September draft minutes published
Draft minutes of September’s Full Council meeting are now published and available here.
Torcross works – major disruption ahead
Residents will be aware that the larger (6+ ton) rock for the Torcross sea defence is due to arrive by seaborne barge sometime in October. Smaller rock armour is being conveyed by road from a quarry near Plymouth, and we have been waiting with some trepidation for the detail on this, which finally arrived earlier this week in a letter from main contractors Kier, reproduced below.
Parish council has advocated from the outset that every measure be considered to minimise disruption to local residents and visitors, and suggestions put forward have included late evening transport, night-time road closures, and more. It is a matter of regret that Kier have been unable to accommodate any of the suggested mitigations; unfortunately we are in a position where we simply have to take their word that this is the best that can be achieved.
The disruption will inevitably be significant; however, these things tend to settle into a rhythm after a few days and weeks, and the patient and ever-resourceful folk of Stokenham Parish will no doubt find a way to cope with and work around the ensuing chaos, with the consolation that the end-result will be a stronger and more resilient Torcross.
This is how they do it in Blackawton
The quest for a replacement of the ageing heating system in Stokenham parish hall continued this week, with a visit by representatives from both the parish hall committee and parish council to the very impressive and recently renovated village hall in Blackawton. There, in addition to a spanking new engineered oak floor, a large rooftop solar array with battery storage, acoustic reflective panels, and in-ceiling spotlights and projector, the visitors from Stokenham were able to witness the air-to-air heating system in operation, whisper quiet, keeping the hall at a comfortable 22 degrees at the touch of a button. They were advised that the village hall had also acted as a cool space for villagers during the recent heatwaves, maintaining a constant temperature of 17-18 degrees when outside temperatures exceeded 25 degrees. Best of all, the cost of the cooling was entirely covered by the energy generated by the on-roof solar panels, export from which produced an income of several thousand pounds each year.
Pretty impressive!
The parish hall committee meets on Monday to make its decision.
September Full Council Agenda published
The agenda for September’s Full Council meeting of Stokenham Parish Council is now published and available here.
Parking at Torcross
Residents and visitors will be aware that the Tank car park at Torcross has been commandeered by the Environment Agency for plant and equipment necessary for the approaching sea defence works at Torcross. As a result, the bus is now using a portion of the Triangle to turn and manoeuvre. The upshot of all of this is a significant loss of parking within the village. Following representations from the community, South Hams District Council has made the following changes to parking regulations in the lay-by, effective today, 11 September:
The maximum stay is increased to 4 hours and the low-season tariff will come into operation immediately, rather than on 31st October. This will ensure turnover of vehicles as well as allowing longer stays. The tariff in the lay-by is as follows:
1 hour £1.60
2 hours £2.60
3 hours £3.70
4 hours £5.20
Additional parking is available at Stokeley Farm Shop, where the first two hours are free for shoppers and cafe customers. Other users pay £3 for up to 4 hours, and £5 for all-day parking.
The issue of the bus-turning area in Torcross is still under discussion between the parties.
Devon publishes final bid to restore the A379 Slapton Line
Devon County Council has published its full and final bid to the Government’s Structures Fund, seeking support to restore and strengthen the A379 at Slapton.
The bid marks the final stage of the Government’s two-stage funding process. The council is seeking £19.62 million towards a scheme to repair and reopen the road, which was severely damaged by storms earlier this year and remains closed.
The plans would reinstate the collapsed section of road and improve its resilience to future storms.
The A379 is the only A-road link between Dartmouth and Kingsbridge. Its closure has forced lengthy diversions, affected local communities and businesses, and disrupted access to services.
The bid states that around 4,200 residents and 288,000 annual visitors rely on the route. The full bid has been submitted to the Department for Transport and has been published on the council’s website as part of the Government’s requirements for transparency.
Kingsbridge open at last!
Fore Street in Kingsbridge opened fully to traffic this week after a major engineering operation to install a 45-metre-long culvert beneath the road, an essential piece of infrastructure that carries water under the town centre.
The previous culvert had failed and needed to be completely replaced to prevent the risk of further damage beneath the road. The work presented significant engineering challenges. Teams had to excavate several metres below road level and work around a complex network of utility services beneath Fore Street, often by hand rather than machine.
The project had previously been likened to threading a needle because of the limited space available between existing pipes and cables and even a section that required specialist asbestos removal. The new structure will help protect the road and essential services for years to come, reducing the risk of future failures and improving the resilience of the local highway network.
The project also uncovered pieces of Kingsbridge’s history, with excavation work revealing historic structures linked to the original “King’s Bridge” as well as pottery dating back centuries. These finds were recorded and preserved for future generations.
A new heating system for Stokenham parish hall
Visitors to the parish hall in Stokenham will know the sensation in cooler weather of having the tops of their heads grow uncomfortably warm under the glowing red heaters positioned high on the walls.
Now over two decades old, the installation has by general agreement reached the end of its life, and work is in hand to replace it with something more suited to the twenty-first century.
Because the hall (and the adjoining kitchen and Wesley Smith conference room) has no existing infrastructure of radiators and pipework, any replacement heating system needs to be self-contained and relatively quick and straighforward to install. This leaves two obvious candidates: an updated ceiling-mounted infra-red panel heater network; and an air-to-air heat pump installation. Both systems have their adherents and detractors among the Parish Hall Committee and to break the deadlock it has been agreed that Stokenham parish council will fund an independent survey to recommend the most appropriate way forward.
Future upgrades include a proposed solar PV and battery installation that will enable load-shifting to off-peak electricty rates, which should significantly reduce the hall’s electricity bill. Watch this space!
News from the Slapton Line Partnership: an update from the Inland Routes Working Group
A meeting of the SLP’s Inland Routes Working Group this week heard encouraging news of progress on the extensive programme of improvements to the back roads network while the A379 Slapton Line is out of commission.
Approval has been secured from the Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority Board for Phase 1 of the scheme (sections 3, 5 and 9 on the map), allowing land agents to be commissioned and negotiation for the purchase of land to commence. Essential site ecology work was completed on schedule by the end of June and additional dormice surveys are due to start in September. Detailed design work is progressing on fifty new or improved passing places in the first phase of the scheme, prioritizing connectivity between passing places, so that drivers will always be able to see the next available passing place from the one they have pulled into. Eagle-eyed residents will no doubt have noticed that traffic-counting wires have once again been installed on the main routes south to north to finesse the traffic volume calculations.
Subject to the results of the dormice survey – whose outcome unfortunately cannot be predicted – work will start in November with a view to completing by summer 2027. Survey work for Phase 2 of the scheme, which includes section 1, Port Lane to Sherford Cross, will commence in spring next year.