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29 November 2012
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Thursday 29 November 2012
Friday 23 November 2012
EXETER CIVIC SOCIETY | A new theatre for Exeter - a public discussion
I've just received the following invitation from Exeter Civic Society
Dear Councillor
The possibility of having a new, large, modern theatre in Exeter has been the subject of much debate amongst residents and several letters have been printed in the local newspaper. In response to this interest, we are hosting a public meeting to discuss the viability of having a new theatre in Exeter. This will be a neutral platform for those interested to air their views, and maybe even form a small group to fully investigate whether Exeter can sustain a larger theatre. The outcome of the meeting depends very much on the level of interest and desire to take things further.
A new theatre for Exeter- a public discussion
The Civic Society hosts a Public Meeting on 6 December to enable the public to debate the possibility of a new town centre theatre.
Why are we doing this?
When the City Council consulted on its Design Principles for the redevelopment of the Bus & Coach station, many people suggested that a new theatre should be provided on the site.
Since then many people have written to the Express & Echo also suggesting that Exeter deserves a new town centre theatre.
Whilst the Society is not in support of a proposal for a new theatre, we do believe that if members of the public express a desire for Exeter to have a town centre theatre, then they should be enabled to come together and explore the possibility and viability of this.
Thursday 22 November 2012
E&E | 22 November 2012 | Cowick News
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22 November 2012
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Cowick/St Thomas
COWICK residents hoping for a direct bus service to the doctors' surgery in Cowick Street look set to be disappointed.
Cllr Paul Bull has been looking into the issue of what used to be the P service [sic that should be the C service], but have no plans to reinstate the former route.
A spokeswoman for Stagecoach said: "Over the last few years we have made significant improvements to our Exeter network, including spending some time looking at the most simple and effective ways our E, F and P services could interwork with one another for the benefit of the majority of our customers.
"The result of this was to keep our E and F services on a similar routing between Stoke Arms and Redhills, allowing us to maintain a maintain a turn-up-and-go service.
"The P was then rerouted down Isleworth Road and Charnley Avenue to provide residents of High Meadows with a bus service.
"This arrangement works well for most of our customers, but we appreciate there are some Crossmead residents who would like route P to also serve Cowick Street Health Centre.
"At present we have no plans to make this change to the service but, to complete this journey, customers can connect onto either E or F at The Barleymow or St Thomas Shopping Centre.
"Alternatively, Country Bus, Dartline and Western Greyhound all offer direct services from Dunsford Hill to the Health Centre."
Cllr Paul Bull has been looking into the issue of what used to be the P service [sic that should be the C service], but have no plans to reinstate the former route.
A spokeswoman for Stagecoach said: "Over the last few years we have made significant improvements to our Exeter network, including spending some time looking at the most simple and effective ways our E, F and P services could interwork with one another for the benefit of the majority of our customers.
"The result of this was to keep our E and F services on a similar routing between Stoke Arms and Redhills, allowing us to maintain a maintain a turn-up-and-go service.
"The P was then rerouted down Isleworth Road and Charnley Avenue to provide residents of High Meadows with a bus service.
"This arrangement works well for most of our customers, but we appreciate there are some Crossmead residents who would like route P to also serve Cowick Street Health Centre.
"At present we have no plans to make this change to the service but, to complete this journey, customers can connect onto either E or F at The Barleymow or St Thomas Shopping Centre.
"Alternatively, Country Bus, Dartline and Western Greyhound all offer direct services from Dunsford Hill to the Health Centre."
Tuesday 20 November 2012
ALPHINGTON FORUM | Ombudman's Decision
The Alphington Viilage Forum have had serious concerns over who the consultation for Exeter's Core Strategy , our local development framework, was carried out and make an application to the Local Government Ombudsman over the matter.
I had sight of the Ombudsman's decision today.
The complaint
1. Mr A complained that the Council failed to consult residents in Alphington over a proposal to build 500 homes there and that local elected members did not inform residents of the proposals.
The Ombudsman’s final decision:
I had sight of the Ombudsman's decision today.
