Spring is just around the corners, and while there are many jobs that need doing, please don’t forget to clean nest boxes and bird feeders to eliminate parasites and stop the spread of disease.
After the end of each breeding season, all nest boxes should be taken down, old nesting materials removed, and the box should be scalded with boiling water to kill any parasites. Do not use insecticides or flea-powders – boiling water is adequate. Annual cleaning is best carried out from late September to February.
Under the terms of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, if unhatched eggs are found in the box, they can only legally be removed from October to January inclusive, and they must be destroyed – it is illegal to keep them.
Clean feeders and feeding sites regularly using warm soapy water or 5% disinfectant, especially in the months between January and May. Make sure to rinse any disinfectant off thoroughly and always allow feeders to air-dry completely before adding food.
It is lovely to find something that doesn’t need doing:- How about NOT doing this
Don’t Spring into a garden clean up too soon…..
Wait until temperatures are consistently above 10oC (50oF)
Many butterflies, bees and other pollinators are currently wintering in dead leaves and hollowed out stems of last years plants.
Let them Bee Nesting Bees
The nesting ecology of bees varies between different families, with some species living underground in the soil, whilst others excavate their nests in deadwood.
Several species prefer to make their nests inside the empty cavities left by other animals and there are even some bees that nest in abandoned snail shells!
You may have found these under a brick or a damp object. You may have felt disgusted and wondered why they exist in nature.
Well, let me tell you, these animals Oniscidae, better known as wood lice, are a subgroup of isopod crustaceans whose function is to remove harmful heavy metals to the earth such as mercury, cadmium and lead.
They contribute to the cleansing of the soil and groundwater and reaffirm the wisdom of nature.
Do not damage them or spray pesticides!
While you are busy tidying up, why not help wildlife further by making a pond.
Even a small pond can be home to an interesting range of wildlife, including damsel and dragonflies, frogs and newts, as well as a feeding ground for birds, hedgehogs and bats – the best natural garden pest controllers!
Your pond needn’t be big. A washing-up bowl, a large plant pot, or a disused sink could all be repurposed as ponds, providing you make sure creatures can get in and out.
RYDA AGM
Noss Village Hall
12th April 2022 @ 7pm
Please come and join us
It will be our first in-person AGM since lockdown began/
A ZOOM version will be available
The link will be emailed to all members nearer the date
As reported in the March newsletter, it looks like being a good year for bluebells. Get out when you can and explore our woodlands in their carpets of blue. The picture below is of Court Woodland
A New defibrillator in Brixton
Torvale Lodge have installed a new Zoll AED plus defibrillator, this is located between the entrance to Torvale Lodge and Chittleburn Business Park PL8 2PH, (Opposite the turning to Otters)
The what 3 words = calculating.clip.laws,
The machine has also been registered with the Ambulance service
With fuel getting more expensive, there is help to find the cheapest in the area via
PetrolPrices.com - Compare UK Petrol and Diesel Fuel Prices For Free .
Fuel prices vary enormously with as much as 10p per litre difference within 5 miles of Newton Ferrers.
While the speed you drive at is arguably the most influential factor affecting fuel consumption, there are a number of other ways you can change your driving habits that will have a significant impact on the money you spend at the pump.
Climate Emergency and Biodiversity
Let’s celebrate the Jubilee with
flowers for pollinators
Jubilee Flower Project Competition
A competition for the best floral display of pollinating plants (ideally including native wildflowers).
The pot, barrel or window box will be judged by public votes with a Flower PotTrail at the end of July.
The display must be visible from the road
The aim is to encourage more flowers to be grown for our
wildlife - bees, butterflies etc.
Entrants will find a list of suggested plants for pollinators on their entry forms.
Why not plant your own seeds now?
Devon grown wildflower seeds can be purchased from
Only £2 to enter - Entry forms at the Post Office.
Funds raised will be spent on increasing the biodiversity of our villages
COMMENTING ON PLANNING APPLICATIONS
The Parish Council is the statutory authority with responsibility for representing the views of the entire local community regarding planning applications. However, the RYDA can play an important part by having an independent voice with which we can represent our members.
You will be familiar that we use our Newsletters to draw your attention to any planning application that we think might be controversial or raise significant planning issues. For these we will always give you the application reference number so that you can look at the full application online by at http://apps.southhams.gov.uk/PlanningSearchMVC/.
We ask for your comments and use these to inform our decision whether we wish to comment to SHDC on the application and, if so, how. We do therefore find your responses to be very important.
However, if we do comment to SHDC it only counts as a single comment no matter how many responses we have had from you and been incorporated into our response.
It is therefore ESSENTIAL that you comment directly to SHDC if you feel particularly strongly about an application, whether you support it or object to it. We would also encourage you to copy your comments to both ourselves and the Parish Council so that they can be properly taken into account in those responses.
Finally, it is probably worth being reminded what are valid comments as SHDC can only take material planning considerations into account.
The following list is not exhaustive but it gives an idea of the sort of things that would be classed as a material planning consideration:
Comments that are not material planning considerations will not be taken into account no matter how strongly they are felt.
