AFTER many years serving as a local councillor, I decided to retire and spend more time with David and the family.

I started as a parish councillor at Sandford in the early 1980s.

There are many things I can look back on!

One thing I learnt early on was that working together makes decisions and achievements.

I joined the Devon Association of Parish Councils (DAPC now DALC) as a Mid Devon representative of parishes and served on that for 12 years.

During that time a Devon Land Bank was formed with an ambition to achieve Affordable housing.

In Sandford a local farmer/parish councillor put forward a piece of land and working together we as a parish, the DAPC and a housing association were the first in the County to finish an affordable housing scheme and Church Parks was the result.

It was a marathon to go through legal processes and setting up the first S106 was drawn up with Mid Devon District Council (MDDC) managing these schemes.

Another Sandford achievement that I was pleased to work with was the Millenium Green and footpath into Crediton.

It was a group in the community who started working together with the ambition to deliver a path into Crediton and I had the privilege to represent the Parish Council on the committee.

The next thing I recall was the purchase of the Shop/Post Office. I remember leading a sponsored parish boundaries walk. It is lovely seeing the community shop within the village.

I suppose communities are the important to me and what has inspired me to continue for so many years.

I continued as a Parish Councillor in Sandford during my first term on Devon County Council between 2001 and 2005.

In 2003 I was first elected to MDDC where I continued for 20 years, representing Sandford and Creedy.

It was in 2013 that I was again elected to DCC. Being a County Councillor especially in a very rural area is a busy life especially keeping in touch with the parish councils and I found I was out quite a few evenings and many evenings attending two or more meetings in an evening.

I found that I had other meetings on the same night as Sandford Parish Council and stood down as a parish councillor.

Newton St Cyres Parish Council meet on the first Thursday of the month on the same evening as Sandford and thankfully Newton St Cyres meet earlier at 7pm.

Over the years I have tried to attend meetings regularly. Over the wider area I have represented I have been privileged to see and been involved in other community initiatives – Kennerleigh Shop and Morchard Bishop pre school to name a couple.

I look at the things that I worked with when on Mid Devon District Council, especially planning and can see the difference it has made to the community. Now it is time for me to move on.

I wish the new councillor well and hope they will enjoy being a Councillor as much as I have.

It will be a very different Council going forward with the New unitary Authorities and Combined Authorities that the Government are proposing – at present both County Council and the District Authorities are working on options - it is a very busy time for the newly elected to be entering Devon County Council as it is now, and the changes that will be taking place with reorganisation.

Thank you to everyone for their support over the years.

Margaret Squires

Sandford