A new play area opens in Bampton
Bampton Town Council is celebrating the opening of their new play area
Bampton’s new play area was driven by a group of Dads who considered that the town needed somewhere for older children to play and have fun. This amazing group came to the public session of a Bampton Town Council meeting. With their request they brought ideas, plans and thoughts for the town council to consider. This group also offered to be the project managers alongside the council as the landowner.
Plenty of work went into this, with a grant of £100.000 to cover the bulk of the cost of equipment and installation sourced from Viridor Credits, together with some allocated S106 monies and Council reserves.
Cara Stobart, County Officer for the Devon Association says ‘This is a wonderful example of how parish councils can work in partnership with others to meet the needs of its community. The Town Council could have delivered this project entirely themselves, but instead they chose to work in partnership with a committed group of residents to help them achieve their goals. Working in this way encourages electors to become active citizens, to take pride in where they live and potentially engage with the council in future issues/initiatives. Well done to all involved’.
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A new museum for Newton Abbot
Newton Abbot Town Council celebrates the opening of its long awaited new museum. A £2.2 million project delivered without a penny being added to council tax bills.
The new museum in Newton Abbot has wowed its first visitors. The doors were thrown open to the public at 10am on Saturday October 3. The history hunters’ heaven is located within the £2.2 million Newton’s Place project which has been led by Newton Abbot Town Council and taken shape at the former St Leonard’s Church, Wolborough Street.
The reimagining from unloved and crumbling Victorian eyesore to 21st century community facility made a more than favourable impression on those lucky enough to be there for the opening.
‘It’s absolutely amazing, for me the biggest observation is I can’t believe the level of transformation,’ said resident Andy Waites who was one of those invited to cut the ribbon rainbow with Mayor Cllr Richard Jenks. ‘It’s quite spectacular and showing the history of Newton Abbot, its also really interactive and family-friendly. And what with wi-fi and USB sockets in the community rooms upstairs which will all be for free to local groups when they open, it’s great for the town.’
Shane Morris, another ribbon-cutter, said after taking part in the ceremony: ‘It’s great, I’m very proud actually. It’s the first time I’ve chopped a ribbon!’
Other first-day visitors were Ogwell residents Lindsay Cooper and her fiancé Darren Bevan who has volunteered at the museum since summer 2019. ‘It’s superb, excellent, so good for the town,’ said Lindsay who teaches at Newton Abbot College and is looking forward to the day when student trips can be arranged. Darren added: ‘The old museum was basically two rooms in a house, a ten-minute walk away from the town centre where I don’t think many people knew about it. Now it’s close to the library, close to the Tower and hopefully will get a lot of interest.’
All the visitors were impressed with the fact that despite a £2.2 million price tag, not one penny has been added to council tax bills. Instead, the cost has been covered by a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £950,000, donations from individuals and businesses, the sale of the old town hall and cash from house builders via the Community Infrastructure Levy.
It was a proud day for Cllr Mike Ryan, Chairman of the Newton’s Place Project Board.
‘It feels fantastic, it’s been a long time coming but they’ve made a fantastic job of it,’ he said. ‘Hopefully next year we can formally open the whole building which isn’t possible yet because of the Covid-19 situation. I believe the big room can seat up to 200 people and it’s there to use free if you’re a charity or for a small charge if not. I’ll say it again it’s a fantastic building. I’m very proud of all the people involved, particularly the Town Clerk Phil Rowe who had the initiative in the first place to come to us as a council and say, look, the building’s for sale.’
Curator Felicity Cole, whose involvement with the museum dates back more than 30 years, said: ‘
It’s a dream come true. Once everything becomes normalised again I’m excited about the opportunities the building affords us. To be able to have school party downstairs and at the same time perhaps an event in one of the community rooms upstairs is wonderful. One of our local arts teacher came in and said, wow, we’ll be able to do so much here, and we’ve got no end of groups clamouring to do things here. It’s just fantastic.’
Visits can be booked at www.museum-newtonabbot.org.uk or by calling 01626 201121.
Have you done something you are proud of?
We love to hear our members stories. Share your story with us at enquiries@devonalc.org.uk.
You read more of our members stories in our news feed.
New co-option candidates for Payhembury
Congratulations to Payhembury Parish Council for improving their communications and attracting individuals to stand for co-option.
