Totnes Rotarians video on 'YouTube'

I had a video all lined up to go in this post and then heard about these antics by the Totnes Rotarians. I thought it so amusing that I couldn't resist adding it to the blog. Just in case you didn't get the message the Totnes Rotary Club are having their Annual Conference next February at the 'Langstone Cliff Hotel', Dawlish Warren! Nice free advertising for that establishment. Doesn't that well known tune lend itself to a variation of its original words!

Totnes leads the way - in the political process

Attach the word "first" to a news item about Totnes and many of us will be thinking about some environmental development or alternative lifestyle such is the reputation of this town in Devon's South Hams. However this is something very different - it's all about politics believe it or not!

Actually the 'Totnes' constituency is a bit of a misnomer. In reality it is a small country town and I can't understand why the name 'South Hams' or 'South Devon' isn't now employed, the other constituencies in Devon with the exception of Plymouth, Exeter and Torbay don't use a town name so in truth 'Totnes' in this context is a bit of an anomaly. But I digress ...

A quick bit of recent history. It will be recalled that sitting Tory MP Anthony Steen got into some hot water with his expenses and notably his reaction when this information got tossed into the public domain via the pages of 'The Daily Telegraph'. Like may another MP who has been subjected to embarrassing revelations he has stated he will stand down at the next general election. Therefore a new prospective Conservative candidate has to be found. This is where it gets interesting: the local constituency party has now got a short list of three - two women and one man as it so happens - and it has been decreed that ALL the electors in the constituency will get the option to make a choice as to which of the three should get the nomination regardless of their political allegiance. This is really groundbreaking stuff.

There was a public meeting over this past weekend at which all three prospects could be quizzed. By all accounts it wasn't just the diehard Tory activists who attended and the meeting was judged to have been quite successful. Those interested in this exercise have to return their voting forms by this Thursday I believe.

So some thoughts on all this. In principle creating a system that permits better public participation in the political process has to be welcomed I would have thought. The Western Morning News had thumbnail photos and very brief background information on all three candidates but what I would want if I lived in South Devon would be some really hard detail as to what they believed in, an example of this would be their attitude to a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. I'm not clear from the media as to whether those who couldn't attend this one husting have been provided with decent information on the threesome so that they can make a really informed choice, this would have been of great interest. I have stated before that I don't have any natural allegiance to any one party but that I am more interested in the nature of the person who could be my MP. As there are about 69,000 voters in the 'Totnes' constituency it hasn't been a cheap process for the Tories but at least it's useful business for the Post Office!

The result should be known by the end of the week and it will be particularly fascinating to find out the percentage of those eligible who have returned their voting slips.

Totnes MP Anthony Steen standing down

Following on from the revelations regarding the expense claims of Anthony Steen, the Tory MP for Totnes, in 'The Daily Telegraph' Mr Steen has wisely decided to stand down at the next General Election. Mr Steen is one of those slightly eccentric old buffers that one tends to associate with the Conservative back benches. He had said that claiming the expenses that he has over the years was cheaper than having his mortgage paid for his country pile. Therefore he fails to see any problem at all with the extravagant expenses that he has picked up courtesy of the taxpayer. Bloggers, and that includes those supporting his own party, are having a right old go at him on the back of a most bizarre interview he gave on 'The World at One' today. He reckoned nobody had any business knowing about the detail of his expenses and it was all the fault of this wretched 'Freedom of Information' Act! He also stated that it was jealousy that caused the information to be published by the DT. There are times I think that he is on another planet.

Mr Steen has a bit of form on not being the best of people on the PR front. Some little while ago his car was spotted parked all day in a 'disabled driver' parking bay at Newton Abbot station. It turned out that Mr Steen was tight for time getting the early morning train, most of the normal parking spaces were full but that this 'disabled' one was free. So he took it. Now it may be that someone from another party recognised his car and decided to alert the media and cause him a bit of hassle. It was the poor response by Mr Steen that made the incident something much more than it should have been though. Lots of grumbles about not enough parking spaces and if I remember correctly it took some time for him to come out with an apology. Yes he is a bit of an oddball and he hasn't done himself any favours with today's very strange interview.

The town of Totnes itself is very alternative but only forms a small part of the constituency in terms of population. Nevertheless it would be quite interesting to see how a 'Green Party' candidate would fare here at the next election.

UPDATE: Subsequent to my writing this piece there has been an apology from Mr Steen. So praise for that. Unfortunately for him though it's his original ill-judged comments that will be remembered rather than him saying sorry.

