INSISTING their comments should not be taken personally by their local councillors, a small group of people from Yeoford asked for the village to split from Crediton Hamlets Parish Council and have its own parish council.

This was in response to Mid Devon District Council’s first stage of consultation of the Parish Review that began at the end of November.  This stage of the consultation ends on February 15.   

The Parish Review is what was known as the community governance review and will last a year.  This is different from the previous boundary review which was about ward boundaries.

After almost an hour of talking, the parish council took a vote among its members at its February meeting held at Yeoford with seven of the total of nine parish councillors voting for the council boundary to stay as it was.

Representing villagers, David Lucking explained their suggestion was for Hookway to join Newton St Cyres, the area north of the A377 to join Copplestone parish and to tidy up the Hittisleigh end of the parish with several properties including Eastchurch opposite the parish church to join Hittisleigh parish. 

WAR MEMORIAL

Mr Lucking said he understood Hookway residents “were moaning” about money being spent at Yeoford.

Cllr David Parker who lives at Hookway, said Hamlets had a long history and Hookway had always been part of Hamlets, with the War Memorial in Crediton bearing evidence of that.

Council chairman, Cllr George Mortimer, commented that the play area at Yeoford was the only one in the council’s area and that, over the years, funds up to £27,000 from S106/Community Infrastructure Levy had been allocated to Yeoford.

Former parish councillor Carl Wholey commented that the question was whether Hamlets Parish Council would respect the views of the people of Yeoford.

He said that the Community Hall, where this meeting was held, and the recreation ground beside it, were maintained by a committee and not the parish council, although that did support it.  

RESPECT VIEWS?

Cllr Mortimer reiterated that the money had been spent on the play area at Yeoford and there was not one in any other area of Hamlets.  None of the S106 money had come from the Hookway area.

When Mr Wholey asked again if Hamlets would respect the views of people if they asked for Yeoford to have its own parish council, Cllr John Stevens (vice chairman) asked how creating such a parish council might be done.

There was more talk about funding which led Mr Lucking to say they did not want S106 money, they wanted their own parish council.

Cllr Mortimer pointed out that five of the nine councillors were from Yeoford, others from Hookway, Venny Tedburn and Uton with one from Crediton.  The council had worked to find members from the different areas.

‘UNFAIR’

Cllr Nick Yarnold read a letter from Yeoford resident Mrs Morwenna Rogers who could not be present.  She had said it was unfair that Yeoford was treated as a satellite of Crediton when closer villages had their own council and especially as Yeoford had grown so much during the past 20 years. 

She felt it would be easy to find enough people to stand and the village would no longer have to battle for precept money to be spent there. 

There was more discussion about whether representation would be better or worse, about potential loss of local knowledge, that while it might not be ideal, Hamlets Parish Council did its best to represent and help the people of the different areas. 

Cllr Tony Price remarked that there was an election every four years and if people did not feel Yeoford was being properly represented …there was a sharp response from the public that they were not saying that.  

Mr Wholey stressed: “This is not about parish councillors, it is about boundaries.”

Councillors understood that the final decision on this lay in London and not Tiverton. 

The chairman urged everyone to write to the district council with their views about the review.