Friday 19 May 2023
It's the final day of the Devon County Show tomorrow (Saturday 20 May), so if you're going, make sure you pop along and see us at various locations!
You'll find our main 'children and families' themed stand on Road 8, with activities and competitions from Recycle Devon, interactive learning opportunities with Tiny Travels, health advice from our Public Health Nursing Team and information about the difference you could make to the life of a child or young person that needs a home with Fostering Devon.
The Sound Communities ‘Boom Bus’ is offering digital music and podcast making, DJing, rapping and beatboxing, courtesy of Devon and Torbay Music Education Hubs.
And you can also visit The Music Hub stage on Avenue K to listen to live musical performances from Devon schools and youth groups.
Don't forget to visit our Farmwise stand, on Road 9, where there will be goats, sheep, cows, rabbits and pigs as well as the chance to roll up your sleeves and get involved with turning cream into butter; thrashing corn to get the corn from the stalks and turning apples into juice. There's even a lambing simulator!
Two of our farming projects, are also being showcased as part of the 'Innovation Avenue', which aims to highlight how innovation is helping support the future of agriculture. Visit our stand on Avenue C to find out more about Future Farming Resilience and Devon Agri-Tech Alliance along with several local pioneering agricultural businesses.
Our Trading Standards Rural Support and Wellbeing team have joined forces with Devon and Cornwall Police to create the Rural Hub on Avenue D to provide guidance and support for the farming community.
Here is a handy Devon County Show map to find us! We're looking forward to seeing you! And if you can't make it, keep up with all the action on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
 Travel warning
Due to the damaged caused by recent flooding, if you're travelling to and from the Devon County Show tomorrow using the A3052, please expect very long delays at the temporary traffic lights in Newton Poppleford.
For other information about travelling to the County Show ground at Westpoint, please visit the County Show website.
For the latest travel information, follow us @DevonAlert on Facebook and Twitter.
 Drop-in session for flood hit communities
We're teaming up with the Environment Agency and East Devon District Council to hold a drop-in session to support communities impacted by last week’s flooding.
It's being held in Newton Poppleford, which was the community hardest hit by the flash floods, from 3pm until 7pm on Tuesday 23 May at the Pavillion.
Properties were also flooded in a number of other areas including Tipton St John, Colaton Raleigh, Metcombe, Venn Ottery and Exeter. Residents are encouraged to attend to help us to understand how they’ve been impacted to see what we can possibly do to reduce their flood risk in future.
Anyone who would like more information should email floodrisk@devon.gov.uk. For other useful contact details and answers to FAQs visit East Devon District Council’s webpages.
 Six more communities chosen for 20mph schemes
Six communities in Devon that would most benefit from lower traffic speeds have been chosen for new 20mph schemes. They include Black Torrington, Bridgerule and Dolton in Torridge, Cockwood and Dawlish in Teignbridge and Uffculme in Mid Devon.
We receive a significant numbers of requests for 20mph schemes, so two years ago we introduced of a new way of considering applications to ensure that the communities that would most benefit from lower vehicle speeds are prioritised.
This includes taking into account the:
- average speeds at key locations
- number of vulnerable road users in that area
- speed related collision history in the area,
- level of support for a 20mph scheme in the community
- presence of an active Community Speed Watch and
- community’s deprivation index ranking
We hope to be able to continue to roll out the 20mph speed limits that are desired by our communities each year in this way, and in doing so help communities feel safer and make walking and cycling easier.
 We need to talk about anxiety
It's Mental Health Awareness Week, and this year's theme is anxiety.
We all feel anxious from time to time, it's a natural response to the uncertain world around us. But it’s important that we recognise and respond when we feel anxious, so that our anxiety doesn’t become overwhelming.
Earlier this week we sent you a special edition of this newsletter to highlight some of the causes of anxiety and share information to help prevent it from becoming a problem.
If you missed it, you can catch up online.
 Devon celebrates Foster Care Fortnight
Across the country, Devon included, thousands of foster carers are needed to care for children, especially older children, sibling groups, disabled children and unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
This week marks the start of Foster Care Fortnight. It's two weeks of the year where we raise awareness of fostering and share some of the ways that it can positive impact on the lives of so many people.
In Devon, we need more foster carers of all backgrounds and life experiences to provide homes for children in which they will receive a high quality standard of care. We have a highly skilled team who are trained to provide care, support and training for foster carers.
This year, we're asking foster carers to share their stories by using the hashtags #FosteringCommunities and #FCF23 on social media, and to tag us - @fosteringdevon on Instagram and Facebook.
Emma Nobes, Service Manager for Fostering, says:
”I would like to thank all our foster carers, kinship carers and staying put carers for the love, care, and warmth you give to the children and young people you look after.
“You, your family, friends, and local communities make a big difference every day. This thanks extends to our team around the child, without your support and hard work, none of this would be possible.”
To find out more, please visit our Fostering Devon website.
 Part of A379 near Exeter closed during half-term for bridge lift
The A379 between Chudleigh Road and the Devon Hotel near Exeter will be closed to traffic for five days at the end of May to allow us to lift a new footbridge into place.
The work will take place during the half-term week from 10pm on Monday 29 May until midnight on Friday 2 June to take advantage of the reduced commuter traffic during half-term.
The road will be closed with “Road Closed Access Only” signs displayed to ensure access for residents of Haldon Reach and the emergency services is maintained. Diversion signs will also be in place and we would be grateful if road users could observe the restrictions to help us ensure the safety of the public and of our workforce.
Unfortunately, due to the nature of the works some noise is unavoidable, but we will attempt to keep this to a minimum, and apologise in advance for any disruption.
 Government extends £2 bus fare cap
The Government has announced that bus passengers will continue to ‘Get Around for £2’ until the end of October 2023. Then prices will be capped at £2.50 until 30 November 2024.
While initially introduced only as a temporary measure on 1 January 2023, the £2 fare has made bus travel more accessible and affordable for everyone, and encouraged more people to use the bus, which helps reduce congestion and emissions.
It's hoped that extending the scheme will continue to support people with the cost of living pressures by saving on everyday travel costs, particularly for those on lower incomes who take nearly three times as many bus trips than those on higher incomes.
To find out more, please visit the Government's website.
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