The complaint
1. Mr A complained that the Council failed to consult residents in Alphington over a proposal to build 500 homes there and that local elected members did not inform residents of the proposals.
The Ombudsman’s final decision:
I am satisfied that Exeter City Council conducted an appropriate level of consultation with local residents and groups over proposals to build new homes in their area as part of its Core Strategy.
Final decision
For the reasons I have explained, I do not uphold the complaint. I am satisfied that
the Council’s notification to residents was in keeping with what it was required to
do and there was no maladministration in the process it followed.
An interesting comment is found in the What I Found section.
"I cannot say whether the three local ward councillors passed on information to the local residents about the proposals once they were provided with the facts. Any concerns about the performance of their duties could have been referred to
the Council’s Standards Committee."
Just to note -without comment - that the councillors at the time were all Liberal Democrats, namely:
Cllr Vanessa Newcombe;
Cllr Paul Smith; and
Cllr Peter Wadham, who as Portfolio Holder for Sustainable Development and Transport was responsible for delivery of the Core Strategy [and any consultation on it ] between April 2008 and September 2010.
The full decision is due to be published here in the near future
Thursday 8 November 2012
E&E | 08 November 2012 | Cowick News
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08 November 2012
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Cowick News
COWICK city councillor Paul Bull has been out and about on the buses, and believes from talking to passengers that improvements could be made to the service that would benefit the ward.
He has started a Cowick Deserves Better Buses campaign after talking to to passengers.
For many, it is a 2-bus trip to access medical and health services provided by the St Thomas Medical Centre on Cowick Street, a difficult and taxing journey for those with mobility problems and young children in buggies.
Cllr Bull said: "Up to 8 buses an hour from Exwick stop at the First and Last bus stop allowing residents from Exwick convenient access to the health centre.
These often cause traffic congestion at this busy junction, inconveniencing Cowick residents opting to use their own private transport, yet no direct bus from Cowick goes to this end of Cowick Street
"It also means it is expensive to travel to reach the health centre.
"Patients either have to buy 4 single tickets or an Exeter Dayrider at £3.50 to make a bus journey to travelless than a mile as the crow flies."
Cllr Bull as discovered it is easier fro residents in both Alphington and Exwick to travel to the doctors' in Cowick Street by bus and told the Echo: "it may be more convenient for Cowick residents to use a doctors' surgey in Pennsylvania if they rely on Stagecoach services"
Out and about on the buses, Cllr Bull found that many passengers had their own ideas on how to improve the Cowick service.
Cllr Bull said: "As we travelled down Isleworth Road, someone sais: " Yu know what would be great? If this bus turned right at the bottom and went to the health centre. And to compensate, one of the three services from Exwick could go down Okehampton Street.'
"A simple solution obvious to passengers but which according to Stagecoach 'doesn't make commercial sense.'"
"Patients either have to buy 4 single tickets or an Exeter Dayrider at £3.50 to make a bus journey to travelless than a mile as the crow flies."
Cllr Bull as discovered it is easier fro residents in both Alphington and Exwick to travel to the doctors' in Cowick Street by bus and told the Echo: "it may be more convenient for Cowick residents to use a doctors' surgey in Pennsylvania if they rely on Stagecoach services"
Out and about on the buses, Cllr Bull found that many passengers had their own ideas on how to improve the Cowick service.
Cllr Bull said: "As we travelled down Isleworth Road, someone sais: " Yu know what would be great? If this bus turned right at the bottom and went to the health centre. And to compensate, one of the three services from Exwick could go down Okehampton Street.'
"A simple solution obvious to passengers but which according to Stagecoach 'doesn't make commercial sense.'"
Monday 5 November 2012
Exeter HATOC | 08 November 2012 | HGV Movements in Alphington
Back in April, when Exeter HATOC first started to look at HGV movements around Exeter [outlined the Officer's report] , it was reported that the current city-wide ban was ineffective and unenforceable.
