SEPTEMBER 2021
Camels’ Eye
We have many reasons to thank our Local Authorities - they empty the bins, provide social
care, fill the potholes, look after public transport, run schools, house the homeless, sweep
the streets, control planning, give us parks and libraries and do hundreds of other vital but
unglamorous things - so it seems simple good manners to show a bit of interest in how they
organise themselves. An invitation under the Local Government and Public Involvement in
Health Act (2007) to submit proposals for moving to unitary local government may not be
the kind of invitation that makes your blood race but it takes all sorts, and the Councils that
run our local services got very excited indeed.
One king to rule them all, One king to mind them…
There were two contestants, One Somerset and Stronger Somerset, and both spent an
enormous amount of time and energy (and lots of money) over the last year or so
distributing literature, organising consultations, arranging meetings and generally showering
us with information to persuade us that they had the best cunning plan. You might have
thought a bureaucrat’s bun fight or paper-pusher’s spat would be a pretty tame affair but
you’d be quite wrong and there have been all sorts of shenanigans: accusations of
dishonesty, greed, bad faith and corruption, allegations of dirty tricks, misleading
propaganda, offences against the Tenth Commandment and general skulduggery, and even
a spoof website - very 2021. We were of course consulted - we always are - but our views
didn’t make any difference - they often don’t. A couple of public opinion polls suggested a
preference for Stronger Somerset but the Man from the Ministry knows best and the
Secretary of State of State ruled it out, judging its geography incredible and opining that it
would not improve ‘local government and service delivery’. This left just One man standing.
Power to the People
Some have suggested that transferring powers from our District Council in Yeovil to a new
super-Council in Taunton might lead to a democratic deficit but happily this is not the case.
Our county’s four District Councils will be abolished but instead there will be no fewer than
“15 to 20 new Local Community Networks…reaching every corner of Somerset to give local
people the chance to shape their own communities. These will have real constitutional
powers to scrutinise, impact and take decisions”. In other words it is not less local
government we’ll be having but more of it - more representatives, more meetings, agendas
and minutes, more decisions, more accountability, more transparency etc, and apparently
it’ll save lots of money too. What’s not to like?!
PPC
Camels’ Eye
We have many reasons to thank our Local Authorities - they empty the bins, provide social
care, fill the potholes, look after public transport, run schools, house the homeless, sweep
the streets, control planning, give us parks and libraries and do hundreds of other vital but
unglamorous things - so it seems simple good manners to show a bit of interest in how they
organise themselves. An invitation under the Local Government and Public Involvement in
Health Act (2007) to submit proposals for moving to unitary local government may not be
the kind of invitation that makes your blood race but it takes all sorts, and the Councils that
run our local services got very excited indeed.
One king to rule them all, One king to mind them…
There were two contestants, One Somerset and Stronger Somerset, and both spent an
enormous amount of time and energy (and lots of money) over the last year or so
distributing literature, organising consultations, arranging meetings and generally showering
us with information to persuade us that they had the best cunning plan. You might have
thought a bureaucrat’s bun fight or paper-pusher’s spat would be a pretty tame affair but
you’d be quite wrong and there have been all sorts of shenanigans: accusations of
dishonesty, greed, bad faith and corruption, allegations of dirty tricks, misleading
propaganda, offences against the Tenth Commandment and general skulduggery, and even
a spoof website - very 2021. We were of course consulted - we always are - but our views
didn’t make any difference - they often don’t. A couple of public opinion polls suggested a
preference for Stronger Somerset but the Man from the Ministry knows best and the
Secretary of State of State ruled it out, judging its geography incredible and opining that it
would not improve ‘local government and service delivery’. This left just One man standing.
Power to the People
Some have suggested that transferring powers from our District Council in Yeovil to a new
super-Council in Taunton might lead to a democratic deficit but happily this is not the case.
Our county’s four District Councils will be abolished but instead there will be no fewer than
“15 to 20 new Local Community Networks…reaching every corner of Somerset to give local
people the chance to shape their own communities. These will have real constitutional
powers to scrutinise, impact and take decisions”. In other words it is not less local
government we’ll be having but more of it - more representatives, more meetings, agendas
and minutes, more decisions, more accountability, more transparency etc, and apparently
it’ll save lots of money too. What’s not to like?!
PPC
JULY 2021
Camels’ Eye
Readers of a certain age may remember the pompous, self-important Councillor Duxbury in Billy Liar, but life in a northern town in the 1950s is another country and these days most people become councillors because they really want to make a difference. After all the 2011 Localism Act promised that its “new rights and powers for communities and individuals” would “make the planning system more democratic and more effective” and “ensure that decisions about housing are taken locally”, so if you can make your place a better place by joining the Council, why would you not?
Trickling down and speeding up
Queen Camel’s Neighbourhood Plan does give councillors and residents greater control over development in the parish - but only up to a point. The Plan ‘sits under’ the District Council’s Local Plan which in turn ‘sits under’ the Government’s Planning Framework, and housing targets (for example) are set nationally, so local councillors have no say over the numbers of new houses built in their Parish or District, only their location. And now in response to the national housing crisis the Government wants to increase the supply and bring down the cost of houses by speeding up the planning process, and this entails reducing the opportunities for local consultation.
Backyards
Unsurprisingly this has led to howls of outrage: we all want our neighbourhoods kept as green and pleasant as possible so if more houses are needed they should be built somewhere else. But although local democracy sounds good there are advantages in having it trumped by the national interest. When some frightful development is foisted on us we can at least suffer together and blame ‘the authorities’, like blaming the weather. But how would it be if our own parish councils had the final say in who is allowed to build what, and where? We all have different interests so what would that do for community cohesion? Be careful what you wish for!
P.P-C.
Readers of a certain age may remember the pompous, self-important Councillor Duxbury in Billy Liar, but life in a northern town in the 1950s is another country and these days most people become councillors because they really want to make a difference. After all the 2011 Localism Act promised that its “new rights and powers for communities and individuals” would “make the planning system more democratic and more effective” and “ensure that decisions about housing are taken locally”, so if you can make your place a better place by joining the Council, why would you not?
