Unbelieveable

On Friday the Teignmouth Post reported a brilliant idea from Teignmouth Traders, very attractive banners promoting the town centre. Unbelievably by Monday Devon County Highways had removed the traders’ banner.

Community Clean Up Day- Saturday

This year’s clear up will be Coombe Vale Road. We are meeting at Bitton House car park, for a safety briefing and to pick up tools and equipment. Please wear clothes you don’t mind getting dirty, it may be wise to bring sun-screen and water, though we will be providing drinks and snacks at 11.30am. As we are working near traffic hi viz vests will be provided. We will doing some litter picking on the banks of the Bitton Brook in Coombe Park Road, hower we won’t be able to clear all this ‘grot spot’ for safety reasons. Last year’s clean up in Kingsway was a great success, so I hope we can repeat it. You don’t have to stay for the whole session, so if you can only spare an hour, you are still welcome.

Twenty is Plenty

The Devon County Council area highways committee (HaTOC) have voted to kill any chance of a 20 limit on Kingsway and other West Teignmouth roads. In a performance worthy of an episode of Yes Minister, councillors were given the impression that we must have 'speed calming’ and there isn’t any money for it (interesting to note the council did find £167,000 from road safety grants to spend on offices and furniture). The truth is whilst 20 mph SPEED ZONES do require some sort of traffic calming, this dosen’t have to be physical or expensive; 20 mph SPEED LIMITS can be introduced without any form of traffic calming. Speed Zones refer to a collection of streets with a 20 mph limit whilst Speed Limits are set for individual roads. Some local authorities have set 20 mph speed limits on a number of individual roads so creating a blanket coverage of residential areas with a 20 mph speed limit. Liberal Democrat Transport Minister, Norman Baker, has made changes in signage requirements which make it far easier and cheaper for local authorities to implement wide area 20mph limits for towns and villages. Many thanks to James McMurray for supporting me - putting Teignmouth before politics. Thanks also to the Kingsway residents who have been helping me get signatures and evidence for the ‘Twenty is Plenty’ campaign Professor Danny Dorling has shown that adopting a default speed limit of 20mph in residential areas is a driver for widespread social progress as well as a successful road safety policy.

Grot Shop update

Steven Hobbs, Senior Planning Enforcement Officer, has approached the owner about taking steps to tidy the appearance of the building. He will visit the One Stop site this week and discuss the matter with a senior officer about taking enforcement action.

I’m calling for Teignbridge District Council to use its enforcement powers against the owners of the former One Stop on Bitton Park Road, unless they tidy up the building. The neglected property has become an eyesore, and despite numerous requests, including the offer of a community clean up, Tesco had done nothing and the building had continued to deteriorate. I am concerned about the impact of the neglected building on surrounding properties in the area. A local resident, who asked not to be named told me: “We are trying to sell our house and been told by estate agents the state of the shop is pushing house prices down.”

I’ve always had sympathy for people who have to do difficult but necessary jobs, like traffic wardens. So it with much soul searching that I have to ask are Teignbridge Traffic Wardens on commission? (or Enforcement Officers to give them there official title), is parking enforcement a money raising scam?

I’ve been contacted by a resident who was booked for parking on their own land! What is worse... the ticket was only cancelled after Land Registry evidence was provided. I read on FB of a resident having to remonstrate with wardens as they sought to book cars displaced by the closure of Fore Street to replace a bridge, early on a Sunday morning. There are many other examples of a lack of common sense and refusal to use any sort of discretion.

Alex Hilton AKA Recess Money is in the news for saying he’s lost faith in Ed, but I wonder if this isn’t the Mayor of Baltimore getting revenge.http://labourlist.org/2012/02/losing-faith/

In 2009 Tory Chris Grayling compared parts of Britain to The Wire (a crime series set in Baltimore). Alix created a spoof Mayor of Baltimore website with a fake press release, which suggested that if we Brits compare Baltimore to TV series The Wire, Americans may as well compare Britain to Midsomer Murders – where the bodycount is astronomical per capita (http://midsomermurders.org/bodycount2.htm). The Guardian, The Independent, The Baltimore Sun and bloggers all got hooked, lined and sinkered by this hoax