These snippets are of general interest and reflect changes going on in South Molton.
If you reached this page from the "Land fit for Heros" blog please scroll down to and read the "Our Dishonest Council" article and then follow the link to the "Council Lies" page
A Youth Resource Centre for South Molton?
A report in this weeks Journal states that the Council has decided to use the Tennis Courts (photo above) for the new Youth Centre rather than take up yet more space in Central Park - good news as far as the park is concerned as it is the only green space we have left in the centre of the town. The park has over the years been built up to leave less than half the grassed area that existed when I was a lad. Any more encroachment should be resisted - the park belongs to the people of the town and should not be used by the Council as a convenient building site!
It is reported that the Centre will be used for IT training and further education - have the Council forgotten that we have a Community College that is well equipped and able to provide these services. Why go to the expense of duplicating what already exists? As far as the agencies mentioned in the report why could they not use not use the offices in the proposed Amory House, after all they would have to be available in the evening when the youth of the town was not at school?
One more suggestion - when the library and council offices move to Amory House there will be a empty building that, with a few minor alterations, could be used to house the proposed Youth Centre. No waiting for a new build, no loss of two tennis courts and a saving of £400, 0000 of taxpayers money!
Is it worth the bother complaining?
Last year we published a photo of the Churchyard showing the dandelions and weeds on the paths. This year the weeds are just as bad - see the photo. A letter to the town clerk, Malcolm Gingell, two or three years ago elicited the usual response from the South Molton Town Council - "not our responsibility". However , correspondence with the District Council confirmed that the weeds on the cobbled areas were indeed the Councils responsibility and these were subsequently dealt with. So why are the paths still a disgrace? The recent appointment of a worker to market South Molton raises the question, how do you market a tip? Answers on a postcard....
Well now - it appears that the Council have done a spray job on the weeds seen today 5th October 2007. However the Churchyard still looks a mess - I wonder if the Council realises that due to their neglect all summer the weeds have dropped their seeds and a new crop is waiting to grow. We shall leave these images in place to remind the Council to deal with the weeds next year before they seed - will they take any notice?
The following image from a postcard dated around 1905 shows the same path weed free - if they could do it why can't we?
On the other hand - well done to the Council for keeping the Recreation Ground in good order!
Below is an old postcard showing the "Rec" as it was early in the 1900s.
Our New South Molton Newspaper
The South Molton & District News, a 'paid for' monthly newspaper launched in April 2007 is published on the first Thursday of each month. The paper is privately owned by husband and wife team Paul & Jakki Henderson. Paul, who originally comes from South Molton, spent 24 years working in the regional press across the UK before returning 'home' to launch a real grass roots newspaper for the corridor area between Barnstaple (N Devon Journal) and Tiverton (Tiverton Gazette) stretching from East Anstey to Brayford in the north, to Witheridge and Chulmleigh in the south.
The content of the paper is focused on news issues that directly affect the South Molton area. The paper itself is written in a style that is informative, impartial and not always 'politically correct'!
By the fourth issue, sales of the newspaper from local newsagents, supermarkets, post offices and petrol stations were running very close to the circulation of the North Devon Journal within the same area. Many local businesses have taken the opportunity to advertise cost effectively to their 'local' client base and readers comments on the topics covered have been extremely positive. As the paper says in its catch line, the South Molton & District News.......it's all about you!
The newspaper is available on a postal subscription basis at a cost of £1 per issue (£12 per annum). To subscribe to the paper, simply email news@southmoltonnews.co.uk (you will then receive an online invoice that can be paid via PayPal) or send a cheque made payable to the South Molton & District News at 2 King Street, South Molton, North Devon, EX36 3BL.
The North Devon Link wishes the South Molton News every success!
MA2K Ltd's Skateboard Park Project
The new Skateboard Park in South Molton's Central Park is now complete. Although not yet officially open it is already proving popular with skateboarders. Apparently MA2K Ltd. need to transfer the running of the Skateboard Park to a Management Committee to comply with the lease from the Town Council. Latest news is that a date for opening has been fixed for the 23rd Sept. 2006 but no details are available - watch this space! Yes there was an opening ceremony but there does not appear to be a Management Committee or any supervision of the Skateboard Park as was originally planned by MA2K Ltd. Users of the Park will do so at their own risk.
The South Molton Union Workhouse
Anyone with an interest in South Molton's past will find a great deal of information about Beech House, formerly the South Molton Union Workhouse, on a Website run by Peter Higgenbotton . It can be accessed at www.workhouses.org.uk
What shall we do with the Old Infant School?
The old Infant School in New Road has been empty now for over three years - no use has yet been found for the building. According to the Devon County Council their solicitor has been unable to discover who actually owns the property and intends to "pass the keys and responsibility for the buildings to the local vicar and churchwardens". Won't they be pleased! (See the Contributions page for a short history of the school.)
