Cullompton Town

TOWN MAYOR’S REPORT 2007 / 2008

TOWN MAYOR COUNCILLOR BARRIE MARSALL

I am now nearing the end of my second year as Town Mayor and, apart from a few minor hiccups, I have had a very enjoyable term of office. The Council’s greatest achievement over the past year has been the updating of the Town Hall, this includes new toilets with disabled facilities and bringing the council offices down onto the ground floor.

Following the sudden closure of the Mid Devon District Council offices last year the town was left with no Citizens Advice or District Council services. The Town Council has put in a great deal of time and effort, over the past year, negotiating with both these agencies and I am very pleased to report that the town will, once again, have access to both these services.

What else has the Council achieved in the past year? We organised, what have now become our regular annual events – the Town Picnic, which although marred by awful weather was still a great success judging by the number of people that came out in the pouring rain to join us - and also the Celebration of Christmas lights which, as usual, was very well supported. We arranged our usual series of Footpath walks, one of which ended with a BBQ at the Walronds and a couple of community litter picking events. We held regular Councillor’s Surgeries in the Town Hall to encourage local residents to come and meet their local Councillors and talk to us about their ideas and concerns. We hosted a reception for our French visitors from our twin town, Ploudalmezeau and I was proud to represent the Council at the dinner organised by the town’s Twinning Committee

We have provided additional play equipment and a youth shelter at the Upcott Field and the project to construct a new skatepark in Meadow Lane to replace the existing one, which is nearing the end of its useful life, is nearing completion. We supported the Youth Café project and, although this was not as successful as the Working Group had hoped, they are now hoping to set up a Youth Co-operative to provide young people with a means of organising their own events etc. We meet once a term with pupils from the local schools to find out their views and concerns and are currently working with the local traders to revive their business association and look at ways to encourage more people to use our local shops and businesses.

We have grants totalling £3844.11 to help local groups and organisations. We publish a bi-monthly newsletter, the Cullompton Crier, to let everyone know what is happening locally. All Council events are publicised in newsletters and through press releases, as well as on Notice Boards throughout the town and on the Cullompton website. I hope that all the events will be as well supported this year as they were last.

We respond to all planning applications about the local area and have attended several presentations from people wishing to develop in the local area. This includes plans for industrial and office units at Week Farm and housing development behind Langlands Road. We have held meetings with Planning Officers and Highway Officers to ensure we understand what the future plans are and how to influence those plans. In May we undertook a parking survey and in August we circulated a leaflet/questionnaire to every home in Cullompton to make people aware of proposals for more housing development and a road to relieve the town centre of heavy traffic. We collated the responses to both these surveys and have used the information to try and influence future planning policy.

We attended meetings with the Highways Agency to discuss improvements to the M5 junction, at the moment there is an embargo on any further development in Cullompton until there is agreement on what improvements are necessary and who will pay for them!

The police attend our council meetings occasionally to discuss law and order issues and keep the Council up-to-date with what they are doing, they also visit the Town Hall regularly to view CCTV footage. The CCTV system has now been updated to a digital system and is linked to Tiverton to enable it to be monitored if and when necessary. Our Committees meet regularly, the Properties, Personnel, Financial Management and Rural Roads and Footpaths Committees oversee the management of the Town Council’s general day-to-day responsibilities such as the cemetery, Town Hall, St Andrews Car park, recreation field, street furniture, street cleansing, weed control etc. etc. and the Promoting Cullompton Committee organises the events and does the promotional work.

We have a CCTV Working Group and a Website Working Group and we are particularly grateful to the voluntary members of the Website Working Group who strive to ensure that the Cullompton website is kept up-to-date.

I am very proud of the fact that in September 2003 Cullompton was granted “Quality” status – one of the first three Town and Parish Councils in England to be awarded this status – so we must be doing something right. Although it may not always appear to be so – this council works very hard to give the people of Cullompton a good quality service and I hope that we will always continue to work together to get the best for the people that live in our parish.

