Blackawton and Dittisham
I am grateful to Cllrs Stanley Wreyford, Chris Wills and Alan Mallyon as well as Parish Clerk Steve Gale, for taking me on a tour of Blackawton to discuss important local issues like affordable housing and local democracy. It is important that Government understands the anger felt by small rural communities when threatened by the prospect of large developments. Few object to small scale development but a proposal to build up to 50 new homes is widely felt to pose a risk to a small village with very poor transport links.
Parish Councils need to be supported and participation is bound to be encouraged if councillors have more influence over issues important to local people. They need a greater say in traffic management and more influence in planning decisions. At present they shoulder a great deal of responsibility without the benefit of real influence, the church wall being a case in point.
Personally, I would like to see a greater charge for those who use retrospective planning as this often seems to result in buildings or structures opposed by local people. We need to encourage use of the system that allows residents to raise objections before and not after they are forced to live with the consequences.
In Dittisham, I met with Cllr Stella Stottart, Mr John Stottart and Cllr John Tucker, to discuss issues like the level of second home ownership and again the issue of Parish Councils' influence over planning issues. Retrospective planning is also a problem for Dittisham as well as the difficulty of maintaining a sense of community when so many properties lie vacant for much of the year. Despite this difficulty, it is impressive that Dittisham manages to put on a pantomime as well as maintain a wonderful village hall and two pubs; a tribute to the determination of those who contribute year round to their community.
For both villages, the loss of much loved post offices last year has been a great blow. When will big Government start listening to rural communities? To see our plans, here is a link to the Conservative Rural Action website.
