The count has now finished and I didn’t get in this time round. I’m obviously disappointed, but didn’t do that badly considering I was coming from nowhere. I’ll be back in May. I’d like to thank my wife, Alison Verney, for being so supportive and understanding over the past few weeks.

Thanks very much to all those who voted for me. The turnout, at 21%, was very good for a town council by-election – with 320 postal votes and 516 ballot box votes. (At the last by-election in South Molton, in August 2011, only 9% of the electorate voted.)

There was high drama at the count which went like this:

CORNELIUS, Marc Peter Independent 228
FOSTER, Jean Helen Liberal Democrat 266
HERNIMAN, Ronald Francis 76
LEWIS, Tracey Maria Independent 264
Spoilt Papers 2

A recount was requested for the Lewis and Foster votes, with the following result:
FOSTER, Jean Helen Liberal Democrat 265
LEWIS, Tracey Maria Independent 265

Second recount:
FOSTER, Jean Helen Liberal Democrat 265
LEWIS, Tracey Maria Independent 265

The returning officer then put two ballot papers in a box, one for Jean Foster and one for Tracey Lewis, and pulled one out.

The winner was then declared – Tracey Lewis.

Commiserations to Jean Foster (and Ron Herniman) and congratulations to Tracey Lewis.

It’s a shame that the eventual winner is the only candidate who doesn’t live in South Molton. She lives in Romansleigh and therefore doesn’t pay the South Molton council tax.

The Band D council tax for 2014/15 in Romansleigh is £1,588.38. In South Molton it’s £1,644.19 – £55.81 a year more.

There are now two people on the town council who don’t live in South Molton but who will participate in the decision making process that a) spends the town’s money and b) authorises the amount of council tax that the town council levies.

Whoopee! Last flyer delivered this afternoon (22 September). I’ve printed off more than 2,500 and delivered one to every address in the parish of South Molton – from Meethe Barton in the south to North Cockerham in the north, via Clapworthy in the west and Lower Great Hele Cottages and Mole Bridge Lane in the east.

I hope I haven’t missed any houses, but given the number of small alleys in South Molton with houses down them, I expect I’ve inadvertently missed one or two.

An update on the pavement story. I asked Devon County Council a couple of questions about these works and have now received a reply:
Q: How much did this work cost?
A: Rogers Garage, East Street £1,767.72, Barclays to Snows, Broad Street £2,043.71,
George Hotel to Museum, Broad Street £3,400.87.
Q: What was the rationale for it?
A: The footways were at safety defect level in that pedestrians were tripping on the uneven surface. Also water was splashing up under the loose slabs.
Q: Why was it timed to coincide with a bank holiday weekend?
A: East Street and Broad Street are not deemed traffic sensitive streets (where DCC can impose restrictions on working times) and as such no restrictions were placed on our contractor in the timing of the works.
So now you know! I think I might ask them a few follow-up questions.

I totally forgot to mention that I went to two superb events in South Molton over the weekend (19/20 September). The first was in the parish church on Friday: a concert by the South Molton Town Band and the South Molton Choir commemorating the First Wold War held in aid of the Royal British Legion. Then on the Saturday night Alison and I went to see ‘The Odd Couple’  put on by a local amateur dramatic group at The George Hotel – very funny indeed. There’s usually something going on in South Molton somewhere.

Some lovely gardens outside Cottage Homes in Lamaton Park. It’s a shame that the trustees of the homes thought it necessary to have all the splendid tall chimneys removed – totally spoils the look of the place.

It’s nice to see the George Arcade being spruced up by its new owners. It makes a big difference to the rather tatty appearance it had previously. It’s also fantastic to see the new businesses that are opening up along the arcade.

Perhaps this will spur SMTC into doing something to make the alleyway by the side of the pannier market a more attractive route to the town centre?

Sir Nick Harvey, our local Lib Dem MP, was in South Molton today walking around the pannier market. I find it disturbing that a political party is using the South Molton by-election for wider party political motives i.e. with an eye on next year’s general election. I’ll say it again – party politics should have absolutely no place at the local level. That’s not just my view, it’s a view I’ve heard widely expressed whilst walking around South Molton.

Something that’s really made an impression on me whilst walking around the west and south-west of the town is how much the church dominates South Molton. When you’re in the town centre it can hardly be seen. Unfortunately, when looking in the opposite direction, what dominates is the chipboard factory and the ghastly array of PV panels. Although I’m in favour of PV panels on roofs, I’m not in favour of acres of the things in fields. It’s a shame that every large building isn’t made to have a roof constructed of PV panels.

I’m afraid I’ve been very lax in posting things on this part of the site. Partly because I’ve been very busy walking round South Molton delivering my flyers, and partly because the camera on my phone is only working intermittently – it must know that a new model of the phone has just been introduced!

Apologies to the person living in Howards Close who must be wondering why a copy of an annotated map of that part of South Molton ended up on their hall carpet. I’m afraid my concentration was flagging and I inadvertently pushed it through the letterbox – hopefully with a flyer as well!