Friday 5 April 2024
 First tree and woodland strategy for Devon
Devon’s first ever Tree and Woodland strategy has been adopted by the Devon Local Nature Partnership to enhance and protect trees and woodlands in the county.
The strategy which includes Plymouth and Torbay, sets out ambitions for our precious trees, hedges and woodlands from now until 2050.
It plans for the delivery of an additional 3,000 hectares of woodland and trees in Devon by 2030, to help achieve an increase in the county’s tree cover from 14 per cent to 16.5 per cent by 2050, meeting the UK’s national target.
Read the full story on the news page of our website.
An exciting new early years reading programme, with stickers to collect, has been launched in libraries across Devon and Torbay, aiming to inspire a lifelong love of reading.
Libraries Unlimited, which runs libraries in Devon on our behalf, is launching Libro's Friends, which is an extension of their hugely successful, The Secret Book Quest.
Both programmes have been created as part of Libraries Unlimited’s drive to boost the reading skills of children in the county.
The Secret Book Quest uses a free sticker collection book to set older children a 50-book goal and takes them on a journey through topics ranging from space to animals.
With Libro’s Friends, under-5s will get a similar sticker book and the chance to collect eight unique stickers to find out where Libro the Cat’s animal friends are hiding.
Children who go to their library with their parents or carers and sign up for Libro’s Friends will get the sticker book for free. They’ll be invited to set a goal to visit the library eight times and enjoy a story.
For each library visit, they’re given a sticker which will reveal one of Libro’s animal pals including Marli the mouse, Ollie the owl and Faisal the fox.
You can read more on Libraries Unlimited's news page.
Libraries Unlimited wants to hear from you!
Have your say! Libraries Unlimited are running their annual Customer Survey this month to find out how you feel about your local library. Take part by Tuesday 30 April to be in with a chance of winning one of three £25 One4All shopping vouchers. Complete the survey online here, or pop into your local library to complete a paper copy.
 Planning on enjoying the great outdoors over the school holidays? #BeTickAware
Make sure you check yourself for ticks if you've been enjoying the great outdoors. That's the advice from the Government's UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) as April marks the start of tick season!
Ticks are small spider-like creatures that are mainly found in woodland, heathland and areas with long grass, including in urban parks. They attach to your skin, and bite to suck blood. Bacteria in the ticks can lead to Lyme disease or tick-borne encephalitis on rare occasions.
They are around all year, but are most active from April to July, You can reduce your risk of being bitten by a tick by keeping to footpaths and avoiding areas of long grass. Covering up by wearing long-sleeved tops and trousers and using insect repellent on any exposed skin also helps.
Remove any attached tick as soon as you find it using a tick-removal tool or fine-tipped tweezers.
Read the UKHSA's blog to find out more about protecting yourself from ticks and the risk of Lyme disease.
 Make sure you're registered to vote
Local elections will take place in some areas of Devon on Thursday 2 May, so make sure you're registered by Tuesday 16 April and you've got the right photo identification if you plan to vote in person. If you don't have any eligible form of ID, you can apply for a free Voter Authority Certificate before Wednesday 24 April.
Voters across the county will go to the polls to choose a new Police and Crime Commissioner. Residents in Exeter and Plymouth will also be asked to elect some new councillors as part of the cycle which sees a third of seats contested each year for three years, with no election in the fourth year.
 Check your journey if travelling by train
Industrial action will affect train services in Devon this weekend and early next week.
Reduced timetables will be operating, with trains only operating for a limited period during the day and some parts of the network having no service at all.
Train operators have said that there is also likely to be some short-notice alternations and cancellations, so please check both your outward and return journeys before setting off.
For more information, please visit the Network Rail website.
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