Issue 5
First, a reminder that you are always welcome to attend our regular monthly meetings, held in Endecott House on the 2nd Monday of every month at 7.30pm. The agenda is posted on the notice board on Wednesday or Thursday before each meeting.
If you would like to receive a regular copy of the newsletter by email please contact Ruth the clerk with your email address
News since issue 4
• The Parish Council has a logo. Now at the top of this Newsletter. Back in March we held a logo competition and we are delighted to show you the result! Thanks to Cornelia Holyoak, our competition winner and local artist Steve Dooley, this wonderful design has been created, that captures the essence of Chagford.
• Bellacouch Car park is being used more and more. We have now signed a contract with National Grid to provide us with an electricity connection so that we can install the pay and display machine that has been ordered. National Grid has a lead in time of 12 weeks so it is likely to be late autumn before it is functional – it will continue to be free till then. We will also be installing EV chargers, but these won’t be in operation till the New Year.
• Padley Common. Plans are afoot to do some work on Padley Common. Come and find out more on September 6th and 7th in Endecott House. 2-6pm both days. We will have information about what is planned, and why. And there will be tea and cakes.
• The Men’s loos in the market house have had recurrent problems. Someone (or some people) has repeatedly removed or broken the door handles to the cubicles. This causes difficulty for people wanting to use the loos and costs the PC money to repair or replace the handles. Please could the culprits find something less destructive to amuse themselves.
Other Items
• Dog poo. Not a pleasant topic, but one that generates a lot of feeling. Most dog owners are responsible and clear up after their dogs when they are out walking. However, a small minority do not, which can be unpleasant for others if they accidentally step in the pile; it can pose a significant health hazard – particularly to children playing in the grass where dogs have been – and it can cause pollution to the river if it is near the riverbank. Please – be a responsible dog owner and clear up after your dog. Dog poo can be put into general household waste, and bags of dog poo should not be left hanging on hedges or gate posts. West Devon no longer provides dog poo bins (although they continue to empty the ones we already have at not inconsiderable expense to the Parish Council). So – please pick it up and take it home! Along with any other litter.
• Wales and West gas supplier will be doing a lot of work to renew gas pipes in the autumn and this will cause some inevitable disruption to our roads between November 2024 and spring 2025. We will post more detailed information on our noticeboard and Facebook page when we have it.
• Come and chat to us at the Flea Market. We share a table with our district councillor Jane Elliott at the Friday morning Flea Market – usually the first Friday of the month.
• We continue to hear concerns from people about traffic problems in Chagford – people driving too fast, not paying attention to narrow roads and driving dangerously on the pavements, potholes etc. you can Report a problem on the Devon County Council website – google ‘DCC highways report a Problem’ and you should get to the right page.
Feedback please
Please feel free to give us feedback on our newsletter clerk@chagfordparish.co.uk and let us know what else you would like us to tell you about.
And do follow us on Chagford Parish Council’s Facebook page – we use it to post news items.
Jill Millar
(chair)
First, a reminder that you are always welcome to attend our regular monthly meetings, held in Endecott House on the 2nd Monday of every month at 7.30pm.
If you would like to receive a regular copy of the newsletter by email please contact Ruth the clerk with your email address clerk@chagford-parish.co.uk
News since issue 3
Feedback please
Please feel free to give us feedback on our newsletter clerk@chagford-parish.co.uk and let us know what else you would like us to tell you about.
Jill Millar
jill.millar@chagford-parish.co.uk
(chair)
Issue 3
First, a reminder that you are always welcome to attend our regular monthly meetings, held in Endecott House on the 2nd Monday of every month at 7.30pm. If you would like to receive a regular copy of the newsletter by email please contact Ruth the clerk with your email address.
News since issue 2
• At last, the Bellacouch Car park is open and being used! There are still some important features that are not yet in place. Signs for the footpaths into town have not yet been installed – but will be in the pipeline very soon. An information board with a beautifully illustrated map by local artist Sara Nunan is being made and will soon be installed. Parking is free at the moment, but a Pay and Display machine will be installed at some stage in the next few months. We will publicise on our Facebook page as well as on notice boards when this is going to happen. We also hope to install EV charging points in the not too far distant future.
• We are delighted to announce that our logo competition was won by Cornelia Holyoak. She will be working with a local artist to complete her design. Here she is receiving her prize, a voucher to spend at Astor’s, our fabulous book and art store.
• Our Parish Annual Assembly took place on April 18th and was very well attended. Our community raised several valid points; these will be followed
up in the first instance at our monthly meetings. Watch out for a copy of the minutes on the notice board. It was followed by cheese, wine and soft drinks which were enjoyed by many.
