To provide additional communication and interaction with residents, this page contains the Parish Council notes from the parish clerk published in the “Eagle” village magazine each month. (The December issue also covers January of the following year.) This page will contain the latest notes together with those for the previous two issues of the “Eagle”.

JUNE 2026

This month just a quick round-up of ongoing issues.

 

Youth Club

Quite a few young families have moved into the village in recent times and it would be nice to get the Youth Club up and running again. I was co-leader of the Youth Club a few years ago. Yes, at times it was a lot of responsibility, but overall it was a very positive experience and the children enjoyed it a lot. Also, it is a good way for children and parents to meet new people and make friends. Our County Councillor can help with grants to fund a group or specific activities. But we do need parent volunteers, the more the better, as responsibilities can then be shared. In the first instance,  make contact via the website or contact the clerk directly at clerk@yarnscombe.org.uk

 

PCSO

Ever since the retirement of PCSO Brown, there has been no contact or reports coming from the Police Community Support Officers for our area. Our District Councillor has been in contact with Police Commissioner Hernandez, in order to establish regular, up-to-date contact at parish council level. There are 4 weekly Teams meetings, but at present the clerk is unable to attend due to work commitments. The County Councillor recommended to get in touch with PCSO Cole. We will keep you updated.

 

New Councillors  

At present, we still have the full complement of councillors. Looking to the future, we will at some point need people to take up the role of councillor. If you are interested, just come to one of our meetings or contact one of our serving councillors. Training is available and apart from having to attend one meeting a month, you can invest as much or as little time to the role, as you are able to.

 

Planning:          

1/0289/2026/FUL | Demolition of an existing agricultural barn and erection of 1no. replacement dwelling together with associated works in lieu of Class Q (1/0984/2025/AGMB)(Self-build)

 

MAY 2026

The next big date in the annual calendar of parish council meetings is the Annual Parish meeting, followed by the Annual Parish Council meeting and Ordinary Council Meeting on 27th May 2026, 7.30pm, Village Hall.

 

The Annual Parish Meeting is your opportunity to bring up any issues that concern you and present them to the council. The council can only work effectively, if it is made aware of problems and concerns. Naturally, you are always welcome to attend any other council meetings and councillors and clerk can be contacted throughout the year. Details to be found in the “Eagle” and on the website www.yarnscombe.org.uk .

 

As mentioned in last month’s article, two new PCSO’s had been appointed for Torrington Rural.  In the past, PCSO Brown (now retired) used to occasionally attend meetings, but she always sent in a monthly crime report for our area. Cllr. Elliott (Torridge District Council/TDC) had contacted the new PCSO’s, but they replied that they were unable attend meetings in person, neither was there enough time to send out monthly crime reports. Cllr. Elliott found this unsatisfactory and promised to contact Alison Hernandez (Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner). In the meantime, the clerk had received an invitation for a Teams meeting regarding policing/crime matters.

 

The first meeting will take place on 23rd April and 4 weekly thereafter. I am unable to attend meetings myself, due to work commitments, but hopefully a councillor can attend the occasional meeting to keep us up-to-date. More information will follow next month.

 

Planning:

West Park Yarnscombe Barnstaple Devon EX31 3LZ , Ref. No: 1/0039/2026/FULM | Proposed change of use of land from a construction training centre to a show people's site consisting of 7 plots, a play area, maintenance and testing area for fairground equipment and overnight parking

 

APRIL 2026

The parish council is reaching the end of another financial year. Luckily, there were no nasty surprises or big financial outgoings to deal with, so the current financial situation is stable.

We have still reserves, as advised by our internal auditor a couple of years ago, that are earning interest. The internal audit is due in a couple of months, for the first time it will also include a requirement for parish and town councils to comply with Assertion 10. In practice that will mean that we need to have an IT policy, that we operate with a council owned domain and website, which must adhere to specific accessibility regulations and as a council, we must comply with data protection legislation.

 

We have to thank Cllr. Pengilley for drawing up our IT policy and thanks to Sharron Newberry for keeping the website up to date.

 

We have as yet not met any PCSOs for Torrington Rural in person or received any crime reports for our area, but District Councillor Elliott has been in contact with PCSO  Gail Cole and PCSO  Dave Condron asking them to attend parish council meetings.

 

Planning:

Prior notification for the change of use of agricultural building to 2no. Dwellings and associated building operations under class Q, barn at grid conference 256449 121983,Yarnscombe, Devon – application permitted