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Date 30th April 2008

Well the latest CCTV gismo that will literally be hitting the streets during the next few months is the Lollipop cam...designed for the Children Crossing Patrols outside of schools to record those abusive drivers who ignore the patrol personnel and drive straight through. This camera follows the tragic death a few months ago when one patrol person was run over and killed. Kirklees Council will be the first to use these devices and I'm sure it won't be too long before they are used by crossing patrols here in Devon. Isn't it sad to think that there are drivers around who just ignore anything that is introduced for safety of pedestrians. I believe that offenders should have their licenses taken away for at least 12 months......THIS WOULD DRIVE HOME THE MESSAGE!!

Date 29th April 2008

There you see I raised the issue of the cost of diesel and petrol in yesterdays blog and now all the newspapers, tv and radio and full of it. Shell and BP have announced record 3 monthly profits running into well over £3 billion, and as I mentioned yesterday the government are coining it in.....so don't keep trying to make an excuse that its all being done because of global warming/climate change as the ice on this excuse by Brown and Co is getting very thin indeed. REDUCE THE TAX ON FUEL NOW!!!

 Date 28th April 2008

Well it looks as though the cost of petrol and diesel are due to go crashing through the £5.00 a gallon threshold. The cost per litre is going up daily and this is now becoming the big issue raised whenever people stop and talk to you. It is in the Governments hands to reduce the amount they levy on tax... lets face it everytime it goes up so does the level of VAT. Come on Brown and Darling give us something to smile about 'THE CHANCE WOULD BE A FINE THING'.

Date 27th April 2008

This Tuesday 29th April sees the remaining section of Trow Hill A3052 reconstructed and resurfaced. This I called for well over 12 months ago and I and I'm sure motorists that use this rutted section of road am/will be delighted to see the work completed which is going to cost in the region of £70,000
This work is programmed to take six days to complete so be ready for some long delays and if you can find an alternative route then my advice would be to take it.

Date 26th April 2008

The Church Street bollard debate rolls on and I am now receiving representations from all sides which makes for a very healthy debate and is why I have requested that a much wider consultation needs to be carried out to establish whether or not taking some of the present footway to create a loading bay is the best option.  There have been several emails that say that if the Town Council are so interested in this issue then they should also put funding into any scheme with some of the money in the Wooley Trust.
The most interesting email I received contained the photo below which clearly shows that even by erecting the bollards it hasn't prevented a green Puegeot from mounting the footway and blocking the access for pedestrians. Not very considerate!!!

 Date 25th April 2008

If reporters want to canvass opinion then it is important that they get the facts correct before doing so as I have now received six calls from residents expressing their concerns over the re-routing of the 157 Coast link bus service which operates between Sidmouth and Exmouth.
18 months ago I and the County Council's Transport Co-ordination Officer met with Stagecoach to see if they would look at re-routing the service along Woolbrook Road and then take either Alexandria Road or Winslade Road to pick up the original route down through Station Road to the Triangle. Nothing happened until that is recently when Stagecoach announced that it would be re-routing along Woolbrook Road from the 19th May 08.... I was as you can imagine delighted with this announcement... however the delight was short lived when I heard that Stagecoach intended to carry on down through Temple Street Vicarage Road and All Saints Road effectively by passing those regular users of the bus service on the west side of town.
I therefore went back to Stagecoach through the County Officer and they have agreed to take the Winslade Road/Alexandria Road route as we discussed 18 months ago and this means that 'EVERYONES A WINNER'... The Herald reporter however has decided to wind people up by saying that the bus won't be going on this route... RUBBISH I informed the reporter who promised that he would put the facts in today's paper SURPRISE SURPRISE it isn't in there however there are two letters having a go at me.... Hopefully my reply will be published next week???? AND SO YOU CAN BE ASSURE THAT THE FACTS ARE CORRECT HERE IS CONFIRMATION FROM THE COUNTY COUNCIL TRANSPORT CO-ORDINATION OFFICER.

Stuart,

I can confirm that, with the exception of early morning buses, which don't have time, Service 157 will run Woolbrook Road, Exeter Cross, Arcot Road, Winslade Road, Station Road. This will be Monday to Saturday.

Sundays, however, will remain on the existing Bulverton Road route. This is because the operational change which creates sufficient time for the Woolbrook route does not take place on Sundays - the service with which 157 will interwork does not run on Sundays.

 - John.

John Richardson-Dawes,
Team Leader, Public Transport,
Transport Co-ordination Service,
Environment, Economy and Culture Directorate,
Devon County Council,
Matford Offices,
County Hall,
Exeter,
Devon,
EX2 4QW.