Trickling down and speeding up
Queen Camel’s Neighbourhood Plan does give councillors and residents greater control over development in the parish - but only up to a point. The Plan ‘sits under’ the District Council’s Local Plan which in turn ‘sits under’ the Government’s Planning Framework, and housing targets (for example) are set nationally, so local councillors have no say over the numbers of new houses built in their Parish or District, only their location. And now in response to the national housing crisis the Government wants to increase the supply and bring down the cost of houses by speeding up the planning process, and this entails reducing the opportunities for local consultation.
Backyards
Unsurprisingly this has led to howls of outrage: we all want our neighbourhoods kept as green and pleasant as possible so if more houses are needed they should be built somewhere else. But although local democracy sounds good there are advantages in having it trumped by the national interest. When some frightful development is foisted on us we can at least suffer together and blame ‘the authorities’, like blaming the weather. But how would it be if our own parish councils had the final say in who is allowed to build what, and where? We all have different interests so what would that do for community cohesion? Be careful what you wish for!
P.P-C.
JUNE 2021
Camels’ Eye
As we emerge from lockdown we can look forward to a rapid V-shaped recovery in that staple of country life, gossip. Swapping information, misinformation and speculation about neighbours and acquaintances can be unkind and the high-minded think it vulgar, preferring to discuss history and literature, or politics if you must – i.e. gossip about dead people, imaginary people and mighty people.
The Real Thing
You may or may not agree that the proper study of mankind is man but gossipers are certainly more fun and probably more humane than those amateur epidemiologists who have spent the last year banging on about Covid, convinced that they know better than the people who actually have to decide things. As for the rest of us, Skype, Zoom, social media, box sets and other virtual forms have helped us get through the pandemic, but we know they’re no substitute for real people having real conversations in real pubs drinking real ale or the real thing.
Win win
Meanwhile life has been trundling on. Local government staff have done a grand job supporting the NHS and armies of volunteers in rolling out the vaccine, and now their masters, our County and District Councils, have asked the Government to dissolve them - the Councils, that is. In keeping with the latest fashion in local government they want to be replaced by a unitary council, that is a single council which will do all the things that are currently split between District and County councils. There are two competing models on offer, One Somerset and Stronger Somerset, and the Government will announce the winner before the end of July. Each one promises to be cheaper, more efficient, more democratic, more accountable and altogether better than the other one so it’s win win for us!
Taking back control
Even closer to home, in a referendum with a respectable turnout of 30% local electors voted by a majority of 90% in favour of the Queen Camel Neighbourhood Plan which will give local people greater influence over planning decisions within the village. Congratulations to the band of determined volunteers who devoted thousands of hours over many years, enduring numerous frustrations and overcoming many obstacles: they have fully earned the reward of this impressive result.
P.P-C.
As we emerge from lockdown we can look forward to a rapid V-shaped recovery in that staple of country life, gossip. Swapping information, misinformation and speculation about neighbours and acquaintances can be unkind and the high-minded think it vulgar, preferring to discuss history and literature, or politics if you must – i.e. gossip about dead people, imaginary people and mighty people.
The Real Thing
You may or may not agree that the proper study of mankind is man but gossipers are certainly more fun and probably more humane than those amateur epidemiologists who have spent the last year banging on about Covid, convinced that they know better than the people who actually have to decide things. As for the rest of us, Skype, Zoom, social media, box sets and other virtual forms have helped us get through the pandemic, but we know they’re no substitute for real people having real conversations in real pubs drinking real ale or the real thing.
Win win
Meanwhile life has been trundling on. Local government staff have done a grand job supporting the NHS and armies of volunteers in rolling out the vaccine, and now their masters, our County and District Councils, have asked the Government to dissolve them - the Councils, that is. In keeping with the latest fashion in local government they want to be replaced by a unitary council, that is a single council which will do all the things that are currently split between District and County councils. There are two competing models on offer, One Somerset and Stronger Somerset, and the Government will announce the winner before the end of July. Each one promises to be cheaper, more efficient, more democratic, more accountable and altogether better than the other one so it’s win win for us!
Taking back control
Even closer to home, in a referendum with a respectable turnout of 30% local electors voted by a majority of 90% in favour of the Queen Camel Neighbourhood Plan which will give local people greater influence over planning decisions within the village. Congratulations to the band of determined volunteers who devoted thousands of hours over many years, enduring numerous frustrations and overcoming many obstacles: they have fully earned the reward of this impressive result.
P.P-C.
May 2021
Camels’ Eye
The late Duke of Edinburgh wore the Burma Star with pride, and the extraordinary part played by the Chindits and other allied forces in that ‘forgotten war’ is celebrated in the annals of our military history, but in Myanmar it is General Aung San’s Burmese Independence Army which holds pride of place. It played a critical role in freeing the Burmese people from foreign rule, taking on first the British Empire (with Japanese support) and then the Japanese Imperial Army (with British support), but in the years since it has turned from liberator to oppressor. It keeps on locking up the General’s daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi, and with equal obstinacy the Burmese people keep on electing her – and now they are so intoxicated with the taste of freedom that they are still confronting the army despite more than 700 of them being killed just for demanding democracy.
6th May
Back in the Camels we are rather more blasé about elections and an invitation to elect a new Police Commissioner next month has caused little stir - though the rubbishing of voting results on both sides of the Atlantic in recent years suggests that ‘mature’ democracies may be less grown up than we like to think. Even closer to home we have an historic opportunity to influence the future of our own community via next month’s referendum on the Queen Camel Neighbourhood Plan. You can see details of the Plan and find out more by clicking here: https://www.southsomerset.gov.uk/your-council/your-council-plan-and-strategies/planning-policy/neighbourhood-planning/.
P.P-C.
The late Duke of Edinburgh wore the Burma Star with pride, and the extraordinary part played by the Chindits and other allied forces in that ‘forgotten war’ is celebrated in the annals of our military history, but in Myanmar it is General Aung San’s Burmese Independence Army which holds pride of place. It played a critical role in freeing the Burmese people from foreign rule, taking on first the British Empire (with Japanese support) and then the Japanese Imperial Army (with British support), but in the years since it has turned from liberator to oppressor. It keeps on locking up the General’s daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi, and with equal obstinacy the Burmese people keep on electing her – and now they are so intoxicated with the taste of freedom that they are still confronting the army despite more than 700 of them being killed just for demanding democracy.
