4th February 2010

Sidmouth threatened with cuts in services

By Huw Hennessy

SIDMOUTH'S gardens and street cleaning are among a wide range of facilities and services under threat from cuts, which are being proposed in this year’s local council budget.

East Devon District Council is looking to make cuts and reductions in its services, to make up for a £1.5 million shortfall in its 2010 budget.

At a meeting to discuss the budget, which EDDC held last December, it explained the hard reality of having to balance its accounts.

“Members are looking at a nil or small rise in council tax of up to 2 per cent, keeping pace with inflation. Assuming a 2 per cent increase, the council’s finance team has to fill a funding gap of £1.5 million through savings that are bound to be visible but do not have to be painful,” said a spokesman”

Proposed savings in Sidmouth amount to £250,000, which could involve cutting or reducing the following services:

CCTV (security camera).
Security lighting in Three-Cornered Plot and Alma Walk.
Three-D plant designs and carpet bed at Three-Cornered Plot
Town clock no longer to be maintained.
Reduced street cleansing on seafront and town centre.
Reduced frequency of mowing the grass in the cemetery.
Sidmouth Town Council called a special meeting of its Business Working

Party to discuss the town’s response to the proposed cuts, and to respond to EDDC’s call for volunteers to take over certain jobs from Streetscene.

At the meeting held at Sidmouth Town Hall on Monday, January 18th, Graham Liverton, town councillor and chairman of East Devon District Council, said that the town needed to show “Dunkirk Spirit” to help in these difficult times by volunteering.

“Sidmouth is worth a lot more than we’re getting from the government. Sidmouth is special, and our standards must not drop, so we are calling on you to go out and look for volunteers. If we want something done, we’re going to have to do it ourselves”.

The volunteer work being called for is to help with the maintenance of the town’s parks and gardens, making up for the 14 seasonal jobs that the district council says it plans to cut.

As well as town councillors, about 20 members of the town’s business and voluntary services community attended the meeting.

The Reverend Handel Bennett, chairman of the Sid Vale Association, said that they would try to find volunteers among their members, but voiced his opposition to the principle.

“This is an eye-opener to us. We will keep up our support and increase our help for Sidmouth in Bloom, if we can. But we’re not keen to prop up services that the council should be providing.”

Mary Seward, of Sidmouth in Bloom, pointed out that her organisation already looks after most of the town’s famously immaculate flowerbeds, hanging baskets and floral displays.

Her concern about who is responsible for all the different garden features around the town was echoed by Councillor Mary Jolly, who also questioned the district council’s figures, such as the 80 hanging baskets that they say they maintain in the town.

Derek Parry, president of Sidmouth Chamber of Commerce, challenged the EDDC cuts, saying it was a “disgrace” for the council to try to pass their work over to volunteers.

“We must put up a fight and say no, you cannot cut services! This (the clean streets and colourful flower displays) is what brings visitors to Sidmouth and East Devon”.

The potential problems of using volunteers to carry out work currently done by Streetscene was also discussed, with several councillors questioning whether insurance, CRB police checks and training costs would be covered by EDDC.

It was also suggested that more should be done to attract sponsorship of the town’s gardens and flowerbeds; and to replace costly annual plants with permanent shrubs in less prominent locations, such as the small triangular plot at the junction of Alexandria and Station roads.

Simon Pollentine, town councillor and vice-chairman of tourism, also questioned whether EDDC could be challenged as neglecting its statutory duties by not keeping the town clean, including deterring the threat from seagulls and other pests.

The broad issues of maintaining the high standards of Sidmouth for its tourism industry prompted concerned discussion, as the pristine image of the town and seafront is considered one of its big draws.

“Tourism diffuses throughout the town and the community; it’s hard to say where its effects start and stop,” he argued, adding that the council might end up bringing more work upon itself, responding to complaints from the public about overflowing litter bins and other street-cleaning problems.

However, the town clerk pointed out that EDDC does not have a statutory duty to maintain tourism, however important it is to the town’s economy.

Sidmouth Town Council will now to write to EDDC, asking for clarification of its planned cuts, in particular with regard to street cleaning, security lighting, garden maintenance and the details of prospective voluntary work.

A public consultation of EDDC’s budget was completed in mid January. Details of the 153 questionnaires returned are available on the council’s website: www.eastdevon.gov.uk/budget_2010

The final decision for setting the budget and agreeing council tax will be taken at a council meeting in EDDC’s Knowle offices, at 6.30pm, Wednesday, February 24th.

Sidmouth threatened with cuts in services

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