With regard to the ownership of the property the following extract from a book containing notes about the history of South Molton held by the Museum may help. The notes are believed to have been written in the latter half of the 19th century by the then Vicar of South Molton:
"In consequence of the National School being reorganized and placed under a Master no child was admitted under 6 years old. The Infant School was consequently started in St. Anne's Chapel, then removed to a house in the Church Yard, then in 1853 to the house occupied by Miss ?, and in 1859-60 to new school built by subscription as British Schools on a site given by Sir T. Acland "
The latest development is reported in a newsletter from the Molton Area 2000 people. This states that the police are negotiating with the landowners with a view to relocating the police station in the old Infant School building in order to be located in a "town centre site". Following this up we have discovered from Molton Area 2000 that the police are not actually negotiating but are trying to trace the owners. So the report in the MA2K newsletter was at the least misleading!
The South Molton Archive is at present in the process of gathering material and photographs with a view to getting this important building listed.
Latest news: the application to list the building has been turned down!
The temporary classrooms have been removed - picture below.
Subsequent to the above the police have put in a planning application for change of use to a police station. The application is available to view at the South Molton Council Office (1 East Street). There is not much information as to the intended use or alterations to the actual buildings but the road passing the site could be changed to a single carriageway with priority to traffic into the town centre. Given the amount of traffic in New Road this is about as mad-brained a proposal as is likely to be heard from any so-called authority! Why is this considered necessary? Answers on a postcard.....
Latest News - very interesting!
We have obtained a copy of the agreement between the Trustees and the Police - this document is rubber-stamped Michelmores, Solicitors of Exeter. The demise paid by the Police was £7,500, the annual rent is £1,000 and the document is dated 13th April 2006. The agreement refers to the letting of the "former site of the South Molton C of E Infant School". This is curious as the school was set up as non-denominational, was always referred to as the South Molton Infant School and continued thus when taken over by the Devon County Council in the 1930s. So have the Police taken over a site that does not exist?
One further point is that an advert was placed in the Journal on 26th January 2006 referring to an application to the Secretary of State for Education for an order to "allow the assets of the foundation to be used for the benefit of new and continuing schools of the same denomination within the Diocese". If the the former Infant School was non-denominational this application is meaningless as there is no Diocese. So where would the assets go?
Would the trustees please clarify the situation?
We have received the following e-mail on behalf of the Trustees which we consider to be a totally satisfactory explanation of what is happening to the former Infant School. Thank you Mr. Spain!
"Dear Mr Bray
Thank you for your recent e-mail, which I have discussed with Michelmores,Solicitors of Exeter and would address the points which you make as follows:
a. The premises included in the Lease are defined by reference to the Lease plan and not by reference to the address of the land on the front sheet of the Lease.The site taken over by the Police under the terms of the Lease is therefore the land edged in re on the Lease plan which is of course the site of the former South Molton Infants School.
b.The reference on the front sheet of the Lease to the school being Church of England is incorrect. The confusion arising from the fact that various parties had referred to the school as a Church of England school. However,trusts of the school are specifically non-denominational.
c.The purpose of the public notes published in The Times,Church Times and North Devon Journal was to invite potential reverter claimants to come forward before any scheme dealing with assets of the Foundation is made. No confirmed notice of any person claiming the benefit of the reverter has been received.
d.The scheme to be applied for by the Trustees will be a scheme which provides new charitable trusts for the property.New charitable trusts will be non-denominational in the same way as the original trusts.The new trusts is a matter for the Charities Commission and are likely to be similar in character to the original trusts
e. The school trustees were required as a matter of charity law and did indeed obtain independent valuation advice under the Charities Act in respect of the Lease to the Constabulary.The advice given by Richard Smith in his Charities Act Valuation Report dated 7th March 2006 was that the terms of the Lease were the best that were then available and his recommendation was that those terms should be accepted by the Trustees without reservation. The parties did of course enter into a separate agreement under which the Constabulary would undertake significant repairing as well as refurbishment obligations.
f. It is the Trustee's intention that any assets of the foundation should be used to the benefit of South Molton Infants School and South Molton United Cof E Junior School.
I hope that I have fully addressed the points raised
Sincerely
Robert Spain"
Here is a photo of the new almost completed Police Station.
Have you a comment about the former South Molton Infant School for our Guest Book?
New Homes planned
It appears that 200 new homes are planned for South Molton on land between the Hospital and Cook's Cross. With the current price of nearly a quarter of a million being asked for a smallish family sized home one wonders who will able to afford to buy them and where will all these people earn the kind of salary to be able to get a mortgage? Picture below shows work in progress.
More New Homes
The photo below, taken looking south from near the Gunswell Lane pedestrian entrance, shows more new homes at West Lea off West Street.
And yet more New Homes
This is an estate off West Street called The Meadows - the photo was taken from Livarot Walk looking North and shows the progress of the second phase.
The Town Council get it right!
A Town Council success story is the farmers market on Saturday mornings in the pannier market. On sale are olives, flowers, fish, veg., pictures, pine furniture, hardware, plants clothes etc. The market is well patronised and very popular with tourists.
