Robert Vickery's Posts

My goodness, no wonder people hate the prospect of OFSTED inspections. What precisely do you mean by " That was not well received by those keen to have the cultural pavilion built."?  Can that possibly be construed as yet another dig at the person you constantly accuse of being committed to the recently exhibited Lawn proposals?  Do I detect a sneer there? From the beginning of the bid preparation ...

I started to read the subject and have cut to the end to leave a comment.  Dawlish Town Council negotiated in 2014/15 with Teignbridge to keep the Sandy Lane toilets open through a partial remodelling and payment towards cleaning costs, and Teignbridge accepted that.  Those toilets have not yet been altered and are still open and well used. Dawlish Warren toilets were mentioned in a debate at Town ...

Let's hope they go about it in a more intelligent way than their offering to Dawlish of an estate of Arts & Crafts inspired house types which got a torrid response from the Town Council Planning Committee. I'm waiting for them to market global cooling versions.

News about the next opportunity to join in remembrance of a Dawlish serviceman that lost his life during World War One. Private Frederick W Bond, of the 1st Wessex Ambulance Company will be remembered on Saturday 23rd May 2015 at the Methodist Church, commencing at 12 noon . Private Fred Bond was the first Dawlish territorial to die in the war, aged just 20. Brought up in Dawlish, he is known to ...

I had a rant on Facebook so I might as well continue here. For the policy to work the Cons need to recompense the housing association,  selling under 'Right-to-buy',  (a)  for the cost of new sites to build and replace with more affordable rented homes  (and we all know how fast building sites have risen in value year by year) , (b) for the extra cost of construction today over that of the ...

Now that the Town Council Planning Committee has met and considered the application for the statue, I can give my own views. I puzzled how anyone can propose a figure in a static pose to be cast in concrete and placed in any public place. To be a work of sculpture I need to feel it and get a rewarding tactile experience out of it, so marble, bronze, wood, seem appropriate for figurative ...

@soullofDawlish Your remark about 'the the Town Council are well known for not providing anything other than a printed agenda' is incorrect.  Supporting papers are available for anything drafted for the Town Council in Part I of an agenda, and if a copy is not in the rack outside the Town Clerk's office you can request it during office hours. Part II items are in the confidential part of the ...

It has been very heart-warming to see the kind remarks about Michael and my time on the Town Council.  We have had to devote a lot of time to it, it has to be admitted. I am tempted to rollout the challenges to us and our original 'Voices for Dawlish' group, but it  might sour the sentiment, and I suspect that many people know enough not be reminded. Thank you for your best wishes. We will not ...

@Mcjrpc - the meeting was of the town council on 4 march and it was introduced as a late item since the application from the carnival committee arrived after the agenda was published (about a full week before the meeting).  because of the rules about purdah before council elections, it was realised that unless it was added as a late item at that meeting it would not have been able to be considered ...

To put one question to bed with an answer. The Dawlish Town Centre Working Party (DTCWP) was set up by Teignbridge District Council (owners of the Lawn) with Cllr Stuart Barker (TDC) as chairman. We met for the first time on 31 July 2013 and notes were taken by Joe Walsh, a business and marketing student. There was representation from Teignbridge, four councillors, Stuart Barker, Ted Hockin, John ...

Just a reminder that the lamp standards were installed to take banners, but they have to be limited to the brackets at the top of the standards, and this means that any image has to be vertical format/or portait if you prefer of 4:1, so it is a tall narrow strip image that is needed.  Bear in mind too that the brackets are towards the top of tall lamp standards and so any small detail is going to ...

Monstrosity in the eyes of one person is a delight in the eyes of another. If this country had design education incorporated in the school curriculum as they do in parts of Scandinavia we might have more intelligent debate.

We have encountered cyclists along the sea wall (when it was open end-to-end) and generally they sneak up silently and then expect to hug the 'safe' side, forcing you to the edge of the wall and the 5 metre drop to the beach.  Suggestions that they should sound their bells fall on deaf ears.  Notices are required on the grounds of safety to walkers that no cycling is allowed, and they can be ...

Not much changed, but the goods siding and signal box have disappeared, and Lanherne has taken the place of the fine old house.

You have posted this 'news' on a Dawlish site, but I should make it clear that the site lies outside the parish of Dawlish and in the Parish of Kenton. The decision to make this application a decision delegated to an officer was not challenged by any district councillor for Kenton, but views were submitted by Dawlish Town Council Planning Committee. The assertion that "the site is well screened ...

Thank you Mrs S for calling me arrogant twice in the space of ten hours.  Roberta is quite right. This thread is too long and not reaching a positive conclusion, even after Lynne has posted 49 times to no evident effect. There is no point in trying to get changes through the Town Council. It is the District Councillors that objectors need to reach and , as far as I can see, none of them are ...

I do wonder at the weight of judgement given to the words of planning professionals in these cases. Denise Pichler, from agents Pichler Planning, added: "There is an identified need for residential homes and there are no bespoke nursing homes in that area. The existing building is a real white elephant." Is my memory at fault when I remember Ms Pichler as a former member of TDC planning dept? I ...