Payhembury Parish Council is about to co-opt a new councillor and has been very pleased to have 4 candidates, including 3 carried over from a previous co-option in the summer. They’ve been delighted to have so much interest and their clerk, Dawn Chamberlain, explained the reasons behind it:
Since I took over I’ve really pushed to improve communication from the Parish Council to the parish. I average 3-4 articles a month in the Parish Paper (max so far is 7) when my predecessors maybe did 2-3 a year. I’ve had quite a few parishioners tell me that they appreciate knowing what is going on.
One of our Councillors has also set up a parish facebook page – it is a closed group but for anything to do with the parish. I often post things on there – messages from East Devon District Council and Devon County Council as well as things the Parish Council is doing. Our webpage went live the day I took over and I’ve spent a lot of time improving and adding to that as well. Hopefully tomorrow they will agree to a Twitter account that I can link automatically to the website so we can put out more info to a wider audience.
So I think it is probably down to the Parish Council being more visible and people being aware that things are happening. The new candidate for tomorrow night has definitely applied because of an idea that is being discussed tomorrow night about the possibility of providing allotments, a car park and a football pitch (they are completely opposed to the idea). The others however have been saying they would like to get more involved for some time, before this idea was raised.
A good range of candidates gives the council more choice when co-opting, allowing them to identify someone with useful skills. Payhembury is a great example of how increased engagement with the community encourages the public to get involved. Controversial topics within the parish often bring forward people who feel strongly about the future of the area, and it can be so useful to have that enthusiasm in your council.
Following a co-option, we’d recommend that councils try to harness the passion of unsuccessful candidates by considering if there is another way they could be involved; perhaps by joining a working group or getting involved in neighbourhood planning.
Have you done something you are proud of?
We love to hear our members stories. Share your story with us at enquiries@devonalc.org.uk.
Further information:
- Need advice on co-options? Check out NALC Legal Topic Note 8 – Elections and Co-options
Broadhempston plants a community orchard
We recently heard from Broadhempston Parish Council who planted a community orchard at the end of November. This initiative links with the parish council’s climate emergency declaration and was embraced by local residents.
Children from Broadhempston Primary School planted 38 trees, with community volunteers helping to fence and protect the trees. The community will continue to plant trees and lay hedges over the winter. In the future, they will be adding seating, a shelter, BBQ areas and pizza oven. To increase biodiversity they will be hanging bird boxes. The new community space will be used to host wassails, blossom festivals and other annual events.
Cllr Nicholas Wright said: “the parish council really wanted to make something of the paddock that the parish could enjoy. We are so lucky in Broadhempston to enjoy many different spaces and resources including our fantastic new village hall facilities, our recreational ground and pavilion at Headlands, two small playgrounds, a vibrant community village shop, a thriving annual village fete and many excellent clubs and societies. The Community Orchard provides another very different kind of resource with quiet corners and open group spaces with amazing views of the surrounding hills. The fruit will be available for everyone and we have chosen a large range of species including local, regional and a few international varieties. We want to see this space being used by people as well as encouraging traditional rural skills and natural habitat. John Hoyle, Jane Collings and Peter Stevens have been instrumental in pushing this project forward in time to plant this year and it would not have been possible without all their hard work, though this is just the beginning!”
Thank you to Broadhempston Parish Council for telling us about your project. If any other members have a project that they’re especially proud of, then please contact us to let us know; we love hearing from you!
Let’s Talk Fremington
Fremington Parish Council’s new partnership project aims to provide much needed mental health services and improve wellbeing in the community
Fremington Parish Council with support from Devon County Councillor F Biederman and North Devon Councillors Jayne Mackie, Joy Cann, Helen Walker and Will Topps has taken an innovative step to fund a 46 week programme to help improve mental health within the Parish. The programme will be run by Clarity, a Barnstaple based mental health charity which offers a range of counselling and group therapy to people experiencing mental health or emotional issues.
For some time, Fremington Parish Council has wanted to help members of its community who may suffer with depression or anxiety, low self-esteem, be socially isolated or lonely and need support with these factors, as they all impact on mental wellbeing.
Cllr Sue Kingdom, Chairman of Fremington Parish Council said “I am delighted that Fremington Parish Council has taken the initiative to provide mental health services in its community. Mental health and isolation issues can affect anyone at any time and I know that all the local councillors are pleased that this council with the support of district and the county councillors are able to provide this service for our community.
