The Taxpayers Alliance seems to have an anodyne enough name.

In fact it’s a name that resonates with most people.

It gives the impression that it’s looking out for the interests of the vast majority. Of people who work hard, pay taxes, and struggle to make ends meet.

It suggests that it’s about the ‘little’ person fighting government.

Is that really the case?

No – it certainly isn’t.

But I’ll come back to that in later posts.

All I’ll say is: Be Afraid,  Be Very Afraid.

I spotted this chair in a wood at the beginning of April but forgot all about it ’til today.

Perhaps it’s not a chair at all but the throne of the woodland folk?

UPDATE: I’ve been asked to point out that it’s a private wood, and members of the public aren’t allowed to walk there.

In case any UKIP supporters are reading this, the title refers to a long cylindrical wooden object rather than a person!

Some parking bays at the bottom end of East Street have been coned off, and this sign explains why. Oddly the sign has collapsed whereas the offending pole (see below) appears to be in perfect health.

I can’t understand why only parked cars are deemed to be at risk. What about pedestrians, the adjoining houses or vehicles using the road?

I first spotted this sign on Monday at the junction of New Road and East Street (there’s another past the scaffolding and traffic lights at the other end of town).

When I first saw it, it said the road would be closed for one day. Today it says it’ll be closed for two days. I wonder what it will say tomorrow?

Nobody seems to know where exactly the road will be closed or why it will be closed. UPDATE: I’ve seen a small printed notice attached to the Belisha Beacon which said the road would be closed because of the Olde English Fayre.

A cheeky fox in our back garden on Friday night.

I’ve no issues with the fox (we don’t have any chickens) but if a fox can get in it means that the dog can probably get out!

I noticed that on Sunday afternoon the lorry park was full of fairground equipment.

It appears that the district council have given the fun fair permission to use the lorry park for one and a half weeks and it’ll be open from Thursday through to Sunday.

What a very professional looking advertisement!

I think it’s only local in that it’s in South Molton. I doubt very much indeed whether any of the rides are owned or operated by local people.

Apparently they’ve already been in Tiverton and they’ll be moving onto Barnstaple.

Bizarre that the District Council  can do this without either notifying the town council or asking them whether it’s a good thing.

I wonder where all the Land Rovers and trailers will park on market day?

I suspect the first question you’ll have is What on earth is a wayleave?

It’s a right of way granted by a landowner typically for such  purposes such as the erection of telephone/power lines or laying of pipes. Generally a payment is made to the landowner.

In order for the anaerobic digester at Great Hele to get its gas to the mains gas network a pipe has to be laid to the nearest access point. South Molton Town Council were offered, and accepted, a payment of about £14,000 to allow the pipe to cross their land.

This payment was quoted by the developer at a planning meeting as one reason why the development should be granted planning permission. In their words “there will be community benefit as a substantial [!} payment will be paid to South Molton Town Council”.

Has this been paid? No.

Will it ever be paid? No.

Why not? Because the pipe is taking a longer, but apparently cheaper, route and largely being laid under the public highway. That’s why Limers Lane and the road past Ford Down Farm have been closed!

Utility companies (e.g. gas, electricity and power companies) have so-called Code Powers. This means they can lay cables and pipes under public roads without having to pay a way leave.

I suspect that what has happened in this case is that the rules have been bent and the gas pipe from the digester to the gas mains has been deemed to have been laid by a utility company! Another case of private profit at public expense.

A lot of people think that the four waiting time targets for A&E are all about how long it takes to be seen.

They’re not!

The four hour target is about how long it takes until you’re admitted to a ward, transferred to another hospital or discharged. An entirely different thing.

I’d like to see figures on how quickly people are first assessed (i.e. triaged) when they arrive at an A&E department.

At this morning’s NHS Clinical Commissioning Group meeting it was decided that the number of community hospital beds in North Devon should be reduced from 72 to 40.

The voting was unanimously in favour. It should be noted that, with one exception, all those who are allowed to vote are local GPs. So this wasn’t a decision made by faceless managers but one made by practising local doctors.

The next step in the process is to decide where those beds should be, and therefore which community hospitals will lose their beds. This certainly doesn’t mean that any hospitals will close but it does mean that there will be a change of focus.

There’s currently renewed discussion about CCTV in South Molton.

Personally I think CCTV is, generally, a ‘bad thing’ and its usefulness in terms of the detection and prevention of crime is very overrated.

A recent College of Policing document about the use of CCTV had this to say:

“The review finds that use of Close Circuit Television (CCTV) can lead to a small reduction in crime. CCTV is more effective when directed against specific types of crime; it is effective at reducing theft of and from vehicles, but has no impact on levels of violent crime”.

And an official Home Office report said this:

“[E]vidence suggests that over 80% of the CCTV footage supplied to the police is far from ideal, especially if it is being used for primary identification”.

In civil service language having a car with three wheels  would be “far from ideal”.  The rest of us, on the other hand, would say it was “completely useless”.

There are of course very good uses for CCTV. CCTV coverage of ticket barriers, motorways and shops is a good thing.  It’s good for perimeter security of  large buildings. But only if  constantly monitored and acted on very quickly.