The Parish Annual Meeting will take place in the Old School Room at 7:00pm on Tuesday 14 May. It will be followed at 7:30pm by a regular meeting of the Parish Council. The agendas are now available:

Annual Parish Meeting Agenda 14 May 2024

Parish Council Meeting Agenda 14 May 2024

The minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 12 March are now available. Click here: Parish Council Meeting Minutes 12 March 2024

The April/ May edition of Alwington News has been published: click here: Alwington News

The Alwington Annual Horticultural Show will take place in the Village Hall on Saturday 17 August, starting at 2:30pm.

The schedule of classes and prizes is now available. Click here: Horticultural Show Schedule

Concern has been expressed locally about road traffic accidents that have taken place recently at the bus stops in Fairy Cross. The Parish Council has been concerned for many years about the speeds at which cars and lorries drive along the A39 at Fairy Cross and has made enquiries of Devon County Council (DCC) about traffic calming measures ranging from speed limits to light-controlled pedestrian crossings.

The current advice is that 40/50 mph speed limits can be put in place outside 30 mph limits where there is a speed-related casualty accident history; requests which do not meet these criteria may be considered through the departure from policy procedure. Transitional speed limits may be considered where communities are located closely together (less than 800 metres). 

However, DCC has said that “whilst there is collision data recorded for this location it would not qualify as a cluster site to support a departure from policy”.

The most up-to-date collision data can be views on this website: https://vzsw.traffweb.app/traffweb/1/PublicMap. This includes only collisions recorded by the Police that occurred on a highway, involved one or more vehicles and human death or personal injury and which were were notified to the Police within 30 days of occurrence.

The Parish Council will continue to make representation to DCC as well as considering other options available to us locally.

Devon & Cornwall Police have produced a helpful page on their website entitled “Personal fraud and how to prevent it.” It describes ten golden rules and other helpful information including a downloadable booklet entitled “The Little Book of Big Scams.” The web page can be found by clicking here: Personal fraud and how to prevent it

A vacancy has arisen for a Councillor to sit on Alwington Parish Council. Councillors work together to serve the community and help the Council to make decisions on behalf of the local community.

Applicants must be at least 18 years old and be an elector of the local council; or in the past 12 months occupied land or other premises in the area the local council serves (as owner or tenant); or work in the area local council serves (as your principal or only place of work); or live within three miles of the local council boundary.

For more information please contact the Clerk by email at parish.clerk@alwingtonparish.org or in writing at Alwington Parish Council, Withy Barn, Fairy Cross, Bideford EX39 5DW

Note:

A by-election will be held to fill this vacancy if at least ten electors request it within 14 days (not including weekends and public holidays). If there is no demand for a by-election, the council will fill the vacancy by co-option.

Torridge District Council is able to provide support for those most impacted by the rising cost of living. As well as details of food banks and warm rooms there is also a Household Support Fund that can provide help, primarily with energy bills but also water bills and food vouchers.

For details click here: Cost of Living Help

Torridge District Council offers a loan scheme ranging from £1,000 up to £20,000 with a 4% fixed interest rate, regardless of the amount you borrow. This initiative aims to provide homeowners with accessible financing solutions for essential property improvements and renewable energy measures.

Torridge District Council works closely with Lendology CIC, who understand the challenges homeowners face when funding property repairs and adaptations.

For more information click here: Lendology or telephone 01823 461099

Our local policing team is based at Bideford Police Station. The team is committed to working with local people and partner agencies to tackle key priorities for the neighbourhood. More details can be found on this flyer which is also on the parish noticeboards: click here Bideford Neighbourhood Police

Further information about the local policing teams can be found on their website: click here Local Policing Teams

Works Reference: LM211MT10352773

Notification of Road Closure on Road from Acre Road to Normans Cottage, Horns Cross.

South West Water has applied for a road closure to complete utility works near Brittons Farm. These works, subject to approval from Devon Highways, will take place between 22 and 24 May 2024

All efforts will be made to maintain access to properties within the area of closure and to minimise disruption.

For more information contact the Helpline on 0344 346 2020.

The Parish Council regularly reports the existence of potholes in the parish to Devon County Council and updates are provided at each Parish Council Meeting. DCC will only repair potholes that have a 40 mm (4 cm) vertical edge and are 300 mm (30 cm) wide.

The terms of reference of the sub-committee formed by the Parish Council to develop the Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Gardens can be seen under “Governance” in the “Governance and Planning” drop down menu under “Parish Council” or by clicking here

Airband is under contract to provide a super fast broadband service to the parish using fibre optic cable to the premise (FTTP) using funding from DCMS via Connecting Devon and Somerset.

The rollout will utilise existing infrastructure (BT/ Openreach/ Western Power).

For more information click here: Airband Superfast Broadband