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What We Do |
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Combe Martin Parish Council has twelve unpaid councillors, who are here to represent you and help whenever they can. The Parish Council has a wide range of responsibilities and below are some of the things which the Parish Council provides:
Lighting Combe Martin has a large number of unadopted streets, which are not lit by the County Council. Combe Martin Parish Council decided many years ago to light these streets, although there is no duty for it to do so, and we now provide over 90 street lights! We also provide Christmas lighting at various places in the village. |
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Car Parks The Parish Council owns five car parks and the Coach Park. The income from these goes a long way towards paying for such things as the street lights and looking after Combe Martin Beach, the parks and other open spaces. And of course it helps tremendously in reducing the amount of council tax that residents pay.War Memorial The Parish Council owns and maintains the War Memorial and its garden.
Combe Martin Beach We look after and clean Combe Martin Beach to Quality Coast Award standards, despite being challenged by sudden collections of flotsam and jetsam being washed ashore, as well as large amounts of seaweed, especially after a storm. |
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Parks and Open Spaces Combe Martin has a number of areas for people to enjoy, all of which are cared for by the Parish Council. We manage Adderstable Woods, Cobblers Park and the areas around both Combe Martin and Newberry Beaches. We are responsible for the Parade at Newberry, Hollands Park, Adams Hay and Blackmore Ham Gardens, plus the play area at Arnold's Plot. We maintain over 95 seats, spread throughout the parish, as well as providing and servicing all the dog bins. We own a number of pieces of land beside the River Umber, which it is hoped to join up to form a Riverside Walk in the long term. In the meantime, the section of land off Kiln Lane, known as Norman's Ham, is being used as a community project for young people to create a garden area, run by the Police, Devon Youth Services and Combe Martin Primary School. |
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Buildings As well as owning the parks and open spaces above, we own a number of buildings. The parish owns the Village Hall (managed by the Village Hall Management Committee) the Bowls Club house and green (run by the Bowls Club) plus Seacott and Eberleigh House in Cross Street and the building at the Parade, which formerly housed Combe Martin Museum. Eberleigh House is the new home of the Combe Martin Museum. |
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Tourist Information Centre The Parish Council has always supported tourism, and worked hard to establish a Tourist Information Centre in Combe Martin. Nowadays we provide the building for the TIC, and pay a share of the running costs of the building. |
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As well as providing the
assets above, the Parish Council responds to planning consultations and
other government consultations, and works with other agencies such as
North Devon District Council, Devon County Council and the Environment
Agency to ensure that things like refuse collections, road repairs and
flooding problems are all handled smoothly. We helped the police to set
up a police office in the Village Hall. The Parish Council also has one of the widest range of incomes of any parish in Devon, earning three quarters of our income from sources other than the rates, whereas 60% of other parishes raise over half their income in rates! |