Date 24th April 2008

Yesterday we were blogging Church Street Sidmouth and today its Church Street Sidford where work has almost been completed in widening the footway that runs behind the telegraph pole to the east of the Warrens Mead turning. This will go along way to helping improve the quality of life for the local residents and especially mothers with pushchairs and the disabled.
There is now only one more vital piece of work to be carried out and that is in the vicinity of Porch Cottages in Church Street. Whilst every attempt has been made to secure the relocation of the wall in order to widen the footway the local resident will not come to an arrangement with the County Council and therefore the only option left is to go down the compulsory purchase avenue and this is now in process.
  

Date 23rd April 2008 

Following a break of a couple of weeks to carry out some minor adjustments to the website 'the blogs back'. In the wake of the so called fiasco over the erection of bollards in Church Street along the edge of the footway to improve safety for pedestrians and preventing vehicles from damaging the paviers and having not been consulted over their erection myself, I called for a site meeting which took place yesterday between the County Highway Engineer, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce Paul Durier and the PCSO for Sidmouth who in his previous role was our Traffic Warden. At the meeting I requested that the bollards be removed at the earliest opportunity and we discussed various ways of improving the situation in Church Street which would be of benefit to both pedestrians/shoppers and traders.
Pedestrianisation or at least partial pedestrianisation would be my preference for not only Church Street which is the main thoroughfare to the town from the bus interchange at the Triangle but for the town itself and which is something I have been calling for for as long as I can remember. This solution would have to be worked up for inclusion in the 2011 LTP (Local Transport Plan). The option we decided to consult the traders of Church Street would be for the creation of a Loading Bay which would be acheived by realigning the footway this work will cost in the region of £10,000 and as there is no funding available in this years budget for such a scheme I have agreed to use some of my locality budget towards a scheme (should it be the wish of the local traders). If it should go ahead the work could be carried out during the next two months, which is an extremely fast turn around. I have also requested that drop kerbs be provided as part of the scheme which will help those with walking diasabilities and also mothers with pushchairs/prams.

Date 9th April 2008 

Well I must say I do fear for the future of many local events run by local organisations that have to operate with a road closure as they will now be required to have a Special Events Notice. This is some instances comes at a price £50 and £160 depending on the number of people that will be attending. These figures don't sound much but with all the other escalating costs such as Public Liability Insurance that have to be met then yes it is as further fund raising will be required. On top of that is the placing of Road Closure and Diversion signs which have to be carried out by a responsible person with a Chapter 8 accreditation and then there is the Risk Assessment plan that has to be drawn up. At yesterday's Executive I mentioned all these issues and requested that the County send out a Risk Assessment Safety Plan Tool Kit to organisers of events and also for the County to run Chapter 8 courses inviting a member from each organisation to take the course....this alone would help those events. I also stated that I felt Commercial organisers should be charged double the amount for a Special Events Notice and that the fee for local organisations should be wavered. Once again this fell on death ears. Finally I don't believe that Carnival organisers are out of the firing line yet as the police still haven't given categorical assurances that they will be able to continue operating under the Town and Police Clauses Act.... if they do have to fall in with the Special Event Notice then the higher charge will apply to most and that may be the tipping point for carnivals as we know them. 

Date 4th April 2008 

As predicted yesterday in the blog many of the questions asked at last nights town annual assembly were similar to those of previous years. The problem is that it takes money to acheive many of the requests. Traffic and how to address the issue in Sidmouth is always high on the agenda. I actually produced what I felt would be a very cheap and modest scheme that would see change of traffic direction around the town and I felt it would work as did the County Officer that I spoke to. However it was dismissed by members of the town council. I do however feel that it is worth pursuing and I am going to resurrect it once again. Lets keep our fingers crossed.

Date 3rd April 2008 

Tonight is that time of year when the Sidmouth Town Council holds its Annual Assembly at the Arts Centre. This is the once a year occasion when members of the public can come along and hold their elected members to account. Last year less than a dozen  residents attended the meeting and their question weren't too dissimilar to those asked in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
If you have an issue that you wish to raise well here's your chance...SEE YOU THERE? 

Date 2nd April 2008 

You may well have gathered from earlier blogs that one of my favourite birds is the Swallow and these are now returning to our shores from North Africa..with the weather turning colder again for the weekend they may well wish that they had extended their winter break.  I am delighted that the go ahead has now been given to carry out some reconstruction/resurfacing work on the A3052 there is one section near Oaklands Garage that is like a rutted farm track and this is one area that is going to receive attention. I am also pleased that the top of Trow hill in my ward is also receiving some tender loving care.

Date 1st April 2008 

Now I'm not the type of person who is going to play an April Fools joke on my blog readers so don't worry.
The final section of footway that needs widening in Church Street Sidford will progress and hopefully work will be carried out in this financial year 08/09 however first of all the land has to be secured to move the wall back near Porch Cottages. It is I feel  unfortunate that the County Council has now got to go down the compulsory purchase avenue as the land owner hasn't reached an agreement with County.  The longer this goes on the more pedestrians lives are being put at risk walking along the present narrow footway.
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