THE first outing of a voluntary group called Crediton Urban Taskforce – and styled [CUT!] for short – chose the pavements and pathways of Exeter Road for a serious session of weed-clearance on March 23.
Around 15 Crediton residents, including a group of Ukrainian friends, responded to appeals to help and spent more than three hours on the Saturday afternoon to scrape weeds and generally clean up the pavements and the pedestrian walkway above Exeter Road and a number of cobbled areas.
The task has been scheduled over two Saturdays, so a second visit is planned for Saturday, April 6 from 3pm to 6pm.
The work will extend down to the entrance to Four Mills Lane. The group is grateful to the Wood family for permission to include work carried out on private property.
[CUT!] is a community initiative, led by Crediton Town Councillors Natalia Letch along with Steve Huxtable, Rachel Backhouse and former Crediton Town Councillor Paul Vincent, which aims to encourage, support and enable local people to keep Crediton’s urban environment in good condition.
The state of pavements, kerbs, pathways, street furniture and other community areas has deteriorated in some areas due to cuts in local authority maintenance. The group believes that, with a level of support and co-ordination, members of the local community can take responsibility for an area of the town and work together for the common good.
Paul Vincent said: “People generally want to keep their town in a decent condition, whether close to their homes or along walking routes or significant and visible places, but it’s frustrating to see our urban environment overgrown, or spoilt by dirt, litter, rotting leaves and so on. The [CUT!] initiative is about enabling those in the local community who want to help solve the problem in an on-going comprehensive and structured way.
“But it’s more than just looking after the physical environment. We believe that taking part in this kind of activity helps strengthen a sense of community, builds social relationships and is probably very good for our individual well-being.
“Judging by this first outing, I think we all felt good about being involved. It’s certainly very rewarding to see the impressive results of the work finished.”
The town council has fully endorsed the [CUT!] group by agreeing to remunerate the costs of tools and materials, on-site signage, the disposal of waste material and fund refreshments.
Council staff are also assisting in advertising a programme of fortnightly tasks around the town and communicating with all those involved.
Training for some members of the group has been provided by Devon County Council, necessary for anyone working on or close to roads.
For more information, please visit Crediton Town Council’s website to access information about forthcoming tasks: www.crediton.gov.uk/Facilities/Crediton-Urban-Taskforce-CUT- or email: [email protected] .