A short stretch of the A39 out of Lynmouth is being resurfaced at the bottom of Countisbury Hill. As a result the road will apparently be closed for two days.

According to Devon County Council Highways the diversion route will add 109km to the journey and take just over two hours.

Admittedly that’s only if you need to go from one side of the roadworks to the other. But it’s still one hell of a diversion.

Wake up DCC!  A roads should not be closed unless absolutely necessary!

It’s good to see that the new fitness equipment in the Central Park is being used.

Interestingly it mainly appears to be used by teenagers –  but at least it is being used.

I spoke to a chap from Devon County Council Highways Department yesterday.

Apparently in future, rather than traffic light controlled two-way working, we’re going to see far more road closures.

There are two reasons for this. The first is safety related.

In order to allow two-way working there has to be  a clear three metre width for the traffic plus a 1.5 metre safety buffer zone. Many of the roads in North Devon aren’t wide enough to allow this. The contractor, South West Highways, are being extremely zealous about sticking to the rules.

The second reason, is, as ever, about money. Apparently it costs less to close a road than it does to institute two-way working. The costing obviously doesn’t include the loss of productivity and the extra fuel costs for those who may have to make a detour of several miles.

The pole in East Street isn’t actually in danger of falling down! That was just a ploy by the contractor to get highways to allow them to cone off some parking bays.

Unless they restrict parking opposite the pole the contractors won’t be able to work on it without closing the whole of the road. Restricting the parking has apparently proved a very difficult task.

The TaxPayers Alliance (TPA), which is, in essence, a right wing libertarian organisation funded by millionaires, recently produced a ‘report’ on council owned assets which said the following:

“New research from the TaxPayers’ Alliance today demonstrates that councils up and down the United Kingdom are hoarding  assets as diverse as golf courses and a model railway despite the scale of Britain’s financial challenge.

Between 2009-10 and 2014-15, local authority spending has been reduced by 23.4 per cent per person in real terms.

With growing populations, reductions in central government grants in many areas, and a cap on Council Tax increases, many councils are reducing services. However, as this report details, a number of authorities retain significant property assets.”

This angers me on many levels, but primarily because the TPA are making people think that councils owning assets is a “bad” thing when it’s not: or at least its not necessarily a bad thing.

The questions to ask are:

• Does the asset in question make more money than it costs to maintain?
• Is the council’s ownership of the asset of benefit to the public?
• Would money in the bank bring a better return than the asset?

Something to remember is that money realised by the sale of assets can’t be used to fund day-to-day services. It goes into a separate pot and can only be used to fund other capital expenditure. For an explanation look here.

If councils are using their assets to keep council taxes low then surely that is a good thing?

The Taxpayers Alliance seems to have an anodyne enough name.

In fact it’s a name that resonates with most people.

It gives the impression that it’s looking out for the interests of the vast majority. Of people who work hard, pay taxes, and struggle to make ends meet.

It suggests that it’s about the ‘little’ person fighting government.

Is that really the case?

No – it certainly isn’t.

But I’ll come back to that in later posts.

All I’ll say is: Be Afraid,  Be Very Afraid.

I spotted this chair in a wood at the beginning of April but forgot all about it ’til today.

Perhaps it’s not a chair at all but the throne of the woodland folk?

UPDATE: I’ve been asked to point out that it’s a private wood, and members of the public aren’t allowed to walk there.

In case any UKIP supporters are reading this, the title refers to a long cylindrical wooden object rather than a person!

Some parking bays at the bottom end of East Street have been coned off, and this sign explains why. Oddly the sign has collapsed whereas the offending pole (see below) appears to be in perfect health.

I can’t understand why only parked cars are deemed to be at risk. What about pedestrians, the adjoining houses or vehicles using the road?

I first spotted this sign on Monday at the junction of New Road and East Street (there’s another past the scaffolding and traffic lights at the other end of town).

When I first saw it, it said the road would be closed for one day. Today it says it’ll be closed for two days. I wonder what it will say tomorrow?

Nobody seems to know where exactly the road will be closed or why it will be closed. UPDATE: I’ve seen a small printed notice attached to the Belisha Beacon which said the road would be closed because of the Olde English Fayre.

A cheeky fox in our back garden on Friday night.

I’ve no issues with the fox (we don’t have any chickens) but if a fox can get in it means that the dog can probably get out!