 Feedback from local residents over the last ten years has shown demand for investment in the town centre, and a desire from local businesses and market traders to create opportunities for growth and to diversify. Nationally the trend for online shopping has had a significant impact on town centres, but these plans aim to position Newton Abbot as Devon’s premier market town, enabling people to buy locally produced food, drink, groceries and crafts, have a coffee or a meal in the market hall, and then see a film at the new cinema or a band in the multi-use performance space.
In a survey on the market quarter proposals, one trader said: “We welcome the enhancement of the customer journey and experience whilst staying in keeping with Newton Abbots heritage of a historic market town."
A spokesman from Scott Cinemas, who will be running the new 4-screen state-of-the-art cinema, said: “We are excited by the council’s plans for the centre of Newton Abbot and look forward to being able to give local people and visitors a modern multi-screen cinema with the increase in choice that this would deliver.”
To help deliver these transformative plans specialist advisers Quarterbridge conducted a feasibility study on the proposals and also looked at other options put forward but couldn’t find an alternative plan that was deliverable or that wouldn’t require ongoing subsidy from the Teignbridge taxpayer. The £9m funding is dependent on all of the elements being delivered as part of the transformation, and this needs to be achieved by March 2024.
Councillors will be asked to approve the budget and business case - which includes significant funding from the Government’s Future High Streets Fund - and the final detailed plans will require planning consent before being implemented.
Two surveys in one
To help us shape our budget for the coming financial year we asked local people to complete a survey giving their views on how we should spend our money and to tell us how satisfied they are with the services we provide.
The survey, which ran from 16 December 2021 to 25 January, was promoted through our website and digital channels and attracted 355 responses.
Thanks to everyone who took part - the budget responses are being shared with councillors ahead of the budget setting council meeting on 22 February and the satisfaction feedback will be used to help shape future services.
|
Budget feedback supports proposed council tax rise
Plans to increase council tax in Teignbridge by 2.78% to help maintain essential services were supported by residents. Fifty seven per cent of respondents ‘strongly agreed’ or ‘agreed’ with the proposal which, if approved, would result in a £5 increase in the council tax paid next year on Band D properties. Only 28% of respondents disagreed with the proposal.
In other responses 63% agreed that we should prioritise housing by enabling/building affordable housing and improving poor quality homes; 78% agreed we should support the economy and jobs through improving town centres; and 82% agreed businesses should be encouraged to set up in the area. Only 24, 9 and 5% of respondents respectively disagreed with these aims.
Our commitment to working with our partners to support climate change initiatives and take action to reduce our carbon footprint was supported by 68% of respondents with only 16% disagreeing.
Respondents also supported investment in schemes that promoted better health and wellbeing through leisure and recreational spaces, with 72% in favour and only 8% against and 82% agreed we should be investing in schemes that create better transport links.
|
Survey shows three quarters of residents satisfied with council-run services
As well as asking people for their feedback on our budget proposals, we also asked a number of questions that would help us to shape services and how we provide information to residents and businesses.
In response to the question: ‘How satisfied are you with the way the council run things, over three quarters (76%) were ‘Very’ ( 27%) or ‘Fairly’ (49%) satisfied.
We also asked residents how satisfied they were with Teignbridge as a place to live. Over a quarter (27.6%) said they were very satisfied, with just under a half (49.3%) fairly satisfied, and there were no respondents who said they were very dissatisfied.
We also asked people about their satisfaction in two key services; waste and recycling collection and street cleansing.
Over three quarters of respondents are very (44.5%) or fairly (33.2%) satisfied with this service; with 5.4% very and 10.4% fairly dissatisfied.
Satisfaction with the street cleansing service was lower, with 12.7% and 30.8% of residents very and fairly satisfied respectively; and 17.2% and 19.5% fairly or very dissatisfied.
When asked how well informed we keep them, around 70% of residents say we keep them very (22%) or fairly (48.4%) well informed. We then asked people to pick from a number of sources where they get their council information from, with almost half choosing our newsletters (44.6%) and website (48.5%), as their main sources, followed by our social media channels (28.2%) and local media (23%).
