Kingsbridge Town Council

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Welcome to the Kingsbridge Town Council Website

This is the website of Kingsbridge Town Council. The aim is to provide a website which is easy to use, clear and concise to read, and without frills – just good, solid, useful information about the town council and the wider community.

To find out what is happening within the town council, please use the site navigation buttons on the left.

We hope you will enjoy this website and discover what you were looking for. If you didn’t – please tell us – our website is here to provide a service, inform and support you.
With our very best regards, The Members and Staff of Kingsbridge Town Council

STOP PRESS

FRENCH MARKET FROM NORMANDY Friday 10th September

Kingsbridge Town Squre 9.00am - 5.00pm Enjoy the sights, sounds, charms and savour the taste and smells of a traditional Normandy market right here in the centre of Kingsbridge......!

Site Allocations Development Plan Documents

The five Site Allocations Development Plan Documents (DPDs) for Dartmouth, Ivybridge, Kingsbridge, Totnes and the Rural Areas are now available for consultation. These documents identify sites for needed development of housing (especially affordable homes), employment and associated community facilities to 2016 and beyond.

The DPDs are published on 30 April for a six week public consultation period. Representations must be received by 4.00 pm on Friday 11 June 2010.

THE MAYOR CHARITY 2010-11

The Mayor has chosen two local charities to support this year, Kingsbridge Cookworthy Museum and Spiritulized.

Kingsbridge Cookworthy Museum is the custodian of the town’s heritage showing how the people of Kingsbridge have lived, worked and played over many generations. The Museum was founded in 1971 in the old Grammar School buildings towards the top of Fore Street. Mrs Evelyn Northcott persuaded English China Clays to rescue the derelict building and start a museum to collect and record our rich social history. The museum was named after William Cookworthy, who was born in Kingsbridge, and who developed the first true hard paste porcelain (china).

Since those embryonic days the Museum has gone from strength to strength. Today it boasts the following facilities: displays of artefacts from early Kingsbridge through to the present day, a gallery of agricultural machinery and tools, a collection of over 10,000 photographs (that’s right 10,000!!!) dating from the 1870s, costumes from the 19^th and 20^th centuries, a viewing gallery which provides a virtual tour and heritage resource centre to support personal research which contains many local documents including microfilm copies of local newspapers from 1855. Alongside the permanent displays are special seasonal displays. This summer’s theme is “Come Rain or Shine” with it’s weather timeline and garments for all seasons – so if you want to find out more about that well-worn conversation the English weather then you need to pay a visit. Indeed, whatever your interests there’s something at the Museum for all the family. It really is unmissable. Check out their website at www.kingsbridgemuseum.org.uk or telephone 01548 853235 for further information.

Spiritulized is a local Christian charity that seeks to demonstrate, promote and encourage Christian values, including dignity, respect and empowerment to young people in the community by developing friendships built on the foundations of trusting relationships and Christian values. It is also part of the national organisation Youth For Christ.

Currently it runs a drop-in centre every Friday night at the Kingsbridge Rest Centre, next to the Town Square, providing a safe environment with free refreshments to any young people who may be around the town. You will see members of the volunteer team in their hi-viz jackets out late into the evening during community events such as Fair Week and the Music Festival distributing bottled water, providing a listening ear to any who may need it, and assisting them in getting home safely. One of the group’s future plans is to be able to provide a mobile youth facility to enable this support to be offered on a regular basis throughout the towns and villages of the South Hams.

All the members of the street based volunteer team hold Enhanced Criminal Record Disclosures, and have attended courses in Child Protection and Basic First Aid along with other appropriate youth related training. Spiritulized aim is to develop young persons’ physical, mental and spiritual capacities, in order that they may grow to full maturity as individuals, and that their conditions of life may be improved. For more information about Spiritulized contact Kanji Chant, 42 Vincents Road, Kingsbridge, Devon TQ7 1RP or telephone 01548 856617.

Kingsbridge Citizen of the Year 2010

This year it’s two for the price of one. Rosemary and John Speed are the joint winners of Kingsbridge Citizen of the Year 2010 sponsored by Kingsbridge Town Council. The award recognises the outstanding work of people in the local community and this is the seventh year the competition has taken place.

Rosemary and John are actively involved in many groups around the town including Kingsbridge Community Garden, Kingsbridge In Bloom, and Estuary Watch. In particular, the Community Garden encourages students from the Community College and the Ropewalk Centre to become interested in horticulture and green issues. But they do have individual interests too!!

Rosemary is Secretary to the Kingsbridge & District Agenda 21 Group. Alongside colleagues, she is currently championing the cause for Combe Royal gardens to be transferred to the community, for it to become a local nature reserve, rather than being sold off by Devon County Council. And she can often be seen manning a stall at the bi-monthly Farmers Market on the town square raising money for the Community Garden and other charities.

John helps our young people at the Youth Markets held in the Market Hall in Fore Street. A number of our future local entrepreneurs will have John to thank in the years to come for setting them off in the right direction. He also has a love of classic cars, tinkers with his own kit sports car, and plays a key role in organising the annual Show & Shine held in Quay Car Park which has become a feature in the summer events calendar.

They moved to Kingsbridge 10 years ago from the West Midlands and can be seen in all weathers walking faithful dogs Doris and Lulu. If you’re one of the very few people who don’t know them - why not introduce yourself. But be warned. With their ready wit and disarming charm they may just rope you into something!

In a nutshell, Rosemary and John commit huge amounts of their personal time for the benefit of the local community and the number of people who profit from their combined efforts is immense. They will receive their prize from the town mayor Councillor Philip Yates at the Mayor’s Civic Dinner on Thursday 4^th March to be held at the Cottage Hotel.

Councillor Yates said: “Rosemary and John are an absolute inspiration to all of us. They make a magnificent contribution to the well being of our community and the town council is absolutely delighted to announce them as joint winners of Kingsbridge Citizen of the Year for 2010”.