the Conservatives'" > further reports

And will be meeting tomorrow:
WEDNESDAY crunch day for Indies at EDDC … and us | East Devon Watch
Futures Forum: As Independents seek to create a working coalition, the District Council meets for the first time since local elections > Wednesday 22nd May

The EU parliamentary elections will be happening on Thursday - and will be having a profound effect on life in the West Country:
European Elections 2019: Why should you vote? | Latest Sidmouth and Ottery News - Sidmouth Herald
Futures Forum: Brexit: and the EU elections: the latest South West poll results
Futures Forum: Brexit: and the EU elections: Democratic Audit looks at what will happen in the South West

Back here in Sidmouth, not only do we have well-established festivals looking forward to the summer: 
The Sidmouth Folk Festival – 2nd – 9th August 2019
Paul Taylor-Mills returns to Sidmouth with Summer Play Festival 2019 | Latest Sidmouth and Ottery News - Sidmouth Herald

But we have thriving relatively new ones:
Sidmouth Sea Fest delivers diversity and creativity | Latest Sidmouth and Ottery News - Sidmouth Herald
Futures Forum: Sidmouth Sea Fest > staging 'Fish out of Water', a new play on the life of Stephen Reynolds

As far as this blog is concerned, it started six years ago with Port Royal:
Futures Forum: Port Royal future: ‘Let’s get the community on board’

And we seem to have sorted at least the Drill Hall for the moment:
Futures Forum: Plans for Port Royal: selling the Drill Hall, rather than producing a masterplan > East Devon's MP calls for a "masterplan for the Port Royal and Ham car park in Sidmouth"

A less successful end-game has been the struggle over Knowle, which began here:
Futures Forum: Save Our Sidmouth

And has ended here:
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: parkland transfer to Town Council > latest
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: an overspend on loans
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: or, how a new HQ costing £8.7m is valued at £3.5m

It seems the right moment, then, to allow fresh blood onto the Sidmouth scene and to make this the last - but the blog itself will remain online as a resource.

Meanwhile, here's a list of other news sources to dip into:
BBC Local News: Sidmouth
ITV Local News: Sidmouth
Sidmouth Nub News

Also:

News from Sidmouth Town Council
Latest News from Sid Valley Help

And of course:
Sidmouth Herald
Devon Live: Sidmouth

Local News - Radio Exe

Plus the excellent and provocative:

East Devon Watch

And there is a lively local social media page:
Sidmouth Community public group | Facebook

Finally, there are of course the Vision Group's very own daily news pages: 



Recent News - Vision Group for Sidmouth
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As Independents seek to create a working coalition, the District Council meets for the first time since local elections > Wednesday 22nd May

Next Wednesday sees the first sitting of the new District Council when a new Chair and a new Leader will be elected:
Agenda for Annual Council on Wednesday, 22nd May, 2019, 6.00 pm - East Devon

It follows on from dramatic results in the local elections:
Futures Forum: BREAKING NEWS: "Bad day" for the Tories as Independents in East Devon gain an overall majority of two
Futures Forum: District Council elections: "Independents deliver blow to the Conservatives'" > further reports

And since then, there have been attempts to create a working coalition:
Futures Forum: District Council coalition talks to 'support the formation of an independent-led administration'

It will not be easy - as the Financial Times reports: 

Britain’s Independent councillors face challenges of success

Local election victors seek to push through change without party discipline or structure

Chris Tighe and Andy Bounds MAY 14, 2019

Independents now control six councils across England, from Middlesbrough to Nottinghamshire, Essex, Surrey and East Devon, and hold the balance of power in several more.
Often Independents coalesce around a common grievance. This month the East Devon Alliance, set up to oppose plans to build thousands of new homes in the area, ended Conservative rule in its region after 45 years.

Britain’s Independent councillors face challenges of success | Financial Times

It seems that there will not be a coalition involving East Devon Liberal Democrats, however: 

East Devon's Lib Dems say 'Independents should run the council' as they confirm they won't join a coalition

The Liberal Democrat Group, currently led by Cllr Steve Gazzard, have said that they respect the verdict of the voters and will not sign up to a formal alliance or agreement with any other groupings or parties.

Daniel Clark Local Democracy Reporter
12:53, 13 MAY 2019

Liberal Democrats in East Devon will not be going into coalition with any other political group in the district, they have confirmed.

Following May’s elections, the Independents ended up as the largest party on the council, ending 45 years of Conservative rule since the council was formed. Twenty Independent councillors were elected, while the East Devon Alliance won a further 11 seats. The Conservatives suffered 15 losses to end on 19, while the Liberal Democrats hold eight seats and the Green Party two.