On the issue of trust to make decisions about how services are provided in your area, local council (50%) was significantly higher than Government (3.3%) although trust in neither was high at 41%. And when asked about individuals making service decisions, trust in local councillors (47.3%) was higher than in MPs (4%) or government ministers (2.8%) . Forty five percent of respondees said they did not trust councillors, MPs or government ministers to make decisions on services.
|
Decarbonisation project on hold after local construction firm goes into administration
Midas Group, the main contractor for our work to decarbonise and refurbish our offices at Forde House has formally appointed administrators and all work has ceased on our offices. Our thoughts are with the workforce and their families at this difficult time. We are currently investigating the options available to us to secure continuation of work and to progress it as quickly as possible.
The other decarbonisation work on Newton Abbot and Broadmeadow Leisure Centres and the Teignmouth Lido are unaffected by this, as work is being delivered by other contractors.
|
Make a difference this year – help others learn digital skills
Eleven million people in the UK lack the everyday digital skills many people rely on to do things like stay connected with friends and family and to access online services like healthcare and banking.
Teignbridge CVS want to teach 100 people digital skills to help them connect with their communities. They are recruiting Digital Befriending volunteers for a major new charity project across Teignbridge and the South Hams. You don't have to be a tech expert, just have the patience to help others get online!
Register your interest on the online form or contact ruth@teigncvs.org.uk for a chat..
|
Vulnerable 5–11-year-olds now eligible for Covid-19 vaccine
Paediatricians in Devon have offered reassurance about the Covid-19 vaccination to children who have become eligible for the vaccine and to their parents.
Dr Corinne Hayes and Dr Emily Chesshyre, who are both paediatricians based at the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Trust, have recorded a short video explaining that the paediatric dose of the vaccination is known to be safe and has been widely used in this age group in other countries
Children aged 5 to 11 years, who are clinically at risk from Covid-19 or who live with someone who is immunosuppressed are now eligible for a lower child's dose of the vaccine.
Eligible children include those with diabetes, immunosuppression, learning disabilities, and other conditions such as chronic heart or kidney conditions.
|
Help towards childcare costs
HM Revenue and Customs is reminding parents that they could be missing out on an opportunity to get up to £2,000 a year to help with the cost of childcare. Tax-Free Childcare – the 20% childcare top-up – provides eligible working families with up to £500 every three months (or £1,000 if their child is disabled) towards the cost of holiday clubs, before and after-school clubs, childminders and nurseries, and other accredited childcare schemes.
Half term closure for bridge repair
Shaldon Bridge will be closed during the half-term holiday from Monday 21 to Friday 25 February for repair work.
The work consists of repairs to the bridge wall and other safety checks and necessary repairs will be carried out at the same time.
|
Resilience grants available
The Devon Community Resilience Board is highlighting grants that are available through two schemes as part of its “Fast Track” Devon Emergency Resilience Fund: up to £250 is available for communities that wish to develop their own Community Emergency Plan and up to £1,500 can be claimed for small scale works and resilience equipment
More information and application forms are available via Devon Community’s web pages dealing Grant Funding For Community Emergency Resilience
|
Stone barn conversion wins national award
The conversion of an 18th Century Devon stone barn into a modern three bed holiday let property has won a national award
The distinctive heritage building, Willowplatt Barn in Aveton Gifford triumphed in the “best conversion to create a single new home” category in the national Local Authority Building Control Awards, having also triumphed in the regional south west awards at the end of last year.
This was one of four projects handled by Devon Building Control that was shortlisted in the national finals.
Nigel Hunt, Head of the Devon Building Control, which oversaw the conversion of the barn, which had been unused for 40 years, said: “‘The project was a deserved winner in a highly competitive category. The finished build has resulted in a 21st Century interior providing an efficient use of space within a beautiful historical stone exterior which sits comfortably within its environs.”
|
Improvement work to cause some disruption
GWR and Network Rail are highlighting the rail improvement work taking place over the coming weeks and advising travellers to check their journeys in advance.
Track replacement and platform refurbishment works are taking place on all weekends this month, at Dawlish with buses replacing trains between Exeter St David's and Plymouth. Non-stop buses will also run between Tiverton Parkway and Plymouth
Trains will continue to run between Plymouth and Penzance as well as between Newton Abbot and Paignton (except Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 February)
Trains from London Paddington and Bristol will terminate at Taunton or Exeter St David's.
|
|
