2025: Week 31 - Birds, Carnival and Prisons

We’re well into the swing of summer recess now, I’ve been hosting pop up meet and greets around the constituency, where it has been lovely to meet both residents and visitors to the area, and hear about their concerns and issues. I’ve also been busy attending meetings, events, and seeing what unique businesses are in the region, I’m always amazed at the creativity and ingenuity of the people who live in this corner of Devon.

We also have very diverse habitats, from coastal to the vast moorlands of Dartmoor, forests and lowlands, and amongst these a number of Sites of Special Scientific Interest. We also play host to a variety of wildlife and birds, including one species which has been under threat nationally, the Cirl Bunting. I was invited to Labrador Bay by the RSPB to try and catch a glimpse of these elusive birds, and to learn about their habitat and why it must be protected into the future. It was a beautiful day to visit and the RSPB team are incredibly knowledgeable, though sadly, we didn’t manage to spot a Cirl bunting this time. The site is inspiring in that it’s a good example of farming practices being able to go in hand with restoring biodiversity and working in environmentally sustainable ways. The landscape at Labrador Bay is worked by a nature‑friendly farmer, featuring a mosaic of stubble fields, grassland, and scrub, managed partly with Dartmoor ponies and grazing cattle to keep habitat open and diverse which are conditions that support around twenty or so Cirl Bunting breeding pairs.

It was Dawlish Carnival Week and as always the committee (who are all volunteers) put on an outstanding week for all, especially so this year as a large portion of the Lawn in Dawlish is out of action due to the South West Water works. During the week I was lucky enough to be one of the judges for the Town Crier Competition, where Town Criers from across the region come to compete in categories such as “Loudest Cry”, “Best Dressed Crier”, Best Dressed Couple” and others. It is a fabulous sight to behold when these criers get together, and they can certainly make themselves heard! I also took part in the parade, where I joined in with the ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ theme this year. It was a brilliant carnival once again and I thank the Carnival Committee for working tirelessly to create such a brilliant week of events.

On a more serious note, I visited Channings Wood Prison. It was primarily to see the expansion works and understand the work of the prison but we also discussed the closure last year of Dartmoor Prison after the discovery of radon gas, and how Channings Wood are managing as they took on a number of prisoners from Dartmoor. Whilst the inmates in these facilities are there because of criminal convictions, we must ensure that they are being treated fairly and not subject to overcrowding or substandard conditions.