Examples of what is not considered to be a material planning consideration could be:
The next talk from N&N Environment Group concerns Plymouth City Council’s plans for an impressive scheme to create a vast Community Forest in Plymouth and South Devon.
It will stretch from the heart of the city to the edge of the moor, encompassing 1,900 hectares of land to form a mosaic of different forest habitats.
The talk will be held at The Yealm Yacht Club on 13th April at 20.00.
If you cannot make the meeting in person, please join on Zoom using the following link -
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84574429521?pwd=UHVENk0zMUQyM0FlWG13c2xveGxHQT09
Meeting ID: 845 7442 9521
Passcode: 528920
The Newton and Noss Village Hall
NEWTON AND NOSS VILLAGE HALL ANNUAL MEETING
The next Annual meeting of the Newton and Noss Village Hall will be held on Tuesday May 3rd 2022 at 7pm in the Revelstoke Room
Full details will be available nearer the time, but please do save the date, and join us.
Email us at: info@nnvh.org.uk; Check out our current events at: www.nnvh.org.uk
Tuesday Lunch Club
WI Hall Newton Ferrers
5th April 12.00 noon
£5 donation, Proceeds to Charity
Come along and enjoy a delicious 2 course, home cooked lunch, plus coffee or tea & more importantly friendly company
Wembury Rockpool Safari’s are back
Tickets · £5
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/rockpool-safari-tickets-308704352027
Join Devon Wildlife Trust staff and volunteers for a guided tour of some of the best rockpools in the UK! Our expert team will take you on a guided rockpool safari to meet and learn about some of Wembury's most famous inhabitants, from blennies to starfish and everything in between!
THURS, 14 APRIL 2022 FROM 10:30-11:30 Tots & Toddlers Rockpool Safari
FRI, 15 APR AT 11:00 Good Friday Rockpool Safari
SAT, 16 APR AT 11:30 Extreme Rockpool Safari
SUN, 17 APR AT 12:00 Easter Sunday Extreme Rockpool Safari
WED, 20 APRIL 2022 FROM 14:00-15:30 Rockpool Safari
SAT, 30 APR AT 11:00 Extreme Rockpool Safari
SUN, 1 MAY AT 12:00 Rockpool Safari
Newton & Noss Village Hall 200 Club Lottery – April 2022 Draw Results.
A big thanks to everyone who has joined the lottery draw from April 2022 and to the local businesses who have so kindly contributed prizes to supplement the cash awards – Swan Inn, Ship Inn, Dolphin Inn, Luscombe Maye, Marchand Petit, Noss Beer Works, Bridgend Bike Services and Trevor, the Newton butcher.
Congratulations to the winners in the first of the twelve monthly draws in April 2022.
1st Prize (£50) 2143. Elary Chetwynd
2nd Prize (£30) 2102. Emma Parker
3rd Prize (£20) 2204. Peter Shield
4th Prize (Hamper, kindly donated by Jill Johnson) 2110. David Blythman
Thank you very much for your support.
Arguably, one of the most important sections of the Newton and Noss Neighbourhood Plan is the attempt to protect the waterfront contained in Policy N3P-2.
Over the life of the plan there have been several failures to achieve this. We now see another application to develop a quay, slipway, and boathouse, directly opposite protected National Trust Woodland, below Venta, 71 Yealm Road, (Planning Application Reference 0370/22/FUL) which will continue the “canalisation” of the waterfront. The site contains of the long defunct remains of a quay, but there is no evidence of a previous slipway or boathouse, see photo below:
Although the site has suffered over time and possibly during the demolition of Venta and the rebuilding of the garden retaining wall, some evidence of the original foreshore remains visible.
The concrete ramp, and the boatshed, with its steel cladding roof and sides with aluminium glazing system are not likely to form a net gain to the biodiversity and are completely out of keeping with the location.
The reconstruction of the quay may have achieved a degree of biodiversity enhancement were it to be constructed as dry-stone walling and not a mortared stone wall.
Another issue, not addressed in the application, is the potential effect on the integrity of the public footpath. It appears that the quay may be cut back into the cliff bank but no additional retaining structure to the bank seems to be proposed, this may leave the footpath vulnerable to future subsidence. If you have any views on this, or any other, application then please let us know and make your comments to the Parish and South Hams Councils.
Climate Change
Another issue worthy of interest is South Hams District Council’s proposals for climate change mitigation within future planning applications for development.
As part of the Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan, they have jointly initiated a “Climate Emergency Planning Policy and Guidance Consultation” which started on Thursday 3 March 2022 and you have until Thursday 21 April 2022 to make comments.
This proposal sets out ways to ensure that all new development is fit for the future, by including solar panels, heat pumps and electric vehicle charging facilities as standard. It attempts to set out measures that will mean development is better able to cope with the challenges of climate change to avoid overheating and flooding and bring health and wellbeing benefits.
We recommend that you make your views known via the consultation (although the link appears as a Plymouth Consultation it is a joint consultation, https://plymouth-consult.objective.co.uk/kse/event/36806/section/5948500)