Category: Region

A small step for Shepton, but a step change for active travel

Mick Fletcher

On a cold March morning, a small crowd gathered in Shepton Mallet to mark the opening of a very short section of cyclepath. To an outside observer it will have seemed a pleasant but unremarkable event – a welcome addition to local infrastructure, but not much more. In fact, it could prove quite significant. A […]

The campaign to save the 136 mature trees on Plymouth’s Armada Way UPDATE: a scene of devastation

Ali White Founder, STRAW Plymouth

The trees planted to symbolise Plymouth’s ‘rebirth’ after the devastation of WWII have been torn up, chopped down and destroyed overnight. Luke Pollard MP: Overnight Plymouth’s Conservative council chopped down nearly 100 trees in the city centre. It’s a scene of environmental devastation and utter council vandalism. I’m appalled at the actions of the Tory […]

Will you be spending an eggstreme amount this Easter?

Plastic Free Axminster -

New Year resolutions have been made and broken, Valentine’s Day has come and gone and now we are about to be bombarded with Easter consumables, most of which are encased in single-use plastic! It is estimated that the UK will spend a mind-boggling £800m at Easter; £381m on eggs (ouch that’s a lorra, lorra calories!) […]

The Teignbridge ‘Newton Abbot says no’ scandal

Stuart Reynolds

Here’s the story so far in the Teignbridge – “Newton Abbot Says No” scandal. It’s really quite a shocker! Basically a “complaint” was made about the conduct of two councillors on Teignbridge Council. The councillors represented the South Devon Alliance. I’ve never met any of this group, but basically they were born out of the […]

A state of denial

Richard Paul-Jones

As the Conservatives continue their race to the bottom it is clear that they are in denial. They deny that Brexit was an act of stupidity and wanton self-harm. They deny that Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng caused a disaster. They will deny that ‘Levelling Up’ has died in a ditch. And they will deny […]

Important corrections to Anne Marie Morris’s ‘newsletter’

Anthea Simmons

Newton Abbot MP, Anne Marie Morris, has released her weekly column. It was so packed with untruths and gaslighting statements that it just had to be unpicked. “The UK has been an independent nation for three years this January”. Hmm. It was already an independent nation, actually. Think the word you are looking for, Anne […]

Greenwashing on the Somerset Levels? Letter to the editor

Editor-in-chief

Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to you in order to highlight what I perceive to be a greenwashing issue regarding the Somerset Levels. I was under the impression that following the Dutch N court case, the Somerset levels were protected from any additional phosphate discharge due to either their unfavourable condition or that they are […]

Funding for hedges!

Editor-in-chief

Funding to pilot a project involving the Lyme area community in the creation of the Great Big Dorset Hedge has been approved by Lyme Regis Town Council. Julie Leah from Charmouth, who is one of the coordinators of the project on behalf of Dorset Climate Action Network, said: ‘We really appreciate the Town Council’s support […]

Countdown to chaos: the incredible rise and fall of Drew Mellor

James Bean

A controversial and chaotic political reign ended last week, as Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole (BCP) leader Drew Mellor resigned after two years in the hotseat. His leadership was littered with scandal and leaves the fledgling council on the verge of bankruptcy, less than four years after its formation. His reversal comes just 80 days before […]

Is it a job-seekers’ market? Bournemouth Jobs Fair

Phil Lucas

Brexit has been blamed for creating a shortfall in workers across many sectors, so it should be a good time to be looking for work, or to boost over-stretched pay-packets. The Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth hosted a ‘jobs fair’ at the start of February, giving employers a chance to showcase opportunities to interest potential new […]

A quiet burial for Tory failure in Somerset

Mick Fletcher

Somerset’s politicians can’t sneak anything past Mick Fletcher when it comes to further and adult education… Tucked away at chapter 12, in a document only of interest to specialists in further education, is evidence of another quiet failure of Tory dogma. In a routine administrative update from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) two […]

Somerset local councillor offers FREE air monitors to local businesses

Editor-in-chief

A Somerset County Councillor is on a clean air mission. “I’m keen to learn the lessons of the pandemic” says Councillor Oliver Patrick, “and one of those lessons is that airborne diseases like Covid spread easily between people indoors where ventilation is poor.” Oliver’s clean air campaign began in September when he started raising money […]

Ukrainian Christmas in the UK

Alan Wilson

The head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church gave special dispensation for Ukrainian refugees to celebrate Christmas on 25 December instead of on the customary date, so here in Somerset we treated our guests to an authentic English Christmas meal of turkey with all the trimmings, crackers, carols, and stockings. Our tradition of kissing under mistletoe […]

Wild camping on Dartmoor – what next?

Editor-in-chief

The judge’s decision on the right to wild camp on Dartmoor has cause upset and outrage amongst walker, climbers, nature-lovers and Dartmoor-lovers from across the country. On Saturday, people will be coming together to protest the verdict. We predict that this will be a very big event indeed and we will be there. You must […]

Greenwashing the sewage party

Tom Scott
Tory leaflets posing as Green

Conservative MPs are systematically ripping off Green Party branding in their communications to voters – a new low for a party that is now clearly ashamed to be seen for what it is, writes Tom Scott. What would be your first thought if you received a leaflet like one of those shown above from a […]

Medical crisis and moral injury – the state of the NHS in Somerset

Mick Fletcher

Although government seems to be in denial, it is clear that the NHS is in crisis – a consequence, in large part, of a decade of underfunding.  The impact on the service nationally has been logged in detail, with the Financial Times offering a series of particularly thorough analyses.   We wanted to find out […]

Letters to Sheryll Murray MP on strikes, the NHS and nurses’ pay

Carl Garner

Dear Sheryll Murray You have often used the term “democracy” in your replies to me when challenged over your abysmal record as our MP – at least in the replies that weren’t just copied and pasted from the Ladybird book of lazy replies for MPs, at any rate.  But, do tell me, can you prove […]

Turning a river nightmare into an achievable dream

Vicky Whitworth

Only 14 per cent of England’s rivers have good ecological status, and the government has just, incredibly, allowed itself another 36 years to clean things up. Yet all is not lost: local citizen scientists are joining together to save streams, brooks, and rivers, and to start action now. Vicky Whitworth shares a tale of hope […]

The stars are ours – the Save Dartmoor rally

Andrew Cooney

On December 11, 2022, with only a handful of days’ notice and on one of the coldest days of the oncoming winter, 400 people gathered for a rally to save access to Dartmoor for wild campers. They were the young and the old, locals and those who’d travelled considerable distances, wild campers and non-wild campers […]

Review of 2022 – part 1: most-read articles

Editor-in-chief
fireworks depicting 2022

Our top ten reads for 2022 in reverse order. In at number 10, but thankfully NOT one to have had a go at being in at Number 10 (ho, ho), it’s that delightful ERG-er and Brexiter Sherryl Murray: At 9, a still sadly relevant piece on the abandoning of the clinically vulnerable to Covid risks: […]

A not-so-merry Christmas from BCP Council

Adam Sofianos

As regular readers will know, it’s been a dramatic 2022 at Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP). Our local leaders have nearly signed off for the holidays, and some may already be sitting in a dark corner, mumbling to themselves while nursing a litre-bottle of sherry. So this is a good moment to reflect on […]