Residents living in The Azure apartments on Plymouth Hoe are still waiting for funds to be released by their former management company, nearly one month after serving notice and ten weeks after solicitors said money should be forthcoming within days.

Cleaning, maintenance and general insurance are all on hold as the standoff with Devon Block Management continues.

As exclusively reported by The Beagle earlier this month, The Azure is now being managed by Atwell Martin, which has so far not been given access to the residents’ £200,000 contingency fund by DBM.

Meanwhile, Devon Block Management is being reported to Trading Standards for implying on its website that it is a member of Client Money Protect - an insurance scheme that protects landlords’ and tenants’ monies held by a letting agent.

Client Money Protect told The Beagle that Devon Block Management was not a member and would be reported. We asked DBM for a comment but received no reply.

The Beagle has learned that back in February, solicitors acting for Devon Block Management wrote a letter stating that DBM had mixed up Azure funds with its general account, while also facing cash flow troubles and issues that impacted its ability to make payments.

The legal letter, dated February 12, claimed:

• a £500,000 facility should be available to DBM within 2 weeks;

• alternate “bridge funding” should be available within 8 weeks;

• and a personal contact of DBM’s managing director may be able to offer a loan “within days.”

We have asked Devon Block Management for an update on these funding solutions, but have not received a reply.

After our article was published on April 11, residents in several other residential blocks in Plymouth have contacted The Beagle with concerns about their relations with Devon Block Management.

One glimmer of good news for The Azure residents: the cladding work on Azure South has been completed and the scaffolding towers removed. However a contract for cladding work on Azure West has not yet been signed.

Our investigation continues, with a number of lines of inquiry which we hope to report soon. If you can help please email editor@thebeagle.news

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Parking charges mix up

Spot the difference?

Parking meters in and around The Hoe were recently updated with Plymouth City Council’s increased charges - sparking an immediate outcry.

The meters in the 16995 / Zone 3 area around the waterfront appeared to suggest drivers could spend £2.40 to park for "one hour", with no other option but to park for 24 hours at a total cost of £16.50.

There was an outcry on social media, particularly from sea swimmers who were used to paying to park for just over one hour, allowing enough time for a swim, a change, and perhaps a coffee.

Plymouth City Council later admitted there had been a printing error - with the signs supposed to say £2.40 ‘per hour’ rather than £2.40 for ‘one hour’.

PCC said: "This issue came to light when a customer queried it, and as soon as the parking team were made aware of the error, they arranged to have the signs reprinted. The machines are being updated to avoid any further confusion."

The Beagle went for a walk and observed that the parking signage had indeed been tweaked. We wonder how much the gaffe has cost council tax payers?

Sexual assault, Devil’s Point car park

Police have arrested a man after a report of sexual assault at Devil’s Point car park.

Devon and Cornwall Police received a call stating that a man approached a woman in a parked vehicle in the car park at approximately 9.45am on Friday 18 April and sexually assaulted her.

Inspector Katy Deer said enquiries were ongoing, and that a 31-year-old man from Plymouth had been arrested and held in custody.

Royal Canadian Navy returns to Plymouth

Scene on the Sound - by The Captain

HMCS Ville de Quebec passing Drake’s Island on her arrival in Plymouth on Sunday morning. She later sailed on to join Op Highmast. Photo: The Captain

This week we saw an unusual sight – the Royal Canadian Navy returning to Plymouth.

HMCS Ville de Quebec arrived on Sunday morning, from her home port in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She will be away for several months as she is joining the Royal Navy’s 8-month deployment to the Pacific – Operation Highmast.

Ville de Quebec is a Halifax class frigate and is the RCN’s equivalent of the Royal Navy Type 23, of which class the Devonport based HMS Richmond is also on the Pacific deployment.

The Halifax class has suffered the same fate as the Type 23s, in that their replacement has been endlessly delayed by political wrangling and ‘defence cuts’. In fact, the Halifaxes will have to struggle on even longer than the 23s, as the RCN replacements, the River class, based on our Type 26 frigates, will not be in service until the 2040s.

Ville de Quebec, having been launched in 1991, is the oldest ship on the deployment. In 2024, Vice Admiral Angus Topshee, RCN, publicly described the navy as being in a critical state, so it’s not just the UK Government who neglect defence needs!

HMS Dauntless

Op Highmast will be led by HMS Prince of Wales and will also include the Type 45 air-defence destroyer, HMS Dauntless, the fleet tanker, RFA Tidespring, the Royal Norwegian Navy’s HNoMS Roald Amundsen, another frigate, and tanker HNoMS Maud and the Spanish frigate, ESPS Mendes Nunez.

RFA Tidespring

An Astute-class nuclear submarine will join the deployment too. As usual, the name of the submarine has not been publicised, but it is believed that HMS Astute has just departed from Plymouth.

Whilst deployed, the Carrier Strike Group (CSG) will exercise with allied navies throughout the deployment. These will include the Italian, Royal Australian, Royal New Zealand and American navies. There will be endless PASSEXes (as they are called – Passage Exercises), where opportunities are taken by one or more ships from the CSG to exercise with friendly navies as their coasts are passed.

I will be reporting on the activities of Op Highmast as the deployment progresses.