CULLOMPTON TOWN COUNCILLORS 2007/08

TOWN MAYOR

Cllr Barrie Marshall Penny Farthings, Crow Green 34871

DEPUTY TOWN MAYOR

Cllr Mike Thompson Dovelea, Exeter Road, EX15 1DX 38633

Cllr Mrs Eileen Andrews,5 Exon Buildings Exeter Road 38350

Cllr Graham Barden Londis, 3 Fore Street, EX15 1JW 33430

Cllr Mrs Jane Campbell Westbrook, Willand Road, 33300

Cllr Mrs Muriel Coxhead 14 Middle Mill Lane 32211

Cllr Mrs Wendy Gillings 10 Danes Mead 34202

Cllr Mrs Pauline Hammett 13 Honiton Road 38807

Cllr Graham Hollister 2 Honiton Road 34541

Cllr Brett Lewis 24 Bockland Close 839568 Co-opted June 2007

Cllr Brian Mitchell Leatway, Tiverton Road 32245

Cllr Mrs Jennie Rutley Manna Cottage, Ways Lane 32130

Cllr Ms Leah Wade 2 Sunnyside, Duke Street 33730

Cllr Mrs H Weinstein Lampra, 17 New Cut 32489

Cllr Ray Weinstein Lampra, 17 New Cut 32489

Income and Expenditure Accounts 2007/08

COUNCILLOR SURGERIES

ARE HELD IN THE TOWN HALL ON THE SECOND

SATURDAY IN FEBRUARY, APRIL, JUNE, AUGUST OCTOBER AND DECEMBER

AN OPPORTUNITY TO TALK TO YOUR TOWN,

DISTRICT AND COUNTY COUNCILLORS ABOUT

LOCAL ISSUES

JUST A FEW OF THE MANY ISSUES DISCUSSED AT COUNCIL MEETINGS DURING 2007/08

17th May 2007: Council received a presentation from Gladman Development with regard to their proposals for development for Business Park at Week Farm.

7th June 2007: Council resolved that the roads of the new development at Court Farm be named after famous Devon mariners i.e. Drake, Raleigh, Hawkins, Grenville and Gilbert.

21st June: Concern about proposal to build a single storey Children’s Centre at Cullompton St Andrews Primary School, recommend refusal of planning application as not considered to be an appropriate location.

5th July: Agree to add an inscription to the War Memorial in memory of Rifleman Daniel Coffey killed in action in Iraq

19th July: Receive presentation from MDDC Forward Planning Officers with regard to Local Development Framework Issues and Options Report details of proposals, together with response slips circulated to every household in Cullompton.

4th October: Recommend refusal of planning applications to construct priority junctions at Cross Parks and Tiverton Road to serve proposed new housing development behind Langlands Road.

18th October: Discussion with Citizens Advice Bureau with regard to reintroducing a service in Cullompton, possibly at the Town Hall.

15th November: Receive report on Youth Forum meeting held with representatives from all local schools, very constructive meeting.

3rd January: Receive details of meeting with Highways Agency to explain proposals to improve the M5 junction 28.

17th January: Concern about the detrimental impact road works are having on town centre businesses. Three shops have recently closed and Cllr Leah Wade offered to undertake a survey to find out how retailers are faring. Chief Executive expressed an interest in being involved in a Town Centre Working Group.

7th February Discussion with MDDC and Mid Devon Community Recycling about refuse collections and simplifying the current system.

6th March: Police report that they are working hard to reduce anti-social behaviour and drug related crime in Cullompton.

20th March: Council agree to support Police request for review of Manor House Hotel Premises Licence, discussion relating to draft “21st Century Cullompton: Planning a Future” document, invite MDDC Chief Executive and Forward Planning Officer to a meeting to discuss. Organise a “ Big Litter Pick “ for 26th April