Newton Abbot And District Civic Society
Newton Abbot & District Civic Society
What have we achieved? In terms of the volume of work undertaken by the Society, it would probably be correct to say that, in line with many other societies, Newton Abbot Civic Society has spent most of its time and deliberation considering submissions to the District Council in relation to planning applications. It is often difficult to determine the extent to which an individual submission made a difference to the outcome of an application; we think it would be fair to assume that sometimes our submissions do make a difference and sometimes they do not. We have certainly made hundreds of submissions from matters relating to the proposed felling of a tree to the redevelopment of a high street. Certainly, our views or concerns have achieved front page coverage on a number of occasions in the local press.
We have Installed 2 blue plaques; We installed Newton Abbots first blue plaque in Dec 2004 at 2 Totnes Rd, the home of physicist, Oliver Heaviside, who resided there between 1897 to 1909. He was also a noted scientist and electrical engineer who predicted the existence of a layer of ionised particles in the Earth upper atmosphere. The second plaque was installed in June 2005 at Sandford Orleigh, off Jetty Marsh, the home of Sir Samuel White Baker. He was an African Explorer as well as a Traveller and Sportsman.
Through the press, we highlighted the disappearance of a 17th century lead statue from the front of Minerva House, whilst in the custody of Teignbridge District Council, which is still missing to this day. We were also concerned about an old Oak screen at Sandford Orleigh when the property was being redeveloped by builders but were effectively assured in writing by the District Council that our concerns were unfounded. The screen was eventually removed from the property by the builders and languished in one of their outbuildings somewhere for a number of years finally being recovered by the District Council and given to Newton Abbot town Council for expensive restoration.
Over the years we have worked with other organisations to open up and man properties in the town of historical or architectural interest on National Heritage Open Day held in September each year. The Society have organised or worked with other groups to organise local walks and talks.We have responded to a number of invitations to make submissions to Teignbridge District Council as part of a public consultation process. Submissions have been made on a variety of subjects and this in itself is challenging given the short time you are often given to make submissions and the often lengthy documents you have to read through beforehand. What have we achieved; we would like to think our efforts have made a difference
