When news broke of the destruction of some 136 mature trees in central Plymouth in March 2023, I was unimpressed by reports of local council plans to replace them with semi-mature trees and claims of an increase in local biodiversity as part of the new development. I’m not knowledgeable about trees or arboriculture, but I […]
Gyllyngvase Beach in Falmouth is renowned for sand, rockpools and clean water – at least that’s what the locals and tourists expect to find when they visit. In recent years, however, would-be paddlers and swimmers at Gylly have been met by the products of a nearby Combined Sewage Overflow (CSO). These include everything you’d expect […]
People understand sewage. It stinks. So does the system that has allowed privatised water companies to make huge profits while failing to upgrade our sewage treatment system. Over the last eleven years the companies have paid out £16.8 billion in dividends while sewage discharges continue to be unacceptably high. Graphic pictures of raw sewage spilling […]
Dear Editor, Great to see that the CEO of the parent company of South West Water (SWW) has only earned 1.6m in the last year. I really can’t see how we expect her to manage on such a small amount!. She obviously doesn’t invest in hose pipe manufacturers. We have a hose pipe ban in […]
I was recently invited onto the board of trustees of an inclusive cycling charity called Wheels for Wellbeing, which is doing amazing work, changing attitudes and the road network, to make it safer for everyone who cycles, regardless of ability or disability. I had to go to London for a meeting with the other trustees; […]
One year ago today, I submitted a major complaint to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council (BCP). The full case touches on potential negligence, misconduct, corruption & perhaps even breach of law. I’ve chased many times, & met with senior BCP officers. But a year later, BCP has failed to respond at all. This defies reason. […]
If you are incensed by the water companies pumping sewage into our rivers, waterways and seas and bitterly resent the fact that WE, the consumer, will be paying for them to clean it up, then join a protest! The water companies have been making huge profits, which they have partially distributed to shareholders, and paying […]
The head teacher of a Devon primary school wrote to us as follows: Since the first lockdown in March 2020, leaders and governors in our school have prioritised the mental health and emotional wellbeing of children, staff and families, recognising the far-reaching consequences of the pandemic for all members of our school community. We have […]
A number of local newspapers, including the Totnes Times and Ivybridge Today, published excerpts of a letter by the Stars are for Everyone (SAFE) campaign group to Totnes MP, Anthony Mangnall, complaining of bias and the “gaslighting of constituents” in his article published in the Totnes Times in February. SAFE invited Mr Magnall MP to […]
Not a single arrest of climate, ecological and societal crises protesters: a report from the front line at Extinction Rebellion’s (XR) United Action, April 2023 I and around 50 others from North Devon and Torridge attended the massive climate and ecological crisis event in London, on 20-24 April 2023. This report is from the XR […]
The Conservatives are now criminalising peaceful protesters for no more than demanding that we follow the science and stop drilling for new oil and gas. What are people supposed to do when their Government ignores the world’s scientific experts who say we are ‘firmly on track to an unlivable world’? Would you sit meekly on […]
Editor’s note: Bayside Restaurant was funded by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council, ostensibly to pilot the feasibility of beachfront eateries. It was open on the seafront, between Bournemouth and Boscombe piers, for just one month in August 2022. From the start, it was dogged with controversy, first about the poor quality of service and […]
Campaigners call for Poole Harbour oil leak company Perenco to lose its operating permits and licence. Support the rally to end fossil fuel extraction in the county. On 26 March 2023, we woke to the news that 200 barrels of oily liquid had leaked into Poole Harbour, causing extensive pollution and endangering the health of […]
The CPRE (formerly the Council for the Protection of Rural England) seeks to protect our countryside and accepts that its biggest threat is from climate change. CPRE’s strategy on renewable energy forms an important part of its remit, but some have questioned whether its approach is being influenced by a CPRE membership that is often […]
Four years after its first election, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP) faces another day of reckoning on May 4, 2023. Since the 2019 poll that formed this new, unitary authority, BCP has had two administrations, three leaders, three votes of no confidence, racked up record debts, achieved national infamy, flirted with insolvency, and even […]
We are about to put out a piece on tactical voting in the upcoming elections. We thought you might like a little refresher/reminder of what has gone before in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole! In chronological order: Well done! You’re nearing the end of this saga…May 4! Don’t forget your photo ID!