6th May
Back in the Camels we are rather more blasé about elections and an invitation to elect a new Police Commissioner next month has caused little stir - though the rubbishing of voting results on both sides of the Atlantic in recent years suggests that ‘mature’ democracies may be less grown up than we like to think. Even closer to home we have an historic opportunity to influence the future of our own community via next month’s referendum on the Queen Camel Neighbourhood Plan. You can see details of the Plan and find out more by clicking here: https://www.southsomerset.gov.uk/your-council/your-council-plan-and-strategies/planning-policy/neighbourhood-planning/.
P.P-C.
April 2021
Camels’ Eye
The English are a disorderly lot. The Caesars brought Britain the benefits of Roman civilisation and left behind a legacy of fine, rectilinear villas and long, straight roads but when the Anglo-Saxons turned up they were not impressed and let them fall to pieces, preferring a more homely style of architecture and the rolling English road.
Watch your tongue
A few centuries on William the Conqueror tried to sort out the English but while the Normans won the battles they lost the culture war and ended up adopting the funny ways and speech of the natives. The English language is a jumble, with an eclectic vocabulary, absurd spelling, eccentric pronunciation and incongruous grammar, but the peculiar mix of elements has made it as fertile as a rich compost, producing a world language with an extraordinary literature. Mess is good.
The continental system
The next European to try his luck was Napoleon, and had Trafalgar gone his way we might have ended up in a very different place. He was a very organised and organising fellow, and after conquering the greater part of Europe he spent much of his time and energy modernising its laws, justice system, administration and everything else he could get his hands on. And but for Nelson and the grace of God we too might have gone totally metric and ended up with the Code Napoleon and an elected president instead of the current jumble of unwritten constitution, Common Law, anomalous monarchy, anachronistic House of Lords and imperial heritage, for good or ill.
One and one
But there are tidy-minded organisers closer to home who find the muddle of our local government an embarrassment and a reproach. Almost fifty years have passed since it was last reorganised so it must be time to do it again. The words Local Government Reform Consultation may not quicken every pulse but the people we’ve elected to look after our affairs are pretty excited about it so it would be rude not to take an interest. The general idea is to replace the current two-tier system (where the District and County Councils provide different services) with a unitary system in which a single Council does everything. There are two rival proposals in the mix: One Somerset wants a single Council for (virtually) the whole of Somerset while Stronger Somerset wants one Council for our part of the county (Mendip and South Somerset) and another for the far west, with some functions farmed out to separate bodies. It seems that maintaining the status quo is not an option.
We are of course being consulted about all this and you can find out more and express your own views via this government website: https://consult.communities.gov.uk/governance-reform-and-democracy/somerset/. The consultation closes on 19th April.
P.P-C.
The English are a disorderly lot. The Caesars brought Britain the benefits of Roman civilisation and left behind a legacy of fine, rectilinear villas and long, straight roads but when the Anglo-Saxons turned up they were not impressed and let them fall to pieces, preferring a more homely style of architecture and the rolling English road.
Watch your tongue
A few centuries on William the Conqueror tried to sort out the English but while the Normans won the battles they lost the culture war and ended up adopting the funny ways and speech of the natives. The English language is a jumble, with an eclectic vocabulary, absurd spelling, eccentric pronunciation and incongruous grammar, but the peculiar mix of elements has made it as fertile as a rich compost, producing a world language with an extraordinary literature. Mess is good.
The continental system
The next European to try his luck was Napoleon, and had Trafalgar gone his way we might have ended up in a very different place. He was a very organised and organising fellow, and after conquering the greater part of Europe he spent much of his time and energy modernising its laws, justice system, administration and everything else he could get his hands on. And but for Nelson and the grace of God we too might have gone totally metric and ended up with the Code Napoleon and an elected president instead of the current jumble of unwritten constitution, Common Law, anomalous monarchy, anachronistic House of Lords and imperial heritage, for good or ill.
One and one
But there are tidy-minded organisers closer to home who find the muddle of our local government an embarrassment and a reproach. Almost fifty years have passed since it was last reorganised so it must be time to do it again. The words Local Government Reform Consultation may not quicken every pulse but the people we’ve elected to look after our affairs are pretty excited about it so it would be rude not to take an interest. The general idea is to replace the current two-tier system (where the District and County Councils provide different services) with a unitary system in which a single Council does everything. There are two rival proposals in the mix: One Somerset wants a single Council for (virtually) the whole of Somerset while Stronger Somerset wants one Council for our part of the county (Mendip and South Somerset) and another for the far west, with some functions farmed out to separate bodies. It seems that maintaining the status quo is not an option.
We are of course being consulted about all this and you can find out more and express your own views via this government website: https://consult.communities.gov.uk/governance-reform-and-democracy/somerset/. The consultation closes on 19th April.
P.P-C.
March 2021
Camels’ Eye
Epidemics, plagues and pandemics belong to history books and faraway places so the coming of Covid-19 has been a bit of a shock. We can kid ourselves we’re in control, but though the scientific, technological and medical advances of the last two hundred years can mitigate the effects of natural forces like pandemics, earthquakes, tsunamis and climate change they cannot stop them. As King Cnut showed his sycophantic servants a thousand years ago, time and tide wait for no man.
After the Black Death came ashore in Weymouth in 1348 it tore through Somerset, killing off half the people in Yeovil; the mortality rate across England and the other affected parts of Europe and Asia is estimated at c.30%. The plague revisited Somerset frequently over the following centuries and there were four major epidemics, but without blood tests, antibiotics or vaccines the only defences were comparatively primitive but well-tried protection and containment measures. Five hundred years ago our ancestors used PPE, strict personal hygiene, social distancing, enforced quarantine at home or in isolation centres, and local and international travel bans to keep infections at bay, and if lockdown was good enough for them… P.P-C
Epidemics, plagues and pandemics belong to history books and faraway places so the coming of Covid-19 has been a bit of a shock. We can kid ourselves we’re in control, but though the scientific, technological and medical advances of the last two hundred years can mitigate the effects of natural forces like pandemics, earthquakes, tsunamis and climate change they cannot stop them. As King Cnut showed his sycophantic servants a thousand years ago, time and tide wait for no man.
