Views wanted on Newton Abbot traffic
Newton Abbot residents, businesses, commuters and visitors are being asked to give their views on traffic in the town by completing a short online survey.
The Newton Abbot Community Engagement Survey has been created by a partnership of Newton Abbot Town Council, Teignbridge District Council and Devon County Council and runs until 19 July.
Survey questions include preferred method of travel, whether respondents work or live in the town and length of commute. Respondents are being asked for their views on traffic flow and whether they think drivers generally keep to the speed limit, exceed it, or drive below the speed limit.
And for those who choose to predominantly walk or cycle in the town, it also asks if they feel ‘confident’ when crossing the road or cycling on the road.
A limited stock of printed versions will be available at the Library and Newton’s Place from Monday June 21.
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Everybody needs good neighbours!
Four Teignbridge waste crews and lorries have been deployed across South Hams over the last week, to support the district in catching up with its backlog following issues relating to the transfer of operator.
South Hams has publicly thanked Teignbridge for its neighbourliness and Cllr Alistair Dewhirst, Executive Member responsible for waste collection services, responded, saying: “We’re really pleased to be working with our district council neighbours to support them through this difficult period of transition, which has led to delays in their waste collections.
“It’s through this mutual support that we can deliver the best services for residents across Devon, and I’d like to thank our fantastic waste crews for stepping up to this additional role at a time of need.”
National recognition for leisure app
The Teignbridge Leisure App has been picked by LeapDriod as ‘best leisure app of 2021 (Android)’
Their article outlines LeapDroid's top picks for the best leisure apps, selecting a range catering to different needs in the leisure app space.
LeadDroid' selection is based on exceptional performance in one of three categories - User Experience, Core Functionality or Innovative solution.
Leap Droid provides market analysis, expert guides and expertise on the mobile app, mobile hardware and app industry.
If you use our leisure centres and have not downloaded the app, why not do so now?
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Covid efforts recognised
Teignmouth West's Cllr David Cox’s efforts to support people in the pandemic have been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours with the award of the British Empire Medal.
Cllr Cox helped set up services which delivered 200 meals a day to people needing support during the Covid-19 crisis.
“I’m very honoured and would like to thank the many people who nominated me. I am only a cog in a bigger machine of volunteers, the local community is truly amazing." said Cllr Cox.
Congratulations also to the Neighbourhood Friends Team of Volunteers (Westbank) and Volunteering in Health which have each received ‘The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service 2021’ – the highest accolade a volunteer can receive. The groups’ names and citations are published in a special edition of The Gazette.
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Car park closed on 25 June
As part of the work to complete the final stages of the Bakers Park project, the car park will be closed on 25 June to enable it to be resurfaced.
Over the past year or so, works have been carried out at Bakers Park to improve the well-used facility. Around £945k worth of improvement works include providing a new pavilion building, tennis court improvements, a new footpath and car park extension, all of which were fully funded from S106 agreements - contributions required by the council from contractors to provide community facilities and enhancements to offset housing developments.
Car park users will be advised via on the spot signage and during next week a new passing bay will be installed and general repair works around the car park undertaken.
Teignbridge is beautiful – let’s keep it that way!
Teignbridge is working with partners across Devon as part of Clean Devon, to tackle the issue of littering and flytipping, and ensure those responsible are caught and penalised.
Incidences of fly tipping are on the increase and the council is targeting ‘hotspots’ where rogue contractors are dumping waste collected from residents, rather than disposing of it responsibly.
Councillor Alistair Dewhirst, Teignbridge District Council’s lead member for waste and recycling said: “Many people don’t know that they are responsible for disposing of their waste – even if they pay a company to get rid of it on their behalf.
“So the onus is on the householder to check that the company they’re paying to get rid of their rubbish is disposing of it legally – if not, it could be a lot more expensive than they anticipated as they could be liable for a heavy fine.”
The council is also asking people to keep their eye out for illegally dumped rubbish and report it on their website, where it will be investigated and those responsible will be tracked down.
“We have such beautiful surroundings – coast and countryside, and we all want to keep it that say,” said Cllr Dewhirst. “Let’s all do our bit, and make sure our rubbish is disposed of properly, and that we keep an eye on our surroundings, so we’re doing it for our district, and doing it for Devon.”
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Site options consultation underway
Our eight week consultation on the latest step in updating our Local Plan is now underway and runs until noon on Monday 9 August 2021.
Please complete the online survey and give us your views on the site options being considered for new home building and for businesses creating local employment opportunities.
More sites have been identified in the consultation documents than will be needed to meet the government requirement for 751 houses to be built in Teignbridge per year and no decisions have been taken as to sites where development might take place.
All documents, including the feedback survey and A Need to Know Guide which provides a straightforward overview of the process and purpose of this stage in the updating process, are available at teignbridge.gov.uk/localplanreview. Throughout the consultation, paper copies can be viewed at our Forde House offices, local libraries and Town and Parish Council offices.
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Rural communities targeted for training
Devon based social enterprise, Cosmic, will be offering free training to rural communities in our region, supported by the Prince’s Countryside Fund.
The digital skills training is designed to support organisations to become more confident in using technology within their operations and practices, discovering the benefits available and getting to grips with the issues of online safety and security.
The Digital Skills for Communities programme will be offering three workshops:
- Digital Skills for Productivity
- Digital Skills for Communications
- Understanding GDPR & Cyber Security
The initiative is especially targeted at supporting community groups, parish councils and rural organisations in areas such as Dartmoor.
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Six awareness weeks in one
The first is Loneliness Awareness Week (14-18 June), when people and organisations join together to raise awareness of loneliness and to get people talking about it.
Art and creativity is the theme of this year’s MENCAP Learning Disability week which runs until Sunday
Men’s Health week runs until Monday and this year focuses on 'better mental health in a Covid world'.
‘We Cannot Walk Alone’ is the theme of Refugee Week 2021 and invites everyone to extend a hand to someone new. someone outside your current circle, has had an experience you haven’t, or is fighting for a cause you aren’t yet involved in.
The Citizens Advice ‘Scams Awareness Fortnight’ runs from 14 - 27 June and is designed to help consumers know what to do when they spot a scam and not to fall for them in the first place.
Finally Small Charities week aims to celebrate and raise the profile of the small charity sector and the many charitable organisations that every day make a huge difference to vulnerable communities right across Teignbridge, the UK and the rest of the world
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Care home visits: from Monday (21 June) residents will be able to spend more time with family and friends, including overnight stays away from care homes. Currently residents can only leave the care home for a visit if outdoors or for high-priority reasons. From Monday they will be able to leave the home for more social reasons without having to isolate.
People admitted to a care home from the community will no longer have to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival. Residents will be asked to take a PCR test before admission, a PCR test on the day of admission and a further PCR test seven days later.
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