Ottery St Mary Town Council is inviting tenders for:

A TREE INVENTORY AND CONDITION SURVEY to be carried out on all trees sited on the Council's land. Please click here for further information and please note the deadline for receipt of tenders is noon on Friday 13th December 2019.

CHRISTMAS TREE FESTIVAL AT THE PARISH CHURCH 

Councillors, staff and helpers decorated Ottery St Mary's beautiful Christmas tree for the Christmas Tree Festival at the local church.

 Please see the link here for all the information you need for these.

Please click here for Questions & Answers for your information 

EAST DEVON DC ARE REVIEWING DOG CONTROLS

The council is required to review its dog controls every 3 years. The controls are contained within Public Spaces Protection Orders and these can be read in full on the council website: https://eastdevon.gov.uk/media/2142102/dog-control-pspo-signed-order-with-maps-june-2017_part-01.pdf .   Essentially the controls require dog owners to pick up after their dogs wherever they are, to keep their dogs on a lead on roads and pavements and to comply with specific dog on lead and dog ban areas. The review is an opportunity for communities to suggest changes –either to request different controls or to remove some that currently exist. If you wish to suggest changes you must provide supporting information to the Parish Council in the first instance. This must include a description of existing problems and your suggested solution, together with an indication of support from other people in the community. Requests for new children’s play parks to be included will be accommodated without the need for evidence or support. District Councils are subject to scrutiny in relation to how they use these orders and are required to ensure a balance between the benefits of dog ownership, the actions of the vast majority of owners who are responsible and the requests of members of the public who sometimes wish to see more controls. These principles will be applied to any suggestions made and therefore it would be helpful if anyone making suggestions considers whether the new controls will be necessary and reasonable. Further information can be obtained by emailing the team at environmentalhealth@eastdevon.gov.uk

UPDATE RE POLICING ISSUES IN OTTERY ST MARY

Sgt Richard Stonecliffe has advised that the police were still trying to establish the identity of the man who had exposed himself in the town and the police  was currently working on the case. With regards to the teenage boy  who approached a young girl, (asking if she wished to play `a game`); contrary to social media reports, the police  had taken the incident extremely seriously.  They  had spoken to the family of the girl  and also to the boy who was extremely apologetic that his behaviour had caused the girl such distress.  The original statement  on social media of the boy being `silly` was amended in view of the  upset this had undoubtedly caused.  Sgt  Stonecliffe advised that the wording of the statement  had  not intended to diminish the seriousness of the incident.    He  also advised that there would be an additional   PC policing Ottery  shortly, which would assist with   the considerable workload of the officers working the Ottery patch.  He also agreed  that it would be useful for him to attend Council meetings in order to answer questions and to update the Council on relevant police matters. He had agreed to  attend the January Town Council meeting on 6th January 2020 and thereafter he would try and attend  further meetings every six months. 

MAYOR'S SURGERY

The Mayor, Councillor Roger Giles will be holding a Mayor's Surgery at the Council Offices at 8 Broad Street every Friday morning from 10am - 12noon.

Anyone living in the parish of Ottery St Mary is welcome to drop in to discuss issues of concern.

 CLIMATE EMERGENCY

Ottery St Mary has declared a Climate Emergency as it is committed to making changes to ensure that the Town does everything possible to contribute to a cleaner and better future for the next generations.

A group set up will take advice from experts, carry out its own research, talk to their neighbours and work out what Ottery St Mary can do to make a difference.  It will also report back to the Full Council with a series of proposals and ideas for the Council to enact. 

  CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU 

Sadly, there will no further Citizen Advice Bureau meetings for the foreseeable future in Ottery St Mary. This is due to the entire service being under review. If the situation changes, we shall let you know.