ROADS, the poor state of the surface of some and speed occupied part of a recent Bow Parish Council meeting.

The parish council had asked Mid Devon District Council to knock some money off its invoice for a new dual purpose waste bin near the village Co-Op shop, the district council having disposed of the previous dog waste bin.

The problem was that the dog waste bin had been bought by the parish council who had asked the district council to return it so that the parish council could use it somewhere else in the village if needed.

But the district council had not done so when it put up the new bin.  So the parish council has said if the district council was unable to return the old bin and was not able to supply a replacement to compensate, the parish council expected an appropriate allowance off the invoice.

POOR ROADS

The poor state of the road surface at the Station Road junction with the A3072 had been reported to Cllr Frank Letch, Devon County Council member for the area.  Also that the surface of Bow Mill Lane had significantly deteriorated.

It was understood that because of staff shortages, a site had yet to be identified by the police for a Community Speedwatch on the A3072 western approach to the village for eastbound traffic.

Cllr Letch reported that as from this May, county councillors’ Locality Fund had been reduced from £10,000 to £8,000.

He also reported that the county council had paid approximately £16,000 compensation for vehicles damaged by poor road surfaces etc over the previous year.

The parish council had received the Devon Association of Local Councils (DALC) newsletter including a survey for members’ views on the issue of speed on rural roads, specifically single-track lanes.

Members discussed this but did not feel that speed on single-track lanes was a particular issue at Bow, so did not complete the survey.