Don't lose the right to have your say!

Elections are an important opportunity for residents to have their say about the issues that matter to them and their local communities.

In order to vote in these important elections, residents must be on the electoral register. With the deadline to register to vote fast approaching, anyone who has not registered at their current address can still make sure they are registered in time.

The deadline to register to vote is midnight on Monday 19 April. It takes just five minutes to apply online.

There are a number of ways to vote in the May elections including, voting by post, voting by proxy (by asking someone trusted to vote on your behalf), or voting in person at a polling station.

Although the elections are not until May, plans are already being made to help voters stay safe when casting their vote.

This year, it is advised that those who can, vote by post, however, polling stations will still be open, and measures will be in place to ensure that they are COVID secure. These measures will include social distancing and availability of hand-sanitiser, as well as asking voters to wear a mask and bring their own pencil to use on their ballot paper.

Another Teignbrige wildlife habitat secured under partnership agreement

The recent agreement for national charity the Land Trust to oversee the management of the 65-acre Dawlish Countryside Park, to safeguard recent public and environmental benefits, was the result of a partnership set up to protect key natural habitats across the districts.

The land for the Countryside Park was purchased with money from developers across Teignbridge, Exeter and East Devon through the South East Devon Habitat Regulations Partnership. This Partnership of Teignbridge, East Devon District and Exeter City Councils is legally required to protect key conservation sites at Dawlish Warren and the Exe Estuary by providing visitors with alternative places to visit.

Under a 999 year lease, the Land Trust will use an endowment investment to deliver the long term goals of Dawlish Countryside Park, which mirror the Trust’s vision of improving 'the quality of people’s lives by creating sustainable, high quality green spaces that deliver environmental, social and economic benefits'.

The Ridgetop Park, Matford is another Partnership project underway, following the same process as Dawlish Countryside Park and is on track to open to the public later in 2021. This site will be phased and approximately 50 acres will be opened initially with more to follow. There will be updates coming on this, as the project progresses.

Separate partnership work between the RSPB, our Planning department and Devon County Council has seen two large green space sites secured in the Teignbridge district, for the long-term benefit of wildlife and local communities. These sites comprise Ashill between Bishopsteignton and Teignmouth, which spans over 100 acres and can be visited on foot along footpaths, and Labrador Bay near Shaldon which hosts a car park and 1.5km circular coastal route on site.

We are committed to continuing efforts to achieve these leading national achievements, which cannot be achieved alone and the importance of the South East Devon Habitat Regulations Partnership, Land Trust, RSPB, and other stakeholders is essential.

The mobile testing unit being hosted every Friday at our Newton Abbot Waste and Recycling depot in Forde Road is still proving highly popular - and is currently the busiest mobile site in Devon!

Our waste and recycling crews were among the first to use the testing centre, with over 80 on the day of opening, and employees from businesses across the area are visiting the site for their regular tests. 

It's likely that demand will reduce as people get access to other testing opportunities such as the school home testing facility, but we are continuing to monitor levels of takeup and work with Devon County Council to roll out other testing sites across the district, which also include a site at the Newton Abbot Cattle Market every Sunday.

Visit devon.cc/testing for more information.

A host of information, advice and guidance you need on planning is now available online.

You can look up planning related information about a property to find if a building is listed or if a tree is protected, and find links to our land searches team and other useful information.

And from our advice pages you can discover whether or not planning permission is needed for a range of common projects – including through using the Interactive House provided by the government-backed Planning Portal.  Beware though, that conditions on planning permissions may change this, but this information is on our website too.

Information about the services we offer is also provided– including a full list of the fees we charge for giving pre-application advice. 

Getting advice is optional and there is a wide range of information available both on our website and through other built environment professionals.

Applications for Planning permission and a range of other permissions can be made online and we have a form for submitting enforcement complaints too.

If there are questions or queries you often receive, let us know and we’ll see if we can get that information put online too.

Our hope is that residents can find out more about their projects and plans at a time that best suits them.

Tuesday (23 March) marked 100 days to go until the deadline of 30 June 2021 for applications to be made to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS).

This milestone is a great opportunity for us to work with our communities to bring the fast- approaching deadline to the attention of EU, EEA and Swiss citizens across our district.

Last week, the Home Office announced that there have been more than 5.1 million applications to the EUSS, with more than 4.8 million applications concluded. 

A range of support is available to those that need help to apply. Please help us reach these people by sharing this link to support services with your residents. 

From April 1, there will be some slight changes to car parking fees and charges across the majority of car parks, increasing car park ticket prices by two percent, or around 10p per hour.  This will help offset the significant loss of revenue from the pandemic, and enable us to continue to focus on key priorities over the coming year.

We have also negotiated a ‘no fee’ deal with ticket app providers RingGo, so anyone parking across the districts’ car parks will be able to top up their tickets remotely at no extra cost. Customers can download the RingGo app and put their vehicle and payment details in and never have to worry about having enough change for parking again.

The proposals will include changes for any blue badge holder who, as well as being able to use on street parking for free across the district, will benefit from an additional hour’s free parking on top of their standard parking charge.  The existing ‘disabled parking’ permits, which are only provided for current blue badge holders who have an address in the Teignbridge district, will be phased out as they come up for renewal and be replaced by this more equitable system. 

Other changes to car parking also includes the removal of the pay on foot exit barriers in three Newton Abbot car parks, which will be replaced by the standard pay and display machines, seen across the rest of the district.

People in Devon eligible for a coronavirus vaccine are being urged to book an appointment before the end of March while there are thousands of spaces available.

Everyone aged 50 and above, people with underlying health conditions or health and care workers are among those now eligible for a vaccination.  They are being encouraged to book an appointment for a first dose before the supply constraints begin in April.

593,532 people in Devon received a first vaccine dose between 8 December and 21 March, meaning about six in ten people aged 16 and over in Devon have had their first dose.

Making an appointment is simple:

• Use the National Booking Service via the website or by calling 119
• The National Booking Service offers appointments at large vaccination centres or the selected community pharmacies that are offering the jab.

Or, if you've been invited by your GP, please respond to book up and attend this week while there are still plenty of spaces available.

£30 supermarket vouchers to help families buy food over the Easter holidays

Devon County Council is issuing more than 15,000 free supermarket vouchers to families across Devon ahead of the upcoming Easter school break to replace the meals their child would have received at school during term-time. 

The vouchers – worth £30 (£15 per week for each child) – can be redeemed in major supermarkets across Teignbridge and all of Devon. Arrangements are in place for families who cannot get to a supermarket. 

Families are being urged to check any unspent vouchers and redeem them as soon as possible before they expire and get in touch with the free school meals team iif they were expecting to receive a voucher but didn’t. You can email freeschoolmeals@devon.gov.uk or call 0345 155 1019.