Heart of the South West Trading Standards Service have advised us that as of 5pm on the 3 November 2021 an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone was declared across Great Britain. This means that all bird keepers in Great Britain (whether they have pet birds, commercial flocks or just a few birds in a backyard are required by law to take a range of bio-security precautions:
Schedule 1 – Minimum biosecurity measures applying to all keepers
· Keep domestic ducks and geese separate from other poultry.
· Ensure the areas where birds are kept are unattractive to wild birds, for example by netting ponds, and by removing wild bird food sources.
· Feed and water their birds in enclosed areas to discourage wild birds.
· Minimise movement into and out of bird enclosures.
· Cleanse and disinfect footwear and keep areas where birds live clean and tidy.
· Reduce any existing contamination by cleansing and disinfecting concrete areas and fencing off wet or boggy areas.
· Keep free ranging birds within fenced areas, and ponds, watercourses and permanent standing water must be fenced off (except in specific circumstances, e.g., zoo birds).
Schedule 2 –Enhanced biosecurity measures for premises with over 500 poultry or other captive birds
Keepers with more than 500 birds will need to restrict access for non-essential people on their sites, workers will need to change clothing and footwear before entering bird enclosures and site vehicles will need to be cleaned and disinfected regularly to limit the risk of the disease spreading.
Remember that if you have poultry it is your responsibility to keep updated on any outbreaks and an easy way to do this is to sign up for text notifications – register with the APHA alerts service.
“It is true that Hemlock Water Dropwort is very poisonous when eaten. However this is no reason to over-react to finding the roots of this species, the “Dead Man’s Fingers” currently subject to a lot of media frenzy, on Croyde beach. It is a native species growing profusely in the parish all along the streams and in wet areas. Cattle avoid it unless desperate as it smells and tastes bad to them. These characteristics are the species’ evolved defence against grazing, and a facet of stream-side biodiversity. Roots are washed out of the banks and down the Crydda from time to time especially in heavy rain. Therefore they appear on the beach regularly, and disintegrate naturally. It is a good idea to stop your dog picking them up in its mouth, but otherwise keep calm and carry on walking on the beach.
Georgeham Parish Neighbourhood Development Plan Referendum
A neighbourhood planning referendum will be held for the Georgeham Parish Neighbourhood Development Plan on Wednesday 24th November 2021. The question to be asked at the referendum will be:
“Do you want North Devon District Council to use the neighbourhood plan for Georgeham parish to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?”
The referendum area for the Neighbourhood Plan is the parish area of Georgeham. You are entitled to vote in this referendum on Wednesday 24th November 2021 if: • You are entitled to vote in a local government election in the referendum area; and • Your qualifying address is in the referendum area. A person’s qualifying address is, in relation to a person registered in the register of electors the address in respect of which they are entitled to be registered.
The referendum will be conducted in accordance with procedures similar to those used at local government elections.
Referendum Expenses The Referendum expenses limit that will apply in relation to the Referendum is £2362 x 0.59p per elector. The number of persons entitled to vote in the Referendum is 1124.
Specified Documents The relevant regulations state that we must make available the following documents: • The referendum version of the Georgeham Neighbourhood Development Plan • The independent examiner’s report on the draft Georgeham Neighbourhood Development Plan • A summary of the representations submitted to the independent examiner • A statement setting out that North Devon District Council agrees that the Georgeham Neighbourhood Development Plan meets the basic conditions and relevant Regulations (included within the document known as the Decision Statement) • A statement setting out general information as to Town and Country Planning (including Neighbourhood Planning) and the referendum.
Copies of the documents can also be viewed at: • Croyde Post Office, St Marys Road, Croyde, Braunton, Devon, EX33 1LF. • Georgeham Village Stores, Chapel Street, Georgeham, Devon, EX33 1JJ. Alternatively North Devon District Council can provide a copy by contacting the customer services team either by emailing customerservices@northdevon.gov.uk or by telephone on weekdays between 9am to 5pm on 01271 327711. (Type talk precede with 18001). Copies may also be provided by visiting the reception at Lynton House, Commercial Road, Barnstaple, EX31 1DG during the following opening times: Monday 9am-1pm, Wednesday 9am-1pm and Friday 9am-1pm
Please come along and show your support for the adoption of the Neighbourhood Plan
PUBLIC MEETING: NORTH DEVON DISTRICT COUNCIL MEETING:Tuesday 5 October 2021 at 6.30pmVenue: Crematorium, Barnstaple
The North Devon District Council will review the Georgeham Parish Neighbourhood Plan to decide whether to accept the Examiner’s Report on the Plan.
This is a significant milestone in the progress of the Plan.
If the Council accepts the examiner’s recommendation that the Plan should be presented at a Public Referendum, arrangements will be made for a public vote to accept or reject the Plan. The Plan will then form part of the legal development Plan for the area.
Once the Council makes the decision to accept the Examiner’s recommendations, the Plan becomes a Material Consideration when planning applications are made. So even before a referendum is held it has some influence on how planning officers decide what is acceptable in the Parish. When members of the public comment on a planning application, reference may be made to the plan policies, to support their comments, in the same way as reference is made to the Local Plan policies.
The neighbourhood plan policies can be found in the executive summary, on pages 3-11 of the latest document. Click HERE to open the document.
The Council Meeting is open to the public who may observe the proceedings. Please come along and show your support.
