Letter from Hugo Swire MP for the Seaton area
Please also look at the new entry below this about the meeting in Sidmouth last Wednesday (17th).
I have been asked by Hugo Swire, MP to put a copy of this letter from him to me on my blog. Here is the letter in full:
Seaton Regeneration
Further to my letter of the 8th November to you in response to yours of the 5th November, I have now had a meeting with Karime Hassan to discuss the latest proposals for Seaton. Clearly any regeneration of this nature is going to attract controversy. My underlining point is that any re-development should enhance Seaton for both visitors and the local residents alike. I shall of course watch developments closely but I do think that Seaton has a once in a lifetime opportunity and I hope that local residents will be supportive of the long-term interests of the town.
Do feel free to put my views on your blog website as they would be a more accurate statement of my current position than is currently there.
The reason I no longer have surgeries in Seaton is because very vew constituents ever came to Seaton and it ended up with people from the constituency driving a long way to get to Seaton. Sidmouth is a good location as it is reasonably central.
Yours sincerley
Hugo Swire.
COMMENT: So, residents of Seaton, with major problems on your doorstep, it's too far for the people in the constituency office to travel to see you (the constituency office is in Woodbury Salterton!). I asked in my letter to him for a one hour meeting here in Seaton at which max 10-15 of us could put our case to save him the difficulty of seeing 10-15 of us separately. It would seem it's too far to drive and there has been no offer to meet us in "central" Sidmouth.
Perhaps the constituency office people could stay in Seaton in overnight accommodation if ever they come - should there be anywhere for them to stay!
I tried to get to see him at his surgery with just 2or 3 of us as the surgery only offers short consultations . However, it appear that he is having only one surgery in December and that will be at The Knowle and is fully booked. I have gone on the waiting list but it does not look hopeful.
So, we probably won't get to see him until January or February 2007 by which time the planning application will probably have been in for some weeks.
posted by Fighting for East Devon's future @ 11:18 am
19 Comments:
I understand that Seaton will have a new MP before long - can you post on the blog, please, their name and address. Also the address of the current opposition to our MP because with a response like that they may find themselves getting some extra votes from Seaton.
The new MP for the area (should she be elected at the next General Election) would be Angela Browning, currently member for Tiverton and Honiton).
http://www.epolitix.com/EN/MPWebsites/Angela+Browning
We will not know who will stand against her until the next election so I can't provide any information on that at the moment.
Thanks. I'm planning to write to our MP, our prospective MP and David Cameron - about Hugo Swire's lack of fitness to be an MP anywhere if this is all the interest he can show in his constituents. God help whoever takes him on as MP.
From Mr Swire's website:
"I was sent to the House of Commons to speak up and vote for the people of East Devon. I hope that any constituent, regardless of your political persuasion will feel free to contact me either at the House of Commons or through the constituency office in Exmouth."
It doesn't go on to say "unless you're too far away for me to bother about or I happen to disagree with you"
Maybe it should;-)
I think he may have shot himself in the foot with this letter! I also want the people of Axminster think about this - presumably they would find Seaton more convenient than Sidmouth. And I did like the remark about Sidmouth being more central. It's true, it seems to be the centre of the universe sometimes!
It sounds as if our elected representative has decided what "the log term interests of the town" are, without coming to see for himself, or discussing them with his constituents. Obviously, speaking to Karime Hassan has given him a balanced view of all the issues involved!! What more could he possibly need!!
If you would like to let David Cameron know how his MP's behaviour affects your view of his party you can do so here
http://www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=david.cameron.contact.page
Wow - what a bizarre comment he makes.....shows how out of touch with his constituents he is....
"...I hope that local residents will be supportive of the long-term interests of the town"
Yes we do........its just the EDDC and quick buck making developers that don't. Lets hope that Hugo Swire can stamp his feet and stand up for the people who voted him in.
and here is where you can tell east devon conservatives why the next candidate they put up may get a frosty reception in Seaton
http://www.eastdevonconservatives.org.uk/
and their e-mail address
office@eastdevonconservatives.org.uk
Mr Swire may be moving on but his party will still be trying to get your votes.
look at Mr Swire's website and you'll see that Seaton's concerns don't even make it into the list of local press links. Another indication of how little he - or his party - cares about Seaton? Why aren't local conservatives telling him what damage this is doing to his party locally?
Of course, we could always try to rebel and secede, leave East Devon, redraw the boundary and beg to be part of West Dorset!
Oh well, a girl can dream ...
Oh no - not Dorset:
one word: "Poundbury"
They have precious little facilities, and actually they need an extention to the supermarket already in Dorchester, yet they won't let them have planning permission!
True, I'd forgotten about Poundbury. I was thinking of how much they have spent on Lyme Regis for flood defence and tarting up.
Hugo Swire has helped me in the past and has been extremely helpful. I have spoken to him a few times about local Council matters, but he has no jurisdiction over them. The Council can do what they like, the MP can do nothing about it. Instead of slating the MP, shouldn't we be trying to get our Councillors to do something more than they are at the moment?
This would be fine if Hugo Swire had not accepted the Chairmanship of the Cranbrook Town Design Committee. He is showing a great interest in getting the facilities of Cranbrook right but none at all in getting the facilities in Seaton right.
Perhaps if he can only represent East Devon in Parliament he could bring this dire situation to the attention of the whole country in his capacity as Shadow Minister for Culture (none in Seaton), Sport (no indoor sport or gym in Seaton) and Media (perhaps he could use his media contacts to get us some help).
as someone with experience of other MPs let me assure anonymous that most MPs would be meeting their constituents to discuss their concerns. How much an MP can do in this situation depends on the MP and the extent to which they wish to use their influence. But even the worst MP is normally ready to visit a part of his constituency where a lot of people are unhappy, to talk to them about it and to advise them how to proceed.
The Conservative majority in East Devon at the last election was 7,936 but 30% of the electorate didn't bother to vote. There are more than 8,000 people in Seaton, most of them pretty unhappy now with Mr Swire. Perhaps the boundary changes will make this a safer seat but whoever stands here at the next election will not appreciate Mr Swire's legacy.
For those who think an MP can do nothing please look at the action taken (by conservative MPs) here
http://www.tonybaldry.org.uk/issuerecord.jsp?ID=19
and here http://www.nicholassoames.org.uk/index.php?sectionid=3&pagenumber=139
or by these liberal democrat MPs
http://www.edwardavey.co.uk/report99long10.htm
http://manchester-libdems.org.uk/news/331.html?PHPSESSID=17dd8b9e99be8e82e0058ab5db4d76b1
I'm sure I could find lots more examples - took me less than 10 minutes to see what other MPS do for their constituents!
I wonder where Mr Swire intends to stand at the next election? A lot of people were sufficiently angry about these proposals to turn up at the Knowle. They might just be prepared to go and get out the opposition vote at whichever constituency has that dubious pleasure - even if it isn't Seaton.
Hugo can get on the bus for Axminster - why doesn't he bring it to Seaton?
http://www.hugoswire.org.uk/record.jsp?type=news&ID=43
Perhaps I'm being too cynical, but does the bus only come out at election times?
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