The subject interested me back then - and still interests me now - as I am probably unusual among the councillors sititng around the discussion table at Exeter HATOC. I hold a C1 driving licence and so have the experience of driving of vehicles up to 7.5 tonnes around Exeter
In the course of the discussion was pointed out by the local County Councillor that large trucks and lorries were often seen in Alphington Village.
Subsequent follow-up alongside Labour city councillors revealed that the city-wide ban didn't extend as far as Alphington - a fact that seemed to have eluded the County Councillor since her election in 2006.
Very little progress on HGV movement within Exeter had been reported back to Exeter HATOC and so, at the meeting on 08 November, I asked for the following to be considered.
The subject interested me back then - and still interests me now - as I am probably unusual among the councillors sititng around the discussion table at Exeter HATOC. I hold a C1 driving licence and so have the experience of driving of vehicles up to 7.5 tonnes around Exeter
In the course of the discussion was pointed out by the local County Councillor that large trucks and lorries were often seen in Alphington Village.
Subsequent follow-up alongside Labour city councillors revealed that the city-wide ban didn't extend as far as Alphington - a fact that seemed to have eluded the County Councillor since her election in 2006.
Very little progress on HGV movement within Exeter had been reported back to Exeter HATOC and so, at the meeting on 08 November, I asked for the following to be considered.
16. Various Highways Matters
In accordance with Standing Order 23(2) Councillor Bull has requested that the Committee consider the following items:
(a) Update on the progress of priority signage for HGV throughout Exeter, including the effects on streets that currently enjoy weight restrictions (such as Cowick Lane and Cowick Street). What will the process be to add additional weight restrictions to Streets such as Chudleigh Road in Alphington?
The minutes of the meeting record
*162 Highways Matters
The Head of Highways and Traffic Management reported consultation with local members was in progress and that any suggestions could be directed to the Exeter Neighbourhood Highway Team (Devon County Council).
What they don't show is that discussion on the item in respect to Chudleigh Road was curtailed because the County Councillor representing Alphington had already left the meeting [some 45 minutes before the end of the meeting].
However, Cllr Rod Ruffle [like me, one of 4 City Councillors sitting alongside the 9 County Councillors on Exeter HATOC] who represents Alphington on Exeter City Council pointed out that a missing sign at the junction of Chudleigh Road with the A379 was responsible for the sightings of HGVs in Alphington but all was now in order.
This seemed to be contrary to the advice I had been given by County Highways officers so I went at looked at the signs.
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| CORRECT On A379 preventing HGVs turning left into Chudleigh Road |
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| WRONG? On Chudleigh Road preventing HGVs turning right onto 379 |
The photos above show what I saw. The reference to goods vehicles of 3 tons has been superseded by the metric weight of 7.5 tonnes so that shows how long these signs have been here.
The one on the left appears to be in the correct position, preventing HGVs travelling along the A379 towards the Devon Hotel roundabout from turning left into Chudleigh Lane.
The sign on the right is on Chudleigh Roa, by he entrance to Peamore Barn, preventing HGVs turning right onto the A379. To prevent HGVs using Chudleigh Road the one on the right is in the wrong position - it would need to be on the A37, on the opposite side of the carriageway.
It appears that both Cllr Ruffle and Cllr Vanessa Newcombe are satisfied that the correct signage is in position to prevent HGVs travelling through the village from this direction.
I AM NOT. I will follow this up with County's Highways Officers.
UPDATE [05 December 2012]
County Highways Officers confirm that both signs are correctly located.
There is a traffic order properly covering the restrictions in an experimental restriction from 1978. (http://www.devon.gov.uk/trafficorderssearch?url=trafficorders/browse.asp&url=20766)
There is no prohibition of HGVs accessing Alphington Village from Church Road which is why there are no signs at Alphington Cross.
There is a prohibition of HGVs westbound on Alphinbrook Road with an exemption for vehicles accessing properties. Signs are located at the junction with Trusham Road. There is no prohibition that prevents HGVs entering Alphington Village.
Your County Councillor has been such for 6 years and doesn't know that HGVs aren't banned from the village - it's taken me less that 6 months to discover the true position on the matter.