After the Black Death came ashore in Weymouth in 1348 it tore through Somerset, killing off half the people in Yeovil; the mortality rate across England and the other affected parts of Europe and Asia is estimated at c.30%. The plague revisited Somerset frequently over the following centuries and there were four major epidemics, but without blood tests, antibiotics or vaccines the only defences were comparatively primitive but well-tried protection and containment measures. Five hundred years ago our ancestors used PPE, strict personal hygiene, social distancing, enforced quarantine at home or in isolation centres, and local and international travel bans to keep infections at bay, and if lockdown was good enough for them… P.P-C
Camels’ Eye
There has always been traffic on Camel Hill. It was part of the network of ridgeways which connected Neolithic Britain, it carried the Roman road from Ilchester to Andover, and it linked Lyng and Langport with Shaftesbury in one of King Alfred’s herepaths, the military roads that helped him see off the Vikings. After the Battle of Hastings the Normans chased King Harold’s mother Gytha off the family estate in Queen Camel and across Camel Hill, pursuing her down to Exeter where she made her final stand. The Tudors surfaced the road with stone quarried from the hill and by the early nineteenth century it was part of the New and Direct Road, with an express coach service that took just 21 hours to reach Plymouth from London. The road went to pot during the railway age but was reborn with the coming of the motor car, and as the A303 it has gone from strength to strength.
Cinderella
Some Fairy Godmothers are more successful than others but it’s not for want of trying that the roadbuilders haven’t managed to get Camel Hill to the Dual Carriageway Ball. They’ve launched three makeover projects in three decades but have little to show for it other than mountains of paperwork and years of gainful employment for planners, designers, engineers, consultants, consultees and lawyers. The first two projects foundered - too little money or too much politics - and now the third is in jeopardy. Our parish councils want it sent back to the drawing board, confident that a new and improved design could be produced, submitted and approved in a jiffy. With our country’s track record of delivering major infrastructure programmes on time and on budget, what could possibly go wrong?
End of the road?
The independent Planning Inspectors don’t like the Highways England design either and have advised the Secretary of State for Transport to turn it down. They cite a long list of reasons, most notably the risk of birds flocking around proposed flood attenuation ponds near RNAS Yeovilton and endangering aircraft. The gravity of this has given new hope to Alt. Route supporters, residents who regard the choice of the Camel Hill route as an establishment stitch-up. They are so distressed at the potential disturbance to our rural tranquillity that they want the new road to be bulldozed through unspoilt farmland on the other side of the hill, pointing out that this would minimise disruption during construction and might save both time and money. But the buck stops with Grant Shapps and he’s not finding it easy. Ages ago he said he is ‘minded’ to refuse consent but he keeps putting off the actual decision - from 12th December 2019 until after the General Election…and then to 17th July… and then to 20th November… and now to 29th January. But the MOD and Highways England have finally worked out a way of preventing birdstrike and the smart money reckons there’ll be a decision this time. Maybe.
P.P-C.
There has always been traffic on Camel Hill. It was part of the network of ridgeways which connected Neolithic Britain, it carried the Roman road from Ilchester to Andover, and it linked Lyng and Langport with Shaftesbury in one of King Alfred’s herepaths, the military roads that helped him see off the Vikings. After the Battle of Hastings the Normans chased King Harold’s mother Gytha off the family estate in Queen Camel and across Camel Hill, pursuing her down to Exeter where she made her final stand. The Tudors surfaced the road with stone quarried from the hill and by the early nineteenth century it was part of the New and Direct Road, with an express coach service that took just 21 hours to reach Plymouth from London. The road went to pot during the railway age but was reborn with the coming of the motor car, and as the A303 it has gone from strength to strength.
Cinderella
Some Fairy Godmothers are more successful than others but it’s not for want of trying that the roadbuilders haven’t managed to get Camel Hill to the Dual Carriageway Ball. They’ve launched three makeover projects in three decades but have little to show for it other than mountains of paperwork and years of gainful employment for planners, designers, engineers, consultants, consultees and lawyers. The first two projects foundered - too little money or too much politics - and now the third is in jeopardy. Our parish councils want it sent back to the drawing board, confident that a new and improved design could be produced, submitted and approved in a jiffy. With our country’s track record of delivering major infrastructure programmes on time and on budget, what could possibly go wrong?
End of the road?
The independent Planning Inspectors don’t like the Highways England design either and have advised the Secretary of State for Transport to turn it down. They cite a long list of reasons, most notably the risk of birds flocking around proposed flood attenuation ponds near RNAS Yeovilton and endangering aircraft. The gravity of this has given new hope to Alt. Route supporters, residents who regard the choice of the Camel Hill route as an establishment stitch-up. They are so distressed at the potential disturbance to our rural tranquillity that they want the new road to be bulldozed through unspoilt farmland on the other side of the hill, pointing out that this would minimise disruption during construction and might save both time and money. But the buck stops with Grant Shapps and he’s not finding it easy. Ages ago he said he is ‘minded’ to refuse consent but he keeps putting off the actual decision - from 12th December 2019 until after the General Election…and then to 17th July… and then to 20th November… and now to 29th January. But the MOD and Highways England have finally worked out a way of preventing birdstrike and the smart money reckons there’ll be a decision this time. Maybe.
P.P-C.
Camels’ Eye
We all pay lip service to individual human rights but in an increasingly censorious and conformist age it takes nerve for individuals in public life to think and speak for themselves. It is easy enough to go along with the cosy consensus of ‘acceptable’, ‘appropriate’ or ‘responsible’ opinion or to ‘follow the science’ - as if any mortals have a monopoly on wisdom or truth - but MPs, local councillors, journalists and scientists are elected or appointed to use their own judgement, not to follow fashion. Those who dare to say “I think…” and speak their own minds may have to endure the tuttutting of bien-pensants and the howling of the Twitterati but they’re worth any number of nodding donkeys.
High five
In response to the national housing shortage the Government requires Local Authorities to hit annual housing targets and show they have a five-year supply of deliverable housing sites. South Somerset has fallen short for some time and this has made it easier for developers to obtain planning permission, but now our District Council (SSDC) reckons it has a housing land supply equivalent to six years, so normal planning rules can once again be applied in full.
