Jan1

ITEMS OF NOTE From the Parish Council Meeting January

Parish Council budget

The Parish Council has set its budget for next year. It will be asking the council tax payers to pay more. The average band D property is likely to pay £31.00 instead of £25.00. The increase in budgeted spending is just over £5000. Of that only about £500 is increased spending on administration and most of that is inevitable. The remainder will be spent on new or improved works in the Parish. The Council's reserves are planned to stay the same as they should be at the end of this year. Over the last three years the Council has been building up funds to pay for improvements to the path in Candy's Field and a second path in the Parish Cemetery. By building up reserves in this way, major items can be paid for without any great increases in the Parish Council part of the Council tax.

The Boat SHELTER area. Public Meeting to be arranged

There was further discussion about the signs in the Boat Shelter area. The Harbour Association had had their own meeting last week to explain the reasoning to its members and concluded that the signs should stay. There is still some concern by the Parish Council and some local residents over the nature of the signs. The harbour Association has been asked to hold a public meeting in the Village Hall to explain the signs and its views for the area to all in the village. Notices will go on the Parish Notice boards when the date is fixed.

How good is our Village

The Parish Council has agreed that it must enter the Calor Village of the Year competition again this year. It was very close last year and a very informative report was received from the Community Council of Devon. Councillor Jane Moffatt (tel 279952) will be able to start the process but will need some help in preparing for the competition. Why not give Jane a ring to see if you can help.

The Parish Council has also received requests to enter the Best Kept Village organised by the CPRE and the Britain in Bloom Competition. The Village has been very successful in the past and has trophies in the Village Hall to remind us of this. There will be a lot of hard work by volunteers if past successes are to be repeated. The Parish Council has agreed that this should be raised at the Annual Parish Meeting in April when there will be an opportunity for volunteers to come forward.

Clerk to the Council: A J Le Riche, DMS, 43 Salisbury Road, Exmouth, EX8 1SL, Tel 279665/ 07866 535580 lympstonepc@leriche6.wanadoo.co.uk

FROM THE EDITOR

A happy new year to everyone. I hope you managed to make some resolutions and are still keeping them.

CYCLE PATH A few days before Christmas the word spread around the village that the Lympstone to Exmouth section of the cycle path was open. There was no road furniture (litter bins and the like) but the covers had been stripped off the footpath signs (showing a bike) and people were already taking their dogs down it. More of a roller coaster than some might expect, although wheel chairs seem to have no difficulty, and with a surface that was unexpectedly patched in places (subsidence already?) all classes of footpath users were enjoying a new country walk. Boxing Day was the first real test. By 2pm people were joining the path at the Lympstone end at the average rate of two a minute (120 an hour - more than a 1000 a day). Dog walkers, wheel chair users, pram pushers, power walkers, cyclists: in family groups and solitary scenery viewers, in both directions and in all ages - all were enjoying it. The only danger seemed to be little girls on pink bikes who had yet to learn how to control their speed and give way to old ladies. The old path on the water side of the lines is still there (the railway authorities have a duty to maintain this path) but it is already looking neglected. Safety signs have yet to be put up through the village to warn the unwary of the dangers of the blind bends and short sharp sections of Sowden End but the number of bikes carelessly dropped outside the Swan indicate that many from Exmouth are already enjoying the new path – officially to be opened on Friday the 29^th of February

Chris Carter, Editor The Lympstone Herald and www.lympstone.org