Totnes Town Council – Reasons to be Cheerful
Despite challenging times ahead, Totnes can be proud of its community spirit.
That was the message from the new Mayor, Cllr Tim Bennett, at last week’s annual town public meeting.
The Guildhall wasn’t exactly packed to the rafters – on a sunny evening with much else going on, it’s not surprising – but he had plenty of people to thank. Foremost was Carole Whitty, who received the newly named Judy Westacott award in recognition for her years helping various groups, including Caring Town Totnes. As the Mayor said, if you want to know who to ask for advice, ask Carole.
The council has three strategy groups all working out priorities for the year ahead in the economy, the environment and public realm and the community.
It wants to hear more from local businesses and has an online survey – mytotnes.commonplace.is – to fill in. The consultation, in conjunction with South Hams district council – ends on August 1st. But as the Mayor pointed out, local government is facing its biggest upheaval in a generation, raising questions about who will deliver services and who will pay for them. It looks like the district councils will disappear, making the work of the town council even more important.
Meanwhile there are the old problems to deal with – traffic (too much and in the wrong place), planning – (too few affordable homes), the market square – (still wrangling over money to improve how it looks). Oh, and looking after the historic buildings which make Totnes unique.
On the plus side, Totnes Town Council is considering a community composting site – possibly at Follaton House – which could be a boon for those of us who chose not to pay extra to have our green bins emptied.
The 20 is plenty campaign continues and more 20 mile per hour zones are coming in, meaning, as the Mayor said, that the town will soon be , effectively, a 20 mile an hour town.
Culturally the town is thriving. The Civic Hall is “crazy busy”, the skate park plan is coming on, there are festivals coming up – Skyrise, the theatre Fringe – as well as a second heritage day, the first of which was “a roaring success” , then later the carnival and the lantern procession.
The town’s maintenance team got a big shout out for their work, often doing jobs which should have been done by other councils…..cleaning the pigeon/seagull poo-splattered parking meters for one.
The voluntary groups who do so much were also thanked – and they highlight a problem. Everybody wants more help, but the money won’t stretch to every group, who are being asked to step in where once paid staff would have been.
As town clerk Catherine Marlton said: ”Totnes is defined by its diverse community and how people look after each other. We are really lucky to live in Totnes.”