New Teignbridge facilities for people with a range of physical disabilities and profound learning disabilities are due to be completed by the end of June, in three locations across the district. 

Changing places provide sanitary toilet stations for people with multiple and complex disabilities who have one or two assistants with them. Whilst standard accessible toilets meet the needs of some disabled people, over 250,000 people across the country need personal assistance to use the toilet or change continence pads, including people with profound and multiple learning disabilities, spinal injuries and people living with stroke. 

The new facilities will be available at Decoy, Dawlish Lawn and Dawlish Warren, and are all due to be completed by the end of June. 

Read more on our news site

Applications to the Household Support Fund are confidential so if you have never needed help in the past there is no shame in doing it now if your circumstances have changed and you can’t pay your bills and are getting into debt.

We're changing the way you can comment on planning applications on our website, to make it easier for you to see your comments and view the applications you're interested in.

From Wednesday 12 June you can log into your Teignbridge My Account (or register if you don’t yet have one) and you can then view and comment on planning applications whenever you're logged into your My Account. You'll receive an email confirming receipt of any comments you make, which will immediately upload to the website without having to wait for them to be manually added.

You can also report any inappropriate comments, and once this comment has been reported it will be hidden until we can review it. This review may result in the comment being removed totally, edited then republished or accepted as it is. Once we have made this decision no further reports can be made for that comment.

As well as submitting comments you will be able to save searches and request notifications of status changes on applications.

Councillors have appointed a new Chair of the Council for this year, who is Dawlish Councillor Rosie Dawson.

The Chair represents Teignbridge at all civic and ceremonial events. They also chair full meetings of the Council and conduct the meeting in a fair and impartial way. A new chair is usually appointed at the first meeting of the Council at the start of the municipal year. As Chair, they cannot be a member of the Executive although they may be a Member of any of the Council's committees or review groups but only in their capacity as an ordinary Member of the Council.

Cllr Dawson replaces Cllr Chris Clarance who held the post last year.

Deputy Chair is Chudleigh Councillor Suzanne Sanders, who replaces Cllr David Cox.

Teignbridge Arts Project (TAP) will shortly be open for applications to fund arts projects across the district. To support people to make applications, DAISI will be hosting a pop up clinic next Wednesday (5 June) at Newton Abbot and Kingsteignton Library.

TAP is a competitive grants scheme that aims to enhance Teignbridge’s existing opportunities to experience and participate in the arts. We welcome bids that support exhibitions and public performances as well as those that focus on stimulating wider participation, especially in under-represented areas.

We're working with a group of volunteers on the ‘Teignbridge Arts Project Advisory Board’. The Board is made up of local arts experts from across the district, who will oversee and manage the grants scheme. Pop up clinics will be taking place to support applications 

Join the TAP mailing list and register your interest in the scheme here.

We've been working with a local ecologist to protect a rare plant at our Dawlish Warren Nature Reserve.

Petalwort, a miniscule plant that looks like a tiny lettuce only 2mm across, is a highly protected type of liverwort. It has long made its home at Dawlish Warren, but with climate change and increasing numbers of visitors, its existence is under severe threat.

To preserve the plant at our popular destination, South East Devon Habitat Regulations Partnership monitors its growth at the site. This monitoring highlighted the plant’s threat of extinction so with the help of grant funding we've worked with a local ecologist to move the plant to a safer place at Dawlish Warren.

This is just one of a number of important Teignbridge species growing on our special Nature Reserve at Dawlish Warren.

These plants are extremely vulnerable so it’s essential that visitors do not light barbeques or fires anywhere at Dawlish Warren – including the beach, the dunes or anywhere at all on the Nature Reserve.

To find out where you can go to enjoy a barbeque safely, visit BBQs | South East Devon Wildlife.

Read more on our news website

After the recent Police and Crime Commission elections, Teignbridge residents will be taking to the polls again in less than two months, to cast their vote for their MP in the general election, taking place on Thursday 4 July.

Here are the important dates to remember, if you're planning to vote at this election.

If you've never registered before, have moved house or have changed your name, the deadline to register to vote in the Parliamentary general election on Thursday 4 July is Tuesday 18 June.

If you want to apply for a postal vote you need to do this by 5pm on Wednesday 19 June. You must also be registered to vote by 11:59pm on Tuesday 18 June. 

You will need to show an accepted form of photo ID to vote at polling stations. If you don't have one, you can apply for a Voter Authority Certificate. The deadline for this is Wednesday 26 June.

Find your nearest polling station

Universal Credit is simplifying the benefits system by combining the following six benefits and tax credits (Housing Benefit, Income Support, Income-Based Job Seekers Allowance, Income-Related Employment and Support Allowance, Working Tax Credits and Child Tax Credits) into one single monthly payment.

From April 2024, the Department for Work and Pensions is writing to some people who receive these benefits to let them know that they need to claim Universal Credit instead, to ensure they still continue receiving financial support. This letter is called a ‘Migration Notice’.

You do not need to take any action until you receive your Migration Notice letter, however when you do, it’s important you check the date that you will need to claim by as you won’t be moved automatically.

Please don’t ignore your letter as it explains what you need to do next. It also provides information on the help available to prevent you from missing out on financial support from the government.

If you want some help with your Universal Credit application or you’re concerned about managing your income until you receive your first Universal Credit payment, there are different types of support available.