THE March meeting of Newton St Cyres Parish Council was held via Zoom on Thursday, March 4.

It was attended by eight Councillors, the Parish Clerk, the Mid Devon District Councillor, Graeme Barnell, the Devon County Councillor, Mrs Margaret Squires, and two members of the public.

The Parish Council extended its sympathy to the Quicke family on learning of the recent death of Prue Quicke. She was a much-liked parishioner within the village of Newton St Cyres and will be fondly remembered.

Highways Issues

Many of the existing minor highways issues remain unresolved, despite our Devon County Councillors efforts to bring them to the attention of the Highways department. However, there is one piece of good news.

We have several volunteers who are prepared to become Community Road Wardens. This will enable them to fill in some of the minor potholes on the smaller roads. They will be provided with materials to do this but must undertake safety training before they can start work.

The training was suspended for a year because of the Covid pandemic but will resume shortly and the council will put forward their names as soon as possible.

We also have news about the footpath from the lay-by to the bus stop at Half Moon. Devon County Council has been in contact with the Brewery and it actively seems to be planning for this to be constructed at some point.

The final approval for the Puffin Crossing in the village centre was due to have been given by the time this article is published. Although a little delayed because of the pandemic, it should be in place for the start of the autumn term.

A request was submitted from a member of the public for the paving to be dropped by the bus stop at Tything Close to allow pedestrians with mobility problems easier access to crossing the road.

The problems with crossing the road at this point were discussed and the council will be seeking some sort of solution as part of the planning stipulations for the development of the new school site.

Some streetlights in the centre of the village appear not to be working. We were reminded that non-working streetlights can be reported on the DCC website on this page: https://www.lightsonindevon.co.uk/Public/ReportFault.aspx .

The speeding of traffic on the A377 was briefly discussed but as this will be discussed more fully at the upcoming Annual Parish Meeting, details will be included in the report for that meeting.

Pollution Monitor

There is a pollution monitor measuring nitrogen dioxide levels in the village centre. This is a pollutant produced by road traffic and can adversely affect human health.

Levels of nitrogen dioxide are said to be concerning if they average in excess of 40 µg/m3 measured over a 12-month period. We recently received the levels for 2020.

In no month last year did they exceed this value, although the values in January, November and December were in the mid to high 30s. Considering that the Covid pandemic reduced traffic throughout the year, we need to keep a close eye on this over the next months.

Village Centre Telephone Box

The village centre telephone box has become a dumping ground for old books. Books have been piled up on the floor and left in stacks outside the box.

Consequently, most of the donated books have become ruined by damp and have to be discarded. Also access to the defibrillator is impaired. The main purpose of this telephone box is to store the defibrillator and so residents are requested not to leave any more books at this site.

Other Parish news

• A new bench made from recycled plastic was selected to replace the existing rotten wooden bench near West Town Road. This has been funded by a grant from DCC.

• The water depth markers have been replaced at Langford Bridge.

• New signs have been made for the resilience sheds giving up-to-date contact numbers in case of emergencies.

• The Annual Parish Meeting was to be held on March 11.

The next meeting of the Parish Council will be by Zoom on Thursday, April 1 at 7pm. Should any member of the public wish to attend, they should contact the chairman of the council, Jim Enright, on: [email protected] before 6pm on the day of the meeting.

Alternatively, if members of the public wish issues to be raised in council meetings, they can contact councillors in the usual way.

Liz Ouldridge