So are EDDC and Tesco best pals or not?

Four of your Seaton Town Councillors (Claire Wise, Pepita Collins, Sandra Semple, Sophie O'Connell) turned up at the EDDC Executive meeting at Knowle yesterday to hear (particularly) item 17 on the agenda - to give permission for EDDC officers to negotiate with Tesco as a "preferred partner" on the Seaton Regeneration area site, now that Tesco has bought up the land formerly owned by Liatris. [This is vaguely similar to taking your house off the market when you have received an offer on it - you agree to deal only with the prospective purchaser and no-one else usually for a specific period of time].

Unfortunately, we made the trip in vain. "New information" - which had arrived with EDDC that very morning - necessitated hearing this item in private. We are not allowed to know why it had to be dealt with in private, only that because it deals with "land holdings" the public is deemed not to need to know.

Fortunately, all our District Councillors were there to watch out for us but they will not be able to tell us what happened - that's EDDC's secret until they decide (if ever) to reveal it to us.

But I am sure they will tell us - after all it is our town and we all know how important public consultation is ..... .

In the meantime, a "Seaton Regeneration Board" is to be set up - it will meet quarterly and have two members from Seaton Town Council and lots of other people on it. We will see how that pans out .....

And, no, we still dont appear to have had any contact from Tesco - at least I haven't been made aware of any ..... ..... ..... .