Devon County Council

Devon has been highlighted in the All Party Parliamentary Group’s “Get Britain Cycling” inquiry report.

Devon County Council’s Head of Highways Lester Willmington addressed the inquiry in Westminster in February to detail how more people have been encouraged to cycle in Devon.

Today’s report is calling for the Prime Minister and Transport Secretary to publicly commit to an action plan, backed by all Government departments to promote cycling and cycle safety. The group has set out its long-term ambition to increase cycle use from less than 2% of journeys in 2011, to 10% of...

More than 98 per cent of Devon’s five-year-old children have been offered a place at one of their preferred primary schools this year.

94.7 per cent of the families who applied to Devon County Council have been offered their first choice school.

Three per cent have been offered their second choice and 0.45 per cent their third option.

That’s despite an increase in the number of children requiring places across the county.

Altogether, 7,764 children have been offered places compared with 7,601 last year.

Devon’s Head of Education, Sue Clarke, said: “I...

Three consultants, all experts in their fields, have joined the Exeter office of leading environmental firm, SLR Consulting. The move helps to extend the company’s capabilities to clients across the South West – especially on flood-related environmental issues – an area that has seen significant increase following last year’s floods.

Chartered Civil Engineer Ian Walton has joined the hydrology and hydrogeology team as a Technical Director. Ian has over 30 years’ experience and is tasked with further developing the company’s hydrology service offering.

With an MSc in...

Construction work has started on the multi-million pound project to transform Exeter Central Library into a first class facility for information, learning and culture.

The flagship 1960s building has been officially handed over to leading construction company Mansell who have been appointed by Devon County Council to undertake the redevelopment.

The ambitious scheme will see a range of improvements made to the library including better accessibility, increased space for children and a new café.

Hoardings are being put up around site and the first task to safely...

Book lovers in Devon are being invited to celebrate World Book Night at the County Council’s libraries next week.

Each year World Book Night organisers recruit 20,000 volunteers to hand out 20 copies of their favourite book from the World Book Night list to members of their community who don’t regularly read.

It takes place on 23 April, which is a symbolic date for world literature as it is the birth and death day of Shakespeare, as well as the death day of Cervantes, the great Spanish novelist. It is in their honour that UNESCO appointed it the international day of the...

A panel discussion allowing members of the public to question representatives of the criminal justice system will be held at Chudleigh Parish Church at 7pm (for 7.30pm start) on Wednesday 17 April.

Included on the panel will be Devon & Cornwall's Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Hogg, Chief Superintendent Paul Davies (Devon Commander, Devon and Cornwall Police), Sarah Carlsen (Devon Reform), Georgie Constable (Victim Support) and John Wiseman (Chief Executive, Dorset Probation Trust). The meeting, organised by Chudleigh Business Guild, will be chaired by Councillor Jerry...

A £660,000 improvement scheme to transform Exeter's Central Station forecourt has been given the green light.

Work is expected to start in August after Devon County Council's Cabinet approved a lease agreement at a meeting yesterday.

The scheme, which was approved by Cabinet last September and aims to encourage walking and cycling to Exeter Central Station, will be funded by Devon County Council (£330,000), Exeter City Council (£185,000) and Network Rail (£145,000).

The DCC cabinet supported the proposal for Devon County Council to lease the forecourt area from the...

The Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Work & Pensions, visited Exeter on Monday 8 April to attend the launch of the Labour Party Manifesto for the forthcoming Devon County Council elections, which are due to take place next month on 2 May.

The event, which took place at the Exeter Community Centre in St David's, was hosted by the Rt Hon Ben Bradshaw, MP for Exeter, who told The Exeter Daily : "We have come together today as part of a national process in which the Labour Party is listening not just to Labour Party Members but also to ordinary members of the...

Residents in Kenton are being asked for their views on an on-going traffic experiment in the village.

Devon County Council has launched an online public consultation to gauge opinion on two alternative road layouts which are being trialled on the A379 through South Town at Kenton.

Following long-running concern over the narrow section of the A379 through the village, an experiment started in February to improve safety for pedestrians on the narrow pavements and also to reduce the number of buildings struck by vehicles.

Traffic signals were initially introduced for...

Devon is to benefit from a share of £5 million of funding unveiled by the Government this week.

A partnership of Devon County Council, Plymouth City Council, Torbay Council and the Environment Agency will receive just over £488,000 from the Flood Resilience Community Pathfinder scheme, launched by Defra in December 2012.

The funding, announced by Environment Minister Richard Benyon, will go towards a near £730,000 package to improve local community resilience so that individuals and businesses are better prepared against the risk of flooding. A total of 24 communities will...