Peter Cleasby
@petercleasby.bsky.social
Advocate for openness in public life and for sane green policies. Believer in democratic and locally responsive councils. For transport-related posts see modalshifter.bsky.social. Blogs at theexefiles.com and petercleasby.com
Why does a large bus company consider it's ok to ignore the law? Make up your mind after reading theexefiles.com/2025/11/02/l...
November 2, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Why does a large bus company consider it's ok to ignore the law? Make up your mind after reading theexefiles.com/2025/11/02/l...
The county council which dislikes the public so much that it resorts to illegality to keep us away. Read the story at theexefiles.com/2025/09/30/i...
September 30, 2025 at 10:13 AM
The county council which dislikes the public so much that it resorts to illegality to keep us away. Read the story at theexefiles.com/2025/09/30/i...
Is #counciltax going to get your council into trouble over its local govt reorganisation plans? Read about the dilemma facing @exetercouncil.bsky.social at petercleasby.com/2025/08/30/c... @jimmcmahon.co.uk @local.gov.uk @exmouthjournal.bsky.social @steveracemp.bsky.social
The Council’s (Tax) Dilemma
If other parts of England are pursuing similar ambitions as Exeter City Council then proposals for reorganising local government risk being derailed once people understand the council tax implicati…
petercleasby.com
September 1, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Is #counciltax going to get your council into trouble over its local govt reorganisation plans? Read about the dilemma facing @exetercouncil.bsky.social at petercleasby.com/2025/08/30/c... @jimmcmahon.co.uk @local.gov.uk @exmouthjournal.bsky.social @steveracemp.bsky.social
Keep Musk out of the UK energy supply industry please! Sign the petition at 38d.gs/z4fz, background at www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
August 13, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Keep Musk out of the UK energy supply industry please! Sign the petition at 38d.gs/z4fz, background at www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Well done to @gwr.com who when faced with two cancelled Exeter-bound connections from Taunton managed to reallocate a train and crew that had terminated at Taunton on schedule to replace the GWR cancellation. Pity that @crosscountryuk.bsky.social couldn't manage a similar response.
August 7, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Well done to @gwr.com who when faced with two cancelled Exeter-bound connections from Taunton managed to reallocate a train and crew that had terminated at Taunton on schedule to replace the GWR cancellation. Pity that @crosscountryuk.bsky.social couldn't manage a similar response.
This ghastly self-seeking man has breached most of the Seven Principles of Public Life and yet not a whiff of sanction or disapproval from the Labour Party.
NEWS // Danny Barnes received full £15,000 Devon County Council allowance during 2024-25
Heavitree & Whipton Barton councillor failed to sign off £14,600 community grants and is alleged to have worked for Scottish Labour MP Imogen Walker since last year.
exeterobserver.org/2025/07/16/D...
Heavitree & Whipton Barton councillor failed to sign off £14,600 community grants and is alleged to have worked for Scottish Labour MP Imogen Walker since last year.
exeterobserver.org/2025/07/16/D...
Danny Barnes received full £15,000 Devon County Council allowance during 2024-25 - Exeter Observer
Heavitree & Whipton Barton councillor failed to sign off £14,600 community grants after attending only two of fifteen public meetings and is alleged to have worked for Scottish Labour MP Imogen Walker...
exeterobserver.org
July 17, 2025 at 1:10 PM
This ghastly self-seeking man has breached most of the Seven Principles of Public Life and yet not a whiff of sanction or disapproval from the Labour Party.
Reposted by Peter Cleasby
I’m not convinced this generation of Labour politicians has it in them to be completely honest with the public. But if they aren’t they will only succeed in handing power to those who are very happy to give them the Big Lie.
Labour must be candid with the public that current expectations for what the state can provide are inconsistent with the tax regime that the voting public seem to want. They must also choose which of public service provision or their tax commitments they are willing to sacrifice. Choices are stark.
July 16, 2025 at 6:49 AM
I’m not convinced this generation of Labour politicians has it in them to be completely honest with the public. But if they aren’t they will only succeed in handing power to those who are very happy to give them the Big Lie.
Reposted by Peter Cleasby
This new Paris neighbourhood is VERY good. Clichy-Batignolles (former rail yard), 1 of many transformations at Metro transit stations around the city. Dense+mixed (urban IKEA, grocery store, schools, jobs etc), diverse (50% public housing, 20% middle class rental), 1/3rd beautiful park, 20k people.
June 22, 2025 at 9:55 AM
This new Paris neighbourhood is VERY good. Clichy-Batignolles (former rail yard), 1 of many transformations at Metro transit stations around the city. Dense+mixed (urban IKEA, grocery store, schools, jobs etc), diverse (50% public housing, 20% middle class rental), 1/3rd beautiful park, 20k people.
