Peoples Republic of South Devon

Sustainable homes development

posted by Cptn

A £20 million sustainable affordable housing scheme is planned for the Willows are of Torbay. The project will be the first in the south west to have ‘level five’ sustainable homes – we reckon the government’s sustainable housing code goes up to six, so it sounds like it could be one of those flagships we hear so much about.

The plans will be under scrutiny at Barton School today (Thursday) by local people as part of the consultation on the project, which has yet to receive planning permission.

Some £450,000 is going towards the costs of the 4.6 acre development at the Willows through a planning obligation from Cavanna homes.

Sovereign Housing Group will be doing the developing, and the land has been given by Torbay Council, which realises that more efficient homes means lower bills. Two thirds of the 140 houses will be affordable on the mixed homes site.

If you’re interested you can pop along to Barton Primary School, between 1pm and 6pm today to take a gander.

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July 23rd, 2008

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Post mortem

posted by Cptn

Good news for the Torbay communities of Chelston and Torre - their post offices will stay open, at the possible expense of Abbotskerwell and Moreleigh (although Moreligh has already closed) - a six-week public consultation about these new proposals will begin on August 5.

In all, 37 of the proposed 45 closures from the Post Office (which now takes ‘Limited”) will go ahead.

And 32 post offices from their original list of 38 are to be replaced by outreach services (which we’re guessing used to be called ‘delivering the mail’).

According to the press release from Devon County Council: “Millwey Rise in Axminster, Offwell, and Queen Street in Exeter, which were on POL’s proposed closure list; and Bridestowe, Shebbear, Lustleigh and Widecombe in the Moor, which were on POL’s proposal list for replacement with outreach services list, are undergoing further review by Postwatch. The outcome of this extended period of review for these post offices is expected in three weeks.

“Decisions affecting changes to services in Buckland Monachorum, Milton Combe, and Peter Tavy, Clearbrook and Lamerton, which are currently served by a Devon and Cornwall Mobile Post Office operating from Tavistock, have also been postponed to follow Cornwall’s consultation on POL’s change programme, which ends on 1st September.

“According to POL, Devon’s remaining network of 333 branches will then meet the Government’s access criteria, ensuring that 99.4% of the Devon area will either see no change or will remain within one mile, by road distance, of an alternative branch.”

Devon County Council’s executive Member for Communities, Cllr Brian Berman, said: “We are greatly concerned about their new proposal for closure at Abbotskerswell, which we had not expected. We will in the course of this new round of consultation be negotiating hard for the service to remain unchanged.

“We are hopeful that POL, in escalating the cases of the seven post offices to Postwatch, that they will listen to the evidence from those communities, as they have in Chelston and Torre in Torbay, and come to the right decision.

“I am particularly disappointed by their decision concerning Tipton St John, which we believe has a very strong case to remain unchanged, and which has a very solid body of support from its local community.

“And I have to keep coming back to the basic fact that the overall figure for Devon is way too many, where for example closures for the West Berkshire and Wiltshire areas were only 30 compared to our proposed 83 of which 71 are in Devon.

“We will be continuing our negotiations with POL to make the best arrangements for outreach services. Our main concerns for outreach have been for communities where proposed changes also affect the only shops in those areas, and that is where we think our support would be best placed.”

Full details of the decisions and the issues raised during local public consultation are available by visiting the post office website or by writing to Post Office Ltd at Freepost Consultation Team or by emailing consultation@postoffice.co.uk

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July 23rd, 2008

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Library busy-ness

Creative Commons photo by Guldfisken

posted by Cptn

Devon County Council has been so busy with libraries that you wouldn’t have thought that last year they were trying to close them (under the auspices of greater choice, of course),

Apparently some 13,000 new readers have joined libraries in just the first three months of the Join Your Library campaign, which is part of the National Year of Reading. The latest figures say there were 339 new members in April, 2075 in May and 982 in June. Making a grand total on the PRSD steam powered abacus of 3396. So we don’t know where the 13,000 figure comes from - maybe those bookworms aren’t mathematically minded.

Also, who knew you could get plastic bags from your biblioteque - well you used to be able to. The Book Bag for Life campaign, which is celebrating a year of activity on August 1, has sold 7,224 jute book bags in its first year. The news on the street is that the bags can be used to carry things other than books too (thanks Liz Poulter, senior waste manager for Devon County Council).

And books will be set free at this year’s Kongomana event for young people. Some 250 books are being released into the wild through the BookCrossing project.

They will be distributed at the Kongomana Festival site at Bicton on Friday 25 July. Kongomana is held by the Devon County Council Youth Service, and is three days of activities for young people including sports, a battle of the bands, DJ workshops and arts and crafts.

Everyone taking part in the BookCrossing will have the chance to win an iPod. A unique number from one of the books will be posted on the URDevon website for young people (is that ‘you are’ or ‘your’, or possibly ‘our’? We know we’re not the target market, but dodgy maths now funny branding… but shucks, we’re being so cantankerous maybe we should sniff a UKIP manifesto to bring us round to our senses).

The winner can claim their prize by checking the URDevon website.

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July 23rd, 2008

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Summer poets season - Hannah Silva

Here at the PRSD, we’re great believers in the power of words, which is why we got in touch with poets for our very special summer poets season.

First up is writer, performer and theatre director Hannah Silva, who explores language, performance and voice. But why take our word for it? Or even Jenni Doherty’s words for it for that matter? (Jenni is an editor with the Irish publishers Guildhall Press), who described Hannah as: “Innovative, experimental, raw, sexy, brave, original and a breath of fresh air.” You can find out for yourself by listening to the poem (with accompanying text), and even popping along to Uncut Poets at the Exeter Phoenix on July 24 (it’s in the Black Box and costs £5 or £3 and kicks off at 7.30pm.

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This poem is Facing States, and has been previously publishes in Tears in the Fence.

Facing States

Writing to someone else’s music, I predict my own. It opens between notes. It licks. It licks. It likes the sound in a cell. The piano next door, everyone flees. In a derelict momentum we travel across bridges. A serpent and another empty house. An inside out. The belongings reveal. They reveal a body working in spite of itself. A fake sun on leaves. How did we leave these flakes of ourselves so visible? So visible.

Look at my lips. Look at how perfect they smile. Smile perfect look. And my skin; it is flawless, do you want to touch? It is like ebony, like gold. Silver, it is bronze pussy, it licks, it licks, it likes to be touched.

Wanting is this air thinking. Sun on now now no. I touch breasts. They milk smooth in the cupping. Nipples pink nipples drown dribble ripple down pubic. To kill this body with sin I run.

Look at him run. He is sweat thigh as dust cries. Look at his eyes. Cry their found look. His eyes look found. In his tears his running beats. What about your music? The streets fall behind and….

What are you doing? Why are you here? What’s that noise? I’m walking towards you. I’ve been here since yesterday. Will you photograph me naked? This is my perfect. Will you film me having sex? My perfect kindness. Have me.

You looked different yesterday. This is my shiver on a perfect dream. Playing on a grand piano while the disintegration surrounds. Will the torn sound repent? All the tears touch each other. They like to be touched. This is someone else’s disease. Shared she he here, descend

tktktktktktktktktktktktk too long taking too long taking looking what do you think about this bit? Ah oo looking a ee, are you ooee at I mouth? And wantee ah oo are standing so eee still that I ao know I know no one.

This, watched I. Until it, down the last page walked. It took the hand, and in hand in. Look at the dust. Look how smooth the mark is left. Look how the traces match the waiting costs. I think this is like whispering to friends who listen tight. The sounds at night seem to echo this thought. Like an emptiness.

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July 23rd, 2008

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