Between the East Devon Alliance and the Independents, they hold 31 seats, which would be enough to control the council and have a majority, but discussions are still ongoing as to if a coalition between them can be formed an how many Independents would sit with the Independent Group. But the Liberal Democrat Group, currently led by Cllr Steve Gazzard, have said that they respect the verdict of the voters and will not sign up to a formal alliance or agreement with any other groupings or parties.

A statement by the Group said: “The Lib Dem group respects the verdict of the voters in the recent elections that the Independents should be in control of East Devon District Council, after 45 years of Tory rule

...

READ MORE
New Progressive Group formed to 'challenge Exeter's one party state'

Cllr Ben Ingham, the leader of the Independent Group, and who retained his Woodbury and Lympstone seat, said that he was delighted with the results that showed it was very clear the voters do not want the Conservatives to run the council. He said that discussions had begun as to how many of the 20 Independent councillors elected would be sitting in the Independent Group, and he remained hopeful that they all would.

READ MORE
Conservatives pounded at Devon polls as they lose control of six of eight councils

Of the 20 Independents elected to East Devon District Council, ten were newly elected councillors. The other ten include Cllr Ian Thomas, who is still the current leader of the council, but who quit the Conservative Party prior to the election, and Cllr Geoff Pook, who was a cabinet member.

Cllr Ingham said: “We are still talking and trying to work it out and to make everything fit, but at the end of the day, including the East Devon Alliance, there are 31 Independents. We are still in the discussions stage as to how many of the independents will sit in the group, but I remain optimistic they will come as one, and that is my target anyway. Over the next week we will continue have the discussions and trying and pull everything together, although it is not easy as we are all Independents and there is no party whip. I do hope that we can all work together and as many as possible will sit with the group.”

Cllr Cathy Gardner, the leader of the East Devon Alliance group, had previously said that she felt it was unlikely all 20 Independents would chose to sit in the group, but the results showed that the people of East Devon want real change.

Cllr Paul Arnott, chairman of the EDA, and who won a seat in Coly Valley, had added: “We would like to thank the voters of East Devon for electing all 11 of our candidates. We will seek to forge alliances with other councillors willing to work with us to continue to our fight for reform of local governance.”

The new leader of the council will be elected at the annual meeting on Wednesday, May 22.

East Devon's Lib Dems say 'Independents should run the council' as they confirm they won't join a coalition - Devon Live

With further comment:

More Independent and EDA councillors take East Devon District Council seats | Bridport and Lyme Regis News

EDDC: Independents, EDA Independents, “Independents” and pseudo-independents! | East Devon Watch

Devon Lib Dems – what do they want? | East Devon Watch

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Local elections > the “values-based” independents inspired by Flatpack Democracy in Frome are causing a storm right now.

The Annual Council meetings for both the Town and District will be upon us in a week's time:
SIDMOUTH TOWN COUNCIL - list of dates for meetings (Monday 20th May)
Committee details - Annual Council - East Devon (Wednesday 22nd May)

About half of the members of the Sidmouth Town Council changed at the elections last week:
Election Results - Sidmouth Town Council

And this will mean an injection of new ideas - although nothing party-political:
Futures Forum: BREAKING NEWS: Sidmouth shake-up

Similarly, half of the members of the East Devon District Council have changed:
Election results - East Devon

Although the impact there might be more significant - because this is also non-party-political:
Futures Forum: BREAKING NEWS: "Bad day" for the Tories as Independents in East Devon gain an overall majority of two
Futures Forum: District Council elections: "Independents deliver blow to the Conservatives'" > further reports
Futures Forum: District Council elections: Lib Dems and Independents "make significant gains across Devon"

This is significant - and has been largely overlooked nationally:

Local election analysis: This all feels very unstable

Friday, 3 May 2019 9:09 AM
By Chaminda Jayanetti

Anti-politics is the big winner

The most important trend so far is the rise in support for independents. There's a risk the gains by independents - more than 200 seats and counting - will be overlooked in the party political scramble and Brexit narratives that will dominate today's coverage.

But bear in mind that outside a handful of districts, such as Ashfield, independent candidates are not in organised, well-resourced groups. They are unlikely to have local name recognition or campaign teams. And yet they have been elected in their hundreds, nearly trebling their ranks in the seats contested yesterday.

Local factors will of course have had an influence. But the most logical explanation at a national scale is that this is the ultimate protest vote - a vote against all established party politics. A vote for the authenticity which comes from subscribing to no higher authority than the voters, or your conscience. Journalists ought to be talking to newly elected independents before anyone else.

How that might translate to a national election is something we can barely conceive of at this point - though East Devon's Claire Wright must now fancy her chances of becoming the first MP elected without any significant party background for decades.