Reposted by Peter Cleasby
Avant / Après le changement de la Rue de Clichy dans le 9ème arrondissement de Paris
June 15, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Avant / Après le changement de la Rue de Clichy dans le 9ème arrondissement de Paris
The new leadership at Devon County Council has a chance to restore trust in local politicians. Will it seize and succeed? My latest blog explores. agreeninexeter.com/2025/05/12/f... #devon #elections @exetergreens.bsky.social
From here to a legacy
The new leadership at Devon County Council has a chance to restore trust in local politicians. Will it seize and succeed? An election result seems as good a place to (re)start as any. Not being a f…
agreeninexeter.com
May 12, 2025 at 9:53 AM
The new leadership at Devon County Council has a chance to restore trust in local politicians. Will it seize and succeed? My latest blog explores. agreeninexeter.com/2025/05/12/f... #devon #elections @exetergreens.bsky.social
Indeed it could except that the present @exetercouncil.bsky.social has no powers - they rest (sic) with #Devon county council. The forthcoming reorganization gives #Exeter the chance to become a unitary council with local transport and planning powers. #bettertransport #lgr
April 28, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Indeed it could except that the present @exetercouncil.bsky.social has no powers - they rest (sic) with #Devon county council. The forthcoming reorganization gives #Exeter the chance to become a unitary council with local transport and planning powers. #bettertransport #lgr
What a wally! He became a councillor yet clearly has no sense of civic responsibility. Achievements in office? Remember that Barnes was chair of Exeter HATOC at the time of last year's car crash over the low traffic neighbourhood.
NEWS // Heavitree & Whipton Barton community groups miss out on £14,600 after Danny Barnes fails to sign funding agreements
Voluntary sector grants now lost following 12% councillor attendance record highlighting need for by-elections in absentee cases.
exeterobserver.org/2025/04/25/h...
Voluntary sector grants now lost following 12% councillor attendance record highlighting need for by-elections in absentee cases.
exeterobserver.org/2025/04/25/h...
Heavitree & Whipton Barton community groups miss out on £14,600 after Danny Barnes fails to sign funding agreements - Exeter Observer
Voluntary sector grants now lost following 12% councillor attendance record highlighting need for by-elections in absentee cases.
exeterobserver.org
April 28, 2025 at 3:08 PM
What a wally! He became a councillor yet clearly has no sense of civic responsibility. Achievements in office? Remember that Barnes was chair of Exeter HATOC at the time of last year's car crash over the low traffic neighbourhood.
Exeter Labour has some form on this as those who can remember Councillor Lewis Keen in St David's Ward can attest. I wrote up the saga at agreeninexeter.com/2019/03/31/n...
March 14, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Exeter Labour has some form on this as those who can remember Councillor Lewis Keen in St David's Ward can attest. I wrote up the saga at agreeninexeter.com/2019/03/31/n...
Reposted by Peter Cleasby
"Hey, hey, Mayor, said the way we move
Gonna shape our streets, gonna make them groove"
- Black Dog in Paris
Gonna shape our streets, gonna make them groove"
- Black Dog in Paris
February 12, 2025 at 4:19 PM
"Hey, hey, Mayor, said the way we move
Gonna shape our streets, gonna make them groove"
- Black Dog in Paris
Gonna shape our streets, gonna make them groove"
- Black Dog in Paris
Has Devon CC learned nothing? Consultation on these schemes is to be limited to a narrow band of "stakeholders". Local transport authorities are now perceived to be so bad at community engagement that the government has today issued guidance on how to do it - www.gov.uk/government/p...
February 12, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Has Devon CC learned nothing? Consultation on these schemes is to be limited to a narrow band of "stakeholders". Local transport authorities are now perceived to be so bad at community engagement that the government has today issued guidance on how to do it - www.gov.uk/government/p...
The government is understandably in a hurry but risks making a profound mess of local government and diverting effort from its new homes target. Read more at petercleasby.com/2025/02/05/w...
February 5, 2025 at 1:15 PM
The government is understandably in a hurry but risks making a profound mess of local government and diverting effort from its new homes target. Read more at petercleasby.com/2025/02/05/w...
Reposted by Peter Cleasby
Montmartre under cars vs. Montmartre under the rain. I'll make some other before-and-after shots another time when there are more people because here it can be far more crowded than that ;)
February 2, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Montmartre under cars vs. Montmartre under the rain. I'll make some other before-and-after shots another time when there are more people because here it can be far more crowded than that ;)
Reposted by Peter Cleasby
Same story with Grafton street, Dublin, in the 1970’s.