Working alongside Alphington's Labour City Councillors for Alphington, I will endeavour to ensure that when the provisions of HGV movement within Exeter are revised, the rules apply to village routes.
Saturday 3 November 2012
Door to Door Voter ID
Out canvassing the Ward to introduce Roy Hill as out candidate for the County Council elections in May 2013 #dcc13.
Before we even start knocking on doors, I am stopped in the street by someone who has heard about the campaign. She explains that her hips and back prevent her walking the shortish distance to Cowick Street and so has to endure the P bus and a change at the precinct to see her doctor, a journey of over half an hour as "the bus stops for 15 minutes up at Sylvan Heights". I've on on the bus when it arrives at the Crossmead terminus - meaning a wait of 10 minutes in total.
She also reminisces about the former routes - the B and C used to travel along Bowhay Lane. need to find out more about the history of the routes in Cowick.
As the morning wore on, met 2 young mothers that raised the point that they thought that buses were too expensive. For them, it's seen as cheaper, quicker and more convenient to drive into town and park in a car park.
Not surprisingly, many people we spoke to still have a great desire to see a service that runs down to Cowick Street - I'm used to residents relating the difficulty of getting to see the doctor but today some mentioned that they prefered to shop at Tesco rather than Co-op. The bus service makes it difficult to exercise that choice.
As we move onto Bowhay Lane, the story is till the same.
On election day, I was told by an elderly couple at 9am I had won [Dom, my campaign organiser, was never that certain until the votes were counted]. I call on them and find the husband is in hospital, has been since June. His wife uses the P and K buses to make the hour long journey to RD&E most days.
Her experience of the P is "awful...its goes all round the world to get to town." She tells me there used to be 3 strops into town. Outside her house, this end of Cowick Street, the shopping precinct and the city centre. "There must be about 15 now" she adds. Well there's 5 just to get to the other end of Bowhay Lane, yep I make it 15.
One lady rails against the "cockeyed service" offered by Stagecoach. A resident well rememers the J routre which went up to the top of Nadder Park Road. She wishes she had kept a letter from the bus company that said that "Barley Farm Road was unsuitable for public transport". "And that's when they were running minibuses" she concludes.
My final call on Bowhay lane is yet another resident diappointed with the bus *service*.
"I see many blooming buses heading to Exwick perhaps I should move there" she says, and I'm sure the smile is not entirely ironic.
She points out that it makes no sense using Buller Road as the buses often have difficulty passing. "They have to go onto the pavement, and get so close to the windows that they could pass out a cup of tea to you".
To avoid all this congestion she is grateful that at the moment she is in a position to walk down to the First and Last on Cowick Street.
Before we even start knocking on doors, I am stopped in the street by someone who has heard about the campaign. She explains that her hips and back prevent her walking the shortish distance to Cowick Street and so has to endure the P bus and a change at the precinct to see her doctor, a journey of over half an hour as "the bus stops for 15 minutes up at Sylvan Heights". I've on on the bus when it arrives at the Crossmead terminus - meaning a wait of 10 minutes in total.
She also reminisces about the former routes - the B and C used to travel along Bowhay Lane. need to find out more about the history of the routes in Cowick.
As the morning wore on, met 2 young mothers that raised the point that they thought that buses were too expensive. For them, it's seen as cheaper, quicker and more convenient to drive into town and park in a car park.
Not surprisingly, many people we spoke to still have a great desire to see a service that runs down to Cowick Street - I'm used to residents relating the difficulty of getting to see the doctor but today some mentioned that they prefered to shop at Tesco rather than Co-op. The bus service makes it difficult to exercise that choice.
As we move onto Bowhay Lane, the story is till the same.
On election day, I was told by an elderly couple at 9am I had won [Dom, my campaign organiser, was never that certain until the votes were counted]. I call on them and find the husband is in hospital, has been since June. His wife uses the P and K buses to make the hour long journey to RD&E most days.
