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The Bradworthy Wind Turbines
Councillor
Christie's Weblog
From your Torridge District Councillor Peter Christie
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2nd March '08
At a recent meeting to explore issues with Torridge’s budget councillor Roger Tisdale raised a fascinating point about concessionary bus fares for the over 60s when he asked if tourists over that age visited Bideford and the surrounding area from elsewhere would the district council have to cover the costs of their concessionary fares if they used buses whilst here? Amazingly the answer is yes, although the officer giving the answer qualified it slightly by adding ‘the position is still rather unclear’. Councillor Tisdale thought this ‘totally unfair’ and given the fact that Torridge has some of the lowest wages in the UK it is bizarre that locals could be subsidising tourists to the area. At this point our Treasurer chipped in to say that all holiday areas had protested to the government over this seemingly unfair imposition – though Torridge has been given some £246,000 by Gordon Brown to help offset the costs of such concessionary fares. I am led to believe, however, that most of this has already been earmarked to cover costs generated by local bus users – costs from tourists will not be covered. If and when we councillors receive an update on this I will let you know.
Two weeks ago I was invited to visit the building run by the Bideford-based Wings charity at Abbotsham. If you haven’t come across Wings before it was set up some years ago to provide a drop-in café in the old Church Institute building in Lower Meddon Street. Aimed at 11-25 year olds who have been marginalised in our society the café offers IT based activities such as digital photography, music and animation. Having got this up and running successfully the charity was offered a 50m x 30m agricultural building at Abbotsham on a peppercorn rent which has allowed them to greatly expand their work. My guide was the very enthusiastic Paul Bowser who summed up the benefits of the new building as being ‘big enough to allow outdoor working inside’. This work includes building, motor mechanics, conservation and heritage projects and even the production of wood pellets from waste wood and cardboard. Some 40 youngsters have already gone through courses at the building and the most obvious physical outcome is the range of ‘modular’ wooden buildings that they constructed. The buildings feature massive insulation based on the use of straw and sheep wool – both in the walls and on the roof. Paul quoted a ‘success rate’ of 90% of the young people going on to jobs or further education. Hopefully these will be the prototypes of genuine affordable homes as Wings are aiming to be able to sell similarly constructed 2-4 bedroom houses for between £60,000 and £110,000 – with annual running costs of just £250-£350 per year. They are currently about to build their first temporary show house, partly to show it can be done and partly to employ a group of young people. The problem, as always, is finding land to build on – so if you have a plot capable of taking at least one house then do contact Wings on 01237 472000. What an innovative charity, I can only wish them luck.
The town council Plans Committee, unlike that for Torridge, sees all the submitted plans that concern Bideford and although many of them are small, conservatories, porches, UPVC windows etc, an occasional one catches the eye. This month, for example, two were of some interest. One concerns the old warehouse at the back of Somerfields in King Street. Whenever I take a group on one of my ‘historical tours’ of the town and we get to King Street I have to admit to embarrassment – not at the wonderful old quayside warehouses that still remain in all their glory – but at the obscene and childless graffiti that defaces the walls. The owner of the one referred to above has now applied to convert the badly run down building into five 2 bedroom flats and one 1 bedroomed one. I have written before about how keen I am to see old buildings in the town brought back into use and the recent conversion of the one behind Clinton Cards in the High Street shows just how successful this approach can be. Naturally the Plans Committee approved this new one – as they did a more unusual development. Some years ago the Bridge Trust regained control of the Free Church section of the Old Town graveyard the whole of which they originally allowed the town to use around 1840. Torridge is now set to manage the area as an extension to the existing open space next door. Some decades ago there was a small caretaker’s cottage in the front of the graveyard and now the Trust has applied to replace it with a new cottage. As a member of the Trust myself I didn’t vote on the application at the Plans committee but it was accepted and now goes to Torridge for a final decision. All these new flats and cottages in the town itself do save greenfield sites on the outskirts of town and unlike some recent applications (Lime Grove springs to mind) they are sensible additions to Bideford’s housing stock.
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