News

11 September 2023

BRAUNTON NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN REFERNDUM RESULTS 

On Thursday, 7 September 2023, seven years of dedicated hard work by volunteer members of the community were rewarded by a resounding vote 'YES' to the question.

"Do you want North Devon District Council to use the Neighbourhood Plan for Braunton Parish to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?"

An overwhelming 90 per cent of voters said they would like the document to be used to help inform future decisions about development and planning applications in the area.

There were 1,042 votes ‘yes’, 114 votes ‘no’ and 0 rejected papers.

The electorate was 6,428 with 1,156 ballot papers issued.

The turnout was 17.9%.

Put simply, this means that residents agree that the policies about land use within the Plan, concerning housing and the need for more affordable homes, protection of green spaces and the natural environment, protection of buildings used as community assets and supporting our local economy will have full weight when planning applications or development proposals are considered by Planning Officers – planning power at the most local level, focusing on the things that are important to those who live and work in Braunton.

The neighbourhood plan, which has been seven years in the making, was created by a steering group made up of individual members of the public and parish councillor. Parish Councillors and Steering Group Members are entirely voluntary roles and are not paid.

The Chairman of Braunton Parish Council Councillor Marguerite Shapland says “The adoption of the Braunton Area Neighbourhood Plan is a very important step forward in ensuring that the views of our community are taken into account when decisions are taken on planning applications. The Plan will provide for developments to meet the needs of the community and provide vital protections to our environment and local businesses.”

The Neighbourhood Plan will be formally adopted by North Devon District Council at their meeting on the 4th October 2023.

https://www.brauntonparishneighbourhoodplan.org.uk/the-plan/referendum/

Statement of General Information

Braunton Neighborhood Plan Information Statement

Braunton Parish Neighbourhood Area map

Neighbourhood Plan Proceeds to Referendum

29 March 2023 

SCARECROW COMPETITION

 Application Form

 

31 May 2022

JUBILEE ROAD CLOSURES IN BRAUNTON

Knowle

Hills View

Kingsacre 

4 April 2022

BUMBLEBEE CONSERVATION TRUST

 

Bringing the buzz back to Braunton’s road verges

Wildflowers are coming back to Braunton’s road verges! Thanks to funding from the North Devon AONB’s Nature and Climate Challenge Fund, Braunton Parish Council, and the Bumblebee Conservation Trust’s West Country Buzz project, Braunton Parish Council has purchased new cut and collect machinery, to collect grass cuttings from its road verges.

Bumblebees pollinate our crops and wildflowers. Road verges are potential bumblebee highways which offer a green route through our towns, helping bumblebees move from one place to another by providing valuable food for them.

Most road verges are managed by leaving grass cuttings in place due to a lack of equipment to collect them. This unfortunately raises soil fertility, and because most wildflowers need low nutrient levels, this management results in species-poor verges of little value to nature. Collecting the cuttings is a simple solution to increase wildflowers for our pollinators.

The Bumblebee Conservation Trust’s Conservation Officer Cathy Horsley said “Over 97% of the UK’s wildflower meadows have been lost, and many associated insects are in decline, including the Brown-banded carder bee. Braunton is a key area in Devon for this species. This new management is really exciting because it will create connected grassland habitat and help this special bumblebee survive and thrive”.

Braunton has engaged with the former Life on the Verges project, and has an enthusiastic and dedicated community of volunteers who successfully manage various verges around the town, inspiring local residents to connect with nature.

Braunton Parish Council is asking more local residents to adopt a road verge in the village, as Tracey Lovell (Parish Clerk) explains “We are keen to encourage residents and community groups to manage verges for wildlife where safe to do so. To get started managing your road verge you need to contact the Devon County Council Environmental Group to understand what is required and arrange to do an online safety awareness training course. If you are interested in becoming involved, please let the Parish Council know by emailing info@braunontparishcouncil.gov.uk or telephone 01271 812131.”


14 February 2022

 

Ever thought about using the Ring & Ride and Shopmobility Services?

From 31st January to 31st March Go North Devon are offering free taster sessions of Ring & Ride and Shopmobility for new and existing clients who have not used the services in many months.

What are you waiting for?

To book your taster session call us on 01271 328866 or pop into the Shopmobility Centre, Albert Lane, Barnstaple, EX32 8RL (registration and bookings - Mon to Fri 09.00-12.30pm.)


Registered Society: IP27719R

 GO NORTH DEVON RING AND RIDE SOCIAL TRIPS

  

 16 November 2021

Struggling to pay your bills?

 

Households and families in North Devon who are going to struggle this winter are being encouraged to apply for financial support from a scheme being launched this week.

North Devon Council is providing the support which is part of the government’s ‘Household Support Fund’ (HSF). Devon County Council led the bid for a share of the government funding, securing a little over £5 million for the county. It's to be used to support households in most need with food, energy and water bills, and associated essential costs. At least 50% of the total funding must be spent on families with children.

