Village halls are hugely important to their community. As Village Hall Week approaches, there is some help and funding available which may help your community.

Devon Communities Together have a team who offer advice and information for village halls including the availability of public funding. They can help on a number of topics including making your hall sustainable, what liabilities you may have, where to get insurance, undertaking risk assessments, model policies and more. Councils may approach Devon Communities Together themselves for advice, or point your local village hall team in their direction for assistance.

Village Halls week 18^th – 24^th March 2024

ACRE have also announced that Village Halls week will take place from 18^th – 24^th March 2024. This popular campaign aims to raise awareness of England’s 10,000+ rural community buildings and rather than take place in January, Village Halls Week has been moved to March, in the hope that the better weather will be allow for halls to host local events that engage their community.

ACRE are urging village hall committees to put the date in their diary and organize events for that week.  Sign up to receive updates on how to get involved.

With energy bills being a focus for many community facilities and the need for resilience to the energy crisis, the theme this year is environmental sustainability and ‘Go Green!’. ACRE are keen to share ideas and help advise village halls as to how they can make their buildings more energy efficient and reduce their energy consumption with projects such as:

• insulation of walls and ceilings
• installation of electric car charging points,
• installation of Solar PV and battery storage

Village halls are of huge importance to local communities and it’s vital, particularly in the current economic climate, that we help to secure their future.  Apart from being the most common meeting venue for councils, they are used as ‘warm spaces’, pop up libraries & shops, community kitchens, food banks, and much more – but in all instances they help facilitate community engagement and reduce social isolation. The village of Cheriton Bishop in West Devon knows only too well the importance of their village hall following a devastating fire in September 2022. Thankfully, after much hard work they have been able to re-open their doors in January 2024.

Devon Communities Together have published a blog post with 10 ways to celebrate Village Halls Week, which may be worth sharing with your local hall.

And, if you have any stories of working with your village hall, we’d love to hear them, especially for a possible Village Halls Week feature. Please send them in to us so we can share on our website and e-bulletin.

Changes in fire safety legislation came into effect on 1 October 2023, and have an impact on the duties of the responsible person in residential and non-residential premises.

Essential changes in fire safety legislation came into effect on 1 October 2023, and affect the duties of the responsible person in residential and non-residential premises.

The new requirements (implemented by s.156 of the Building Safety Act 2022) apply to all non-domestic premises, such as where people work, visit or stay, including workplaces, and the non-domestic parts of multi-occupied residential buildings. For local councils, the relevant changes are those which will affect non-residential premises.

You are a ‘responsible person’ if you are an employer, have control of the premises or are an owner of a premises. If this applies to you, then you do now have additional duties around what needs to be done, how that work is recorded, how you co-operate with other responsible persons, and how you provide information to new responsible persons. Worknest have put together some guidance which contains a guide to everything that has been brought in and what you now need to do.

To help you meet the requirements, Worknest have also created a Fire Safety Compliance Matrix which goes through some of the requirements step by step with details of what might need to be checked, and when it will need to be checked, along with space to fill in dates of the last inspection and by whom it was carried out.

Access government funding for a defibrillator and learn how to register it so the emergency services can locate it!

Many councils and communities in the last few years have been installing a public access defibrillator (or more than one!) in public places. Other communities may still be looking into this provision, or may want to add to their available defibrillators.

Defibrillators can provide life-saving treatment, with latest research showing that accessing one within 3-5 minutes of a cardiac arrest increases the chance of survival by over 40%. If you are interested in purchasing a defibrillator then you might be pleased to learn that there is government funding available, and if you do already own one then you may want to register it on a national database so it can be found easily when needed.

Defibrillator funding

Community organisations are being invited to bid for funding for a defibrillator in their area; get a share of the £1million of government funding available to buy life-saving devices for community spaces! The Department of Health and Social Care is inviting interested organisations to register their interest in the fund, which is aimed at increasing the number of defibrillators available in public places. They are hoping an estimated 1000 new defibrillators can be provided.

Read more and register your interest here

Defibrillator network

The government has written to all councils encouraging them to register their defibrillators on ‘The Circuit‘. As it stands, many defibrillators are never used because emergency services do not know where they are or how to access them. The British Heart Foundation, in partnership with the NHS, Resuscitation Council UK and the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, have set up The Circuit as a national defibrillator network database which provides information on where defibrillators are located.

