Now that the bird nesting season is over, August is a good time to tidy and cut back hedges where needed and to clear ditches ahead of autumn and winter rains.
Parishioners are reminded that it is generally the landowner’s responsibility to keep hedges cut back and ditches clear of debris and blockages. Guidance issued by Devon County Council can be found here (ditches) and here (hedges) and in the attachments below
We are pleased to report that Devon County Council have officially approved the Parish Council’s request for a 40mph speed limit on the A386 around the Mary Tavy Inn junction. The decision was taken at the DCC Cabinet Meeting held on 14th June. The 40mph limit will replace the current National Speed Limit (60mph) on this stretch of highway.
A site visit was made in May by the DCC Cabinet Member for Highway Management along with County Councillor Philip Sanders and Highways Officers (including the Road Safety team). They all supported the proposed speed limit of 40mph, overturning the initial Highways recommendation that no reduction in the speed limit was necessary.
The scheme will be delivered pending suitable funding being identified and once identified, the works will be added to the Traffic Order programme with delivery likely in 2024/25.
In plain language this means that we should get the speed limit reduced to 40mph in 2024/25! The Parish Council will maintain a dialogue with DCC Highways to ensure the change is made as soon as is practicable.
The current Parish Council would like to thank the previous Parish Council for pursuing this issue, the people of Mary Tavy for supporting it and completing the petition and the owners of the Mary Tavy Inn for providing CCTV images that highlighted the dangerous nature of this stretch of road. Thanks also go to Terry Pearce (the then West Devon Borough Councillor) for his support as well as to Devon County Councillor Philip Sanders and the West Devon Highways and Traffic Orders Committee (HATOC).
Mary Tavy Parish Council has joined Devon Highways’ Road Warden Scheme. 2 councillors have been trained (at Highways’ expense) as Road Wardens by completing the Chapter 8 (Signing, Lighting and Guarding) course.
You can see a description of the Road Warden Scheme and the activities Wardens can undertake here: https://www.devon.gov.uk/communities/opportunities/road-warden-scheme
One of the tasks Road Wardens can perform in the parish is to fill small potholes that are not big enough to meet Highways’ intervention criteria. Highways personnel will only fill potholes that are larger than 300mm in length/width, are more than 40mm deep and have a vertical edge. More details of “Highways-actionable” potholes can be found on their website at: https://www.devon.gov.uk/roadsandtransport/report-a-problem/report-a-pothole/
This website should also be used to report potholes that you believe meet Highways’ intervention criteria.
In order for the Road Wardens to deal with minor potholes, Mary Tavy Parish Council has acquired a quantity of cold fill tarmac that is recommended to give a lasting repair. This material has been obtained free of charge by means of a grant from Devon Highways.
In the coming weeks the Road Wardens will make a start on repairing potholes that, in their judgement, will not be fixed by Highways but can be improved using cold fill tarmac. The first defects to be treated will be a series of potholes in Chapel Lane, Mary Tavy.
The Road Wardens have 2 requests:
The Road Wardens:
Paul Reid
Martyn Griffiths
Notice is hereby given that all headstones in Mary Tavy Parish Cemetery will be inspected for stability during May 2023.
This will involve a basic hand test to determine if there is movement in the headstone and to what extent. The test will be carried out by a trained staff member who has completed the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management’s (ICCM) course in memorial inspection.
Grave owners will be notified if a problem is found.
The staff member undertaking the assessment will make a decision on the memorial’s overall safety based on a dynamic risk assessment for which they have been trained. Once inspected, each memorial will fall into one of three categories- 1, 2 or 3. For more detail on the category system that will be used, please download the Memorial Management Policy below.
There will be an election for the West Devon Borough Council Mary Tavy Ward on Thursday 4th May 2023. Four persons have been nominated. Details of candidates can be found in the attachment below along with the locations of polling stations.
Following the recent uncontested election, there are still two seats available on the parish council. The next set of parish councillors that will take office in early May are therefore permitted to co-opt two new councillors to join them.
If you’d like a seat on the parish council please contact the parish clerk for further information and an application form.
Closing date for applications: Tuesday 9th May 2023
Seven nominations were received for the post of councillor on Mary Tavy Parish Council.
Since the council has nine seats, all seven have been duly elected uncontested.
Details of the elected councillors are found in the attachment below
The nomination period starts today (Thursday 23rd March) and will last until 4pm on Tuesday 4th April.
For further information, please see the attached Notice
The nomination period starts today (Thursday 23rd March) and will last until 4pm on Tuesday 4th April.
For further information, please see attached Notice
West Devon Borough Council is no longer including a hard copy of their waste collection calendar with the council tax bills recently sent out by mail.
You can request a hard copy here
Alternatively, download the attachment below
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