• Topics raised by parishioners at the Annual Assembly included:
Streetlighting – Is it too bright? How much is it affecting wildlife? Is it on for the right times at night?
Redesign of the square – now that we have more car parking space in the new car park could part of the square be pedestrianised?
• Our Facebook page (Chagford Parish Council) has been getting more attention, and we use it to post news items. Do try and follow it if you can. We are also in the process of updating the website.
Other Items
• Rogue Traders - A warning from South Devon and Dartmoor Community Safety Partnership
We have been made aware of incidents in Devon of rogue traders knocking on doors and suggesting work needs carrying out on the owner’s roof. These people are giving the false impression of being a local reputable company making it difficult to instantly recognise as a rogue trader. Advice from the Local Authority, Devon and Cornwall Police and Trading Standards is not to employ anyone knocking on your door touting for business; they have asked town and parish councils to advertise this message in their newsletters and on local notice boards so we can get this message to those residents who are not regularly on social media. For more information visit www.tssw.or.uk/doorstep_crime
• Asian Hornets
You may have heard about Asian Hornets. An Asian hornet arrived in France from China in 2005. It had accidentally been shipped there with some pottery. Since then, it has bred and spread steadily through Europe and was first found in the UK in 2016. It hunts, kills and eats bees, both wild bees and honeybees, and many other pollinating insects. In has greatly reduced the number of honeybee colonies in Europe and is a very serious threat to bees. Our European bees have not evolved to defend themselves against the Asian hornet, whereas they survive happily alongside our native European hornet. The Asian hornet looks different to the European hornet – it is smaller and has yellow legs and a red head.
The European hornet has brown legs and a yellow head. There is a very useful free App which you can get on a smart phone called Asian Hornet Watch which has good pictures for identification as well as the facility to notify a possible sighting. If you think you have seen one, don’t kill it but report it, either using the App, or email alertnonnative@ceh.ac.uk. If seen, the aim is to track them back to their nest and destroy the nest. The picture below shows an Asian hornet on the left and a European hornet (much bigger) on the right.
• Verges
Wild flowers are blossoming on our verges. A lovely early purple orchid has appeared on the bank past the school.
We need to celebrate and protect these plants and avoid mowing them!
• Chagford Library
Our library is on the side of the Jubilee Hall, beside the car park. It is open Tuesdays 3-5pm, and Fridays and Saturdays 10.30-12.30pm. In addition to being a lending library for books for all ages, it has free access to computers and Wi-Fi. Library membership is free. Printing, photocopying and laminating are available for a small charge. The library hosts regular events for adults (eg Knit & Natter) and children (eg Bounce & Rhyme, and Lego Builders). Library card holders also have free access to digital services such BorrowBox (eBooks, eAudiobooks, eNewspapers and eMagazines), Naxos Music Library (over 2 million classical music tracks), Ancestry.com and Which.
Date for your diary
D-day celebrations
Chagford will be joining the national celebrations for the 80th anniversary of D-day on June 6th. Put the date in your diary. A beacon will be lit on the top of Meldon at 9.15pm and there will be other activities as well. Watch out for more detail on the notice board and on our Facebook page.
Feedback please
Please feel free to give us feedback on our newsletter (clerk@chagfordparish.co.uk) and let us know what else you would like us to tell you about.
Jill Millar
jill.millar@chagford-parish.co.uk
(chair)
Issue 2
First, a reminder that you are always welcome to attend our regular monthly meetings, held in Endecott House on the 2nd Monday of every month at 7.30pm.
If you would like to receive a regular copy of the newsletter by email please contact Ruth the clerk with your email address clerk@chagford-parish.co.uk
News since issue 1
Dates for your diary
The Parish Council Annual Assembly will be held in Endecott House on April 18th at 7.30 pm. Please put this date in your diary. There will be a variety of presentations and updates.
D-day celebrations
Chagford will be joining the national celebrations for the 80th anniversary of D-day on June 6th. Put the date in your diary. A beacon will be lit on the top of Meldon at 9.15pm and there will be other activities as well. Watch out for more detail.
Other Items
Update on Grants available for Chagford Parishioners
The second round of grants for community projects from Chagford Community Trust will be available soon. Closing date for applications is 30th March 2024. See their website for further details https://chagfordcommunitytrust.org.uk/
Feedback please
Please feel free to give us feedback on our newsletter clerk@chagford-parish.co.uk and let us know what else you would like us to tell you about.
Jill Millar
jill.millar@chagford-parish.co.uk
(chair)
Devon County Council have published a list of funding and opportunities for residents.