Registering a defibrillator with The Circuit enables the emergency services, including first responders, to locate the nearest publicly accessible defibrillators.

Read stories from East Budleigh and South Tawton who have installed defibrillators already and please do tell us about it if you’re planning to put one in place.

The Open Spaces Society, Britain’s oldest conservation body, introduces a new guide to help local councils protect precious green spaces and paths.

Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the Open Spaces Society, Britain’s oldest conservation body, says:

‘Often town, parish and community councils (local councils) are unaware of all the extensive powers they have to deal with problems on open spaces and paths.

‘These powers are scattered in different and sometimes obscure pieces of legislation.  This is why we have brought them together in one document, What local councils can do for public access to town and countryside.

The guide explains the powers specifically conferred on local councils, and the powers which, although available to the public in general, are best exercised by the local council because it has the authority and more resources than most individuals and voluntary organisations.

Kate continues: ‘For instance, local councils are best placed to take enforcement action against unlawful encroachment on a common or green.  They can force the highway authority to remove obstructions on a public right of way, and use their unique power of veto to prevent the extinguishment or diversion of a route with vehicular rights, including roads and highway verges.

‘The society has many local-council members and we encourage others to join us, and to benefit from our training courses and our advisory service, so that they can exercise their legal powers in defence of open spaces and paths.’

The guide covers:

Common land – how to:

• consider applications for works, and to enforce against unlawful works;
• protect unclaimed land;
• protect against trespass and encroachment;
• regulate or manage a common or green (including one with no known owner);
• create common land.

Town and village greens – how to:

• protect from development and encroachment;
• voluntarily register;
• protect unclaimed land.

Other open spaces – how to:

• dispose of council-owned land legally;
• dedicate access rights;
• nominate as local green space (in England)⁽⁴⁾.

Public rights of way – how to:

• deal with obstructions;
• defend a route with vehicular rights against extinguishment or diversion;
• carry out maintenance;
• create a public right of way.

Glossary of terms

Common land is land subject to rights of common, to graze animals or collect wood for instance, or waste land of the manor not subject to rights.  The public has the right to walk on all commons, and to ride on many.  Commons are recorded on common-land registers held by the county or unitary council.

Town and village greens can be any land which has been enjoyed by local people for 20 years, without being stopped or asking permission.  But if a landowner wishes voluntarily to register land as a green, he or she may do so merely by providing proof of ownership and the consent of any leaseholder or chargeholder.  Once registered the land is protected by section 12 of the Inclosure Act 1857 and section 29 of the Commons Act 1876, and local people have rights of recreation there.

Local Green Space (England only) is described in paragraphs 101-103 of the National Planning Policy Framework 2021.  It must be reasonably close to the community it serves; demonstrably special to a local community; local in character and not an extensive tract of land.  It is given the same protection as green belt.  The land can only be designated when the neighbourhood plan is being produced or the local plan reviewed.  See here.

Advertorial

DCW Polymers.

From Bins to Benches

How DCW is supporting sustainability, recycling and the circular economy in Devon

We all want to do our bit to protect the planet and make a positive impact on climate change to benefit future generations, but what steps can be taken by local parish councils to start making a difference? Introducing DCW, a Devon-based business that is leading the way in creating a more circular economy across the South West.

DCW is an Exeter-based business that provides commercial waste collection and recycling services across the beautiful county of Devon and beyond. This thriving family-owned business has been trading for 33 years, and has grown to become the region’s most successful independent waste management and recycling firm. In fact, it was the first to offer a Zero-to-Landfill solution in the South West.

Today the business operates out of four sites covering Devon, Cornwall and much of Somerset too, with improving recycling rates across the region at the heart of all that they do. DCW aims to recover as much recyclable material as possible from its commercial customers’ waste, with any residual wastes being converted to energy via waste-to-energy incineration plants.

DCW Polymers is the division of the business responsible for recycling plastic waste. Based in Exeter, the recycling experts collect and reprocess hundreds of tonnes of waste plastics, turning it into flakes and granules which go back into the manufacturing process and reduce the need for virgin plastic products to be made, ensuring that this valuable material is not lost to landfill or incineration. In 2021, DCW Polymers invested in new processing equipment which they hoped would enable them to convert some of these recovered plastic granules into new products. After a lot of trial, error and extensive testing, the process was refined and a new range of outdoor furniture products was developed. Over the last 18 months, the business has continued to develop the process and has invested in even more equipment to scale up the manufacturing process.

