Is the Council using Big Brother Tactics?

The Council is sending out a very curt letter to people who receive the 25% Single Person Discount on their council tax, to say that checks suggested other adults were living with them. The letter says: "We are working with an external agency to carry out a residency check on all properties receiving a single person discount and results indicate that you may no longer be the only adult at your address". Recipients are given 14 days to declare whether they are the sole adult in the house to avoid automatically losing their council tax discount, backdated to 1st April. The letter is ominously signed by the council Fraud Manager This letter was sent out in December, some people are away for Christmas, other will mistake the letter as junk mail. I know many people who live on their own received the letter and were upset by its tone. One resident told me "The Council is basically accusing people of lying without being able to explain what evidence they have". I'm concerned A lot of people living on their own will be confused and frightened by this letter. What is the Council doing running checks on its own residents via credit reference agencies, the tone and timing of this letter raise serious questions. I could see many people loosing a discount they are fully entitled to. I will be asking for an apology.

Save Teignmouth Minor Injuries Unit

You can sign the petition here: http://signme.org.uk/1034 Did The Teignbridge Conservative leader know in September of the proposal to close Teignmouth MIU and say nothing.

Teignmouth Hospital Minor Injuries Unit

Proposed closure of Teignmouth Hospital's Minor Injuries Unit, to be discussed at town council meeting on Tuesday (6.30pm Bitton House). Public may attend. "Agenda item 7. Teignmouth and Dawlish Health Services – To inform members of the proposals for how the community health services should be delivered in the future. Jenny Turner and Dr Matthew Fox will be speaking" Teignmouth is a wholly NHS owned hospital; however Dawlish is a PFI hospital.I can't help but wonder if the decision to centre MIU at Dawlish could be financially based, for instance, the NHS is paying for the hospital and the MIU at Dawlish presumably it 'pays for the space' even if the MIU is shut - on the other hand, if you mothball Teignmouth MIU you save money.

Injustice

Richard Weeks is a small farmer, whose family has owned and farmed land near Dawlish for over half a centaury. Richard does not want housing development on his land, he just wants to continue farming; he has rejected the large amount of money be could make by selling up. Unfortunately Teignbridge Council want to force him to give up a third of his land for a 'coastal park'. The council is required to offset the loss of land for the very building on the countryside Richard opposes and provide alternative green space. Richard argues that taking a third of his land would put him out of business. Richard is fac

ing at a compulsory purchase order (CPO) for his land at agricultural price. This is Conservative run Teignbridge District Council.

Solar Energy takes a step closer to replacing Gas and Coal

Australian company CSIRO has used solar energy to generate hot and pressurised ‘supercritical’ steam. Supercritical steam is a breakthrough for solar energy and means that the sun could be used to drive power stations, currently only driven by coal or gas.

Conservatives Lose Majority

It's official two Teignbridge councillors have left the Conservative group, Kingsteignton councillor Joan Lambert and Chudleigh councillor Lorraine Evans. The Conservatives are now a minority administration with 22 and Lib Dems, Independents and one UKIP with 24.

Garden Tax

Teignbridge Conservatives are introducing a new “tax” next year for the collection of garden waste. We are now organising a petition to try and get this decision reversed. This new charge is due to start this time next year, but if like us you think it is wrong to charge for the service the Lib Dems provided free when we ran the council, please log on to SignMe.org.uk/963 where you can get a petition form and either sign on line or print off and send to us by snail mail (free of charge) This new charge is not compulsory, but if you don’t pay it you simply won’t get your green bin emptied, and will therefore have to make other arrangements…..either compost at home (which is fine if you have the room) or take to the recycling centres or some may be tempted to fly tip or put in the “wrong” bin,none of which will help. signMe.org.uk/963