We are reissuing this horribly-prescient article, given the parlous state of so many councils across the UK. The prospects for the new unitary authority recently imposed on Somerset are not good. Like local government everywhere, the county is having to cope with a dysfunctional funding system and a decade of austerity. It will soon have […]
Councils have been facing a growing funding gap since the Conservatives came into power in 2010. It is estimated that one in ten councils face bankruptcy. The government has just announced the first increase in funding, following this protracted period of austerity, but councils maintain that it is still not enough to meet rising costs […]
The much-anticipated Independent Review of Protected Site Management on Dartmoor was published on 13 December 2023. It was overshadowed by the COP28 deal, but locally it’s just as significant: after all, Dartmoor is by far the largest area managed for wildlife in the south-west, and its peat bogs hold carbon stores equivalent to an entire […]
Dartmoor Environmental campaigner Tony Whitehead looks at the Independent Review of Protected Site Management on Dartmoor published this week and asks whether it will help nature restoration in this precious landscape … When I first skimmed through the Independent Review of Protected Site Management on Dartmoor that was published this week, my initial reaction was […]
Does Lib Dem-led South Hams Council know what the Freeport really means for our wild spaces? Jim Funnell questions whether the council is in control of the full facts… Last week I wrote to all the South Hams councillors with wards bordering on Dartmoor. I expressed my concern that South Hams District Council has failed […]
On the morning of December 4, 2023, a group of Dorset residents joined about 500 others around the country holding signs outside Bournemouth Crown Court, as part of the growing public campaign Defend Our Juries. Their signs displayed the centuries-old principle of ‘jury equity’, which is the right of all jurors in British courtrooms to […]
On 12 December 2022, wealthy landowner and hedge fund manager, Alexander Darwall and his wife, brought a case to the High Court to overturn the enshrined right to wild camp on Dartmoor National Park – the only place in England and Wales where it was legal. In January, he appeared to have won, but his […]
As the reality of the libertarian Freeport experiment unleashed on Plymouth and South Devon comes to weigh heavily on the shoulders of South Hams Council, the Task & Finish Group internal report (which will be discussed in Council Executive on Thursday 30 November) highlights issues of substantial concern. I unpack the concerns in detail in […]
Editor’s note: paragraphs in this font are direct quotes from council documentation It is fact that South Hams Council made no public consultation on the Plymouth & South Devon Freeport. It is fact that a Task & Finish Group was set up to scrutinise the risks and benefits of the Freeport agreement- AFTER a partnership […]
Friday 17 November saw the West Country Voices live debate on Plymouth & South Devon Freeport. Held within the spectacular St Mary’s Church in Totnes, the event was attended by around 80 people in person and an even larger number online. The livestream was not without some problems, but it was an ambitious project, blending […]
The charity Mid Devon Mobility is based in the town of Tiverton in Devon. It provides multiple services that meet the needs of residents in Mid Devon and North Devon, as well as those visiting the area and passing through it. The charity is a finalist in multiple in the Community Transport Awards 2023: 1 […]
Dartmoor is one of England’s most treasured landscapes and important wildlife havens. Just as the brooding hills, hidden valleys and spectacular tors delight visitors year-round, the oak woodlands, heath, bog and mires are home to many species that are vanishing elsewhere – including golden plover, curlew, high brown fritillary and countless rare insects, plants and […]
I ran into Robbie while campaigning for the South Devon Primary. Robbie’s controlled anger and frustration with the current state of affairs was mirrored in a democracy meter filling up with the stickers that represented people’s view of the current government – not positive. At all. A resident of this rather run-down estate, she explained […]
As those who attended last night’s session, either in person or via YouTube, will know, we empty-chaired representation from the Plymouth and South Devon Freeport. Towards the end of the session, a Liberal Democrat councillor pointed out that an official response had been sent at 15:50 on the day of the event , which started […]
What exactly is ‘one of the largest economic development projects in the South Hams’ – and why has no-one heard much about it? Why did South Hams District Council enter into a legally binding agreement with multi-million pound risks and liabilities over a year ago without asking its tax-paying residents? Is anyone pulling the strings of […]