DCW now offers a range of outdoor products that includes tables, chairs, benches, picnic benches, decking, dog agility equipment, playground equipment, fencing components, decking and much more. DCW’s ethos is to minimise the carbon footprint of the plastic waste journey. The waste plastics are collected from businesses across Devon, taken to DCW Polymers to be processed, and extruded into planks, rails and posts. From these recycled profiles, DCW’s team of skilled staff hand-build all products, which are then ready to be sold to customers across Devon and beyond.

A sustainable alternative to timber, the furniture range is maintenance-free and long-lasting. With a 25 year guarantee, the stylish furniture is weatherproof, will not rot, splinter or corrode or ever require painting or treating.

2022 was an exceptionally busy and exciting year for DCW Polymers. Further products were designed and added to the range, the team built hundreds of tables, chairs and benches and supplied miles of fencing and decking. Their efforts to make a difference to the circular economy in the South West didn’t go unnoticed as DCW was nominated for two prestigious awards, winning the Manufacturer of the Year award at Insider’s Made in the South West Awards. DCW also achieved the Trading Standards approved Made in Devon accreditation.

Several Devon parish councils and local authorities have already invested in our benches, and we hope that we can continue to work closely with communities across Devon. We are also open to new opportunities to work with communities in setting up local collections of certain plastics that we can recycle into new products.

DCW has a showroom at its Exeter site, the Enviro Hub, Marsh Barton Road, EX2 8NU, where visitors can view the recycled furniture products and find out more about the manufacturing process.

For more details on DCW’s recycled furniture range, please visit www.dcw.co.uk/recycled-products/

To contact DCW for more information, call 01392 361300 or email sales@dcw.co.uk.

New support available for community groups to set up community businesses in local churches

All Churches Alliance are funding Plunkett to deliver business, advisory and grant support to community groups who are thinking of setting up a community owned business and may consider co-locating it in an active local church. This might be a community owned shop or café, for example, or a community owned farmers market once a week.

Through the Community Businesses in Places of Worship programme, Plunkett can offer step by step support with an adviser as well as grant funds to take forward a community owned business idea. Some of the costs a grant could help with may include: surveying or consulting a community to assess level of support for the idea, funding a valuation of a building or site, setting up a legal structure or paying for additional support from a professional consultant.

Community-owned and run businesses are already operating in a number of churches across the country. Grindleford Community Shop, for example, operates from the old vestry of St Helens Church in the small rural Peak District of Grindleford. Like many rural villages, over the years Grindleford lost its grocery store and then its Post Office. The new shop now stocks a wide range of convenience goods and provides teas, coffee, cake and a friendly welcome too! Outwardly the church remained unchanged, the areas used for worship were unaffected but the vestry restored the heart of the village and although small it works hard to connect all members of the community.

Plunkett is trying to reach communities who may have lost public facilities and places to chat who want to set something up as a community  – see their webpage for further details of their programme, and share these details with community groups in your area.

Related content

• Check out The Good Councillors Guide to Community Business

Do you own a green space which you would like to see protected and enjoyed by local people for ever? Why not Grant a Green

The Open Spaces Society recommends that you consider voluntarily registering it as a town or village green.  You can do this, under section 15(8) of the Commons Act 2006, with your county or unitary council which makes no charge for the application.  Once registered as a green, local people will enjoy the right to recreation there, and the space is protected for ever from development—what a gift to your community!

It is more important now than ever to secure our green spaces.  The restrictions on movement have meant that people have discovered how essential their local open spaces are to good health and sanity.  But here is the irony: green spaces are under threat from the government’s destruction of the planning system, as outlined in the white paper of autumn last year and subsequent ‘consultations’.  The society is deeply concerned that just when we need them most green spaces are at growing risk of development.

So please do consider whether, if you are fortunate enough to own a green space, you can register it as a green.  In the last year we have celebrated such registrations at Scorton in North Yorkshire and the society’s home town of Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire, where the local councils have acted in the interests of their residents.

We explain on our website how this is done, with a how-to-do it guide to take you through the process.  And the society’s case officers are on hand to give you further assistance if you need it.

With your help, we really can make a difference.

Please visit https://www.oss.org.uk/grant-a-green-campaign/

If you do decide to grant a green then remember to let us know at enquiries@devonalc.org.uk so we can share as a member story!

Read our advice on managing town or village greens.