With spring heralds the start of the wild birds breeding season and police are appealing to the public to be the ‘eyes and ears’ on the ground and inform them of any suspicious people they may see at nesting sites. Operation Wilderness, launched in 2012, is designed to combat persecution of birds. In the past the region’s birds have been targeted by egg collectors and others intent on breaking the law when near to the nests of some species. In 2011 Devon made national headlines when a record number of birds of prey were found poisoned in the area, among these were very rare and specially...

Devon’s economy benefited from more than £2 million of spending from community transport users last year, according to a new study.

A survey carried out by the Community Transport Associations in Devon asked over 5,500 people who use Ring & Ride and Shopmobility services how much they had spent on their shopping trips in November.

The anonymous responses of those who took part revealed that they spent just over £146,000 during November. Based on those figures the survey estimates they spent £2.08 million in Devon high streets during 2012.

It means for every...

Neil Parish, MP for Tiverton and Honiton, joined the British Poultry Council (BPC) and Morrisons to deliver a petition of over 50,000 signatures to the Treasury on Wednesday 13 March.

The petition, which secured strong support between 10 September and 28 October 2012, has been delivered a week before the Budget to express concern at how widely this tax on rotisserie chicken was felt amongst consumers, food producers and farmers alike.

The British Poultry Council and Morrisons are urging the Chancellor to remember British poultry producers and retailers in next week’s Budget...

If I think back to my student accommodation, luxury was certainly not a word I would have used to describe the pokey, although admittedly much-loved, student digs I inhabited during my Uni years. How times have changed! Dean Clarke Lofts, in which a couple of show apartments are ready to view by the general public from this coming Saturday (16 March), will provide students and young professionals in training the option of an altogether more refined way of life. They will also offer foreign students a very attractive prospect while studying at Exeter, with a Chinese language version of the...

A hotel on the outskirts of Honiton announces the arrival of a new Managing Director and its plans for ongoing investment.

The Deer Park Country House Hotel has recently appointed Mark Godfrey, former Managing Director of Harbour Hotels Group, to take the helm of the 25-bedroom hotel.

Mark, whose career in the hospitality industry spans over 25 years, joins the hotel as Managing Director. He will head up the team at the Deer Park and be responsible for overseeing the senior management, the direction of the business and the many projects planned to improve the hotel and...

Devon and Cornwall’s Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Hogg is reinforcing his aim to make a real difference for policing in our rural areas. The Devon and Cornwall Force has a vision of being the ‘best rural, urban and coastal police service’ and the allocation of resources between these three areas has been long debated. Tony Hogg has always stressed that there will be no ‘poor relation’ in this respect and has quickly reassured those outside our major cities, towns and holidays destinations, that there will not be a perceived ‘favourite’ when it comes to allocating policing resources....

The Department of Education has formally approved the orders to allow the first schools to join the Diocese of Exeter’s new Multi Academy Trust.

The Trust, named St Christopher’s, has been set up by the diocese to enable it to support schools which are becoming academies.

The Diocese of Exeter has 130 church schools across Devon, which educate around 22,000 children aged 4-18. The vast majority of church schools in the diocese (85 per cent) are rated by Ofsted as good or outstanding.

The Trust’s mission statement says: “The St Christopher’s Multi Academy Trust will...

The 2012 Countryside Alliance Awards (aka the Rural Oscars) were presented to top rural businesses by the Secretary of State for Defra, Owen Paterson MP, at a ceremony at the Houses of Parliament on 13 March. The Awards are the Countryside Alliance’s annual celebration of rural produce, skills, enterprise and heritage through our small hard-working businesses. They are now in their eighth year and have become the definitive rural business award to win. Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said: “Rural businesses are vital to the country’s economic recovery. The Government is right behind...

The biggest clinical commissioning group (CCG) in the country is celebrating after getting the ‘all clear’ to commission NHS services on behalf of the almost one million people in its area.

And the NHS body which officially authorised the group to carry out its statutory functions has done so without attaching any conditions – putting the CCG in the top 20 per cent in the country.

“Our GPs and staff have worked hard to produce clear and credible plans for the patients we serve,” said Rebecca Harriott, chief officer of Northern, Eastern and Western Devon CCG. “And, we are...