The Examiner to the Neighbourhood Plan has completed a visit to the Parish and has sent a list of queries about the plan. These can be seen by clicking on the heading to the post and selecting HERE
Following the submission of the Georgeham Neighbourhood Plan, the Examiner has now responded outlining the process that he will be undertaking and the likely timetable. His letter can be accesed by clicking the heading to the post and then clicking HERE
Parish Councils are no longer allowed to hold meetings via Zoom due to government legislation. Councillors at Georgeham are looking at ways to safely hold in person Parish Council meetings and further details will be announced when the arrangements are in place.
Members of the public are requested to send representations in writing for discussion at a future meeting.
Although the public have the right to attend a Parish Council meeting, due to the restriction in space at Georgeham Village Hall to accommodate nine Councillors, the Clerk, County and District Councillors, it is requested that attendance is kept to a minimum for the time being.
Georgeham Parish Council declared a climate emergency in September 2019. Taking action on this has been held up during the Covid crisis but in September 2020 the council decided to create small community woodland areas on land in its ownership.
The first step was taken at the end of February when a small team of councillors and residents planted 100 native trees on an area of the Glebefield in Georgeham. As the photo shows these trees are now flourishing having survived the dry April weather and recent storms.
There is a mown path through the trees but the rest of the area has been left to encourage more wildflowers and grasses to grow and create a wildlife rich habitat.
While the council is planning further tree planting for the coming winter it owns only a small area of land in the parish so it hopes that this initiative will encourage other people in the parish to plant trees. It is encouraging to note that already at least three landowners have embarked on major tree planting schemes in the parish.
The Parish Council is keen to keep track of new areas of woodland planting and offer advice and support to anyone who wants to start planting trees. To let the council know about your tree planting plans or to seek advice please contact Councillor Jon Gething by email at jongething@mac.com or by phone at 07976 320445.
During the pandemic there has been a rise in cyber crime with malicious organisations and individuals taking advantage of the situation. Below you will find guidance on how you can be more aware to protect yourself from:
Loss of money giving away credit/debit card data
Loss of identity giving away personal information
Unknowingly giving away secure data and information of any kind
A compromised / hacked computer or email account
Keep alert for Phishing emails
Phishing is the fraudulent practice of sending emails ostensibly from a known or trusted sender in order to obtain sensitive information or data, such as usernames, passwords, credit card details or other sensitive details, by impersonating oneself as a trustworthy entity.
This is particularly on rise during lockdown as more people are ordering products and services online for home delivery. Malicious emails that look like authentic courier branded emails will take advantage of people expecting a delivery under the guise of the order requiring action. Always track your packages and deliveries directly through the official courier website or app to be on the safe side.
The same with banks and building societies as people are actively focused on their spending, accounting and budgets. Banks will never ask for information or actions to me made over email. Likewise HMRC will never request payment or threaten action over email. Be on the lookout for scammers calling or emailing claiming to be HMRC at this time of year when Self Assessments are due.
Similarly many government organisations are understandably issuing updates as a trusted source of information at this time through their websites and emails. Be mindful of imitation .gov.uk addresses in emails that will seek to ask for forms to be filled out or links to be clicked.
Spear Phishing
These are more customised targeted emails that are received from a known person requesting information or an action. This usually occurs if the trusted senders email account has been compromised / hacked OR imitating the emails address only very slightly.
Always double check with a phone call or separate line of communication if a trusted person has sent an email requesting action which seems out of the ordinary or unexpected.
Please see this poster below on what to look out for to avoid being hooked:
Your best defence against hackers is a strong password but remembering passwords for so many logins and systems is understandably frustrating at times. Below are some tips that should make things a bit easier whilst being more secure:
Pick a sentence you can remember easily. This could be a significant event, a description of your favourite place or a quote from somebody. eg: Laughter is timeless or Toms birthday in Rome
Combine word segments to form a new string. Make sure the string is at least 10 characters long. Combine word endings and beginnings. eg laughteristimeless or tombirthdayrome
Capitalize two or more characters where it makes sense. Pick the “words” that convey your sentence’s core message, eg: LaughterISTimeless or TomBirthDAYRome
Introduce two or more numbers, dots, ampersands or other special characters. Convert letters that into numbers that look the similar, eg: 1aught3rIST!mele55 or T0mB!rthDAYRom3
REMEMBER: Your password’s length is the prime ingredient for security.
What to do in summary
Always double check the sender email address – it can look genuine and only be 1 character different.
Be suspicious of any request to click on a link or send confidential information over email. Double check to be on the safe side.
NEVER make a financial transaction using your card from an email. Double check using a legitimate and trusted method.
A warning about COVID-19 vaccination scams
The launch of the mass vaccination of people in the UK against COVID-19, is being accompanied by a rash of attempts at fraud, as reported by Trading Standards departments around the country.
Exploiting people’s desire to receive the vaccination as soon as possible and, more recently, increased fear of infection in the light of the new, more virulent strain, scammers are using phone calls (both in person and automated) and text messages to offer the chance to ‘jump the queue’. In the most commonly reported cases, the recipient is required to respond by clicking a link in the text message, or pressing 1 on the call.
If you receive an email or phone call from anyone purporting to offer you the vaccine other than the NHS, you should assume it is a scam. In reality, the vaccine is being offered by the NHS to people most at risk from Coronavirus, with groups at lower levels of risk following, and so on. It is being administered in some hospitals and, from last week, hundreds of local vaccination centres run by GPs.
Get more free expert advice on the Get Safe Online website which covers all the major news and developments in cyber crime.