Brilliant, JC, to post this.  A very clever production and edited to a tee.  Started my day well.

I am glad that FGW took up my suggestion of preparing walks from the Exeter-Paignton stations. There has for some time been a very good booklet for walks from the Avocet LIne stations and that provided a model for this new booklet.  The walk from Lympstone is a favourite if timed to end with a pub lunch.

Two arguments are confused here, speeding journey times and the need for electrification. Brunel's route took the railway westwards to link centres of population, Exeter, Dawlish, Teignmouth, Newton Abbot, Totnes and Plymouth, with a branch to Paignton and Torbay.  Today that route serves a commuting function to the larger centres of employment and education.  Long distance travellers have the ...

@Margaret Swift 21.50 As the only retired architect on the Council, I can see that it is me, again, that you want to string up from the lamp posts for the weak design of the banners as well as for a modern bandstand design.  Well, I drew neither.  The banners were a project of the Community Interest Company and developed by the Town Centre Development Manager who asked for Town Council funding for ...

Please be clear that Solstice Renewables have submitted an application at Ashcombe and you should first judge the impact of that scheme on the landscape of the Haldon Hills.  It will be very signifficant and it is arguable that it should not be built in an area of such landscape value. Only after you have considered that question should you be willing to give prizes to Soplstice Renewables for ...

Deadline for material is normally lunchtime on Monday, so this material will possibly appear next week. The decision 'not to proceed further' was not taken as a result of the opposition, but because the feedback received from Coastal Communities Fund was that our bid did not hit the target objectives with high enough scores. We had been invited to meet Sustrans who have a different proposal ...

@Annother46 A civil question so I will answer you.  The RIBA fee scale for architects is an established scale on which to calaculate professional fees, in this case up to Stage C -Sketch design.  As well, there were fee costs for structural engineer input, and quantity surveying input.  Other costs accrued to a Flood Risk survey and an environmental survey - all of which are necessary elements to ...

How good to see that the Town Council contribution towards rebuilding the float has been appreciated.

How good it is to see a contarcor and house-builder putting time aside to help the students. I hope that the students from Ratcliffe School, and others for that matter, will also reflect on facts set out by Janet Street-Porter in the Independent on Saturday 2 August, on page 41.  Semi-detached houses built in 1924 averaged 1,647 square feet (153 square metres, for the younger generations) while ...

The grant to the Shaftesbury Theatre is well deserved, for they are putting  on a production this week of "Oh! What a Lovely War"  and it has a larger cast with more demands on costume than they normally encounter.  This amateur production opens on the centenary of the Declaration of War on August 4th, 1914, and it is part of a continuing programme of events, exhibitions and commemorative services ...

@Margaret Swift . ref 13 july 0032, i wish that you would not misrepresent what i say in open session to the town council, or in presentations to the public, about the proposal to create new visitor interest on the lawn. There is no "sole aim ...to bring big events into Dawlish on a regular basis". You have referred to me elsewhere in Discussions as "this appears to be the obsession of one ...

A massive Congratulations!  from one who wouldn't know where to start in Octopush. So glad that the Town Council gave a grant to help you travel, earlier in the year.  Obviously put to great effect. Marvellous.

So, Margaret, what will be the referendum question that requires only a YES/NO answer that will get you any closer to knowing how to save Dawlish? Don't forget also that a referendum costs money as TDC will have to hold it for us, unlike the consultation that cost only our time .

@FredBassett you refer to "the secret closed session they always have after every council meeting."     i don't know if you attend town council meetings, or even see the agendas, but everything that can be discussed in public  is.  anthing that relates to employee personnel issues and their own personal financial position, and anything that is confidential of a financial nature with contractors, ...

Ok, let's get one thing out of the way.  It was not an error, just clumsy phrasing.  Town councillors are elected but receive no salary or attendance fees, unlike District and County Councillors.  I have no issue with that, but there are members of the public who sometimes imagine that we are paid for our time like first and second tiers of local government. @Mcjrpc If we are invited to compete in ...

It is encouraging that some people see the better aspects of the town, so thanks for your comment. The Brook is under the management of Teignbridge District Council and they are limited in when they can work in it by (a) fish spawning and (b) anything disturbing the water quality that may affect the Bathing Water monitoring of the beaches that are regularly carried out.  Last year's very wet ...

For anyone who has missed seeing the proposals and has the time to come to St Mary's Hall in the outer car park at Dawlish Warren, we will be there tomorrow Tuesday from 10am -5pm.

@Margaret Swift "those of us who remain neutral".  I don't see anything remotely neutral in your postings as a Town Councillor when you have challenged everything about the current proposals and got your airing before the scheme is put on public display. You were the only one of sixteen councillors who may not have supported the resolution to prepare a bid for Coastal Communities funding. I saw ...

Today''s Gazette carries the story on, but why?  The Birmingham man who negotiated the deal with Brunel to have a lower path was dead before the railway opened.  That length of wall has collapsed on other occasions and Network Rail now want to make it as strong as the rest of it.  They will also most likely extend the concrete footing that they put in some years ago from Red Rock almost to the ...

Could be they were having their AGM and all attendants were there?