It is now one of the most successful retail areas in Europe, commanding the highest rents. Despite this, local businesses still put up huge objections to all efforts to expand pedestrian areas in the city.
It is now one of the most successful retail areas in Europe, commanding the highest rents. Despite this, local businesses still put up huge objections to all efforts to expand pedestrian areas in the city.
February 1, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Same story with Grafton street, Dublin, in the 1970’s.
It is now one of the most successful retail areas in Europe, commanding the highest rents. Despite this, local businesses still put up huge objections to all efforts to expand pedestrian areas in the city.
It is now one of the most successful retail areas in Europe, commanding the highest rents. Despite this, local businesses still put up huge objections to all efforts to expand pedestrian areas in the city.
Reposted by Peter Cleasby
One of the most successful pedestrian streets in the world, the Strøget in Copenhagen, was filled with cars until a 2 year pedestrianization pilot project in 1962. The opposition argued “no cars means no business,” but the street has been a massive retail success, the city’s busiest shopping street.
February 1, 2025 at 5:07 PM
One of the most successful pedestrian streets in the world, the Strøget in Copenhagen, was filled with cars until a 2 year pedestrianization pilot project in 1962. The opposition argued “no cars means no business,” but the street has been a massive retail success, the city’s busiest shopping street.
I'd be surprised if @exetercouncil.bsky.social is the only council to believe that the public it serves has no role in contributing to decisions on how it functions; but that doesn't justify its position. Read more at agreeninexeter.com/2025/01/27/w...
Whose Council?
Exeter City Council appears to believe that the public it serves has no role in contributing to decisions on how it functions. All Councils have constitutions which set out how they must do their b…
agreeninexeter.com
January 28, 2025 at 12:26 PM
I'd be surprised if @exetercouncil.bsky.social is the only council to believe that the public it serves has no role in contributing to decisions on how it functions; but that doesn't justify its position. Read more at agreeninexeter.com/2025/01/27/w...
Excellent and thoughtful. Let's have some of this in #Devon
These hedges separating the cycleway from the roadway prevent spray from motor vehicles during heavy rain whilst also providing additional comfort to cyclists by separating them from motor traffic. Drainage for both the cycleway and road is located underneath the hedge.
January 16, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Excellent and thoughtful. Let's have some of this in #Devon
And these people think they should run *all* of Devon's services after the reorganization of local government. Time for commissioners to be sent in? #failingcouncils
NEWS // Devon County Council “safety valve” deal target breach rises by 40% to £20.4m as SEND overspend reaches £51.6m
Cumulative SEND deficit now expected to peak at £227m while deal targets set to be missed every year to 2032.
exeterobserver.org/2025/01/16/d...
Cumulative SEND deficit now expected to peak at £227m while deal targets set to be missed every year to 2032.
exeterobserver.org/2025/01/16/d...
Devon County Council “safety valve” deal target breach rises by 40% to £20.4m as SEND overspend reaches £51.6m - Exeter Observer
Cumulative SEND deficit now expected to peak at £227m while deal targets set to be missed every year to 2032, risking County Hall bankruptcy if government withdraws support.
exeterobserver.org
January 16, 2025 at 1:39 PM
And these people think they should run *all* of Devon's services after the reorganization of local government. Time for commissioners to be sent in? #failingcouncils
It astonishes me that councillors will vote through a budget without knowing the impacts on individual services. And it's time councils dispensed with spin and told us the truth, instead of leaving it to investigative journalists. #devon #councils #openness
NEWS // Devon County Council 2025-26 budget to bring more service delivery cuts
£22 million cuts concealed by £60 million costs increases as council misrepresents financial position and fails to answer questions about where cuts will fall.
exeterobserver.org/2025/01/14/d...
£22 million cuts concealed by £60 million costs increases as council misrepresents financial position and fails to answer questions about where cuts will fall.
exeterobserver.org/2025/01/14/d...
Devon County Council 2025-26 budget to bring more service delivery cuts - Exeter Observer
£22 million cuts concealed by £60 million costs increases as council misrepresents financial position and fails to answer questions about where cuts will fall.
exeterobserver.org
January 14, 2025 at 2:32 PM
@heidialexander.bsky.social Given the loathsome material - including unfounded attacks on your MP colleagues - published on X-formerly-twitter would you not consider ceasing to use it?
January 6, 2025 at 4:15 PM
@heidialexander.bsky.social Given the loathsome material - including unfounded attacks on your MP colleagues - published on X-formerly-twitter would you not consider ceasing to use it?