Cllr F Biederman, Devon County Councillor for Fremington said “‘I am very pleased to be able to support this initiative by the Parish Council, there are so many in our community that suffer with varying levels of Mental Health, I went through a period of depression myself at one time, I was lucky to have the support of my employer, who organised a few support sessions, that made a huge difference to myself and enabled me to get over it relatively quickly. I hope this will give others a similar chance”.
Local ward member for Fremington, Councillor Jayne Mackie, says: “It is such a privilege to be able to give grant money and my support to such a forward-looking project. This initiative highlights how we need to start the conversation about mental well-being at parish and ward level and hopefully, more areas will take our lead”.
The group will run on a Tuesday from 12pm until 2pm at the new Beechfield Centre, which is due to open in September and will have two counsellors work with the group in a safe and confidential environment, helping them to build confidence, look towards positive outcomes and improve their social and communication skills.
Guest post by Kate Graddock, Clerk to Fremington Parish Council
Newest Mayor of Great Torrington is one of the youngest
On the 29th May, Great Torrington Town Council celebrated the appointment of their newest and youngest Mayor, Miss Keeley Allin, at the age of 22.
Councillor Miss Keeley Allin joins the handful of “youngest Mayors” across the country. However, despite her age she certainly does not lack experience as Keely has been involved with the Town Council from a very young age. At the age of 12 Keeley acted as the Mayor’s consort for her mum and has since had a serious interest in Town Council activity. Whilst at Great Torrington School Keeley sat on the School Council and was a senior leader in year 11. In 2015 Keeley joined the Town Council as a Councillor and since then has worked hard for Great Torrington, with the people the Council represents being Keeley’s main priority.
Her proudest achievements are setting up the ‘Town Tidy’ Initiative, which sees everyone come together to tidy the town up before big events such as Mayfair and being part of a group who have worked hard to get a youth club back into the town.
Keeley said “as Mayor of Great Torrington I am very much looking forward to a busy year ahead, with my diary already filling up! I have set up a Facebook page (Great Torrington Mayor’s Blog) where I will keep everyone updated and will continue to contribute to The Crier with the monthly ‘Mayors News’ article.
“I feel very proud to hold the office of Mayor of Great Torrington this year and I’m really looking forward to supporting our town and various projects. I also hope that the lovely people of Great Torrington will feel free to contact me if they would like me to attend any events over this forthcoming year.”
Keeley has nominated 1st Torrington Scouts and Torrington Police Amateur Boxing Club as her chosen charities for the forthcoming year.
Guest post by Karen Chapman, Clerk to Great Torrington Town Council
Belstone has its first election in nearly 30 years
The tiny parish of Belstone in West Devon is celebrating not only having an election, but a fantastic turn out at the polls too.
Belstone is a small village up on the high moor on the northern tip of the Dartmoor National Park; Okehampton is the nearest town. The cattle, sheep and ponies from the surrounding commons wander freely around the village in amongst the many walkers and other visitors who come to admire the scenery and enjoy the local tearoom and the pub.
It has an electorate of 213 and has peacefully allowed those willing to volunteer to become parish councillors to do so unhindered for the best part of 30 years. Indeed it has often been necessary to co-opt willing residents to make up the numbers – a situation familiar to many parish councils up and down the country. But this year, as the four year term of office of the existing council came to an end, things were stirring in Belstone.
A planning application for the construction of a new house in the village, potentially the first for two decades, divided opinion amongst the residents. The parish council recommended refusal and the planning authority agreed, but it marked a change in the village. When the time came for nominations for the new parish council, instead of struggling to fill the places, 13 candidates stood for the seven available places. The parish clerk ran out of nomination forms and had to seek more, much to the surprise of the election staff at West Devon Borough Council.
On the day of the election, 2nd May, an astonishing 74.65% of the electorate turned out to vote – even better than 72% of the national electorate who voted in the European Referendum. The normal figure for parish council elections varies between 30-40%. And there were no spoilt ballot papers!
When the result was announced, six of the seven existing parish councillors had retained their seats, with just one new member. However, all of them now have a mandate for the next four years as they seek to do their best for the local community. But will it be the same in four years time or will the usual inertia re-assert itself? We shall see.
Guest post by Kate Little, Clerk to Belstone Parish Council