On the level
And that’s not the half of it. Following a judgement of the European Supreme Court, Natural England has drawn attention to the ecological damage caused by phosphates in the internationally significant Somerset Levels, and Local Authorities have been reminded of their legal duty to try and put it right. In response SSDC has placed a moratorium on any new developments in the Levels catchment area (which includes the Camels) which do not incorporate mitigation measures sufficiently robust to offset or eliminate additional phosphate output, thereby guaranteeing ‘nutrient neutrality’. The SSDC hit-list includes commercial and housing developments, single houses and even annexes, gypsy sites, agricultural installations which would enable higher stocking levels, anaerobic digesters and possibly even tourist attractions - in short anything that might increase the number of people or animals doing their business and generating toxic waste. This is all great news for the bittern, grebe, hobby, nimby, snipe and wigeon, not to mention eels, frogs, toads, newts, shrews and voles, but it’s not so good for builders and developers - or for families desperate to find homes they can afford.
P.P-C.
NOVEMBER 2020 |
| ||
Camels’ Eye
Cities have been around for ten thousand years but the appeal of country living has never disappeared. The greatest poet of the greatest city in the ancient world was less interested in Rome than in country matters, and today’s rock stars are often tomorrow’s farmers, landowners and observers of country life. With lockdown apparently here to stay the appeal of green fields and open spaces has become almost irresistible to city dwellers who can work from home. No wonder local estate agents are so busy.
Pretty as a picture
The countryside portrayed in landscape painting and luscious TV programmes looks like a peaceful and picturesque leisure park laid out to gratify our senses, and the repurposing of functional footpaths as recreational trails has reinforced this impression. And it is all free of charge. But things are not always quite as they seem: fields and meadows are not public property but private business premises, and peace and quiet can be hard to find with church clocks chiming all night, cocks crowing from first light, tractors and trailers hurtling along the lanes, the clatter of helicopters, mess on the roads, the smell of slurry in the air, and of course the traffic.
An everyday story of country folk
In any case we are social creatures and there is more to life than tranquillity and pretty scenery. Urban centres are lively and exciting but they are also impersonal, and it seems that many city dwellers yearn for a more contained and cohesive kind of community. The popularity of The Archers - the world’s longest running drama - reflects an ideal of village life centred round the pub, the church, the shop and the village hall, where differences are personal but everyone looks out for one another. The reality is rather different, and in the Camels as elsewhere society has been atomised by TV, cars and secularism. For the most part what binds us together is shared individual interests and networks of personal friendship, not any overarching sense of togetherness. There is something truly communal about parents or grandparents gathering around the school gate but otherwise it takes an extraordinary event like a royal jubilee or catastrophic flood to create a real if temporary sense of community.
Let a thousand flowers bloom
Cities have been around for ten thousand years but the appeal of country living has never disappeared. The greatest poet of the greatest city in the ancient world was less interested in Rome than in country matters, and today’s rock stars are often tomorrow’s farmers, landowners and observers of country life. With lockdown apparently here to stay the appeal of green fields and open spaces has become almost irresistible to city dwellers who can work from home. No wonder local estate agents are so busy.
Pretty as a picture
The countryside portrayed in landscape painting and luscious TV programmes looks like a peaceful and picturesque leisure park laid out to gratify our senses, and the repurposing of functional footpaths as recreational trails has reinforced this impression. And it is all free of charge. But things are not always quite as they seem: fields and meadows are not public property but private business premises, and peace and quiet can be hard to find with church clocks chiming all night, cocks crowing from first light, tractors and trailers hurtling along the lanes, the clatter of helicopters, mess on the roads, the smell of slurry in the air, and of course the traffic.
An everyday story of country folk
In any case we are social creatures and there is more to life than tranquillity and pretty scenery. Urban centres are lively and exciting but they are also impersonal, and it seems that many city dwellers yearn for a more contained and cohesive kind of community. The popularity of The Archers - the world’s longest running drama - reflects an ideal of village life centred round the pub, the church, the shop and the village hall, where differences are personal but everyone looks out for one another. The reality is rather different, and in the Camels as elsewhere society has been atomised by TV, cars and secularism. For the most part what binds us together is shared individual interests and networks of personal friendship, not any overarching sense of togetherness. There is something truly communal about parents or grandparents gathering around the school gate but otherwise it takes an extraordinary event like a royal jubilee or catastrophic flood to create a real if temporary sense of community.
Let a thousand flowers bloom
October 2020 |
| ||
Camels’ Eye
Our District Council has given the green light to Queen Camel’s draft Neighbourhood Plan (as amended by the planning inspectors) and it will be for parishioners to decide whether it is adopted or not. Because of Covid there’ll be no referendum until next summer so we’ll have to contain our impatience, but the draft Plan’s policies already carry “significant weight”. An early result is a size reduction in the two houses proposed for the field behind the Memorial Hall, from 4-bedroom to 3-bedroom.
The big battalions
Meanwhile the fate of the new A303 is in the hands of the Secretary of State for Transport. His warning that he is “minded” to refuse the scheme has left the County Councils of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire aghast, convinced that further delay let alone refusal would be disastrous for the South West. The MOD seems confident that bird-strike dangers can be managed and the main concern of Historic England and our District Council seems to be light pollution if, as suggested, street lighting is installed along the proposed Hazlegrove underpass.
Spartans
The resistance is led by our Parish Councils and District Councillor who have urged the Minister not to approve the scheme unless the design of the junction at Hazlegrove is improved and the existing A303 is retained as a parallel road for local traffic. Local businesses also want their interests better protected and the South Somerset Bridleway association and British Horse Society want a Pegasus crossing on the A359 and other changes to make it easier for horse-riders, cyclists and pedestrians to get from one side of the proposed new road to the other. Some individual residents are so concerned about the scheme’s impact on local communities that they want the current scheme to be scrapped altogether, leaving the existing road in place and routing the dual carriageway through open farmland north of Camel Hill instead. You can’t have too many roads. Whatever, by 20th November we should know whether it’s Go Go Go! or back to the drawing board.
