 Photo of Bystock Ponds by Kate Williams
Hello,
In this week's newsletter👇
👎East Devon District Council passes 'vote of no confidence' in South West Water
🏡As two years of conflict are marked, Homes for Ukraine still needed
👷Work on five new play parks, across East Devon, to begin soon
🥳Happy 100th birthday to Unity
🐉East Devon celebrates the Lunar New Year
Scroll down to read more about news, updates and events across East Devon👇
 News and updates:
East Devon District Council passes 'vote of no confidence' in South West Water
 The motion passed with 46 votes for and two abstentions, at its full council meeting on Wednesday, 21 February
The authority announced it was ‘alarmed’ South West Water failed to notify the council of sewage overflows in Exmouth over the same period, which prompted a ‘vote of no confidence’ in the water company.
To find out about the council's next steps following this vote...
As two years of conflict are marked, Homes for Ukraine still needed
 Photo from the Ukraine Independence Day in Cranbrook on 24 August 2023. Credit: Ihor Andriienko
Councillor Eleanor Rylance, Chair of East Devon District Council, said:
“When it came, in February 2022, Putin’s invasion of its neighbouring country Ukraine was swift and brutal, catching many people unawares, and causing a sudden humanitarian crisis. Countries across the world scrambled to provide practical help to refugees as they made the dangerous exit from Ukraine and arrived in Western Europe.
Here in East Devon, individuals, charities and hundreds of residents offered without hesitation what help they could, thankfully on this occasion backed by government schemes and funding.
Two years on, the war sadly shows no signs of stopping, and many of the original guests have now become permanent residents of our beautiful area- working, their children in school, free from the threat of bombs. To them I say “Ласкаво просимо і слава Україні”.
It is never easy to be forced to move from your usual life at very short notice to a foreign country. I want to thank all our East Devon residents who have helped 375 Ukrainian friends settle in over the last 2 years, and who continue to support them in friendship.
We have shown ourselves at our best and most generous over this time - a reminder that we as a country have a long and honourable tradition of helping others.”
To find out more about registering to be a host on the council's Homes for Ukraine scheme webpages...
Work on five new play parks, across East Devon, to begin soon
 New swings, climbing frames and slides are just some of the classics being installed in five brand new play parks across East Devon. The old parks, in Budleigh, Beer, Exmouth and Honiton, will be completed replaced as part of a £400k district-wide revamp by East Devon District Council.
Happy 100th birthday to Unity
 An Exmouth woman celebrated her 100th birthday with a lemon drizzle cake, a card from the King and time with family
Unity, who lives in supported accommodation through East Devon District Council, has lived in Exmouth for nearly 80 years.
As a young girl, Unity worked for the RAF during the Second World War, working in training command where they trained the pilots – her role was to keep records of all training hours completed. Unity did this for four and a half years before going into the domestic service.
When asked what her secret was to a long, successful life, and she said: "only drinking on special occasions and not smoking".
East Devon celebrates the Lunar New Year
 The district became awash with paper lanterns and dragons in fancy dress, as part of celebrations for the Lunar New Year, the Year of the Wood Dragon.
East Devon District Council (EDDC) welcomed its highest number of visitors, adding up to 154 people, not including babies in arms, to its eight Hubs as part of the festivities, helping to put up lots of decorations.
A hub is a warm space provided by EDDC for local people of all ages across the district. A range of activities and workshops are programmed, and each week a wholesome hot lunch is provided free of charge.
As well as providing lunch, officers also organised crafts, making a paper dragon, while little ones practiced their colouring-in skills. A total of 43 visitors stopped by at the Seaton Hub, which only opened in November, with lots of children attending and enjoying the day.
One of the mothers at Seaton said:
“We’ve really enjoyed the day. I have three children with me, and they have loved making the dragons. People talk about community, but this is it – there are babies here, a visually impaired tenant, and some of the visitors are over 80, and we’re all really enjoying it.”
To find out more about East Devon's Hubs...
Vandals responsible for 'senseless' graffiti slammed
 The council, and the police, are appealing to anyone with any information or descriptions of the vandals
New damage, including profanities, is being discovered every day at a toilet block in Phear Park, by officers at East Devon District Council.
 473 tonnes of steel cans collected from East Devon’s households in 2023
 There is no limit to the times your cans can be recycled – metal recycles forever
Please put all of your steel cans in your recycling sack along with the plastic and aluminium items that East Devon's recycling teams collect from the kerbside.
The cans are separated from the mix of materials by magnets at the materials recycling facility and sent to foundries in England or Wales to be smelted into raw steel ready to be made into new products.
Your recycling sack is for steel cans only, other steel items can be taken to a recycling centre to be recycled.
To find out more about East Devon's Recycling and Waste service...
Have you downloaded our free East Devon App yet?
Join over 60,000 people using our smartphone app and get simple personalised collection reminders, the latest collection updates and tell us about a missed collection.
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Save money by reducing food waste
 Did you know that keeping your fridge temperature between 0-5°C can help keep food fresh for three days longer?
To read a helpful guide that will stop you chucking edible food away, with advice about making judgements on 'use by', 'best before' and 'display until' dates...
 Hundreds attend Chardstock community event to learn about and celebrate nature
 At the Nature's Table event at Chardstock Community Hall on Saturday 17 February, free seed bombs proved popular, 60 bee hotels were made and handed out, and 300 trees provided by Devon Wildlife Trust were given out.
There was also a showcase of the Kit Brook River Restoration project that East Devon District is proud to have supported with a Small Community Grant in March 2022. To find out more...
 Have your say
Help shape East Devon's Economic Development Strategy
 East Devon firms and groups are invited to comment on a draft Economic Development Strategy for the area, before Sunday 10 March.
A number of local challenges have helped to shape the strategy, including:
- East Devon having the fourth highest proportion of retirees in England
- housing for younger working age residents is a key constraint
- demand for industrial and logistics workspace is higher than available supply
- the high levels of out-commuting indicate the need to provide more jobs close to where people live
- carbon emissions are not falling fast enough if we want to reach Net Zero by 2040
Have your say on the Devon and Torbay devolution deal
 A six-week public consultation has been launched on the draft proposal to create a Combined County Authority for Devon and Torbay to oversee new powers and funding transferred from the Government.
Share your thoughts on Exmouth's plan for managing coastal flooding and erosion risks
Attendees of the first Exmouth Beach Management Plan Update drop-in event, and anyone who was unable to make it there, are encouraged to fill in the feedback survey before 1 March. Another drop-in session and a 12-week consultation will take place later this year.
 Events in East Devon
 Thelma Hulbert Gallery
Join a fascinating Art History talk about 'dangerous women'
Monday, 4 March, 10.30am -12pm, £12 (£10 THG Friend)
Explore the curious story of the 'femme fatale' and how female empowerment is portrayed through art and cinema history.
Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Dowell St, Honiton EX14 1LX thelmahulbert.com
Discover more events in the local area by heading to the East Devon Excellence website
Latest newsletters
 Council meetings dates
Over the next week the following East Devon District Council meetings are taking place.
Any public meetings will be streamed live to the Council’s YouTube channel, and in the event of difficulties these will be streamed on our Facebook page instead.
Engineering and manufacturing employers: learn how you could benefit from student placements
 The Gatsby foundation and the Department for Education are keen to financially support pilots in Devon that test solutions to removing either student or employer barriers to T Levels. To join this free one-off online session on 28 February from 4pm - 5pm...
Stay up to date with the latest news about grants, opportunities, funding and training for businesses, by subscribing to the East Devon Business newsletter.
Next edition
We plan to send out our next bulletin on Friday, 1 March 2024
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