We are so lucky to have so many creative, motivated people in our west country communities. People like Ashburton Arts Centre director and celebrated jazz musician Andy Williamson who puts together cracking events like the Ashburton Chamber Music Festival 13 – 23 July and the diverse, eclectic but accessible Tinners Moon Festival which kicks off […]
The mystery of the Dartmoor Gift Pony! This one is all about who’s going to pay for the independent review of farming on Dartmoor. At the Dartmoor debate the other day, Geoffrey Cox (MP for Torridge and West Devon) could not have been clearer in his call for an independent reviewer to consider the current […]
Totnes MP Anthony Mangnall, who received a £5,000 donation towards his campaign office in 2020 from Dartmoor landowner Alexander Darwall, stood up in the house today to ask that: ‘leave be given to bring in a Bill to require the Secretary of State to publish proposals for a scheme to incentivise owners of land within […]
Colleen Bower has a mission. With her background in education, she is concerned that young people in South Somerset – a largely rural population – are missing out on experience of, and access to, Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM subjects). Over time, she has got together with local councillors and many organisations and businesses […]
The fifth Byline Festival comes to Devon! You’ve read their articles, seen them on TV, applauded their values and their bravery in speaking out, and now you can see and hear them in the flesh! Some of the biggest names in the progressive media feature in the Byline Festival line-up, including: Carole Cadwalladr; George Monbiot; […]
Reading Tony Whitehead’s piece in West Country Voices (‘Failing nature on Dartmoor‘ ) exploring some of the realities behind the outpouring of protest from the farming industry and lurid claims that Natural England has a secret (and no doubt cunning) plan to “rewild” Dartmoor, has enthused me sufficiently to write a blog. I don’t intend […]
There has been much heated debate over the past few weeks about the future of livestock farming on the Dartmoor commons. Tony Whitehead takes a closer look at the issues … all is not what it seems … Throughout this tale, one key thing must be borne in mind. A large proportion of the Dartmoor […]
Close your eyes and picture the inside of the Royal Albert Hall … or look at a photo! It’s massive, isn’t it? In fact, 66m long, 56m wide and 41m high. Imagine it full to the ‘brim’ with single-use coffee cups. That is the total amount of annual coffee cup waste in the UK! A […]
Thursday 30 March saw the first of a trumpeted series of open meeting events led by Anthony Mangnall MP to allow constituents the chance to “submit a question for South West Water”. After a media and public backlash over the dire state of Britain’s waterways and coasts, MPs have been scrambling to find a way […]
News broke on 26 March 2023 of ‘reservoir fluid,’ containing oil, leaking into an environmentally sensitive area for wildlife. The devastating impacts of the oil spill from the Wytch Farm site in Poole Harbour are unacceptable in a climate and ecological emergency – and heart-breaking for the many organisations and individuals involved in conservation work […]
Dear Madam, It was a breath of fresh air reading this, perhaps because it confirmed my views! I am no economist, I am a retired plumber, living in Newton Abbot. What gets me is that I left school at 16, and I can see that the Bank of England policy is irrational. Fundamentally, if people […]
“I hate what Brexit’s done to this country”, one woman said, “I just hate it.” I looked encouragingly at her and she went on, “Britain’s just going down the pan, isn’t it?” It seemed that, once started, she couldn’t stop and, knowing she would get a sympathetic hearing, she told me about how her daughter […]
Originally tweeted by thehighcliffeguy (@AdamHighcliffe) on 29/03/2023. In 2015, Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns campaigned against the Navitus wind farm proposal, along with local Conservative peers. This proposed a wind farm 10km off the Dorset coast. He claimed it would “harm tourism”. It was then revealed that Conor Burns was also a consultant for Trant […]
Anti-fascists, including large numbers of local people, gathered outside a hotel in Newquay this morning to stand up to a far-right campaign that’s stirring up fear and hatred of asylum-seekers. Tom Scott reports from the scene. It was a lovely, fresh spring morning in Cornwall today, more than making up the hour of lost sleep […]