The council is currently working with partners to develop a package of support for those most in need, bolstering that already in place to help vulnerable households and individuals. This will help them to meet the cost of food and other essentials over the coming months as the country continues its recovery from the pandemic.

Leader of North Devon Council, Councillor David Worden says: "News of this extra funding available to help households who are struggling due to the coronavirus pandemic across North Devon is extremely welcome at this time. Many of our residents are finding it hard to make ends meet as we move into colder winter months.

“We are currently working with our partners to make our allocation of the funding available to households most in need as quickly as possible. In line with national guidance, this funding will focus on helping families who are finding it difficult to pay their food, heating or water bills and other essential household costs this winter.

"I would encourage households in need to read the information carefully as the funding will be based on specific eligibility criteria through an application process on the council website."

Councillor Roger Croad, Devon County Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities, says: “It is clear that the coronavirus pandemic is continuing to put a huge financial strain on some people and the effects are likely to be felt for some time still to come.

“We are committed to supporting people in Devon experiencing hardship and this funding and have worked with our colleagues in the district councils to ensure that this money gets to the people who need it most as quickly as possible, so if you need help I encourage you to get in touch.”

The fund is available until March 2022. To find out more about the HSF and eligibility, please visit the council's website.

 19 October 2021

A CALL TO ACTION!

Would you like to become an empowered member of your community and help to reduce the impact of domestic violence?

Would you like to become an active bystander and feel confident in challenging poor behaviours, and bring about cultural change through the reinforcement of messages defining the boundaries of unacceptable behaviour.

Please see the attached advert and secure your free online training place today!

This course is for absolutely anyone living in a community. Perhaps you are someone who would like to bring about change, learn how you can support people in the moment or simply want to learn more. We expect demand for this course to be high, so please sign up without delay!

To register your place or if you have any questions please e-mail donna.woolway@devonandcornwall.pnn.police.uk by Monday 8th November 2021.

With your name, e-mail address and a little bit about why you would like to do this training.


Bystander Domestic Abuse Training - Tackling Domestic Abuse Through Bystander Intervention

The Problem - The National Crime Survey (March 2020) estimated that 2.4 million adults experience domestic abuse every year.

Domestic abuse can be devastating and have a lifelong impact for individuals, families and communities

What is Bystander Intervention? - We are all bystanders, who witness events unfolding around us. Sometimes we recognise events as being challenging. When this happens, we decide to do or say something and become an active bystander (either in the moment or at a later stage) or to simply let it go and remain a passive bystander.

Effective bystander interventions empower people to move through these stages of change, and safely intervene (either at the time or later) to challenge harmful attitudes, language or behaviour that supports violence and abuse.

ABC Model - ABC was designed by academics at the University of Exeter for community members to learn more about domestic abuse, and how they can help combat it by learning skills to intervene as an active bystander.

Active Bystander Communities works with participants in a positive and empowering way to think about scenarios and helpful behaviours which could help make a difference and make the community safer for everyone.

Bystander training will enable you to do the following:

· notice and be aware of the event

· see the event or behaviour as a problem

· feel responsible and motivated to act

· have the necessary skills to be able to intervene safely and effectively

Commitment – You will be required to attend 3 separate sessions, which will each be 2 hours long.

 22 September 2020

Accessibility Statement for Braunton Parish Council

 

This Accessibility Statement is for the website www.brauntonparishcouncil.gov.uk

 

How Accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software

Braunton Parish Council are hosting the Neighbourhood Plan page on behalf of Braunton Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group so the content did not originate from Braunton Parish Council. 

 

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:

 

    email info@brauntonparishcouncil.gov.uk

    call 01271 812131

   

We’ll consider your request and try to get back to you in 7 working days.

 

If you cannot view the map on our ‘contact us’ page, call or email us for directions.

 

Reporting accessibility problems with this website

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact: the Clerk by telephone on 01271 812131 or by email.

 

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’). If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

 

Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person

We can provide a text relay service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.

Our offices have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

Find out how to contact us

 

Technical information about this website’s accessibility

Braunton Parish Council is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

 

Compliance status

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.

 

Non-accessible content

 

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

 

-        Some images do not have a text alternative, so people using a screen reader cannot access the information.  For example, the header image at the top of each page is outside of our editable area.  It has the text ‘Braunton Parish Council’, the Braunton Crest and a picture of a rose bed in Braunton memorial gardens.  This fails WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). 

 

All other images have either alternative text or a link to a text document.  When we publish new content we’ll make sure our use of images meets accessibility standards.

All images will be fully accessible on the new website by September 2021.

 

-        We have information on our website which has been scanned and is not available as a text document.  The sections this applies to is:

Registered Interests – these are linked under the members section and may not be easily read by screen reader software. Also:

Air Quality Reports

Community Energy Feasibility Study

Some supporting documents attached to agendas and minutes

From 23 September 2020 we will ensure scanned documents are not used where text alternatives can be made available.