...

Local election analysis: This all feels very unstable

Here is an excellent piece, spotted by the East Devon Watch blog:
Role model independent talks about independents | East Devon Watch

In full - because it argues so well: 

Alternative Editorial: The Wave Is Building

Over a six-month period, Greta Thunberg shook up all the Western major global institutions (EU, UN, Davos, Vatican, Nobel Prize) with her siren call to a climate emergency. In the last three months we saw the School Strike for Climate and then Extinction Rebellion take the streets of capitals across the world, successfully sparking national and international headlines.

That resulted very swiftly in first the Scottish and Welsh and then the UK Government announcing a national climate emergency (see post this week). Then today’s results for the UK local elections have shown a deep shift no-one really anticipated - a shake-up in our democracy. Maybe, given these turbulent times, we should be taking that in our stride.

However, the way we interpret that shift, the story we tell about what is really happening at this moment in history, holds the key to how we move into the future. Above all, this is a soft power battle – a struggle of narratives.

The mainstream news is pointing only at the losses for the two main parties. And the media is only amplifying the leverage this gives to the usual political suspects to push on with a Brexit deal – one that, until now, could not get through the parliament. In other words, the survival of the two-party system comes first, above any other considerations that this period of huge instability has surfaced.

But we’re not pointing at Tory losses – they were expected, in the light of the spectacle of Westminster Brexit breakdown. We’re not even pointing at Labour losses: they’re part of the same overall discredited political culture, although many believed the parliamentary Left would benefit more from the government’s failures. The gains of the Lib Dems also could be seen as a direct beneficiary of these losses – in particular, the Tory ones. Together, according to this chart, they amount to 75% of the vote.

Our first question would be: who makes up this category of ‘Other’, swollen in this election, that together account for as much as 1,475 seats and 25% of all votes cast? Broadly, this number includes the Green Party who won 200 new councillors to get up to 265. And UKIP who fell to 31 in total. It also includes 119 who represent local Residents Associations, 8 for Health Concern and 7 Liberals.

This leaves 1,045 broadly described as “independents” - almost doubled from the last set of local elections.

What kind of independents are these?

Given that these numbers record only district level and above, they won’t include many of the grassroots independents that have succeeded in record numbers at the community level: town councils and parishes. Notable exceptions will include Herefordshire County and East Devon District Council – the first fully independent council. The majority are more likely to be disillusioned and ashamed Tory and Labour councillors, unwilling to go down with their national party.

However, they are a broadening gateway to something else quite remarkable, and now moving into the space of people’s politics. A new wave of local people who are taking it upon themselves to be responsible for what happens in their local community, how the money is spent and how decisions are made.

Given that over the past three years turnout for local elections has fallen to 33%, leaving 67% technically open to persuasion, the margin for an upset is always large. In 2013 this was the entry point for UKIP. With only one MP and later 2 MPs in the UK Parliament to represent them, they used the power of narrative and social media to characterise this localism as a people’s vote in favour of leaving the EU.

Yet there was no new mechanisms on offer to give people any more agency in the political sphere – even locally - it was all coming from above. After the Brexit referendum they were more or less deserted by their leaders and are now heavily regarded as a spent force.

In hindsight, nevertheless, it is possible to see UKIP and the Leave vote as important moments in the revolution of UK democracy. Not only has there been a weakening of the long-standing duopoly in British politics but it has stirred ambition for a better expressed people’s politics - a genuine alternative to the current political system and culture. Amongst other things, even as a phenomenon to grapple with, it gave birth to The Alternative UK.

The degree to which such a democratic emergency dovetails with the environmental emergency cannot be underplayed. They depend upon each other to achieve the transformation of our society we need to survive. Our own deep dive into this arena for over two years has revealed a substantial movement – appearing in multiple guises – of a new socio-political sensibility that links people to power to planet (I, We, World).

Frome Frome! The Flatpack model picks up speed

Within this, the “values-based” independents inspired by Flatpack Democracy in Frome are causing a storm right now.

The readers of the Daily Alternative, know this political model of citizen-led and participatory politics. The Independents from Frome were also one of the first towns to declare a Climate Emergency. But unlike the UK government, this came with a report of how to get Frome to zero carbon by 2030 and a commitment to deliver locally.

With the added phenomenon of Extinction Rebellion, leading a national and international campaign, becoming independent suddenly takes on another dimension – that of citizens stepping up to save our future, in the face of national-level failure to do so.

How many of the wave of newly elected independents below the district level were Flatpack Democracy aligned candidates, we won’t know for another day or so. In Frome where Flatpack was birthed, former Mayor Peter Macfadyen stood back after two terms to see a resounding 17/17 seats retained for IfF.

