And some stuff on the South Hams

On to South Hams- which is the really important one for a fair chunk of people- we need to look at a whole set of stuff: affordable housing has to be the main aim, especially with the Sherford expansion- as I say above, the very thing that makes the South Hams such a nice place to live is in danger of killing it- and to be fair, the district council have it as their top priority. The problem is that the current system- of housing ‘associations’- is basically a re-tread of the municipal housing of yesteryear. No one wants to live in a council house (that they’ll admit anyway), and whatever they say, these organisations are basically taxpayer funded with, in many cases, no right to buy for a long set period. The government- including the previous one- is to blame for this: serious encouragement of old style almshouses is needed, but that is coupled with a proper reform of the benefits system- something way outside the remit of local councils, sadly. The problem is made worse by the money that is meant to go to affordable housing from the increased tax on second homes being stolen by Devon County Council so the Liberal Democrats can fund their expensive promises. At the same time, we need to seriously start regenerating the local economy: there are so many opportunities here in Wembury and Brixton to start developing local businesses, and encourage a new set of entrepreneurs. To make the South Hams viable, and not a haven for retired people who won’t be working or for people with yachts or second homes who happen to appear every so often, we need to do several things: the first is to create a land bank of suitable sites for development across the district- we can’t try and ‘zone’ things anymore. The second is to try and attract high wage light industry to the area, and the third to develop the local food industry more: at the moment, we’re very keen in promoting a relatively small number of producers. We need to promote a lot more to make our area seriously viable. At the same time, we need to be careful that we don’t fall into the ‘arts led regeneration’ trap- once the public money runs out what happens?-, or focus too much on tourism- we need to diversify and start putting things in the easily accessible A38 corridor, possibly around the Langage Energy Park.

The other major thing- the elephant in the room, really- is Sherford. The time for whinging has gone: it’s happening now, and we have to make the best fist of it. There will be a whole set of new local facilities there, and we have a reasonable chance of shaping what happens. The people still shouting can be left behind: it is too late and they have missed the boat. I’d rather have a whole in the head than have a whole new town, but the challenge now has several sides: with a new secondary school, pressure on Ivybridge can be relieved- which will potentially create a whole new community focus away from Plymouth. At the same time, there will be the opportunity for economic development in easy reach of the ports and the Devon Expressway, and reasonable quality housing that massive chunks of our end of the district lack, as well as some renewable power and park-and-ride space that could end up being really useful, and a test bed for further plans. The other major side to this is the expansion of Plymouth: without question, Plymouth City Council will have their eagle eye on this, and may try and grab Wembury and Brixton in the next ten years: remember that until the late 1960s Wembury and Brixton were part of Plympton- not that long ago.

At the same time, I’m going to push like hell for local independence: we are far too centralised in this country. I’m not in favour of an extra tier of regional assemblies- unless we’re going to throttle national government back so that it barely does anything- but I do want to see locally elected police chiefs, locally enforced penalties for anti-social crimes, more powers for parish councils, locally accountable health services, an end to pointless and expensive government targets and a whopping great overhaul of council tax so what we pay in actually reflects what we get. We need more freedom for local people to decide what is best for them using their money.

Finally, council tax is too high- perversely, the council that collects it is the one that gets almost nothing from it. I will vote against any increase in council tax.

If I am elected in May, low taxes, affordable housing, a sustainable local economy and a serious engagement with the Sherford development will be top of my list.

My ideas for Wembury Parish Council

Four years ago I was elected to Wembury Parish Council and am running re-election and for election to South Hams District Council this year. I've always thought it was a pity to be elected unopposed- something that hopefully won't happen this time- because I wanted to see some real ideas come out.

Four years later on, what have I achieved? My manifesto covered only a few things: I wanted no rise at all in the Parish precept- the bit of the council tax we get-, to relocate the village hall, school and doctor's surgery onto one site and to sort out the state of the pavements and footpaths. That was about it.

What's happened? This year, I was very proud to propose at Finance Committee a zero rise in the precept which is a cut in real terms- and only couldn't cut spending because of the cost of training new councillors. The village hall/school moving plan is being investigated by the County Council- mainly because the school really needs to be sorted out, and real progress has been made with the pavements and footpaths. I'm not going to claim it's a brilliant record in office but I do think it's pretty good. I’m also not going to claim credit, but it is important that these things get bumped up the priority list. So, what now? The parish council needs to reassess it's priorities: this year, I will be pushing for a separate planning committee to give things the serious going over that residents deserve, as well as a broader restructuring of the council so that members hold portfolios related to each other: it's crazy that one person is the contact with the other councils on highways and one is the contact for footpaths. I'd also like to see the council focus more on promoting local businesses: we have some amazing businesses in Wembury and Brixton that have real potential to grow and help keep young people in the area: at the moment we're in danger of becoming God's waiting room and, perversely, the very thing that attracts so many people to live here is also killing the area. We need to couple this with affordable housing. On top of that, I will be pushing for an absolute cut in the precept and promise to vote for no increase under any circumstances.

Basically, this time my manifesto will be focussed on reforming the council, affordable housing- with house prices now nudging the 300k mark, we need to seriously get moving on this- and making sure we have a sustainable and decent economy here in Wembury and Brixton.

So, here it is...

Yes, after much nagging and procrastinating, here is my blog. Expect more in the coming days as I work out how to use it!