 

 

-        We are working our way through, checking and updating more recent pdfs and other documents which include:

 

Policies/GDPR

Accounts

Agendas and minutes

Braunton Express Newsletters

 

Any new or replacement documents posted on our existing website from 23 September 2020 will be accessible.  All documents will be made accessible on our new website from 23 September 2021. 

Pre 23 September 2020 Agendas and minutes are held in a table which may not be easy to navigate using screen reader software.

-       There has been a problem accessing the Work Hub page to edit it.  The documents which may be non-compliant are' Work Hub Facilities' (no alternative text to this image) and 'What We Offer' (an unchecked document). This will be addressed through the web provider and rectified by 23 October 2020. 

 

-        The Events Diary - this is no longer being used and all events were removed due to Covid-19. 

 

Content that’s not within the scope of the accessibility regulations

 

PDFs and other documents

 

The accessibility regulations do not require us to fix PDFs or other documents published before 23 September 2018 if they’re not essential to providing our services. For example, we do not plan to fix the Sports Directory (this is also available as a hard copy from our reception).

 

Any new PDFs or Word documents we publish will meet accessibility standards.

 

External Content

Any links to external content which are outside of our control are also exempt from the accessibility regulations.

 

What we’re doing to improve accessibility

 

Braunton Parish Council plan to improve accessibility to its website by launching a new accessible website for 2021/22.  The new site should be fully operational by 23 September 2021.  This has been put back a year following the impact of Covid-19 on its staffing levels and significant loss of income from its services. 

 

Preparation of this accessibility statement

 

This statement was prepared on 22 September 2020. 

 

This website was last tested on 22 September 2020.  The test was carried out by self-evaluation.

Here's a great local directory created by Plastic Free North Devon

Braunton Parish Council is calling for action to increase pharmacy services in Braunton

Braunton Parish Council have contacted the NHS Devon Clinical Commission Group, Patient and Public Non Executive for North Devon, NHS England South West and Devon Health and Wellbeing Board to express its grave concerns regarding the decrease in local pharmacy services following the closure of the Lloyds Pharmacy in Caen Street, Braunton.

The Chair of Braunton Parish Council, Councillor Elizabeth Spear said, ‘As a Braunton resident I have witnessed the immense pressure that the Pharmacist and staff are under at the remaining smaller Lloyds Pharmacy in Braunton following the closure of the Pharmacy in Caen Street. The Parish Council have been putting pressure on the responsible bodies to improve the pharmacy service in Braunton and we now ask residents to write in support of our call for a further urgent Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA).’

Whilst the Council understands that Lloyds is an independent pharmacy it has requested what plans the above organisations have in place to meet the ever growing demand for health care in the community.

The closure of the Lloyds Pharmacy in Caen Street has happened at the same time when pharmacies are being encouraged to broaden their role in delivering NHS services in their local areas. And at a time when the populations within the community is growing due to large scale developments being built. The Parish Council have strongly expressed its concerns that the closure of this pharmacy has negatively impacted the lives of those who live in this rural community and it is unacceptable to expect elderly and vulnerable people to travel further to access pharmacy services. Although pharmacy delivery services are available these do not meet the needs of people with changing healthcare requirements and also can result in increased isolation for vulnerable residents who may prefer the traditional over-the-counter experience and the good advice of a professional pharmacist.

As far as the Council is aware there are no plans at present to close the Lloyds Pharmacy adjacent to the Caen Medical Centre. The service that this pharmacy is providing to the community is invaluable and the Council praises the staff who have picked up the additional workload following the closure of the Lloyds Pharmacy in Caen Street but it is concerned that it will not have the capacity to continue to cope with serving a population of over 10,000 people. Currently the existing Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) is based on the quantity of pharmacies available and not on the capacity or floorspace of those pharmacies. It is the view of the council as well as many members of the public that the small area available in the remaining pharmacy is insufficient to meet the needs of Braunton, Croyde, Georgeham, Knowle, Heanton, Wrafton, Chivenor and the other surrounding hamlets. This problem has been demonstrated by increased delays, reduced storage space for medicines and unpleasant scenes in the pharmacy. This shortage potentially risks the health of elderly, young, disabled and vulnerable residents and creates further difficulties for carers who rely on the pharmacy.

The Devon Health and Wellbeing Board have responded to the Parish Council’s concerns stating that there is no current gap in pharmaceutical provisions following the closure of the Lloyds Pharmacy in Caen Street. The Council are calling for an urgent Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) in Braunton to ensure that the community’s needs continue to be met. The Council would appreciate public support and is asking individuals to write to Councillor Andrew Leadbetter, Chair of Devon Health and Wellbeing Board supporting the Councils request for an urgent review to be carried out in Braunton. The contact details are 1st Floor Main Building, County Hall, Topsham Road, Exeter, EX2 4QL or email publichealthintelligence-mailbox@devon.gov.uk. A copy of the Council’s letter sent to Councillor Leadbetter can be downloaded from the Parish Council’s website www.brauntonparishcouncil.gov.uk.

Download Braunton Parish Council's Letter to Councillor Leadbetter

Pharmacy bodies / organisations important contacts