Our Dishonest District Council!
When the family housing estate Moorland Rise was built there was an access to a building site rear of Underhill prepared and approved by the Council - this was subsequently ignored by the planners and the entrance was allowed through Hares Green. This decision changed Hares Green to one of mixed housing - seventeen years or so after the bungalows were sold on the basis of being a development of sheltered retirement bungalows with a minimum age limit of 55 and conditions to ensure the amenity of the residents. These conditions do not apply to the new property!
By allowing the entrance from Hares Green the Council breached one of their own planning conditions, told a series of lies to try to justify the decision to the public and to the Local Government Ombudsman and then tried to cover up the lies following a complaint about them. The money grabbing Council also demanded, and got, £25,000 for the right to cross the narrow strip of grass at the end of the parking area in Hares Green.
Read all about the lies, who told them and who tried to cover them up by clicking this link Council Lies. You can also read a letter from the former Leader of the Council, Cllr. Malcolm Prowse, in which he claims these allegations are "unjustified and unfairly discredit council staff". This is very strange as all the allegations are supported by proof taken from the Council's own documentation!
There also a link to a page we call THE WEDGE which drive deep into the Council to expose the dishonest employees and Councillors!
The photo below shows the intended entrance from Moorland Rise - this was approved under planning application 30527 although curiously the Council's planners told the Ombudsman that this entrance had been carefully considered but was not acceptable to the Council. So why was planning application 30527 approved as it clearly showed this to be the proposed entrance? So now residents of Moorland Rise have a permanent eyesore on their otherwise neat little site.
Well now, is the issue of dishonesty in the North Devon District Council snowballing - take a look at this website! The author suggests that a motto for the Council should be "Deny Delay Dissemble". I would add "Dishonest" but I agree totally with these three "Ds" having been unfortunate enough to experience these tactics.
Please note that the North Devon Link has no connection with this website (or any other) so comments regarding content should be made to the website's owner.
Mole Valley Farmers open new store.
Mole Valley Farmers store at Path Fields Business Park opened on Tuesday March 2nd 2004 - The North Devon Link wishes this go-ahead local enterprise good luck in its new premises. However, there is some concern over the direction this company is taking - you can read all about it on a website authored by John James MBE, one of the founding members of Mole Valley Farmers.
Amory House closure.
Amory House has now closed - for over 25 years it has provided a meeting place for the elderly and disabled, income coming from letting rooms to other organisations for meetings, coffee mornings, exhibitions, etc.
The latest plans to be announced are for the property to be used by the Town Council, the NDDC, the Community Information Centre, the Library and "other community organisations". I expect there will also be free car parking included for all the council and other public employees at the tax payers expense as is the case at the Civic Centre!
The picture shows the magnificent Magnolia tree in full flower in the garden at the rear of Amory House. This tree is reportedly "for the chop" to make way for the new project which has been called a "one stop shop". Perhaps a better name for this expensive and unnecessary scheme would a "one stop flop"!
Well, what did I tell you! There is in the September issue of the Community Centre News a remarkable report, this is not attributed to MA2K Ltd. but is probably the source. Basically it said "we've got it all wrong and it will cost you a lot more and it will take a lot longer to complete because we don't know what we are doing". It's on the back page. Please read it and comment in our guest book.
The Magnolia is no more as work progresses on the Amory House project - image below
Smart new web site for East Street Surgery.
East Street Surgery now have their own smart new web site. The site provides useful information on how to register with the Practice, the medical staff, services offered and the out of hours cover. There is also a good section about caring for your health. You can access the web site here.
Another Supermarket for South Molton?
According to the Molton Area 2000 reports there is to be another supermarket, rumoured to be Tesco, in the development planned for the car park area. Do we really need two supermarkets? And if Tesco comes what will be the fate of the well established Somerfield in New Road - and all the small shops in the town? Comments in our Guest Book please.
We have some news through the grapevine - a senior Tesco employee stated that there could be a store in South Molton by the end of the year! Optimistic? Maybe, but the signs are there. The North Devon Link will keep you up to date.
Postscript - has anybody got a surplus dictionary?
The Journal reports that there is a proposal in the pipeline from Bray Valley Wines to set up a shop within the new units in the Pathfields Industrial Estate. It appears that Cllr. Sewell has proposed and had, remarkably, the proposal seconded by the Council to write to the applicant to ask how they intend to use the site. I can reveal that the term "shop" implies that, as stated in the Concise Oxford Dictionary, the use will be: - "Building, room etc. for retail sale of some commodity". Just like Mole Valley Farmers (who sell wine) as pointed out by Cllr. John Mair who was apparently the only Councillor awake at the time.....
The photo shows the units - almost opposite Mole Valley Farmers.
Whoops - these units are not where Bray Valley Wines might be going. Thanks John via our Guest Book. The units in question are probably those a little further up the hill on the same side. Photo below.
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