Your Parish Council
You may be interested to know that your parish council can consist of up to ten members, including a chairperson and a vice chairperson. The council ordinarily meets ten times a year, on the second Monday of each month, aside from August and December.
Currently there are vacancies for three councillors. If you can spare some time, the parish council would appreciate your support, please make your enquiry about becoming a parish councillor to the clerk. We employ Jim Roberts currently as our clerk to run the administration of the council: he may be contacted by email at [email protected].
On-line you can find a full list of council members, their contact details and the committees they sit on at longdownvillage.com/parishcouncil where you will be able to keep up to date with the council’s latest minutes and agenda.
What we do
The main activities of Holcombe Burnell parish council include.
- Setting the annual precept, which is the amount we request as our income each year from Teignbridge District Council.
- With the precept the Council then meets its running costs including expenditure on the village website, a computer and IT software, Council meetings, community and capital projects, working groups, the annual production of accounts and audits for public accountability and the clerk’s salary. We are in charge of and administer the war memorial, two bus shelters, contribute financially towards the upkeep of the children’s play area in the Village Hall, supply and share the cost for the dog waste bins (along with the Village Hall Trust), containers with grit, grass cutting on some village areas and the upkeep of the defibrillator (at the village hall).
- Liaison with Devon Highways about traffic issues and speeding through the village.
- Scrutiny and comment on planning applications within the parish, submitted to the localplanning authority, Teignbridge District Council.
- Maintenance, repairs and improvements to footpaths within the Parish.
- Liaison with other local authorities on the maintenance, repair and improvement ofhighways, drainage, footpaths, street cleaning, conservation matters including trees andenvironmental issues.
- We operate on a small budget and many of the services we provide are funded by grantsand other external sources.
- There is a parish fund which has given assistance to projects in the village – recentlyincluding the Church Tower refurbishment fund.
A word from our Nature Warden
As well as being a Parish Councillor I am the Parish Nature Warden. This role was created in response to the ecological emergency, to put a spotlight on the issues facing our wildlife, by engaging the local community in action that can help. As well as checking through planning permissions’ likely impact on wildlife, the role involves parish wide public awareness campaigns. This has included hedgehog highways, encouraging residents to plant fruit bearing trees and picking up litter. By engaging with landowners and encouraging individual action, collectively we can make a huge difference and give nature more space to thrive. For more information about this role you can contact Kate by email [email protected] and mobile 07704122990.
Reporting a Pothole
It’s easy to do this on-line. You are encouraged to report potholes on:
https://www.devon.gov.uk/roadsandtransport/report-a-problem/report-a- pothole/
For streetlights:
https://www.lightsonindevon.co.uk/Public/ReportFault.aspx
Community Infrastructure Levy
The Parish Council receives payments for some new building works in the parish as part of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). There is a timeframe for which the monies collected should be spent on projects within the Parish.
Following on from a 2021 survey conducted of local residents, it was established that speeding vehicles passing along the straight on the B3212 and through Longdown village was a concern to many people and implementing some form of speed control was wanted. Consequently, the Parish Council and Devon Highways have been in discussion to how this may
be achieved within our limited budget (CIL=£7k). Pending on the findings from a Devon Highways report, vehicle activated speed signs will soon be in designated positions on the straight and on the approach to the village centre to remind drivers of the speed limit.
Coronation Coins for children of the Parish
To mark the occasion of the Coronation of his majesty King Charles III, Holcombe Burnell Parish Council is gifting a Holcombe Burnell Coronation coin to any child (16 and under) currently living at an address in the parish. Please contact Marion Bulley if you wish for your child to receive one of these special occasion coins. Contact email: [email protected]. Phone: 01392 811868 or DM her on Facebook