The link below will go to the list of funding categories and from there you can drill down into the category you are interested in:
Tips to reduce energy usage
1. Install low energy light bulbs
2. Always turn taps off
3. Switch off lights when leaving the room
4. Close and tuck in curtains to keep in the heat
5. Take showers, not baths
6. Keep showers to 4 minutes
7. Wash laundry at 30 degrees
8. Unplug appliances when not in use
9. Draught proof gaps
10. Don't overfill the kettle
The aim of this Parish Council newsletter is to let you know more about what we are doing. We aim to produce a newsletter every 2-3 months. First, a reminder that you are always welcome to attend our regular monthly meetings, held in Endecott House on the 2nd Monday of every month at 7.30pm. And please do keep an eye on the website where you can see who we are – and our photos, as well as latest updates.
We will post this newsletter on the PC notice board, as well as on Facebook. If you would like to receive a regular copy by email please contact Ruth the clerk with your email address clerk@chagford-parish.co.uk
What have we been doing?
New Climate Crisis Working group
Update on Grants available for Chagford Parishioners
Additional Thoughts
Litter bins in the skateboard park have been emptied up till now by Parish Councillors, which is a bit of a safety and hygiene hazard as they are not being properly used. We intend to remove them, and instead to have a sign saying ‘please take your litter home’.
The Borough Council (who organise emptying of public bins) do not recycle rubbish in public bins, and there is a significant cost to emptying which would increase our council tax. We also do not intend to have litter bins in the new Bellacouch car park, but again to have a sign asking people to take their litter home.
Feedback please
Please feel free to give us feedback on our newsletter clerk@chagford-parish.co.uk and let us know what else you would like us to tell you about.
Jill Millar
jill.millar@chagford-parish.co.uk
(chair)
Details of the specification can be obtained from the Parish Clerk: Ruth Wright 07720780278 or e-mail clerk@chagford-parish.co.uk
A member of the Council will be available to walk around the area with you and explain what needs to be done. Please contact the Clerk to make arrangements.
Tenders should be submitted by midday on Friday 8th December 2023, addressed to the Clerk at Meldon View, Mill Street, Chagford TQ13 8AR.
Within your tender please include:
Relevant qualifications
Relevant commitment to Health and Safety Issues
Relevant risk assessments required to carry out the tender.
Relevant insurance details
Planned time span required for the work (with an understanding that owners of cars parked directly next to the trees will need notice to move their cars)
Cost of the work
Please submit your tender in a sealed envelope with ‘tender’ clearly written on the outside of the envelope in order that all tenders may be opened and considered at the same time.
Tenders are being sought for a handyman/odd job person to fulfil jobs as they arise within Chagford Parish. Work carried out will be paid at an hourly rate. Jobs will vary but currently include:
Details of the specification can be obtained from the Parish Clerk: Ruth Wright 07720780278 or e-mail clerk@chagford-parish.co.uk
A member of the Council will be available to walk around the area with you and explain what needs to be done. Please contact the Clerk arrange this.
Tenders should be submitted by midday on Friday 7th December 2023, addressed to the Clerk at Meldon View, Mill Street, Chagford TQ13 8AR.
Within your tender please include:
Relevant qualifications and experience
Relevant commitment to Health and Safety Issues
Relevant risk assessments required to carry out the jobs mentioned above
Relevant insurance details
The time frame you realistically expect to be able to attend to a job
Hourly rate
Please submit your tender in a sealed envelope with ‘Handyman tender’ clearly written on the outside of the envelope in order that all tenders may be opened and considered at the same time.
CHAGFORD PARISH CELEBRATES
Sunday 7th May
Chagford Parish Council invites all the Parishioners to Lunch on the Jubilee Field at 12.30 p.m.
Please bring you own cutlery, chairs and picnic rug
Following Lunch
There will be a presentation of Coronation Mugs to all Parishioners under 16 years of age on the 1st September 2022
Monday 8th May
Celebrate the work of all the Community Volunteers
Bring your picnic to share on the grounds of Chagford House, between 12 noon and 4.00 p.m.
Everyone is welcome.
The Annual Chagford Parish Assembly will take place on Thursday 20th April 2023 in Endecott House at 7:30pm.
Everyone is welcome
The Parish Meeting by law may discuss all parish affairs and pass resolutions.