Put your house in order
The MHCLG - or Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government if you prefer - is full of wheezes. It wants to revive housebuilding by suspending for 18 months the requirement to include affordable housing in developments of less than 40 to 50 dwellings. In the longer term it wants to deal with the housing shortage by replacing the current planning system with a slicker, zonal system including a “presumption in favour of development” on small sites in and around villages. And for good measure it also wants to scrap the existing system of local government, replacing County and District Councils with single-tier unitary authorities. Our local councils have responded with enthusiasm. The County Council wants to scrap the District Councils and run the whole of Somerset as one while our District Council wants to scrap the County Council and replace it with two unitary authorities, one for South Somerset and Mendip and the other for Sedgemoor, Taunton and West Somerset. Both schemes promise better services and greater efficiency - win win for us! - and there’ll be loads of consultations on all of these wheezes so that will be alright.
PPC
Our District Council has given the green light to Queen Camel’s draft Neighbourhood Plan (as amended by the planning inspectors) and it will be for parishioners to decide whether it is adopted or not. Because of Covid there’ll be no referendum until next summer so we’ll have to contain our impatience, but the draft Plan’s policies already carry “significant weight”. An early result is a size reduction in the two houses proposed for the field behind the Memorial Hall, from 4-bedroom to 3-bedroom.
The big battalions
Meanwhile the fate of the new A303 is in the hands of the Secretary of State for Transport. His warning that he is “minded” to refuse the scheme has left the County Councils of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire aghast, convinced that further delay let alone refusal would be disastrous for the South West. The MOD seems confident that bird-strike dangers can be managed and the main concern of Historic England and our District Council seems to be light pollution if, as suggested, street lighting is installed along the proposed Hazlegrove underpass.
Spartans
The resistance is led by our Parish Councils and District Councillor who have urged the Minister not to approve the scheme unless the design of the junction at Hazlegrove is improved and the existing A303 is retained as a parallel road for local traffic. Local businesses also want their interests better protected and the South Somerset Bridleway association and British Horse Society want a Pegasus crossing on the A359 and other changes to make it easier for horse-riders, cyclists and pedestrians to get from one side of the proposed new road to the other. Some individual residents are so concerned about the scheme’s impact on local communities that they want the current scheme to be scrapped altogether, leaving the existing road in place and routing the dual carriageway through open farmland north of Camel Hill instead. You can’t have too many roads. Whatever, by 20th November we should know whether it’s Go Go Go! or back to the drawing board.
Put your house in order
The MHCLG - or Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government if you prefer - is full of wheezes. It wants to revive housebuilding by suspending for 18 months the requirement to include affordable housing in developments of less than 40 to 50 dwellings. In the longer term it wants to deal with the housing shortage by replacing the current planning system with a slicker, zonal system including a “presumption in favour of development” on small sites in and around villages. And for good measure it also wants to scrap the existing system of local government, replacing County and District Councils with single-tier unitary authorities. Our local councils have responded with enthusiasm. The County Council wants to scrap the District Councils and run the whole of Somerset as one while our District Council wants to scrap the County Council and replace it with two unitary authorities, one for South Somerset and Mendip and the other for Sedgemoor, Taunton and West Somerset. Both schemes promise better services and greater efficiency - win win for us! - and there’ll be loads of consultations on all of these wheezes so that will be alright.
PPC
September 2020 |
| ||
Camels’ Eye
Highways England (HE) engineers spent three years planning and designing a new dual carriageway for the A303 between Hazlegrove and Podimore. They are confident that they know best - roads are their business - so when our Parish Councils called for major changes to the proposed junction layout at Hazlegrove and for the existing A303 to be retained as a parallel road for local traffic they simply weren’t interested. But the man at the top takes a different view: the Secretary of State for Transport who has the final say has told HE that he “is minded to refuse” their planning application as it stands.
Could do better
The minister was briefed by the Examining Authority (a couple of planning inspectors) whose 500-page report lists the application’s shortcomings in great detail. It describes as “unfortunate” HE’s dismissal of the Parish Councils’ ideas, it criticises the refusal to countenance a parallel road and it recommends that the application be refused. The Minister himself cites arguments put forward by the Parish Councils among his reasons for considering refusal:
Our Parish Councils strongly support the scheme in principle but have major reservations about the design and they “wholeheartedly applaud” the Minister’s stance. Likewise they broadly welcome the Examiners’ report but they are seriously concerned about the design of the junction at Hazlegrove - so much so that apparently they would rather see the scheme as a whole turned down than go ahead with the junction as currently proposed, confident that if this were to happen a new scheme with an improved junction design could be submitted and approved without undue delay.
Ouch!
The County Council sees things differently. It is dismayed at the prospect of the scheme being turned down and believes that its benefits to the region as a whole would far outweigh any harm. And unsurprisingly Highways England itself is highly critical of details in the Examiners’ report, noting drily that “The Examining Authority is not a highway designer”.
Déjà vu all over again?
What next? Will we actually get our road this time? Or will this scheme join its two predecessors on the scrapheap? Your guess is as good as mine. Interested parties have been given until 16th September to have their final say and the Minister has promised to make his final decision by 20th November. At least no one can accuse us of not getting on with things in this country!
P.P-C.
Highways England (HE) engineers spent three years planning and designing a new dual carriageway for the A303 between Hazlegrove and Podimore. They are confident that they know best - roads are their business - so when our Parish Councils called for major changes to the proposed junction layout at Hazlegrove and for the existing A303 to be retained as a parallel road for local traffic they simply weren’t interested. But the man at the top takes a different view: the Secretary of State for Transport who has the final say has told HE that he “is minded to refuse” their planning application as it stands.
Could do better
The minister was briefed by the Examining Authority (a couple of planning inspectors) whose 500-page report lists the application’s shortcomings in great detail. It describes as “unfortunate” HE’s dismissal of the Parish Councils’ ideas, it criticises the refusal to countenance a parallel road and it recommends that the application be refused. The Minister himself cites arguments put forward by the Parish Councils among his reasons for considering refusal:
- The inconvenience and danger for walkers, cyclists and horse-riders forced to make long detours and/or use an unlit underpass to get from one side of the A303 to the other;
- Loss of trade for Mattia Diner, Camel Hill Service Station, the A303 Bakery, Wayne’s Bistro and other businesses when the existing A303 ceases to be a through road;
- Fly-tipping and other anti-social activity on the Camel Hill section of the old A303 when it is blocked off and becomes a dead end;
- The impact of traffic noise on properties close to the new road.
