Tory claims 1

     The local conservatives have been quick off the mark, their ironically titled leaflet In Touch was through the door before the nominations had even closed.
     All decent chaps, work hard in the community etc., etc. The problem is in the dominance their party has in the district which narrows the perspective and obscures priorities.
     I would assume the leaflet was not written by someone who lives in or at least understands Exmouth. In particular it makes half a dozen claims in areas that don't exactly stand out as achievements.
     We have worked to retain the key elements of the Rolle College site for business start - ups, education and community use.
     I had never dreamt that Rolle College would be an election issue.
     Our community has been badly let down by the machinations of politicians of different colours. The worst was the Blair government who dictated the change of ownership to the University of Plymouth free of charge but then insisted the University were legally obliged to cash it in for maximum value rather than reach any solution that restored the campus' value to the community. That is, they took something which belonged to us, insisted it was given to this proven asset stripping institution, and then they stood in the way of  a morally balancing restitution of our property back to us. It might be said that our MP and other local worthies fought less tigerishly than they might have done in resisting this misappropriation of our assets.
     However, once all this was accepted as a fait accompli, the previous LibDem administration on the County Council set aside a sum of money from the sale of Exeter Airport to purchase part of the College main site so that at least a small part of that which was originally given to our community for the purpose of education would be fulfilling that purpose.
     One of the first acts of the incoming Tory administration following the County Council elections in 2009 was to take away this money. County leader John Hart was sufficiently bare faced about this to blame the LibDems for 'not ring-fencing' the money. These mustelid convolutions were echoed by East Devon's tory leader Sara Randall-Johnson.
     I understand a number of people are working hard to make the best of a bad job with the option that is left. Surely though the Big Society fig leaf will always be dependent on the good will of the developers who now own the site. This is a company with long standing Conservative links who will no doubt enjoy the benefit of extra leverage over their use of the rest of the site.
     I am sure all involved with the bid have the best of intentions, and may well include the local candidates.
     However to claim any credit from this on behalf of the party which finally took away any chance of permanent ownership of even a part of the site leaves a bad taste. It is akin to Mrs Thatcher claiming credit for raising children's consumption of water after taking away their free school milk.