I also question the commitment to climate change described in these Tory leaflets. Nationally progress towards the unambitious targets is off course. Energy companies make record profits, and the government minimises their taxes while accepting over £3 million party finding from fossil fuels and climate deniers. I see no Conservative ambition that compares with the […]

As we approach the election, in Kenn Valley, We can see the leaflets circulated by the candidates. The claims in the Conservative leaflet are horrendously misleading. Support for employment and spending They talk about Teignbridge Lib Dems failing to spend £2 million that we were supposed to have had to support employment. This sum was […]

There are 217 children in the care of Devon County Council in children’s homes, foster care or supported living outside of the county council area, figures published by County Hall in Exeter confirm. One is in a Children’s home 277 miles away in Calderdale, Yorkshire, while another is in Northumberland and other children are placed […]

There will be a local election on May 4th this year, you will need ID to vote. Sadly I (Andy Swain) will not be standing in Kenn Valley. I am really sad to be handing over the role in Kenn Valley and I want to thank all those that I have worked with to support […]

There was a public meeting in Ide on Friday to discuss the proposal to allocate land at Markhams farm for housing development in the new Teignbridge local plan. The meeting went well, I think. It was civilised, rational and helpful. TDC officers talked about the plan as a whole and the site in detail, People […]

There was a good meeting of Teignbridge full council on 21 Feb 23. https://democracy.teignbridge.gov.uk/documents/g3088/Public%20reports%20pack%2021st-Feb-2023%2010.00%20Full%20Council.pdf?T=10 As well as agreeing the budget, I was happy to support a recommendation from the executive that TDC continue to oppose the closure of Teignmouth hospital. There is a crisis in care, with decades of austerity policies finally exposed for the […]

On Tuesday 14 Feb 2023 TDC help an extraordinary council meeting to discuss the recent ombudsman report : https://www.lgo.org.uk/decisions/other-categories/councillor-conduct-and-standards/21-004-645?chapter=2 which is highly critical of Teignbridge’s handling of a standards complaint. It raises 7 explicit failings about the handling of the case and this extraordinary meeting was called to consider it. Alan Connett, leader of the […]

At elections in 2018 there were 8 allegations of people claiming a false identity at a polling station, seven were dismissed and one resolved locally. There were no convictions. In 2019 the government ran trials requiring photo ID to vote. In just ten trial areas, 1,968 people were turned away for not having the correct […]

In her column in Mid Devon Advertiser, 26/1/23, Anne Marie Morris wrote of the retained EU Law Bill that it “It allows us to correct our statute book so that we no longer have laws which [came from our former] EU membership which we do not want to keep.” Without this bill we can already […]

There is a more detailed explanation of the local plan here : https://kennvalley.mycouncillor.org.uk/2023/01/15/tdc-local-plan-publication-and-consultation/ The new Teignbridge local plan has been published. This is important and will shape development for the next 20 years. There have been consultations on policies and on sites put forward by landowners, site inspections to understand local factors, to help officers […]