In Devon where we have been closely watching and working to create the conditions for the rise of Flatpack politics, remarkable gains were made at District, Town and Parish levels, many of them taking control of their councils.

I spoke to Pam Barrett, former Mayor of Buckfastleigh who reported winning 10 out of 12 councillors; 11/16 in Dartmouth, 9/13 in Chudleigh, 7/14 in Bovey (taking control with 2 non-aligned independents), Portishead 15/16. East Devon has become the first ever independent District Council in the country.

Meantime, members of the Torridge Common Ground, co-founded by XR initiator Jamie Kelsey-Fry, won two further District Council seats alongside their 6 at town level.

Says Jamie: “I’m somewhat rocked in my soul today.. we have a foot in the door and can start to change the way local power operates. We have people’s assemblies, listening, radical inclusivity and the consciousness of acting with the next seven generations in mind, all at the heart of how we do things. It’s impossible not to have hope right now”.

Standing where we have been for the past two and a half years, steadily charting and helping to generate the rise of a new politics, this month feels like a Mexican wave. With first Greta, then the school strike, then Extinction Rebellion, then the Parliaments, then the local independents, all rising to take the headlines in turn. Together they’re generating the sense of something genuinely alternative in the making.

Link rising movements to better practice

But knowing how these waves are designed to start up and gradually fall away, how do we embed them more deeply in the rhythm of our daily lives? How can we maintain the excitement in ways that not only keep the connection between these movements going, but open the door to many more?

One of the ways will be to match the focus on the movement aspect of what is now occurring, with the practice aspect. While both XR and the Flatpack independents create much needed energy as genuine alternatives to the mainstream, they also risk appearing within the old political framework as the new opposition to the old elites. Another party in the struggle, rather than a broad and inclusive front of people’s initiatives. Again, this is a soft power battle of narratives.

Both XR and FD are sources of new democratic and environmental practices that any citizen will benefit from adopting. Huge efforts can now be invested in sharing those practices with people everywhere, whether or not they are signed up members of the movement. Our ability to turn the climate emergency around will depend on their take-up.

But other players are being inspired by XR to distribute best practice. Two examples this week would be Greenpeace’s climate manifesto, which offers a clear 11 stage response to climate emergency. Another would be the recommendations from Business Green in their response to Extinction Rebellion. Here is a useful time-table for government meetings and supporting structures, as well as a list of innovations that could happen across society to enculture us to change. Most importantly, they challenge the complacency of their peers: those who think we are already doing all we can. One for any of your business friends who are sceptical about XR’s demands but offer no alternatives.

Secondly, while People’s Assemblies will do core work in decision making with those who are ready to turn up, we have to be relentless in our ambition to appeal to those outside our own comfort zone. The ambition for Citizen Action Networks (CANs), for example, is to offer containers and mechanisms for bringing those people who are not ready to join a movement, to nevertheless come into contact with the solutions on offer.

A Mexican wave

CANs are designed to connect everyone to the process and its benefits, whether they join in or not. Our experience shows there are many different speeds of entry – from those that require gentle conversation on their own terms to those that want to take non-violent but radical action to challenge authority now - that need to be catered for. That allows the integration of all of our efforts towards the climate emergency in the short time we have.

At the CTRLshift Summit this week in Stoke (see blog), 35 partner organisations broadly aligned with the values and goals of XR and FD, will be thrashing out how we can collaborate better to make those solutions accessible.

If you are an organisation looking for collaborators, join us in Stoke-on-Trent. On the other hand if you are either an XR or FD actor this week, you may be looking for a rest from a month of unprecedented breakthrough. Well deserved.

But if you are a Daily Alternative reader - watching that Mexican Wave as it moves towards you at great speed, and you are not quite sure yet how you are going to stand up when it gets to you - sign up now to be a co-creator and we will help you find your own special way.


Alternative Editorial: The Wave Is Building — THE ALTERNATIVE UK
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Sidmouth Town and District council elections > HUSTINGS event > "Contributing to an awareness of the upcoming elections and the importance of voting."

The hustings in Sidmouth went well last night:
Futures Forum: Sidmouth Town and District council elections > HUSTINGS event > political speed dating

To quote a commentator:

"I thought it was a good convivial event which achieved its purpose for voters who attended. It was good to see the candidates being engaged and convivial with each other, and all in all I think the event was worthwhile, contributing to an awareness of the upcoming elections and the importance of voting."

There is further lively comment happening on the East Devon Watch blog:
Tories no-show at Sidmouth hustings last night | East Devon Watch

The organisers of the event were at pains to contact all the candidates. 