Our Parish Councils strongly support the scheme in principle but have major reservations about the design and they “wholeheartedly applaud” the Minister’s stance. Likewise they broadly welcome the Examiners’ report but they are seriously concerned about the design of the junction at Hazlegrove - so much so that apparently they would rather see the scheme as a whole turned down than go ahead with the junction as currently proposed, confident that if this were to happen a new scheme with an improved junction design could be submitted and approved without undue delay.
Ouch!
The County Council sees things differently. It is dismayed at the prospect of the scheme being turned down and believes that its benefits to the region as a whole would far outweigh any harm. And unsurprisingly Highways England itself is highly critical of details in the Examiners’ report, noting drily that “The Examining Authority is not a highway designer”.
Déjà vu all over again?
What next? Will we actually get our road this time? Or will this scheme join its two predecessors on the scrapheap? Your guess is as good as mine. Interested parties have been given until 16th September to have their final say and the Minister has promised to make his final decision by 20th November. At least no one can accuse us of not getting on with things in this country!
P.P-C.
July / August 2020 |
| ||
Camels’ Eye
Lotus eating is all very well but we’re active social animals and it’s good to wake up, smell the coffee and jump back into the water. Not that anyone strayed far from the brink, what with all the surfing, streaming, googling, zooming, skyping and foraging that’s kept us fed, watered, entertained and in touch over the past months.
Don’t Worry, Be Happy!
The proposal to build two new houses in the field beyond Queen Camel Memorial Hall is still making waves. The Parish Council and the Hall Trustees (+ c.150 folk who signed their petition) are worried about the narrow access road and the safety of pedestrians, especially the many young and old who use the Hall and footpath. But perhaps we shouldn’t fret. If the planners and developers can work out a safe solution acceptable to County Highways, County Rights of Way and the District Council Highways Consultant - the joint guardians of highway safety and the law - then all will be well. And if they can’t the application will be turned down. No worries!
Vox populi
That’s all well and good but many residents are upset about the very idea of a couple of houses on the edge of the village in the corner of a field where people like to walk, and the District Council has received 120 comments objecting. And how many in favour? …Er, none - unless you count the 5 parish councillors who voted to recommend approval. At 120-5 it’s pretty obvious who represents ‘the village’. Or is it? Four out of every five Queen Camel electors haven’t bothered to comment at all. Maybe they just don’t care. Or could it be that having just elected Parish Councillors to decide what’s in the best interests of the parish they’re happy to let them get on with it? You might well think that but I couldn’t possibly comment.
Cake
The map on page 28 of Queen Camel’s draft Neighbourhood Plan (http://queencamelpc.org.uk/parish-plan/) shows a settlement boundary drawn round the main body of the village as tightly as a Victorian corset and for much the same reason, to shape reality to fit an ideal. And just as women eventually cast aside their corsets in favour of growth, freedom and a more natural look, so the confines of the Queen Camel settlement boundary were breached by developments like the Medical Centre, Roman Way, the new School and now the proposal to build 43 houses along West Camel Road. But we can cherish ideals without always living up to them, and when the independent examiner reviewing our Neighbourhood Plan recommended that the fixed settlement boundary be scrapped because it does not comply with the more elastic approach of the South Somerset Local Plan the result was outrage. Some fear that without the discipline of a settlement boundary Queen Camel will lose its shape and its character and then everything will go to pot. The Parish Council accepts that we have to comply with the Local Plan but has asked the District Council to let us keep the settlement boundary anyway. Are we trying to have our cake and eat it? Will the District Council be able to square the circle? And what will happen to our Neighbourhood Plan? Watch this space!
P.P-C.
Lotus eating is all very well but we’re active social animals and it’s good to wake up, smell the coffee and jump back into the water. Not that anyone strayed far from the brink, what with all the surfing, streaming, googling, zooming, skyping and foraging that’s kept us fed, watered, entertained and in touch over the past months.
Don’t Worry, Be Happy!
The proposal to build two new houses in the field beyond Queen Camel Memorial Hall is still making waves. The Parish Council and the Hall Trustees (+ c.150 folk who signed their petition) are worried about the narrow access road and the safety of pedestrians, especially the many young and old who use the Hall and footpath. But perhaps we shouldn’t fret. If the planners and developers can work out a safe solution acceptable to County Highways, County Rights of Way and the District Council Highways Consultant - the joint guardians of highway safety and the law - then all will be well. And if they can’t the application will be turned down. No worries!
Vox populi
That’s all well and good but many residents are upset about the very idea of a couple of houses on the edge of the village in the corner of a field where people like to walk, and the District Council has received 120 comments objecting. And how many in favour? …Er, none - unless you count the 5 parish councillors who voted to recommend approval. At 120-5 it’s pretty obvious who represents ‘the village’. Or is it? Four out of every five Queen Camel electors haven’t bothered to comment at all. Maybe they just don’t care. Or could it be that having just elected Parish Councillors to decide what’s in the best interests of the parish they’re happy to let them get on with it? You might well think that but I couldn’t possibly comment.
Cake
The map on page 28 of Queen Camel’s draft Neighbourhood Plan (http://queencamelpc.org.uk/parish-plan/) shows a settlement boundary drawn round the main body of the village as tightly as a Victorian corset and for much the same reason, to shape reality to fit an ideal. And just as women eventually cast aside their corsets in favour of growth, freedom and a more natural look, so the confines of the Queen Camel settlement boundary were breached by developments like the Medical Centre, Roman Way, the new School and now the proposal to build 43 houses along West Camel Road. But we can cherish ideals without always living up to them, and when the independent examiner reviewing our Neighbourhood Plan recommended that the fixed settlement boundary be scrapped because it does not comply with the more elastic approach of the South Somerset Local Plan the result was outrage. Some fear that without the discipline of a settlement boundary Queen Camel will lose its shape and its character and then everything will go to pot. The Parish Council accepts that we have to comply with the Local Plan but has asked the District Council to let us keep the settlement boundary anyway. Are we trying to have our cake and eat it? Will the District Council be able to square the circle? And what will happen to our Neighbourhood Plan? Watch this space!
