Nick Bye: What makes news?

Over the years Yours Truly has been somewhat puzzled as to what makes the headlines in the local media and why seemingly much more important stories rarely make it.

Anything to do with palm trees, parking (don't get me started) or the state of our town centres seems to guarantee extensive coverage even though I have yet to find anywhere which qualifies as "parking paradise" and most large towns have their empty shops, closed down banks and all kinds of other problems.

To prove a point I made a throwaway comment at a recent Town Hall meeting concerning the speedy replacement of disappearing street signs in Daddyhole Road, Torquay, situated in the Wellswood Ward, which I have the privilege of representing. 

To raise a smile and perhaps create a moment of interest in what was a lengthy meeting I suggested these signs might be falling victim to souvenir hunters although frankly the mind boggles at the thought of why anyone should want to collect these in particular?

I thought little more about it until my wayward remarks made the various news  websites, including the BBC news website no less and then I received a call from Radio Devon asking me to address the nation (or some small part of it) one morning at 7.20, still dressed in my pyjamas and dressing gown. Thank goodness for radio.

Frankly, of all the things I have mentioned at Town Hall meetings over the last 25 years or so I would suggest all this must count as amongst the least significant.

By contrast I have been banging away in recent years about what I consider to be the most important issues in the Bay, the challenges of an ageing population, huge inequalities including health inequalities, a desperate lack of affordable housing, income deprivation with far too many families in particular "up against it " and facing tough choices along the lines of whether to pay the rent or put food on the table.

Yet no one  bats an eyelid.

At last week's Health and Wellbeing Board we received a report on our latest Joint Strategic Needs Assessment. Frankly, it makes pretty grim reading showing Torbay's population as significantly older, poorer and in particular more likely to be badly housed than the national average. Because younger brighter folk tend to move away our working age population is likely to be less well qualified & engaged in less well paid employment, quite often part time employment.

There is still a truly shocking ten year gap in male life expectancy between our most and least deprived wards. Our AVERAGE age is 49 years in contrast to the national average age of 40. In the Wellswood Ward it's a staggering 61 years and in parts of Brixham, Churston and Galmpton it's not far behind. 

Although our overall population continues to grow, albeit more slowly than in other urban areas in the South West, our working age population is starting to fall with serious consequences in terms of future prosperity.

Much lower birth rates in recent years has already resulted in lots of empty places in our primary schools. As this generation works its way through secondary education and then enters the world of employment we shall be in real trouble unless we make new recruits: we must attract people to the Bay to be economically active rather than just for retirement.

Housing is another area where we are an outlier. 27 per cent of households in the Bay rent privately, much of this stock is poor quality, especially in terms of energy efficiency & high rents result in less money to spend on other things.

By contrast we have the lowest amount of socially rented accommodation in the South West. Our delivery of all types of affordable housing in recent years has been pitiful & a fraction of what was achieved 10/15 years ago. I won't suggest whose legacy that might have been ....

We simply fail to tackle the big issues in the Bay.

Fortunately there are some modest grounds for hope. Our Family Hubs project is beginning to make a difference and some indicators, for example rates of breastfeeding are now for the first time reaching national averages. We are launching our Special Education Needs & Disabilities "locality pilot" in primary schools shortly, working with health colleagues on language, speech & communication, the bedrock of all learning. We have been accepted onto the programme to become a UNICEF accredited Child Friendly place. Anything we can do to attract & retain more families must be good for everyone.

And then, housing, housing, housing! Following the Health & Wellbeing Board I had a briefing with some Cabinet colleagues which certainly put a smile on my face.

It's not my role to steal anyone's thunder but there are high hopes we can significantly increase the delivery of desperately needed affordable homes for local people.

We live in one of the most beautiful places anywhere. But it's got to be somewhere everyone can be proud to call home.