• All current Councillors who are standing in contested wards were contacted.
• However some of the other candidates did not have email addresses readily available.
• The following agents, political parties and representative groups were contacted with the request that the invitation to the hustings be passed on:
• Devon UKIP: local agent
• East Devon Conservative Party: office@eastdevonconservatives.org
• East Devon Labour Party: local agent
• East Devon Liberal Democrats: info@eastdevonlibdems.org.uk
• Independent East Devon Alliance: info@eastdevonalliance.com
• Sid Valley Democracy: sidvalleydem@gmail.com

• Otherwise, letters of invitation were sent to those with no such contact address or party/group affiliation.
• The following candidates sent in their apologies:
• Stuart Hughes (District Conservative; Town Independent)
• Ian McKenzie Edwards (Town)
• Louise Thompson (Town Independent)
• Jenny Ware (District Conservative; Town Independent)
• Otherwise, several candidates did not attend or send in apologies, despite their agents, political parties and representative groups being contacted.

Here is more information about the candidates:
Futures Forum: Sidmouth Town and District council elections > HUSTINGS event > Tuesday 30th April > candidates' manifestos

Finally, it was noted that several members of the public popped into the Hall to 'have a look' but did not want to venture in - feeling either that 'there was no point in voting' or that 'all politicians are corrupt/useless/a waste of time'...

Let's hope that voters do nevertheless turn up tomorrow on voting day:
East Devon Elections – Why go to the Hustings? - Vision Group for Sidmouth
Futures Forum: Sidmouth Town and District council elections > HUSTINGS event > Tuesday 30th April > meet the candidates in one-on-one Q&A sessions
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District Council borrowing in order to hold onto its council housing

The shenanigans of the District Council when it comes to money is often reported on by this blog...

Whether about its 'investment' in highly speculative property markets:
Futures Forum: District Council's £20m investment fund: "Property investment brings with it the potential for significant risk if things go wrong."

Or about its 'savings' over its relocation project:
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: an overspend on loans

The Herald has just put together a story on how much the District Council is in debt: 
East Devon District Council's has £86.8 million in outstanding loans to pay | Honiton, Axminster and Seaton news - Midweek Herald

And as covered by the VGS:
District Council borrowing goes up by £3m - Vision Group for Sidmouth

However, as pointed out by Cllr Cathy Gardner, yes, the District Council has questions to answer - but actually a lot of the borrowing it to make sure it can keep its social housing, as reported on the VGS Facebook pages:
Vision Group for Sidmouth - Home | Facebook

And by the East Devon Watch: 

EAST DEVON ALLIANCE COUNCILLOR GARDNER CLARIFIES SIDMOUTH HERALD EDDC DEBT STORY

23 APR 2019

East Devon Alliance councillor Cathy Gardner has contacted EDW to clarify the story:

“To my knowledge (as a District Cllr), EDDC has over £80m in debt because it had to borrow money to hold on to its council housing when the conservative government were making councils sell it off. So this is debt for a good & bad reason!

I’m surprised that the ‘politically neutral’ press officers have not added this to their comment to the Herald. I’ve objected to the council proposing to borrow money to invest in commercial property (to generate income), something else forced on them by the conservative government cuts to council grants (now zero).

The relocation from the Knowle is another matter. If re-elected I will continue to push for transparency on costs and to see if any of the Conservative group can ever prove break even.”

East Devon Alliance Councillor Gardner clarifies Sidmouth Herald EDDC debt story | East Devon Watch
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Knowle relocation project: an overspend on loans

How much exactly has the relocation from the old District Council HQ cost?
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project >>> a spanking new HQ for £5.6 million... or for £10.6 million?

How much exactly is the new HQ worth?
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: or, how a new HQ costing £8.7m is valued at £3.5m

What is clear is that a lot of money had to be borrowed:

Here is one estimate of the amount of money being spent on the relocation project:

Expenditure:
= £10.5 million (+ new road) for the Honiton HQ + £1.5 million for refurbishment of the Exmouth Town Hall 
= £12 million for both sites

Income:
= £7.5 m for Knowle from PegasusLife

Deficit:
= £4.5 m to be financed by borrowing

Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: ready to move, but at what cost...
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: financial profligacy in a time of austerity

And a 'twenty-year' window of borrowing is always fantasy in public administration:
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: fantasy 'cost savings over twenty years' are of no interest to people in East Devon

But, then, the District Council's ways with money always seem to be a fantasy beyond our ken:
Futures Forum: District Council's £20m investment fund: motion to debate the issue rejected

And public finance bodies are warning that things are going to get worse for councils:
Council tax increases in England | CIPFA
Running out of road: the councils using rainy day reserves | Public Finance