Why this petition matters The petition was started by Seaton resident, Martin Shaw, who explains why it’s needed: The Seaton area community paid half of the cost of building the Hospital in the 1980s. The NHS agreed to own and run it with NHS services for the local community. In 1991, a new wing was […]
Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, has come up with yet another outrageous proposal: this would include new laws to restrict the use of tents by homeless people, arguing that many of them see it as a “lifestyle choice”… As if sleeping rough is a ‘lifestyle choice’! She also plans to create “a civil offence whereby […]
Stopping what he called the ‘war on motorists’ seems to be Rishi Sunak’s latest electoral wheeze. He, or his advisors, have worked out that there are lot of people who not only drive, but who love cars and the roar of engines, the smell of petrol, the sound of revs and the thrust of rapid […]
In the UK, it is estimated that we will spend a total of £777m on Halloween this year, up 13 per cent from an estimated £687m in 2022. Not to mention that of the 17 million pumpkins we buy, 14.5 million go to waste after October 31. A terrifying quantity of costumes are purchased each […]
Local activists from Cycling Rebellion have launched the LOVE 20 campaign at Winton Banks in Bournemouth, calling for a 20mph speed limit on Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) roads where citizens live, work, shop and play. Heart shaped spoof 20 miles per hour (mph) speed limit signs were displayed along the road, chalk art brought […]
It was quite a coup for South Hams Society to get Henry Dimbleby to speak on the important issues of food security, food safety and the future of agriculture in this country and the event held in Kingsbridge was well-attended on a chilly Friday night . Also on the panel were the MP for Totnes […]
I’ve been waiting for over nine weeks for a meaningful reply from my MP – Anthony Mangnall (South Devon): so far, I’ve only had a three-line response to 19 clear, precise questions I asked about a proposal he made to the Minister for Levelling-Up, regarding government-backed loans to private companies to ‘win’ public money (and […]
News has broken that 136 asylum seekers are due to be transferred onto the Bibby Stockholm on October 19, now that the legionella has been dealt with (allegedly). The barge will have been empty for 68 days and is rumoured to have been costing £300,00 per week while empty. The Home Office signed up for […]
On Saturday September 30, around 300 people gathered at Princetown to show their passion for creating a wilder Dartmoor. The “March for Wild Dartmoor” was organised by Wildcard, a growing grassroots movement of ordinary people, campaigners and experts who want to put pressure on the country’s biggest landowners to commit to ambitious rewilding projects as […]
Local households recently received a letter from Selaine Saxby, our North Devon MP, which contained a petition to complain about dentistry, or lack of it, in North Devon. I also note that she asked a question in the House of Commons on the same subject in July 2022. You can look at this in two ways: […]
The colourful campaigners of Extinction Rebellion Wimborne (XR-Wimborne) joined the crowds gathered for the Inside Out Dorset performances in September 2023. “We sang fossil fuels themed songs, processed and unfurled banners before the Inside Out performances started, and in parts of Wimborne where performances weren’t taking place. Our message was simple, there’s still time to […]
On Saturday September 16, a short section of traffic-free path in rural Somerset was officially opened. It was a small thing in itself, just over one mile in length and, at present, with no onward off-road connection at either end. Nevertheless, it illustrates some very important points. The path, and others like it currently being […]
At the crack of dawn on Saturday 23 September three coaches set off from the south west; their destination – London and the National Rejoin March. Those of us on the Devon coach had such a good run up the A303 that we arrived over an hour early, only to be told by the police […]
I have been asked on here if I have ever looked at the benefits of freeports. The honest answer is no, but that is because I have never been able to find any such benefits. I have, however, looked at the massive downsides to this idea that both Sunak and Truss support. It is important […]
The day before Rishi Sunak’s outstandingly dishonest Downing Street press conference on Wednesday, at which the Prime Minister announced his decision to junk key parts of the UK’s emission reduction efforts, a meeting of a very different kind took place in Cornwall Council’s main chamber in Truro. Convened by Climate & Ecological Emergency Cornwall, a […]