Cllr Andy Swain
Ward: Teign Valley
Parishes: Ashton ; Bridford ; Christow ; Doddiscombsleigh ; Dunsford ; Hennock ; Tedburn St Mary ; Trusham
Mobile: 07756 253908
Email: andrew.swain@teignbridge.gov.uk
Following a recent inspection, Active4Today closed the fitness suite. The top floor closure on December 14th was needed for improvements to Fire Safety. The Town Council Trustees have ensured the appropriate membership fees were suspended while the fitness suite was closed. It re-opened on 25th January.
One week of freezing weather in mid December combined with heavy rainfall led to a huge number of potholes opening up across Nottinghamshire and, since then, the County Council has admitted it is "firefighting" just to bring the roads up to scratch.
Phase 2 of the works to improve play equipment on Norwood Gardens Play area has now been completed. The outdated play equipment has been replaced with more attractive, safer, and more child friendly apparatus. Some of the new equipment will appeal to a wider age range. This is a good example of the Town Council responding to an initiative from the local community. The Council agreed to fund the work out of Community Infrastructure Levy funds. The chair of the Town Environment Committee, Karen Roberts said "It's been quite a long wait, partially due to COVID, but we think that the end result is worth it".
For some elections, the Government now requires a photo ID to vote at Polling Stations. This will start at our local elections in May. A majority of voters already have an acceptable form of ID such as a passport, driving licence or bus pass, but not all do so.
There seems to be no progress on the Flood mitigation measures proposed for Minster and Harvey's Fields. Last February the Environment Agency asked for more information and the County Council finally passed this on to Via, the Contractor, in August. Since then no additional documents have appeared on the planning website.
News that the Conservatives at County Hall are planning a 5% tax increase couldn't come at a worse time. With household budgets squeezed, it will make things worse for people trying to cope with the cost of living crisis. Residents in band A properties will have to pay £53 more, with the top band H increasing by £159.14.