As reported across the country:
South Tyneside Council borrowing tops £630m - Shields Gazette
Mix 96 - News - Bucks County Council borrow £302 million
Figures show Redbridge Council more than £200m in debt as experts warn of risk | Politics | Ilford Recorder

Including in East Devon - and as noted by the EDW blog, this is not unconnected with its vanity project: 

“MORE THAN £86.6MILLION IN OUTSTANDING LOANS IS OWED BY EAST DEVON DISTRICT COUNCIL”

22 APR 2019

EDDC blames the overspend on loans (see last paragraph below) on “the purchase of assets related to service delivery, these being assets required “for recycling and refuse collection”. Are we to believe that it has ALL been spent on waste contracts and NOT on the £10 MILLION on HQ relocation (originally described as “cost neutral”)?

Owl would be interested to see a breakdown of the costs (but bets they will be conveniently avoided under a “commercial confidentiality” clause with the contractor …

“More than £86.6million in outstanding loans is owed by East Devon District Council” | East Devon Watch

Here's the story from the Herald: 

District council has £86.8 million in outstanding loans to pay

PUBLISHED: 12:00 21 April 2019

Harriet Clugston

More than £86.6million in outstanding loans is owed by East Devon District Council (EDDC).

The amount the authority has borrowed has also increased by £3million in just one year.

Experts have warned councils are risking taking on too much debt while others say that councils are simply adapting to plug funding gaps made by Government cuts.

The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy says delivery of public services could be put at risk by unsustainable borrowing, after debt among UK local authorities rose to more than £100 billion.

By the end of December, EDDC's outstanding loans stood at £86.6 million, according to figures from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. This was a four per cent increase compared to a year ago, and one per cent higher than at the end of 2013-14. All the outstanding loans were long term advances, which last for more than one year and are used to finance large projects or purchases.

The Chartered Institute says many cash-strapped councils are taking out large loans to buy property, as the rent they collect can be higher than the interest they pay on the loans.

Funding for councils fell by almost half between 2010-11 and 2017-18, according to the National Audit Office.

The government's Public Works Loan Board was the sole lender to EDDC as of December. The loan board offers low-interest loans to councils, without requiring them to prove they can afford the repayments. There is no limit to the amount councils can borrow from it.

Don Peebles, head of policy at the Chartered Institute, said: “With government funding in decline, it is unsurprising councils are having to adapt and find alternatives. While councils are borrowing for a wide range of purposes, such as building houses and investing in major infrastructure, one trend which has been concerning is the growth in investment in commercial property - which exposes public finances to new risks.”

A spokeswoman for the MHCLG said: “Councils are responsible for managing their own finances and making the right decisions for the communities they serve – including making appropriate investments. Guidance on council investments was updated in April 2018 with new codes that strike the right balance between allowing councils to continue to be innovative while ensuring that taxpayers' money is properly protected.”

An EDDC spokesman said: “The annual increase in borrowing identified was used to finance the purchase of assets related to service delivery, these being assets required for recycling and refuse collection.”

East Devon District Council's has £86.8 million in outstanding loans to pay | Honiton, Axminster and Seaton news - Midweek Herald
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Climate change and East Devon: "In what way have we changed our practices to respond to our pending oblivion on this planet? The answer: not enough."

Climate change issues can't be ignored:
Futures Forum: Climate change goes mainstream

With young people in East Devon making a noise:
Futures Forum: School Strike for Climate Action > Friday 12th April

Earlier this month, the District Council declared that it wanted to do more: 

East Devon District Council aims to set more ambitious target than 2050 to become carbon neutral

At their cabinet meeting last week, the district council’s cabinet agreed to work with the county council to tackle climate change in areas where meaningful change could be made.

Daniel Clark Local Democracy Reporter
15:57, 9 APR 2019

Leader of the council, Cllr Ian Thomas said that it was good the report had stimulated a lot of positive discussion rather than being nodded through.

He said: “We do to be more aggressive in what we want to do, and if I get the chance to, I will create a responsibility to drive change to deliver carbon neutrality significantly earlier. What we do needs to be more than something that is just stuck on a shelf and people forget where we put it. There needs to be specific initiatives that are in the remit we can deliver. There is no point debating things that we have no control over whatsoever, but we need to look at what we can do. It is nice to have the Devon County Council position as a backstop, but let us treat it as just that and try and do better.”

The cabinet unanimously agreed to work with Devon County Council on a shared climate change programme but to consider setting a more ambitious date for becoming carbon neutral than Devon’s 2050 target.

