Something stinks – and it stinks very strongly in the Sid Valley

The first meeting of the Task and Finish Forum to look into the relationship between EDDC and the East Devon Business Forum  for which the notes produced are HERE

set specific areas which the TAFF would look at.  These included

1. Membership and objectives

– constitution

– EDBF membership, attendance and representation of businesses

– objectives of EDBF and what mechanisms are in place to assess success/failure

2. EDBF relationship with EDDC and other organisations

– legal status of EDBF

– is EDBF a lobby group?

– are there potential for conflicts of interest for councillors and officers?

– public perception, transparency and reputation

3.  EDBF funding

– explore costs of EDBF, including officer time

– what other groups does EDDC fund

4. The way forward

– how other councils engage with business

– other examples of business forums

– see ‘desired outcomes of the review’.

5. Systems by which we can improve communications with business by IT systems.

(by the way, none of the people on the TAFF really understood why no 5 was added by the Chief Executive)

Now, look at the agenda for the very next meeting HERE

Appointments to outside bodies

Presentation from Mid-Devon Business Forum

East Devon Business Forum – how best to engage with the joint body.

Yes, that’s it – that is the whole agenda.

And can you see the subtle thing that the person doing this agenda has done?  He (or she) has put “how best to engage with the JOINT BODY”.  They have already decided what sort of relationship the council has with this group – which is one of the things the TAFF is supposed to examine.  But “joint body” means ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.  Different “joint bodies” engage in very different ways.  It is the way THIS so-called body engages, not others.  A very clever smokescreen inserted there.

This is a travesty of Overview and Scrutiny – it is designed to obfuscate, confuse, derail and sabotage the work of the TAFF.  One can only ask:  why?  What is this council afraid that it might uncover?   Who is driving this?  If the council’s dealings with EDBF are open and honest, why cannot they be scrutinised?

There are a LOT more questions but you can bet that there will be ABSOLUTELY no answers.  It is a situation more at home in despotic countries than in what is laughably called a democratic one.

The main losers in all this are Sidmouth and Sidford – this TAFF’s driving reason for existence was because mainly Sid Vale councillors wanted EDDC explain how employment land in Sidmouth and Sidford suddenly came to be included in the Local Plan where the said employment land agenda for the Local Plan was driven entirely by the machinations of the East Devon Business Forum – the main core of which is a group of very well-off landowners, businessmen and developers who nevertheless are totally funded by us, the taxpayers of East Devon.

Something stinks people, something stinks.