£15m roofs scheme for listed church buildings

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Mon, 12/15/2014 - 10:38am

The Church of England has welcomed a dedicated £15 million fund, announced by the Government on Wednesday 3rd December, for the repair of roofs and rainwater goods on listed church buildings.

The Chancellor announced the Listed Places of Worship Roof Repair Fund in his Autumn Statement. Grants between £10,000 and £100,000 will be available to listed places of worship of all faiths and denominations across the UK, where roof and rainwater goods repairs are deemed to be urgent and necessary.

The deadline for applications is 30 January 2015, with awards to be allocated by the...

Planning changes = less cash for communities

Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted: Mon, 12/15/2014 - 10:34am

Changes in government guidance on what councils can ask small developers to pay for community benefits are set to hit the provision of open spaces, sports and play areas and even education upgrades in East Devon.

Until recently, anyone who wanted to build an estate of new homes was required to offset the impact the new households would have on existing amenities by making a ‘Section 106’ financial contribution towards improvements.

But changes announced by the Government at the beginning of December mean that East Devon District Council and other affected planning...

More to the Met Office than the weather

Authored by KirkHills
Posted: Mon, 12/15/2014 - 9:27am

At the recent Southernhay Breakfast Club, local business people enjoyed an interesting talk by Sandra Pearson, the Met Office’s Legal Manager for Contracts. Over 50 people attended the event held on 5th December 2014 at the Southgate Hotel.

Sandra explained that as well as the obvious role that the Met Office plays in predicting the weather, there are many other interesting projects that cross her desk – from helping construction companies plan their logistics, having mobile forecasters working alongside the armed forces at bases around the world to the recent launch of a Space...

County considers ways to reduce energy costs

Devon County Council’s Cabinet have endorsed a report by the Place Scrutiny Committee on energy consumption and renewable energy.

It recommends closely looking at the way the Council manages its energy consumption and that it should consider investing in renewable energy to generate income.

The Energy Policy Task Group recognised that the County Council has a current energy spend of about £18m per year.

Evidence suggests that these figures could be greatly reduced by making some simple changes for example, switching off unnecessary lighting and making sure the...

Jenny gives up Christmas to help needy kids

Exeter resident, Jenny Fox, 25, is giving up her family Christmas to support disadvantaged children in need of a magical Christmas experience.

Jenny will be travelling to the CHICKS charity retreat in Brentor, Devon, where she will be joined by five other volunteers, three charity staff and over a dozen disadvantaged children for a residential Christmas break.

CHICKS is a national charity that provides free respite breaks for disadvantaged children from right across the UK. In addition to its regular respite breaks, the charity holds special Christmas breaks from December...

You can hear the coral reefs dying

Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted: Sun, 12/14/2014 - 10:14pm

You can hear the sound of former bustling coral reefs dying due to the impact of human activity, according to new research from the Universities of Exeter and Essex .

Coral reefs are amongst the noisiest environments on our planet and healthy reefs can be heard using underwater microphones from kilometres away.

However, scientists have found that coral reefs impacted by human activity, such as overfishing, are much quieter than protected reefs, and this can have a big impact on the fish and invertebrates which rely on the reefs for survival.

Led by Dr Julius Piercy...

Exeter City up to seventh

Match report: Exeter City 2 Carlisle 0

Exeter City ran out comfortable 2-0 winners at home against Carlisle United.

After a goalless first period, Exeter came to life and wrapped up the result through goals by Scot Bennett midway through the half and Matt Grimes with a couple of minutes to spare.

The result – and a first home clean-sheet of the season – put the Grecians into seventh at the end of the afternoon, seeing Exeter occupy a play-off place for the first time in over a year.

David Wheeler and Bennett came back into the starting XI for the Grecians’...

Are your Christmas gifts safe?

During the busy run up to Christmas and the intensive shopping period, Devon and Cornwall Police are advising people to keep their Christmas purchases safe.

People are advised to protect their Christmas purchases by storing them in a safe, secure and private location that is not visible from outside, so burglars aren’t tempted to steal them.

Bob Bunney, Crime Reduction Team Leader for Devon and Cornwall Police, said: “Christmas is a great time of year for thieves and burglars. They know that there will be high-value goods in homes and in cars and will look out for any...

Sunday roast raises funds for charity

The Magdalen Chapter’s delicious Sunday Lunch is to raise money for Farms for City Children .

The top Exeter hotel has pledged to donate £1 from every Sunday Lunch served in The Restaurant to the hotel’s new chosen charity.

Hotel General Manager Fiona Moores said: “As our new charity for 2015, we are delighted to be working on a number of exciting fundraising initiatives and events with Farms for City Children of which this is just one. As a hotel, we are passionate about teaching children where their food comes from and so the Sunday Lunch...

Your guide to What's On this weekend

Don’t make any plans for the weekend until you’ve checked out our guide to what’s on in and around Exeter:

THEATRE

Exeter Comedy Club Christmas Specials Friday, 8.30pm, Exeter Corn Exchange, Market Street, Exeter Featuring Lloyd Griffiths, Joel Dommett, Nathan Caton and Rob Deering. www.exeter.gov.uk/cornexchange

George's Marvellous Medicine Daily, Exeter Northcott Theatre The Birmingham Stage Company present Roald Dahl's amazing story about a young boy who makes a marvellous new medicine to cure his grandmother of her terrifying temper. But when his grandmother...

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