Cllr Alan Connett is asking residents to ‘report a pothole’ near their home.

The recent bad weather has been the cause of a sudden rash of potholes, says Alan.

He’s asking residents to report potholes so the details can be passed to Devon highways for them to be repaired.

Alan explained:” Devon is putting more money into highways maintenance next year but the snow and bad weather has left potholes, which need to be filled.

“I know highways staff are working hard to get the worst filled but there are some, especially in a rural patch like mine, which may be overlooked. Residents can help by reporting potholes to me and I will pass on the details.”

Potholes can be reported using the email link on this website. Thank you.

Telefonica O2 has now put in a planning application to Teignbridge Council to site a 12.5 metre mast in the Reddaway Drive/Farmhouse Rise area of Exminster. This is an update to my recently delivered Focus newsletter, which was printed before the application was submitted.

I have asked O2 to hold a meeting in the village for residents, so they can ask questions about the plans and learn more about why O2 has selected this location. I will let residents know as soon as I can if O2 agrees - or not.

In the menatime, any comments residents wish to make about the proposal must be with Teignbridge District Council’s planning department by 04 March 2009. Only planning reasons can be taken into consideration - not concerns about health related issues, for example.

The sorts of reasons that residents may like to think about are: is the proposed mast out of keeping with the area; will it affect the setting of a listed building (*); do you think there is a better location; would the mast detract from the visual amenity of the area.

(*) Devington Park, the former Exminster Hospital, is a Grade II* listed building. It’s said to be in the top 10% of most important listed buildings in the country.

Finally, it is always best if residents write or email their comments individually. The more people that write their own letters or send emails, the more it shows the strength of feeling in the local community. ‘Round-robin’ letters and petitions can be much less effective than letters and emails from individual residents, writes Cllr Alan Connett.

A report on the planned Turf to Powderham section of the Exe Cycle Way is likely to go before planners at Devon County Council at the next meeting of its Development Control Committee on Wednesday 11th March, with a recommendation to have a site visit.

If agreed, the site visit - for Members of the Committee — is likely to be on Wednesday 1st April with the application finally decided at the Development Control meeting on Wednesday 15th April, writes Cllr Alan Connett.

Reddaway Drive in Exminster will continue to be gritted up until April, Devon Highways have confirmed.
They were responding to Exminster Parish Council, which was concerned about safety on this road which is steep min places.
Highways staff will decide if Reddaway Drive is included in next winters gritting programme during their annual review later this year. “I certainly support its inclusion,” says Cllr Alan Connett.

O2, the mobile phone firm, are reported to want to put a phone mast close to the junction of Reddaway Drive and Farmhouse Rise in Exminster.

I have been in touch with O2 asking for full details and will publish them on this site as soon as possible. However, at the moment there has been no planning application made to teignbridge District Council.

Additionally, the triangle of land on the junction of Reddaway Drive and Farmhouse Rise is owned by Exminster Parish Council. This means the Parish Council would also need to give its agreement before any mast could be placed on its land.

Planning applications can be checked out on the Teignbridge website - www.teignbridge.gov.uk — and if an application from O2 is made, there will be time for residents to make their comments and views to the council. Alan Connett
Alan Connett.

Teignbridge provides high quality advice and support to women who suffer from domestic violence and other forms of violence against women, the council has confirmed.

It issued a stement following publication of a report by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission which listed it as one of the authorities in the UK not to offer a ‘specialised support service’. This assertion, based on research which does not properly take into account partnership and county-wide projects, inaccurately implies that Teignbridge does not provide support to victims of domestic violence.

Teignbridge Council is keen to emphasise that it plays active roles in a wide range of support services run throughout the county and also as part of the Teignbridge and South Hams Domestic Violence Forum. These include:

Funding ADVA (Against Domestic Violence & Abuse), which is delivered across the county by Devon County Council,
Providing a grant to Exeter Women’s Aid,
Supporting South Devon Women’s Aid, including running a feature with its details in Teignbridge Life magazine, delivered to every household in the district, and operating a service level agreement for its Torquay based safehouse.
Setting up a domestic violence safehouse in partnership with Teign Housing. This project has secured planning consent and work will start on the final stages of it soon,
Supporting and facilitating a ‘sanctuary’ scheme, which provides additional security (such as new locks and safe rooms) in people’s homes,
Providing advice and contact information for support services over the phone, in person, and online.

Any women suffering domestic violence or abuse can contact the council for advice on 01626 361101, or call South Devon Women’s Aid’s confidential helpline number on 01364 644088. An advice line for men is available on 08450 646800.

Teignbridge councillors are being urged to freeze their allowances and use the £19,000 saved on schemes to help residents through the Credit Crunch.
It’s part of a package of measures councillors will consider on February 10 to combat the economic downturn and provide more support to residents in need.

Options include more money for the local Rent Guarantee scheme to help people into private housing, better promotion of the Credit Union, which helps people save and offers low cost loans, and more support for advice services used by residents.

Today (February 2), Teignbridge also announced a plan to make parking free on Sunday afternoons in all its car parks during February and March as a trial measure to gauge any potential benefits. The decision will go ahead unless opposed by five councillors, said Teignbridge Leader Alan Connett.

He explained:” We will be freezing all our car park and leisure charges from April, if our budget is approved, and we want to see if free parking on Sunday afternoons will help encourage more people to visit, shop or go for lunch in Teignbridge. We plan to run this as a trial scheme during February and March, subject to no councillors opposing this.

More good news for residents in Teignbridge, which already has the second lowest level of council tax of any district in Devon, is that the ruling Liberal Democrat and Independent administration have cut back on the proposed 3.9% rise in Council Tax from April to 3.5%. The national Local Government Association says this is likely to be the average rate across the country.

Cllr Connett added:” Over the past few years Teignbridge has become one of the lowest in Devon for council tax. We keep spending under constant review and have cut back on the rise planned for next year. If approved, our increase will be just £4-98 next year, down from the £5-55 first suggested.

Teignbridge is also planning more support for much needed affordable housing projects, energy efficiency measures to help make existing homes warmer and a package of loans and grants to help renovate older homes and also to bring empty properties back into use.

The final decision on the council’s budget and council tax will be made on 23 February.