The formal notices of Parish and District Council Elections have now been published. You can read them by clicking on these links to the Notice of Parish Council Election and Notice of District Council Election. If either election is contested, the poll will take place on Thursday 4th May.
You will need to produce an accepted form of photographic ID in order to vote at these elections. Details are available on the South Hams DC website.
Littlehempston’s Kirstien Bjerregaard is one of a group of local mums who have been inspired by the Mother’s Day Hunger Strike near Downing Street to set up a fundraising page to raise money for 3 local charities that provide food and heating for mums experiencing hardship. Through Stepping Stones Totnes CIC, TQ9 Community Food Club and South Dartmoor Community Energy, the money raised will go towards supplying families with essential food supplies, heating and electricity.
Here’s the link to the Fundraising Page.
Kirstien says: We passionately believe, as I am sure you do, that mums anywhere should not be kept awake at night in fear of how they will feed and house their children. Please take a moment to make a donation, and maybe ask your kids to do the same.
Last September, we reported on the exciting news that Littlehempston Parish Council is fundraising for a footbridge to cross Gatcombe Brook. Things have certainly moved on. Here’s a recent summary of a report from the Parish Council on progress to date.
A 7 meter span bridge will be supplied in kit form from Devon County Council’s (DCC) bridge supplier. This will ensure the safety standards required for public access are met. It will cost £4150 with additional costs for the bridge foundations materials and labour on either side of the bank, costing somewhere between £500 to £1000. Consent from the DCC river flood scheme is required at a cost of £50. There will also be £234 for a subsequent planning application to South Hams. The total costs will be around £5434.
So far £4312 has been raised in gifts, locality budgets and pledges, so there’s still £1,100 to raise. The Ramblers Association have been very supportive. And many thanks to all who have made donations through the Gofundme website (still around £250 to go).
The Littlehempston Lottery has pledged all proceeds from the first draw in two weeks time (around £110) and an application to the Village Fete fund has been invited. This has yet to be submitted.
The bridge will be owned, insured and maintained by Littlehempston Parish Council. There are still some agreements with local landowners and planning permissions to be sorted, along with a new gate and steps onto the road into the village. However, it is hoped that work could begin in June.
If you wish to support the project, you can give directly to the LPC bank account:
Account name: Littlehempston Parish Council
Sort code: 30-98-69
Account number: 26016168
or donate via:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/gatcombe-brook-bridge-for-new-permissive-path
If you have any questions or want to be kept in contact about dates for the installation of the bridge please contact Mark Eyers, the Parish Ckerk.
On Wednesday February 8th, there was a meeting in the Commuity Space to discuss a small scale solar farm for Littlehempston. This was as a follow up to a meeting held last October and detailed in Can Littlehempston generate its own power? Nick Oldridge, our Parish councillor who heads up Sustainable Littlehempton, gave a PowerPoint presentation showing the twenty potential sites that he had identified in and around the Parish.
Since this meeting, Sustainable Littlehempston has submitted four potential sites for the Power Allotments, Devon project. If successful this could enable our community to build a small solar farm that would generate enough electricity for 400 houses and raise income for community projects every year. More news to follow in the coming weeks.