Summer Time and Kingskerswell

The clocks have changed and the weather is definitely more like summer. My lawn has had its first mowing. This last week was busy. I moved into Coffinswell with all the usual moving problems - no phone and nothing was packed where I thought it would be. Unpacking continued into the small hours.

This week I spent time getting to know Kingskerswell. An interesting Parish Council meeting demonstrated a fair bit of disquiet with the way things were being run which I suspect will be reflected in the Parish Council election results. In short, matters and concerns which had been raised over the year had not been progressed and the finances were at best in a bit of a muddle.

I held a public meeting on Saturday to find out what issues and concerns residents had. The most pressing issue was the proposed by pass - talked about for 30 years with no solution emerging. It is very clear that the labels "for" and "against" the by pass are misleading. Everyone recognises there is too much traffic and that it is bottle necked causing excessive pollution and limiting travel - the disagreement is over the route. My overwhelming sense is that the planners have not really understood or got to grips with the problem and have therefore failed to come up with an appropriate solution. This is something I will tackle.

The health centre has just been rebuilt in Kingskerswell and is really quite something. Concerns were however expressed that such a building and amenities should be more used. One young lady came up with a brilliant idea - we could move the library above the health centre rather than closing it. While the decision on the existing library has been held over until June, most people expect the decision to be to close it. Building above the health centre would however be a cheaper and better alternative and would put the library in a much more central position with better parking. And the lack of parking generally was another key issue. I asked about the post office - a real success story of a business that has really taken off and provides a vast range of services. Better still it provides a community voice and produces a regular newsletter!

I found a real gem in Kingsteignton - Kingscare - what a tribute to all those who set it up! It provides a quite unique service to patients of the Kingsteignton GP Surgery and the local community. Not only does it provide a service to collect and return patients home for appointments but it also organises events and outings giving people a chance to get out of their homes and socialise. It has even published a book with another on its way! Maggie Bonnell and her team are to be congratulated for what they are doing.

Best wishes