Her experience of the P is "awful...its goes all round the world to get to town." She tells me there used to be 3 strops into town. Outside her house, this end of Cowick Street, the shopping precinct and the city centre. "There must be about 15 now" she adds. Well there's 5 just to get to the other end of Bowhay Lane, yep I make it 15.
One lady rails against the "cockeyed service" offered by Stagecoach. A resident well rememers the J routre which went up to the top of Nadder Park Road. She wishes she had kept a letter from the bus company that said that "Barley Farm Road was unsuitable for public transport". "And that's when they were running minibuses" she concludes.
My final call on Bowhay lane is yet another resident diappointed with the bus *service*.
"I see many blooming buses heading to Exwick perhaps I should move there" she says, and I'm sure the smile is not entirely ironic.
She points out that it makes no sense using Buller Road as the buses often have difficulty passing. "They have to go onto the pavement, and get so close to the windows that they could pass out a cup of tea to you".
To avoid all this congestion she is grateful that at the moment she is in a position to walk down to the First and Last on Cowick Street.
Friday 2 November 2012
Cowick Deserves Better Buses - Day 2
Today didn't start out about buses...
However, catching the P to Cowick from High Street highlighted some of the issue raised on the buses yesterday.
The real-time interactive displays were listing an A bus to Alphington as "due" and several buses to Exwick were expected within the next 10 min. But no P service.
So imagine my surprise when the first bus to arrive was a P!
This was interesting background information, as one of my visits was to talk to a Cowick resident about the operational failing of these self-same displays.
Two or three cases later, I was walking up Barley Lane towards the terminus at Crossmead when I saw a lady walk away from the bus shelter,
I ran to catch up with her to find out the story. She wasn't sure but she thought she arrived early enough to catch the 10:40 departure - now 8 min late, she would be unable to make the connection she needed in the city centre. Did the bus depart early? Was it taken out of service [anecdotal evidence from yesterday suggested that this might be the case]. Will ask questions of Stagecoach.
UPDATE from Stagecoach:
This service DID run. Arrived Crossmead at 10:37 and departed on time at 10:40
Very interesting conversation with a knowledgeable resident. No only covered the real-time displays, but he also wondered why the on-board dot matrix displays don't give "next stop" information. Good question. Hope Stagecoach have a answer when I ask them about it at next week's Exeter HATOC [Highway and Traffic Orders Committee] at County Hall next week
Like me, he would like an city centre route that covers St Davids Station - Central Station - Bus Station. A 10 min service could be covered by 3 buses, he thinks. And what about a frequent INTEGRATED service that links St Davids with the Airport at times that suit the flights rather than forming the service to Sidmouth?
However, catching the P to Cowick from High Street highlighted some of the issue raised on the buses yesterday.
The real-time interactive displays were listing an A bus to Alphington as "due" and several buses to Exwick were expected within the next 10 min. But no P service.
So imagine my surprise when the first bus to arrive was a P!
This was interesting background information, as one of my visits was to talk to a Cowick resident about the operational failing of these self-same displays.
Two or three cases later, I was walking up Barley Lane towards the terminus at Crossmead when I saw a lady walk away from the bus shelter,
I ran to catch up with her to find out the story. She wasn't sure but she thought she arrived early enough to catch the 10:40 departure - now 8 min late, she would be unable to make the connection she needed in the city centre. Did the bus depart early? Was it taken out of service [anecdotal evidence from yesterday suggested that this might be the case]. Will ask questions of Stagecoach.
UPDATE from Stagecoach:
This service DID run. Arrived Crossmead at 10:37 and departed on time at 10:40
Very interesting conversation with a knowledgeable resident. No only covered the real-time displays, but he also wondered why the on-board dot matrix displays don't give "next stop" information. Good question. Hope Stagecoach have a answer when I ask them about it at next week's Exeter HATOC [Highway and Traffic Orders Committee] at County Hall next week
Like me, he would like an city centre route that covers St Davids Station - Central Station - Bus Station. A 10 min service could be covered by 3 buses, he thinks. And what about a frequent INTEGRATED service that links St Davids with the Airport at times that suit the flights rather than forming the service to Sidmouth?
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