P.P-C.
June 2020 |
| ||
Camels’ Eye
It has been going on a bit, and whether you’re enjoying the dream or enduring the nightmare you may feel ready to turn away from media miserabilists and get back to traditional country pursuits: talking about the neighbours, complaining about the traffic and arguing about Planning applications.
Canaries and cars
The Police may not want us wasting their time by snitching on our neighbours but Neighbourhood Watch is always there - the clue’s in the name. And it’s all very well supermarket vans, farm vehicles and cyclists hogging the roads – after all we have to keep eating and people need to get out - but the cars are returning and once again our hills are alive with the sound of honking as drivers with quick wits and short fuses reproach their slower, duller brethren for not giving way.
Horses for courses
And then there’s Planning. We are all heavily invested in our home parishes, emotionally as well as financially, but each of us sees them differently, depending on individual circumstances, interests and tastes. And when the people we talk to share our views we can easily assume that the many hundreds of other people in the parish share them too. So when we discover that there are others who see things very differently it can be a shock. It all depends on where you stand, as three recent planning applications in Queen Camel show.
P.P-C.
It has been going on a bit, and whether you’re enjoying the dream or enduring the nightmare you may feel ready to turn away from media miserabilists and get back to traditional country pursuits: talking about the neighbours, complaining about the traffic and arguing about Planning applications.
Canaries and cars
The Police may not want us wasting their time by snitching on our neighbours but Neighbourhood Watch is always there - the clue’s in the name. And it’s all very well supermarket vans, farm vehicles and cyclists hogging the roads – after all we have to keep eating and people need to get out - but the cars are returning and once again our hills are alive with the sound of honking as drivers with quick wits and short fuses reproach their slower, duller brethren for not giving way.
Horses for courses
And then there’s Planning. We are all heavily invested in our home parishes, emotionally as well as financially, but each of us sees them differently, depending on individual circumstances, interests and tastes. And when the people we talk to share our views we can easily assume that the many hundreds of other people in the parish share them too. So when we discover that there are others who see things very differently it can be a shock. It all depends on where you stand, as three recent planning applications in Queen Camel show.
- Neighbours have objected to proposals for a large housing estate off the West Camel Road but no one else seemed much bothered and the Parish Council (following the draft Neighbourhood Plan) voted in favour 7-1-1, only asking that the number of houses be reduced from 43 to 30.
- Conversely the Parish Council and neighbours alike opposed the building of 9 houses beyond England’s Mead, mainly on account of poor access and fear of flooding. The Planning Officer supported the development but a District Council committee voted it down by 9 votes to 3.
- And now the Parish Council (by 5 votes to 3) has given qualified support to a more modest proposal for two houses in the corner of the field beyond the Memorial Hall but an impressive 43 individuals (and counting) have registered objections.
P.P-C.
May 2020 - Camels Eye
Camels’ Eye
It has been going on a bit, and whether you’re enjoying the dream or enduring the nightmare you may feel ready to turn away from media miserabilists and get back to traditional country pursuits: talking about the neighbours, complaining about the traffic and arguing about Planning applications.
Canaries and cars
The Police may not want us wasting their time by snitching on our neighbours but Neighbourhood Watch is always there - the clue’s in the name. And it’s all very well supermarket vans, farm vehicles and cyclists hogging the roads – after all we have to keep eating and people need to get out - but the cars are returning and once again our hills are alive with the sound of honking as drivers with quick wits and short fuses reproach their slower, duller brethren for not giving way.
Horses for courses
And then there’s Planning. We are all heavily invested in our home parishes, emotionally as well as financially, but each of us sees them differently, depending on individual circumstances, interests and tastes. And when the people we talk to share our views we can easily assume that the many hundreds of other people in the parish share them too. So when we discover that there are others who see things very differently it can be a shock. It all depends on where you stand, as three recent planning applications in Queen Camel show.
P.P-C.
It has been going on a bit, and whether you’re enjoying the dream or enduring the nightmare you may feel ready to turn away from media miserabilists and get back to traditional country pursuits: talking about the neighbours, complaining about the traffic and arguing about Planning applications.
Canaries and cars
The Police may not want us wasting their time by snitching on our neighbours but Neighbourhood Watch is always there - the clue’s in the name. And it’s all very well supermarket vans, farm vehicles and cyclists hogging the roads – after all we have to keep eating and people need to get out - but the cars are returning and once again our hills are alive with the sound of honking as drivers with quick wits and short fuses reproach their slower, duller brethren for not giving way.
Horses for courses
And then there’s Planning. We are all heavily invested in our home parishes, emotionally as well as financially, but each of us sees them differently, depending on individual circumstances, interests and tastes. And when the people we talk to share our views we can easily assume that the many hundreds of other people in the parish share them too. So when we discover that there are others who see things very differently it can be a shock. It all depends on where you stand, as three recent planning applications in Queen Camel show.
- Neighbours have objected to proposals for a large housing estate off the West Camel Road but no one else seemed much bothered and the Parish Council (following the draft Neighbourhood Plan) voted in favour 7-1-1, only asking that the number of houses be reduced from 43 to 30.
- Conversely the Parish Council and neighbours alike opposed the building of 9 houses beyond England’s Mead, mainly on account of poor access and fear of flooding. The Planning Officer supported the development but a District Council committee voted it down by 9 votes to 3.
- And now the Parish Council (by 5 votes to 3) has given qualified support to a more modest proposal for two houses in the corner of the field beyond the Memorial Hall but an impressive 43 individuals (and counting) have registered objections.
P.P-C.
March 2020 - Camels Eye |
| ||
February 2020 - Camels Eye |
| ||
Camels eye - September 2019 |
| ||
Camels eye - July 2019 |
| ||
Camels eye - June 2019 |
| ||
Camels eye - May 2019 |
| ||
Camels eye - March 2019 |
| ||
Camels eye - October 2018 |
| ||
Camels eye - June 2018 |
| ||