Colyford Residents Association

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December 2019 "Newsletter"

Ancient Borough Of Colyford Logo


Dear Members,

Firstly on behalf of the committee may we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and the hope that progress on issues around the village moves forward positively for everyone in 2020. 

Please note that the date for the Old Cricket Ground Planning Appeal Hearing is now Wednesday 15th January 2020 starting at 10am in Colyford Memorial Hall (See report below).


Here is a review of the events and the CVRA's achievements over the past year:-

LIGHT  CONTROLLED  PEDESTRIAN   CROSSING

As you may recall the location for the new Pedestrian Crossing has been discussed at length during the year by all parties involved, and the CVRA attended several meetings with the Grammar School and DCC Highways in an effort to progress things towards installation. The situation eventually stalled with DCC Highways saying the cost has escalated beyond the budget available and the school saying that without their presence there would be no need for a crossing, which flies in the face of us, the villagers' experience! We have recently written to Neil Parish, just as the election hustings started and he has verbally confirmed to the CVRA Chair (Ian Priestley) that if re-elected he will get involved and treat this as a priority.

THE VEHICLE  ACTIVATED SIGN  (VAS) and SPEEDWATCH

Both Vehicle Activated Signs have been working now for several months at each end of the village, with mixed results in curtailing speeding vehicles. My personal observation is that around 30% of vehicles actually respond when the signs flash and slow down a little, however I'm sure you all have your own view on their efficacy! It is better to have the signs in place than not however. The Speedwatch Team have recently been refreshed and we hope to see more speed monitoring within the village by the team in the future.

COLYTON PARISH NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN (NP)

As we reported over the year, CVRA have worked hard to try to make the draft Neighbourhood Plan more watertight, especially in the parts that address the Green Wedge protection. Our thanks are given to Committee Member Peter Mason for all the hard work he has done researching the Green Wedge protection issues and his subsequent submissions to strengthen the NP wording. Several of our general recommendations have been adopted in the draft wording, except in regard to the Green Wedge, however our concerns have recently met with some acknowledgement from the NP Steering Group that the Green Wedge section could be reviewed, and a CVRA committee member has now been appointed to attend future Steering Group meetings to ensure that progress and potential issues in the final preparation of the NP are properly communicated to the community so that suitable public evaluation of the draft can be done.

THE OLD CRICKET GROUND SITE COLY ROAD,  COLYFORD

The new date for the appeal hearing has been set for Wed 15th January in the Memorial Hall. The Planning Inspector for this appeal is Mr H Nichols. The hearing commences at 10am and is likely to go on for several hours.

CERAMTEC SITE DEVELOPMENT

The planning application to develop the old Ceramtec site went through several iterations during the year, with CVRA individual members and the committee making recommendations to EDDC towards the final approval, which eventually confirmed 72 homes of which 15 will be affordable. The site will continue to be developed by Homes England rather than being sold on, which means that the numbers actually built should match up well with the approved application figures.

COUNCIL ELECTIONS MAY 2019

In the local council elections in May this year several new people stood for election, some of them CVRA members, and there were sufficient candidates to trigger an election. As a result several of our members were elected to Colyton Parish Council. This will enable us to scrutinise the workings of the CPC more fully and help ensure that issues of importance to the village are given proper prominence in the dealings of the council.

CUTTING of GRASS VERGES in COLYFORD

The CVRA pointed out to Colyton Parish Council that their budget on maintenance has to date been spent rather unevenly around the parish, Colyton getting the lions share of the limited maintenance which is provided. After some fairly lively debates with us the CPC have finally agreed to fund cutting of some verges around Colyford, so you should see the village looking a bit neater over the next year.

COLYTON PARISH COUNCIL - COUNCILLORS' SURGERIES 

During the year one of our committee members Eddie Jones, together with Howard West, who are both now parish councillors, has started holding councillors' surgeries for parishioners to discuss face to face any issues or ideas they would like to raise with the CPC. Two have been held so far and have been useful and successful.

CVRA UPDATES and SOCIALS

In addition to a number of committee meetings, we have had several member update meetings this year to report progress to members and gauge the general mood in regard to the various issues which we have all been dealing with around the village. We have endeavoured to make these as social as possible with refreshments and background discussions within each. We will be holding more in the future, the next being the AGM, a date for this will be announced fairly soon.

Best wishes for 2020
Rob Kenyon
Secretary

Colyford Village Residents-Association