News in Dawlish

Plans for new facilities at Dawlish's Orchard Manor School have been approved by Devon County Council.

The development management committee supported the proposal for a multi-purpose hall and vocational workshop at the residential school for pupils with special educational needs, at its meeting on Wednesday, October 21.

Dawlish police are urging anyone concerned about rough sleepers in the town to download a smartphone app called StreetLink, to alert organisations that can help them.

StreetLink will send the details to the district council and local charities combating homelessness.

Dawlish's Remembrance Sunday parade, public act of remembrance and service at St Gregory's Church have been called off because of Covid-19, in what the town council has described as a 'difficult decision'.

The council said the events on Sunday, November 8 would have attracted large numbers of people, and the current Covid-19 social distancing requirements mean they will not be possible.

A beach clean organised by Dawlish Against Plastic removed nearly 40kg of waste from the seashore on Saturday, October 17.

The rubbish collected included a rope weighing 16.8kg on its own, and there were also some items that could not be moved at the time.

'Getting the community working together again' is the aim of a Dawlish Action for Youth project in which young people will do things that benefit others.

It is one of the initiatives that will be funded by a National Lottery grant of almost £9,000, which the organisation applied for in June.

Visitors to Dawlish Warren nature reserve can now watch wildlife from a new viewing platform overlooking the pond near the visitor centre.

It has a bench to sit on and full wheelchair access, and was funded by the family of one of the reserve's longest serving volunteers who had been a regular birdwatcher there.

A video stream of Dawlish's black swans went live on Saturday, October 17, enabling people all over the world to view them via the internet.

The camera is mounted on the Sea Breeze restaurant/takeaway and viewers will be able to move it remotely to see the other waterfowl nearby, or take a look further afield at the sea and weather conditions, ships, and any trains passing through.

Concerned town councillors are to write a 'strongly worded' objection to the dumping of dredged material in the sea off Dawlish and Teignmouth.

But at Dawlish Town Council's meeting on October 7, members voted unanimously to write to the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) objecting to its granting of the licence.

Multi-million pound plans to move Teignmouth's cliffside railway line further out to sea have been put on hold, following major opposition from the public.

The scheme would have cost hundreds of millions of pounds, and would take eight years to complete.

A Dawlish man has been awarded the British Empire Medal in the Queen's Birthday Honours List, for his community service as a volunteer driver.

The charity's manager, Chloe Myers, described him as 'the loveliest man' and said he constantly goes out of his way for patients, 'dropping everything' to make sure they get to their medical appointments on time.