HOW Crediton could use a share of £100,000 to help its High Street is to be the subject of a meeting on May 1, Crediton residents were told at the annual town meeting.

They were also asked for their views on Crediton being listed as a "dementia friendly town" and whether they would pay for weeds around the town to be sprayed or do the weeding themselves?

The annual town meeting is called by Crediton Town Council, but is not a council meeting, although the chairman of the council has to be chairman.

Ron Cuthbertson of the Senior Voice was asked to give the town council more information on what being a "dementia-friendly" town meant.

Feeling of the meeting was that people would prefer to pay for weeds on roads and pavements to be sprayed rather than get out with the weeding tools themselves.

An interesting talk about issues relating to the Mid Devon Corporate Plan was given by Amy Tregellas, the district council's head of communities and governance.

Amy was quite obviously passionate about her work and kept the attention of her audience, even though the subject could have become extremely dry.

She said the district council had been awarded £100,000 from the government's High Street Innovation Fund, which was partly about reducing the number of empty shops.

There would be a meeting on May 1 with representatives of Crediton Chamber of Commerce plus representatives of Tiverton and Cullompton Traders' Associations and the three town councils.

"It is important each of the three towns has a share of this money and that it is used in the best possible way for that area," Amy said.

On working more closely with businesses, Amy said she had run a visioning event in Cullompton and planned to do the same in Crediton and Tiverton.

Each town would have its own Local Action Plan which would give it more community leadership and control.

She added that one problem frequently raised was that the local educational colleges were not providing people with the skills needed by local businesses.

On car parking, Amy said that to be able to provide free car parking would mean cutting front-line services, which district council ratepayers did not want.

She hoped a meeting would be held in Crediton in May to look at such issues with a local plan to be produced by September.

Chairman, Cllr Frank Letch, explained that he spends at least an hour on the town council stand at the first Saturday Farmers' Market each month so that people can talk to him and hopefully be directed towards an answer.

He said community groups would be working together for the town's entry in South West in Bloom contest, in which the town council and Chamber of Commerce were working together.

He said he enjoyed being Mayor and chairman of the council and felt the town had a forward-looking town council that was trying to make some difference to the town.

Cllr Martin Binks reported on the work of the town's four district councillors over the year, adding that the Localism Act was causing problems because planning was "dramatically changing" but as yet nothing had been agreed.

Cllr Nick Way spoke of his county council work. He explained that Crediton's was possibly the largest resurfacing road programme being carried out by the county council this spring. He had been working with the highways department to try to minimise disruption, but some could not be avoided.

Cllr Way added that he had regular meetings with the highways department where he takes up issues raised by residents or groups such as the town council, of which he is also a member.

He reported that the 315 and 51 bus services were now calling at Crediton Railway Station and, although at some times the service "could be better," it was hoped this would improve.

"This is something the councils have tried to sort out for many years," he said.

Cllr Way added that the Tarka railway line was becoming even more important, with use of the line increasing dramatically.

"Twenty years ago we fought hard to keep the line open, now we are being proved right," he added.

He said he opposed the idea of the county council charging for on-street parking. Commenting that it would be "an incredibly retrograde step."

With the help of town traders, a petition signed by more than 1,000 people objecting to the idea had been presented to the county council.

Sue Read