by Alan Quick

A COMMUNITY landing site for a Devon Air Ambulance to use during the hours of darkness has been installed at Morchard Bishop, much to the delight of local residents.

Last August Morchard Bishop Parish Council asked local parish councillor Dawn Parkhouse to investigate the possibilities of Morchard being able to provide a night landing site for the Devon Air Ambulance Trust (DAAT).

Looking at potential open areas in the village, Dawn approached the committees of Morchard Bishop Playing Fields, who manage the fields for the community, and Morchard Bishop Football Club, who own the nearby floodlighting, with both organisations readily offering their support.

Following a site meeting with representatives from each committee and Toby Russell, DAAT Community Helipad Development Officer, it was quickly established that the site would work well for night landing and the floodlighting could potentially be adapted to enable the Air Ambulance to operate remotely in case of an emergency.

Toby and colleague Rob Mackie, Safety Manager at DAAT, returned to Morchard one evening and looked at the floodlights in darkness and were very happy with the level of lighting they provided.

The community was then able to secure the funds, kindly provided through Devon County Councillor, Mrs Margaret Squires, to have the remote switching unit installed at the lights.

A few upgrades were made to the electrical system for the lights and the equipment is now ready to enable a Devon Air Ambulance to land in Morchard Bishop at night.

The official opening of the Helipad took place on Thursday, January 26.

Many local people attended and there were speeches from Toby Russell and Dawn Parkhouse.

Dawn cut a ribbon to "officially" declare the Helipad open before local youngster, Felix Denno (8) pressed a button to telephone the DAAT headquarters to automatically switch-on the lights for all to see.

There was a round of applause when the lights lit up the landing area.

Mr Russell, said: “This is another great example of a local community pulling together to enable us to land during the hours of darkness.

"The remote switching system is in place and operational and recently our crew carried out a training and familiarisation flight in to the landing site.

"That is a really useful exercise and means the pilots and paramedics have had the opportunity to see the site at night, make an approach, and get a feel for the layout including access at the site.”

He said the Morchard Bishop Helipad was the 24th to come into operation in the county and he thanked everyone who had made it possible.

He added that, currently, DAAT was able to offer a flying service until midnight but it was hoped to extend this when possible.

Dawn Parkhouse, said: “On behalf of Morchard Bishop Parish Council, we would like give special thanks to Morchard Bishop Playing Fields and Morchard Bishop Football Club, who without their support this project would not have been finished so soon and also everyone who has helped raise funds by donating money or supporting various events for our landing site, it has been a fantastic village effort.”

Keith Davies, chairman of Morchard Bishop Parish Council, told the "Courier": “On behalf of Morchard Bishop Parish Council I would like to thank not only DAAT but our Football Club, the Playing Fields Association, the generous donation received from Devon County Council and the fantastic support from our parishioners in the form of donations and fundraising events. It is due to you all that we now have this facility.

"It is an asset for our village that we hope will never have to be used, but if needed it is there and will save a huge amount of what could be critical time in getting help to patients.

"I must also pay tribute to the tireless efforts by one of our Parish Councillor’s, Dawn Parkhouse, who has been instrumental in bringing DAAT, the Football Club and the Playing Fields Association together. Dawn’s enthusiasm had largely been responsible for the success of this venture.”