Again: one of ‘the best places to live’ [Muddy Stilettos]
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What’s been happening in these parts over the last twelve months?
The Sidmouth Herald gives us a look back at the stories of 2024 – in the Sid Valley that is – but also looks further afield at the winners and losers, as nature responds to 2024’s mild, wet conditions.
Here’s a closer look at some of those stories – and a few others too.
HELPING OUT NATURE
There have been several projects set up in 2024 to enhance the Valley’s wonderful nature. At the beginning of the year we had the Knowle gardens and amphitheatre areas being taken on by the town council, hoping to “involve the local community as part of its plans to improve natural biodiversity, adding paths and trails throughout the parkland for the public to enjoy”. And, indeed the Friends of The Knowle volunteer group has been set up and is doing very well.
Also in January, Sidmouth saw work to improve Sidmouth Cemetery begin, “to make Sidmouth Cemetery a more welcoming place which respects past loved ones while also creating a wildlife haven”. And looking back over 2024, there has now been a full year of working party sessions from the Cherishing Sidmouth Cemeteries project!
And also early in the year, the new River Sid Catchment Group was established – and what a year it’s been for the group, including at the end of the year, outreach projects with young people engaging on what matters to them about the River Sid. All very promising!
Meanwhile, more established nature groups have been looking back over 2024, with the end of the year report from the Friends of Glen Goyle and a look forward to the Wassail coming from the Friends of The Byes / Sidmouth BEE Project in very early 2025. Plus of course there are the myriad wonders coming from engaging with the Sid Valley Biodiversity Group: If you go down to the woods today…
NATIONAL POLITICS IN SIDMOUTH
We might have missed it, but on April the first, EDDC celebrated its 50th anniversary – but, then, so did Sidmouth Town Council and Ottery St Mary Town Council which also came into being with the big shake-up in local government back then. That didn’t seem to create a fair funding system for rural councils, however, as this critique of local government finance suggests.
Fifty years on, we learnt that Devon’s district councils and county council could merge – although commentators fear that local government reform means the risk is disruption but no progress. And whilst councillors pretty much had to say they welcome the new Parliamentary step in the journey towards devolved powers, there has been quite a mixed reaction in Devon to devolution plans: as the leader of the District Council says, “To be frank, along with inheritance tax for farmers and winter fuel payment cuts, they have now upset thousands of employees in district councils just before Christmas.”
Midsummer madness saw a general election happen – with rather dramatic results in Devon. The VGS had put on its hustings 2024 event to showcase what all the candidates had to offer. And some months on, looking to new local housing targets in Devon, perhaps the key national/local issue, Sidmouth’s new MP has made his opinion known: “Increasing a target that East Devon is already struggling to meet is a pointless exercise if the Government does not address the underlying challenges.”
EVENTS
The 2024 air show for Sidmouth did not happen due to double-bookings and cost. Since then, Sidmouth councillors have discussed the future of the Sidmouth Air Show and have agreed to fund the Red Arrows in future. On these pages, the VGS has asked: What’s the impact of Sidmouth’s festivals? – and in particular have asked questions, from the Sidmouth Air Show to East Devon’s festivals in the context of the East Devon Coast & Country Sustainable Tourism Plan: “Reducing consumption, reducing waste, measuring and taking active steps to reduce carbon footprint. As well as working towards net zero targets and taking active steps to curate and improve the natural environment.”
Culturally, Sidmouth continues to delight – as the Sidmouth Folk Festival 2024 succeeded once again in offering “an ever widening palette of the indefinable essence of what folk music contrives to be in 2024”. And our excellent annual Play Festival continues to grow at the Manor Pavilion Theatre.
Bravo too, to the Sidmouth Cycling Campaign: the sustainability pages on the Arts and Culture East Devon website has as its centre piece a photo from when the campaign brought the fabulous Bicycle Ballet to the Sidmouth SeaFest! This is how culture and creativity can enhance, inspire and engage.
LOCAL STORIES IN THE NATIONAL NEWS
The national media took its voyeuristic interest in these parts in November when one Devon cliff collapse left a Sidmouth cottage teetering by a 120-metre drop and another ‘huge’ cliff fall near Sidmouth closed a footpath. But. actually, the story is more about the relationship between the BMP and ‘crumbling cliffs’ – and so perhaps we could do with a recap of what’s (not) happening with the Sidmouth Beach Management Plan…
And the British press continues to be rather patronising about Sidmouth being ‘God’s waiting room’, one revered organ considering how to live to one hundred. But it’s a little more dynamic than that – with, for example, start-up loans available for older entrepreneurs in the South West and new housing made from old buildings, with ‘an imaginative redevelopment’ happening in Laundry Lane, Sidford.
Indeed, not everyone in Sidmouth and East Devon is quite as acquiescent as the stereotype implies, as the Knowle developer’s barely-altered plans for retirement flats were rejected once again, when councillors “questioned the need for more retirement accommodation in the town”. The VGS submission to the planning application seemed to chime with the general opinion.
Finally, the very positive news. This week a national daily profiles the best spa for affordability: The Victoria Hotel & Spa, Sidmouth, Devon. And once again, Sidmouth is listed this year as one of the country’s Best Places to Live:
“Where so many seaside towns have faded, Sidmouth on the South East Devon coast has retained its Regency lustre with Blue Flag beaches and busy labyrinth of indie galleries, boutiques and cafés at its centre. That, and the very desirable range of period property, from thatched and Gothic to detached Victorian and Georgian family homes, has placed it firmly in Muddy’s Best Places to Live 2025.
“Sure, it’s long been a Mecca for tourists and the well-heeled retired, but it’s far from sleepy, especially in August when the annual Folk Festival serenades the town. Away from the beachfront Esplanade, you’ll find the paths less travelled, which locals love and tourists rarely venture to, including the riverside park and community orchard, The Byes, which runs by the tranquil River Sid down to Lyme Bay.”
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