AGENDA
4. To receive the following Financial Statements
5. To receive The Annual Report of the Parish Council – Chairman Cllr: Gay Hill
6. To receive the DCC report from Cllr: James McInnes
7. To receive the WDBC report from Cllr: Nicky Heyworth
8. Business Brought forward at the Chairman’s discretion
Parishioners who wish to submit questions to be presented at the meeting must do so before Friday 14th April 2023 at 12 noon
clerk@chagford-parish.co.uk or to Tattenham, Easton, Chagford TQ13 8DQ
THE CELEBRATIONS INCLUDE ALL CHAGFORD PARISHIONERS
Thursday 2nd
June
Beacon on Meldon Hill to be lit at 9.45 pm.
Light Refreshments will be available.
Meet in the Square at 8.45 p.m. to walk up to the top of Meldon
Friday 3rd
June
Cream Tea in Endecott House.
Everyone welcome.
3.00 p.m. – 5.00 p.m.
Saturday 4th
June
Coffee Morning in Endecott House plus a raffle.
10.00 a.m. – 12.00 noon.
Sunday 5th
June
Chagford Parish Council are holding a Picnic in the Jubilee Park for everyone at 1.30 p.m.
Please bring your own cutlery and crockery plus your picnic rug or chair. Picnic lunch will be provided and drinks will be available.
All contributions will be welcome and please bring food if you have a special diet.
Following lunch, Jubilee Medallions will be presented to all parishioners under the age of 16 on 1st September 2021.
The Government has said that everyone should have ‘decent’ broadband. They brought into force legislation that gives eligible UK addresses the right to request a ‘decent and affordable’ broadband connection through the BT Universal Service Obligation Scheme. The Government will contribute £3,400 per premise for fibre – irrespective of whether the premise is residential or a business.
A decent connection is defined as one that can deliver a download speed of at least 10Mbps and an upload speed of at least 1Mbps. Affordable means it doesn’t cost more than £46.40 a month.
While your fixed line broadband may have a connection speed of less than 10Mbps, if you are able to get fixed wireless or mobile broadband then you are unlikely to be eligible.
If you think you may be eligible then please use the contact form to register your interest.
Whilst the above really only applies to premises in remote locations the Government has also set a minimum target of 85% gigabit coverage by 2025. (Gigabit means 1000Mb download speeds!). In reality this means towns and cities.
However, Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) has been set up to help achieve superfast broadband speeds for the rural areas of Devon and Somerset which are outside of the 85% coverage. There may be grants available for premises where the download speed is less than 30Mb. These are typically for a group of premises or businesses banding together to create a community scheme.
Please get in touch with us if you want faster broadband - we need to assess the demand and the larger the groups of premises the more likely it is that a community scheme will be funded.
A vacancy exists on the Parish Council, due to a recent resignation, which is to be filled by co-option. The term of office will run until May 2023 when there will be Parish Council Elections.
If you would like to serve as a Councillor please apply, in writing to the Clerk, Tattenham, Chagford TQ13 8DQ or by email, clerk@chagford-parish.co.uk, providing brief background details and stating why you would like to join the Council by Monday 21st February 2022.
To qualify, a person must be a British subject, aged over 18 years old and be on the electoral role, must reside in, or within 3 miles of, the Chagford Parish boundary or occupy as owner or tenant any land or premises therein, or have their principal or only place of work there, and must not be disqualified from holding office as a Councillor.
If you require further information, please contact the Clerk to the Council, clerk@chagford-parish.co.uk or the Chairman, chairman@chagford-parish.co.uk or use the contact form on this website.
Date 4th February 2022
Signed S. Curtis
West Devon Borough Council waste and recycling collections over Christmas 2021
For information on what items can and can't be recycled see the West Devon Borough Council Recycle Christmas page.
Please note:
If you subscribe to the garden waste service, you can put your real Christmas Tree out for recycling alongside your green sacks between 10 January and 21 January 2022.
It's now even easier to recycle your food waste, as you can line your caddy with any bag or liner such as salad bags, cereal bags, bread bags or carrier bags.
Unfortunately we can't recycle cards containing glitter or plastics, or any wrapping paper.
Thank you to everyone who spared the time to drop into the Consultation and write their comments.
The full report will be given at the Annual Parish Assembly in April 2022
In the meantime, all the comments will be reviewed and considered alongside the topics.
There will be small groups of Councillors and Parishioners who will explore the ways that everything can move forward.
The 20mph will require working with Highways and Devon County Council in order to reach a conclusion which is suitable for all concerned.
The Bike Stands and the reordering of the Square will need to look at insurance liability, who will pay, who will maintain and take responsibility for the projects, so there is a lot to consider.
It is evident that the Parishioners would like a Burial Ground including Woodland Burial, Natural Burial and Cremation. Initially it will be important to work with members of the Church as a suitable piece of land is difficult to find.
If you would like to be part of one of the groups, please contact the Clerk (clerk@chagford-parish.co.uk)