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Parish Council News and Updates
Parish Council News and Updates
South Tawton Parish Council wish to consult Parishioners on the future funding of the public toilets in South Zeal Recreation Grounds and making our roads safer.
Please come along to the South Tawton Parish Council annual parish meeting Monday 23rd March 2026, 7.30pm South Zeal Victory Hall (free refreshments 7pm)
Under the Local Government Act 1972, the views of residents will be considered at a future parish council meeting and no decisions will be made on the night.
The toilet block was built on land owned by the Recreation Ground Association, who offered the land to West Devon Borough Council in 1971 for use as public toilets. WDBC paid for the toilet block to be built and the toilets were opened in 1980.
Between 1980 and 2004 the toilets were managed and maintained by WDBC.
In 2004 the toilets management and maintenance were transferred to South Tawton Parish Council, rather than face closure by WDBC.
The deed of transfer states the toilets shall belong to and be the absolute property of the Rec Ground Association and the Rec Ground Association declares it owns the land and the toilets.
The Parish Council declares that it is responsible for the management and maintenance of the toilets.
In order to pay for the management and maintenance of the toilets, South Tawton Parish Council set a budget each year and funding is received from each tax paying household in the Parish, as a parish precept, via your council tax payment to WDBC.
The Parish Council have had to double the public toilet block budget for 2026-27 onwards, due to ongoing and future maintenance and management costs.
You will notice on your council tax bill that from April 2026 the precept for South Tawton Parish Council is £37,737, and from this sum, the total cost for the toilet block maintenance and management is estimated to be £10,900 (29% of total precept).
The toilet block is now in need of total refurbishment, including new electrics and water investigations for a possible leak, at considerable cost to taxpayers of the Parish.
Grants may be available to the Council to assist with the cost, but they usually require match funding, so the Parish Council will have to provide considerable part payment, which would result in a further increase in the council precept and, therefore, a higher financial contribution from all taxpaying households in the Parish in the coming years.
The questions the Council is asking its parishioners is;
Do you support the Parish Councils actions to keep the toilets open?
The Parish Council are also seeking your views on a joint road project with Sticklepath Parish Council on how to slow traffic on the road between Sticklepath and South Zeal. A presentation and display will be provided and we are seeking your views on how and if to jointly take this project further.
clerk@southtawtonparishcouncil.org.uk, 07543 443819
REFUSE COLLECTION FOR FEBRUARY
There has been an error in the printing of the refuse collection cycle in February's edition of the Beacon.
The correct collection dates are:
REFUSE AND RECYCLING COLLECTIONS:-
Tuesday 3rd February Recycling, food waste and garden waste subscription week
Tuesday 10th February Recycling, food waste and refuse week
Tuesday 17th February Recycling, food waste and garden waste subscription week
Tuesday 24th February Recycling, food waste and refuse week
Community Resilience
Community Resilience
We have put together a page on this site with information about priority services registers, and numbers to call in case of a power cut or gas emergency. Please do have a look, we recommend the priority services register for anyone who may be especially vulnerable at this time of year.
Dog walking and public footpaths
Dog walking and public footpaths
A reminder to dog owners to please keep dogs on leads at all times on public footpaths, especially as there are currently pregnant animals in some fields.
News from other organisations
News from other organisations
DARTMOOR NATIONAL PARK
David Boocock from the National Park has asked us to send the link for the Dartmoor Partnership Plan review out to members, as they are hoping that as many Dartmoor residents as possible will complete the survey.
If you have any questions, please contact David directly.
David Boocock, Projects Officer, Conservation and Communities
Dartmoor National Park Authority
E: dboocock@dartmoor.gov.uk
Finding the right childcare for your child is really important and it is our job to help make sure that there are enough early years and childcare places for families in Devon.
Every year we invite people to take part in our Parents Childcare Survey to find out the kind of child care you use or plan to use, your entitlement to government funded childcare, and the number of hours your child spends (or will spend) in childcare each week. The results will help our early years and childcare team to plan and make sure that there is enough childcare available throughout the county.
This year the survey is more important than ever as the Government is expanding their childcare offer to include more funded hours per week for more working families. It means that over 5,000 more children in Devon will benefit from funded childcare this year, so there may be a shortage of places in some areas, and we need to know about that so we can help parents who are struggling to find a provider.
Please take part in the Parents Childcare Survey The deadline for responses is Wednesday 31 July.
New Devon - your say on our future
New Devon - your say on our future
We've begun a series of engagement events, starting in Ilfracombe this morning, to talk to people about the government's plans for local government reorganisation.
The government wants to abolish two-tier authorities - County Councils and District Councils - and to replace them with single unitary authorities, some of them led by Mayors.
It wants councils affected to engage with local residents, to seek views on new local government structures for their areas.
We've launched an online survey, and we're arranging engagement events in towns across Devon to seek people's views. You can read more in the story on our website.https://links-1.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fdevoncountycouncil.commonplace.is%2F%3Futm_source=connect_me_newsletters%26utm_medium=external_comms%26utm_campaign=LGR_Engagement_2025/2/010001981e151889-de8ba399-a00f-41e1-b91e-cab7902ad72c-000000/23N8L7bG5aX86lC7-t5k9A3ei7a3q4KVKC2byBtmrnk=414
Please take part in our online survey
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