East Devon District Council aims to set more ambitious target than 2050 to become carbon neutral - Devon Live
Futures Forum: Climate change: District Council to "consider setting a more ambitious date for becoming carbon neutral"

The question is how: perhaps with an energy descent plan:
Energy descent - Wikipedia
Energy Descent Action Plans - a primer - Resilience
Energy Descent Action Plan (EDAP) - Transition Town Totnes

Or a carbon neutral plan:
Bristol's 2030 carbon-neutral plan 'ambitious' - BBC News
Climate Change Summit will help put Southwark Council's carbon neutral plan in place - Southwark News
The plan to make Greater Manchester carbon neutral - what it actually means - Manchester Evening News
Copenhagen’s carbon neutral plan
Climate change plan aims to make Christchurch carbon neutral ahead of 2050 target | Stuff.co.nz

As an East Devon resident notes, the District Council has shown commitment - but needs to act on it. Courtesy of the EDW blog:

GLOBAL WARMING: A LOCAL INITIATIVE

19 APR 2019

A correspondent has sent the following email to EDDC CEO Mark Williams:

“Dear Mark,

Back in 2006 you supported me in a move to show Planners the Al Gore film “The Inconvenient Truth’ about climate change. You allowed staff a half hour of work time on top of their lunch break to enable the departments staff to watch that film. Thank you!

Tonight I was reminded of this event and your support while watching David Attenborough s documentary ‘Climate Change: the Truth’.

What is scary for me is that the film tonight was so similar to that of Gore’s almost 15 years ago. Pleasing in that Attenborough verifies all the fears that Gore postulated then with our increasingly sophisticated technology. But the reality is the same.

In what way have we changed our practices to respond to our pending oblivion on this planet. ? The answer: not enough.”

Global warming: a local initiative | East Devon Watch
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Sidmouth Town and District council elections > supporting younger blood

There is a lot of interest in the up-coming local elections:
Futures Forum: Sidmouth Town and District council elections > HUSTINGS event > Tuesday 30th April > more details

And there has been a lot of interest in independent candidates in particular:
Futures Forum: Independent candidates standing for council seats across Devon say they are "fed-up of being ignored by ruling political parties"

The Herald features one independent District councillor who's retiring after almost 25 years on the job - including holding the chair of the important Scrutiny Committee: 

Councillor to step down after more than two decades

PUBLISHED: 12:00 15 April 2019
Sam Cooper

A man who has dedicated more than two decades of his life to improving his community is about to step down as a councillor. Councillor Roger Giles has been on East Devon District Council (EDDC) since 1995.

This year he decided to step down after a run of 24 years in hopes to support younger blood getting on the council. He will however be continuing to run as a candidate for Ottery Town Council (OTC). He is a big ambassador of Ottery’s heritage, being eco-friendly and campaigning to save the town’s hospital.

Cllr Giles said: “It’s time to hand over to somebody else. It was in the back of my mind for some time because if I stood and got in, by the time I completed the four year term and I think it is important for people to commit to the four years, I would have been 75.”

Giles, who will still be running for a seat on the OTC, first became a councillor for Devon County Council (DCC) in 1993 before becoming an EDDC councillor in 1995.

Giles said the make-up of EDDC is not representative of the people living there and that the age and sex profile is ‘wrong’. He added: “We need some older councillors of course but there are too many older ones and not enough younger ones. We need a mix of older councillors for experience and you need a mix of younger people to be more energetic.”

Giles stressed that it was important to have younger councillors as a way of engaging with the younger demographic.

He said: “Younger people tend to be the ones who don’t vote. I’m not criticising them for that, that’s not their fault. It’s our problem. We’ve got to make local government interesting and engage with them. As far as I’m aware, of the 59 councillors at East Devon, there is nobody below 40 and the vast majority are much older than that. You need councillors that are in their 20s, that are more in touch with younger people. It’s a problem to be addressed. If councils are to be relevant and engage with all the people that live in the council area then they need to engage with younger people.”

The candidates contesting the three Ottery St Mary seats on EDDC are Paul Carter, Anne Edwards, Peter Faithfull, Luke Gray, Vicky Johns, Margaret Piper, Geoff Pratt and Harv Sethi.

East Devon councillor to step down after more than two decades | Latest Sidmouth and Ottery News - Sidmouth Herald

The East Devon Watch blog has a couple of follow-up pieces:
14 days to local elections – today’s picture | East Devon Watch

Including: 

WHY VOTE INDEPENDENT IN LOCAL ELECTIONS?

17 APR 2019

A response to today’s post on retiring EDDC Councillor Roger Giles:

“When I first moved to OSM and had a leaflet from Roger through the letterbox, I could tell immediately that he was the best councillor you needed no money to buy. I voted for him without any hesitation, and I have never been disappointed in the decision.

