East Devon District Council

Civic Service raises over £300 for local charities

Sidmouth’s Parish Church of St Giles was packed to the hilt on Sunday 20 March, as over 100 local dignitaries, including chairmen and Mayors, from county, town and district councils, together with Neil Parish MP and the Deputy Lieutenant of Devon, the Honourable Charles Fane Trefusis, attended East Devon District Council’s Chairman’s Civic Service.

The Reverend Canon Dr Philip Bourne conducted the service, which featured well known hymns such as ‘Praise my soul the king of heaven’, ‘Come down O love divine’, ‘Amazing Grace’ and the national anthem. A beautiful peace poem, ‘We cry...

Flagship attraction set to open in Seaton

Seaton’s long-held dream for a flagship visitor attraction, reflecting its rightful place at the heart of the world-renowned Jurassic Coast, becomes a reality later this month with the opening of a £4m visitor centre which is expected to attract more than 60,000 people a year.

The much-anticipated Seaton Jurassic centre, owned by East Devon District Council who put more than £1.9 million into the exciting project, opens its doors to the public on Easter Saturday. The centre will be operated by Devon Wildlife Trust.

The attraction promises to be a unique experience as it...

East Devon extends handy person scheme

Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted: Mon, 03/07/2016 - 10:26am

East Devon District Council’s trial handy person scheme, which was due to end in February 2016, has proved such a success with council tenants across the district, that it is now being extended for a further six months until the end of August 2016.

The extension will give the housing service a full year’s worth of data to evaluate and the results will determine whether it is feasible for the council to run this service in the future.

The scheme, which began in September 2015 is aimed at helping elderly and disabled tenants with small jobs around the home. The idea for the...

East Devon council tax rise approved

Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted: Thu, 02/25/2016 - 12:50pm

For the last five years, East Devon District Council has frozen its share of the Council Tax, keeping bills down for its residents while still providing first rate services.

Due to continued reductions in the central government grant to district councils, the council unanimously decided last night (Weds 24th Feb) to increase Council Tax by £5 a year for 2016/17 which amounts to less than 10p per week for the average property.

That means a typical Band D householder will pay East Devon District Council (EDDC) £126.78 a year for all its services – which is still the lowest in...

East Devon praises tenants for paying rent on time

East Devon District Council’s recently published sixth annual report to tenants, which reviews the housing service’s performance over the past year (2014-2015), reveals that the council’s housing service is continuing to make positive progress (exceptional in some areas) with its housing stock and service to tenants.

A customer survey of satisfaction, which was undertaken with a thousand tenants in October 2014, showed that overall there was still a high level (90%) of satisfaction with the repairs and maintenance service. However, the council is striving to improve this figure as...

Councillors put under the spotlight

A group of councillors from East Devon District Council, Devon County Council and Ottery St Mary Town Council were recently put under the spotlight at King’s School in Ottery St Mary, when they were subjected to tough questions fired at them every three minutes by 180 Year 11 pupils during two rounds of political speed dating.

East Devon District Councillor Phil Twiss was voted a clear winner at both events and spoke highly of the well thought out questions he was asked and how happy he was to meet such enthusiastic young people.

Political speed dating is a fast-paced and...

Competition to capture the heart of East Devon

Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted: Fri, 02/19/2016 - 11:41am

East Devon District Council’s Countryside team is inviting photographers of all ages and abilities – from beginners to professionals - to demonstrate their skills and talent by entering an exciting new photographic competition.

The theme is completely open – it could be a landscape, seascape, architecture, wildlife or colourful flowers - as long as the photograph depicts a subject that is in East Devon.

To enter, please send a high quality (high res) image to: countryside@eastdevon.gov.uk , including your name, age and the subject of your photograph. Entries received...

EDDC Corporate Plan will guide improved delivery

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Mon, 02/15/2016 - 10:13am

East Devon District Council has a new Council Plan, which together with its Transformation Strategy, sets out how it aims to improve its service delivery by working towards four priorities that will ensure East Devon continues to be an outstanding place to live, work, visit and enjoy.

Each part of the Plan, which covers the period 2016-2020, has a role to play in a joined-up approach that will provide better service delivery.

However, the priorities also focus on how the council will ensure successful end results across all its responsibilities, such as housing, planning,...

Who is looking after your dog?

Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted: Thu, 01/28/2016 - 10:13am

For any responsible dog owner, peace of mind is a must when leaving a beloved pet in the care of others while on holiday or at work. But what many dog owners may not be aware of is that anyone looking after a pet in exchange for money, MUST be licensed by their local authority, even if it is only a small number of animals they care for. Similarly, anyone breeding dogs for cash, whose animals produce four or more litters in any calendar year must also be licensed.

Licensing ensures that dogs are taken really good care of, as the facilities and the care providers will have been...

Car crashes into house in East Devon

Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted: Thu, 01/21/2016 - 12:42pm

Building control officers from East Devon District Council were called in to assist the emergency services when a car came off the road and was left embedded in the side of a house.

The incident happened on Wednesday morning (20 January) in Fluxton near Ottery St Mary just before 10.30am.

Police and fire services called in the council’s building control team to advise on the structural damage to the property.

The building needed emergency protection works which took several hours to complete before the car could be removed. The officers supervised the works being...

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