New development at Totnes proposed

Yesterday I had to sadly record the impending closure of a factory in Paignton with its attendant job losses. Checking back through the blog I see it was last summer that I noted that Dairy Crest was leaving its long established premises in nearby Totnes. But it isn't all doom and gloom on the employment front in south Devon: there is news of an exciting redevelopment at Baltic Wharf. Let me explain the geography first. Baltic Wharf is a somewhat rundown area on the southern edge of Totnes and on the west bank of the estuary of the Dart. September 2006 saw the purchase of this land by 'TQ9 Partnership' which is owned by three people local to the Totnes area: Steve Mittler, Mark Yallop and Ian Dennis.

In summary the proposals are to add another 300 jobs to the 100 already on site, to build a mix of affordable and open market houses and add some offices and shops. It sounds like an excellent use of a brownfield site which won't detract from the essentially rural feel of the town. Further good news is the participation of architects Harris Sutton Partnership who are based in the heart of Totnes and recipients of many awards.

This is what I like to see - strong involvement of local expertise and finance in the development of schemes which will be good for the community at large. Totnes owes much to being at the lowest bridging point of the Dart so it is appropriate that this scheme is right on the bank of the river.

I am confident that the proposals will be enthusiastically received.

Straw and wood used in Totnes home

It's not unusual to see innovation happening in Devon and Cornwall; there seems to be an inclination down here for people to "think out of the box", to be more individualistic. These are characteristics I'm passionate about and one of the many reasons I sing the praises of my two counties.

So I was really pleased to hear last week that the builder judged to be this year's constructor of the most energy efficient building at the Master Builder of the Year Awards in London comes from my patch. He is Robert Gulley from Totnes in South Devon. He was approached by Mr and Mrs Carfrae who wanted a house built at Totnes that had to be as sustainable as possible but with the proviso that it was within the same budget as a similarly sized conventional home. Now it turns out that Mr Carfrae is studying for a PhD in straw bale construction and suggested that they be incorporated in the construction. This was something new in Mr Gulley's long career as a builder but he went along with the idea and also used lime plaster and incorporated loose sheep's wool for the insulation.

For the main structure of the house a traditionally jointed frame in locally sourced Douglas Fir was used. Floorboards came from an old chapel, good recycling stuff.

This is all absolutely fascinating and just shows what can be achieved by trying things that are not in the mainstream at the moment. Congratulations to all concerned.

Logic Office Goup leaving Staverton

As my last post indicated Totnes is having a torrid time on the employment front. But it gets worse because we now have the maker of classy office furniture, Logic Office Group, saying that they will close their factory at New Lane, Staverton with the loss of 20 jobs. Staverton is a small village not much more than a stones throw from Totnes so this impending closure is just making the employment situation more difficult in the area. Ironically the company have if anything been too successful necessitating working shifts around the clock and thus falling foul on the night shift of environmental standards particularly regarding noise. Logic wasn't sure that doing the necessary expensive remedial work at this old factory would have the required effect so are evidently going to concentrate their resources at their Rotherham site.

On top of the relocation of Dartington College of Arts and the closure of Dairy Crest in Totnes this latest announcement just doesn't seem fair does it.

'Dairy Crest' in Totnes closes at end of week

Think Totnes in Devon's South Hams and probably one thinks 'New Age'. Fascinating though this aspect of the town might seem let's not lose sight of the need for industry/manufacturing in a small market town such as this. Totnes was already reeling with the news that the nearby Dartington College of Art was going to relocate when, in May, it was announced by Dairy Crest that it would close its facility near the station with the loss of 164 jobs. In the great scheme of things that might not seem a lot particularly compared with car plant closures in the Midlands for example. But its the proportion that matters - in relation to a small market town like Totnes losing 164 jobs is a heck of a lot. Dairy Crest reckon they don't have the space to modernise and expand in this very long established site. Despite talks and the intervention of the local MP, Anthony Steen, the inevitable is happening and at the end of this week Dairy Crest will cease to have a presence in Totnes.

South Hams District Council are keen to be involved with the future development of the site and would like to see it continue to have some sort of industrial use. However the owners would I'm sure be keener to see it utilised for housing with all the extra cash that would bring in. My gut feeling is that although more housing stock is necessary the need for some sort of industry to replace that lost is even more vital in this particular case. My next post will reinforce that comment.