Month: May 2021
Thank you for all your messages of support
I have been deluged with lovely messages of commiseration on my defeat. They mean a lot to me and I shall obviously reply to every one personally.
On this blog, I don’t want to dwell on my personal disappointment, since the larger picture of the thwarting of opposition voices is far more depressing. However I do want to share a lovely message I have received from one of the campaigners for Teignmouth Hospital:
‘I am very sorry to see that you have sadly not been re-elected. It is heart-breaking when excellent councillors are not re-elected. As you pointed out East Devon is true blue, so with the rollout of the vaccine you were up against the tide.
‘I know you probably do not want to hear this but your result is a great loss to the county. Hopefully you will not give up and continue to play a role in contributing to the good of all as you have done for the past 4 years.Thank you for all you have done and achieved for the residents of Devon.
‘If we are fortunate to receive a successful outcome for Teignmouth Hospital we would be honoured if you would be able to make the celebrations. Take good care of yourself.’
I have lost the election in Seaton and Colyton, by 145 votes
Results:
Marcus Hartnell, Conservative, 2321 (1782 in 2017, when independent Conservative Jim Knight also got 414) 44.6%
Martin Shaw, Independent EDA, 2176 (1824 in 2017) 42.8%
Labour, 306 (224) 5.9%
Lib Dem, 160 (524) 3.1%
‘Democratic Network’, 95, 1.8%
‘Freedom alliance’ (anti-lockdown), 84, 1.6%
TORY MAJORITY: 145 (1.8%)
I congratulate Marcus on his election and thank everyone who voted for me, and especially those who helped the campaign. We did all we could but it was not quite enough.
This result and the similarly close results in Axminster and Sidmouth obviously need careful analysis, which I will return to in due course.
It has been an honour to represent the people of Seaton and Colyton over the last four years. I shall continue to work with everyone in the area to change things for the better.
No-hope Labour and Lib Dem candidates cost Independent Paul Hayward the Axminster seat on DCC
RESULT:
Ian Hall (Conservative) 1672
Paul Hayward (Independent East Devon Alliance) 1439
Oliver Tucker (Labour) 498
Jules Hoyles (Liberal Democrat) 209
Paul Hayward would have been a great County Councillor.
WHY, OH WHY, do these parties insist on standing everywhere, preventing fellow-progressives from ousting the Conservatives?
THE SEATON AND COLYTON RESULT WILL BE ANNOUNCED ANY TIME FROM AROUND 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON. (I won’t be able to live-blog this from the count, but I will tweet it @MartinShawEDA.
Polling ‘manic’ in Colyford, and steady in Seaton and across the district
This morning I toured the polling stations, from Seaton to Beer, Branscombe, Southleigh, Northleigh, Offwell, Wilmington, Colyton and Colyford.
Polling was generally pretty steady, but brisk in Colyton and described as ‘manic’ by polling clerks in Colyford, where parish council elections added to the excitement of the county contest.
Spare a thought for polling clerks in Wilmington – where the hall was without electricity and the door wide open on a cold early May morning!
Back to the Methodist Church polling station in Scalwell Lane, Seaton, now.
You have until 10 to cast your vote – results will be known late afternoon tomorrow.
(photo, outside Colyton Town Hall)
Absentee owners of Beer Road field propose 2-metre-high fence to block views to sea
In an extraordinary move, the absentee owners of the field at the top of Beer Road have obtained a certificate of lawful development from EDDC to put a 2-metre fence all along the top end of the field, along Beer Road. This will obliterate the view shown in the photo above, preventing local residents and walkers on the Coastal Path from looking across the field to the sea. (Erecting a fence constitutes ‘permitted development’ and does not require planning permission; the certificate confirms this applies.)
The owners, two sisters who live in Gloucestershire, applied last year for planning permission to build a house on the site. EDDC indicated on the planning notice that this would be contrary to the Local Plan; although a decision has not been published, the owners clearly expect a refusal. Indeed they had threatened to erect a fence following objections by over 60 local residents as well as the SW Coastal Path Association, CPRE and Natural England.
Regardless of whether I am re-elected in tomorrow’s election, I shall be joining others from across the area and beyond who are telling me they want to do everything to stop this fence being erected.
Dan Ledger elected chair of Seaton Town Council and Town Mayor
Many congratulations to Dan, at 30 Seaton’s youngest-ever mayor.
Ken Beer, who has been mayor for the last two years, is the new vice-chair. Ken has achieved a lot during a very difficult period.
I look forward to working with them both in their new roles.
Local Conservatives have a nerve boasting about putting ‘meat on the bones’, when their government has both stripped funding and hoisted council tax
The Conservative candidates for Seaton and Axminster, in a paid advert in the Midweek Herald, say they are working to put ‘meat on the bones’ on the services we need in the area. This is incredible hypocrisy after their government has spent over a decade stripping the same services back to the bone.
Devon County Council’s funding has been reduced by far more than £100 million per year. Highways and Libraries are on standstill funding, i.e. reducing in real terms.
Austerity is still with us
Lest you be fooled by loose talk about austerity being over, let me remind you that golden boy Rishi Sunak has made it very clear that most areas of public services will be on starvation rations for the foreseeable future. Even local NHS managers are expecting funding constraints to return with a vengeance once the Covid emergency is over. These are the Government’s political choices, while they spend lavishly in other areas.
Local cuts
When you vote, just remember that in the last few years, Seaton, Axminster and Honiton hospitals have lost their beds because of Conservative spending cuts. NHS Property Services, which owns the hospitals, spurred on my the government’s incentives for property sales, put the Seaton and Axminster hospital sites forward for housing development.
Colyton Fire Station was almost closed for the same reason. Colyton Health Centre faced possible closure because NHS PS hiked their service charges 5 times. The town’s public services could have been decimated for the sake of land sales.
Only vigorous protests by the local communities, with my support as County Councillor, have held the line in these three cases. On the other hand, Conservative councillors from East Devon voted through the cuts in hospital beds.
‘Cutting Council Tax’ – a pure lie
Local Conservatives’ nerve is almost on a par with that of the well-known liar Boris Johnson, who last week claimed that the Conservatives were ‘cutting council tax’. That will be the same Conservatives who have RAISED Devon’s council tax by 30 per cent in the last 6 years, at the same time as CUTTING services.
You can’t trust the Conservatives to fight for local communities.
Less than 72 hours to polling day – remember that the Seaton polling stations have changed
As you get ready to vote on Thursday, please remember that in SEATON, the Town Hall is no longer being used as a polling station. You should look at your polling card to see which station you should go to.
If you’ve mislaid your card, you can still vote (you don’t need to produce a card, just tell the clerk your name and address).
You can work out your polling station using this guide:
Seaton Bowling Club, Seahill
For everyone in the western part of Seaton who is in the Beer and Branscombe district ward.
Marshlands Centre, Harbour Road
For everyone else, in the rest of Seaton, registered to an address in streets whose name begins with A-F (up to & including Fore Street)
Methodist Church, Scalwell Lane
For everyone else, registered to an address in streets whose name begins with F-Z (starting with Fortfield)
IF YOU GO THE WRONG STATION, they will tell you where your correct station is and you’ll have to go on to it.
POLLING STATIONS are unchanged in BEER, BRANSCOMBE, COLYTON, COLYFORD, FARWAY, NORTHLEIGH, OFFWELL, SOUTHLEIGH, and WILMINGTON – go to your usual town or village hall.
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