(Ditto for Claire Wright but that is another story.)

More importantly it was also the beginning of a journey for me, to understand what genuinely Independent councillors do that makes them so different from the Party clones, and to understand the depths of the dodgy behaviour perpetrated by EDDC’s Conservative / Liberal Democrat regime.

Unfortunately I have now moved away, but I do hope that Roger’s shoes are filled by a new crop of fiercely independent-minded Independent councillors who will fight for the rights and needs of local residents against the elite powers-that-be and who will continue Roger’s fight to shine a spotlight and hold the council leadership to account on both the decisions made by them and the process by which those decisions are reached.

To anyone considering standing as a genuine Independent in any of the roles Roger has until now held, I urge you to take the plunge – the last thing East Devon / Devon needs is yet another Conservative / Liberal Democrat clone who will vote as directed in a totally non-critical brain-dead manner.

To anyone voting, equally I urge you to AVOID candidates from the national parties (or indeed any candidates who until recently were associated with national parties and who have decided to stand as Independents even though we can see through this ploy) and to support your genuinely INDEPENDENT candidate.”

Why vote Independent in local elections? | East Devon Watch
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Knowle relocation project: parkland transfer to Town Council

It had been feared that the parkland at Knowle would be out of bounds for some time:
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: District Council "have not yet agreed anything" about developers using the public car park and meadow for 'storage space'
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: How have PegasusLife been allowed to use the public car park and meadow for 'storage space' and what exactly does the promise of a 'bigger and better car park' once work is finished mean?

It seems, though, that the remaining parkland would be open 
- although, as the Herald notes, "the developer has decided to build its 113-home retirement community in phases, rather than one go, meaning it will be able to contain its construction materials without using the public car park" 
- meaning, according to the East Devon Watch, that it "won’t be much fun for those in Phase 1 (or their neighbours) to live on or near a building site until other phases (how many?) are completed":
PegasusLife ‘to build in phases’ at Knowle | East Devon Watch

Here's a report from the Herald: 

3.5hectares of parkland could be open to public from autumn

PUBLISHED: 06:55 15 April 2019 | UPDATED: 12:57 15 April 2019

Clarissa Place

The parkland at The Knowle. Ref shs 15 19TI 2187. Picture: Terry Ife

‘Significant’ parkland which would not be available for three years could belong to the town as soon as autumn.

The parkland at The Knowle. Ref shs 15 19TI 2185. Picture: Terry Ife

Sidmouth Town Council revealed on Monday night 3.5hectres of land at Knowle could be transferred sooner than expected after members were told the land and car park would not be available until the completion of PegasusLife's 113-home retirement community.

Town clerk Christopher Holland told the meeting the developer has decided to build its 113-home retirement community in phases, rather than one go, meaning it will be able to contain its construction materials without using the public car park.

In November, the Herald revealed the developer had been allowed the use of the lower car park and meadow as storage space for the duration of the works.

The council is in discussion with East Devon District Land about the land and the lower car park, which it hopes can be extended at a later date.

The parkland at The Knowle. Ref shs 15 19TI 2177. Picture: Terry Ife

Mr Holland told councillors: “It's good news at the end of the day, when we were discussing a three year deadline a number of you expressed some disappointment that it was going to be so long, so this is bringing things forward quite a bit but very dependent on Pegasus themselves.

“With trees come responsibility, if you want to have public parkland open to the public to view, it's the same as The Byes, you have to manage your trees carefully. All we are trying to do in our negotiations is get enough finance with the park to be able to look after it in the first few years without it being an additional burden on the Sidmouth tax payer.”

The parkland, which contains an arena space, was once a site for performers during Sidmouth's annual folk festival, and could be used for public events.

Councillor Ian McKenzie-Edwards said: “My person feeling here is this is a very significant and valuable piece of land within Sidmouth. I will feel a lot happier when it's in our bank and its secured. I can see in the future great economic and social benefit from the use of this land.”

Councillors raised questions about carrying out a tree survey and maintenance works had been carried out following the last sit visit three years ago.

Mr Holland confirmed the majority of the work had been carried out including large section of railings completely replaced or rewelded, and the brickwork around the buttresses of the trees where they were pushing out have been done.

Cllr Marc Kilsbie added: “I have the same observation and mindfulness that there are no restrictions and caveats put in there preventing what can and cannot take place on the parkland. Otherwise if there are huge restrictions on how it can be used it's a white elephant not an asset.”

Knowle parkland in Sidmouth could transfer to council by autumn | Latest Sidmouth and Ottery News - Sidmouth Herald
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