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The Bradworthy Wind Turbines
Councillor
Christie's Weblog
From your Torridge District Councillor Peter Christie
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20th July '08
One of the most distinctive aspects of Bideford is the Quay – after all in how many other towns can you see the coming and goings of ocean going vessels so close up? I often think that the dramatic view looking down the High Street on to a large ship at the bottom is one of the best sights in the town. Over the years, of course, the harbour has come under pressure from various people who have wanted to turn the Quay into a museum – or even see the port supplanted by Yelland Quay. Happily more rational voices have prevailed and we still have our port – but as with all things occasionally money has to be spent on maintenance and this time it is for a new crane. The old one has served us well for many years but it is needing more and more repairs – with spare parts being sourced from as far away as the Falkland Islands! A new crane will cost £225,000 but has to be provided if the harbour is to continue to function. At the council meeting where this came up councillor Steve Clarke queried both the profitability of the port and the adequacy of the safety measures put in place whenever a boat was being loaded. After receiving positive advice on both points councillor Des Shadrick made the point that without a crane the port would die - and with at least a century’s worth of clay still available at Petersmarland not to provide one would be stupidity. He was also excited with the possibility of new cargoes such as wood chips for ‘green’ heating appliances. I joined in pointing out both the possible employment/income spin-offs from the proposed array of off-shore wind turbines in the Bristol Channel and the spiralling cost of road transport which makes shipping ever more attractive. Additionally a new multi-purpose crane could be used to raise and lower small boats on to Brunswick Wharf both for over-wintering and for repair. James Morrish, Torridge’s Leader, brought matters to a head when he said we needed to make a decision there and then – we couldn’t stay with ‘a knackered out old crane’ but had to go for a new machine. The vote was 8 in favour with only councillor Clarke voting against.
The recent spate of house building in Bideford, Northam and Westward Ho! has led to increasing numbers of cars in the centres of these settlements. In the past the council demanded the provision of parking spaces with such new developments but this requirement was dropped some years ago. One developer in Westward Ho! whose houses have no parking areas has approached Torridge asking to buy season tickets in the village’s main car parks for his 14 houses at a rate of £1000 for 3 tickets. Currently such tickets cost £300 so at first sight this seems to make sense. Unfortunately for him each parking space actually generates about £1000 for casual use by tourists and locals – so what appeared a good deal is clearly pointless – and on my urging the offer was turned down. In a wonderful example of counting your chickens etc the Chief Executive advised us that the developer has already advertised that his houses come with these ‘reserved’ spaces – whoops! Of course it does raise the issue as to whether the council should be permanently ‘privatising’ bits of public car parks after having virtually privatised the esplanade by allowing the construction of the overbearing new luxury flats development. Of course, if a better offer comes in and councillors go with it perhaps Lidls will take over the New Street car park in Torrington just by taking out permanent season tickets on all the spaces!
So the Boundary Commission looking at the future of local government in Devon have come out in favour of a Devon Unitary council i.e. Devon minus Plymouth and Torbay with just a single council based in Exeter. Torridge was the only district council to vote in favour of this – by just 17 votes to 15. There is to be a further meeting to see whether we still want this but quickly scanning the Commission’s report it was interesting to see that this new Unitary envisages 28 ‘Community Areas’ – in this district it would mean regions based around ‘Market Towns’ viz Torrington, Holsworthy and Bideford/Northam. Yes, Bideford and Northam are to be one ‘town’. This implies the disappearance of separate councils for the two – with presumably the disappearance of Mayors etc. – not quite what was assumed might happen I would guess. Additionally the £200,000 ‘inducement’ offered to town councils by Devon county council to go down their favoured route would be split between the two – so Torrington with around 5000 people would get the full whack whilst Bideford with a population of 15,000 would get just half that. One is tempted to say thanks a lot to our county councillors - one of whom, of course, lives in Torrington! The whole idea is still in a state of flux, however, so no-one really knows what could happen – indeed the only thing that seems certain is a loss of local distinctiveness and a steep drop in democracy.
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