REVIEW of 2022 - December: Agnes left in the cold and nurses on strike

► A PARTIALLY sighted Agnes Taylor was left in the cold and dark for two days when energy giant EDF turned off her power.

The 73-year-old Kingsteignton woman told the Mid-Devon Advertiser of her ordeal on two of the coldest days of the year so far. ‘The only way to stay warm was to go to bed.’

► SOME people’s passions can take over their lives, and one such person is Linda Robson- Burrell.

The Newton Abbot mum Linda Robson-Burrell loves books so much she’s set up a free reading library outside her home in Primrose Drive.

For some time she had toyed with the idea of setting up a community library, and was spurred on with the onset of Covid.

She said: ‘I’d wanted to do something like this for a while but wasn’t confident to do it alone. Being part of the Little Free Library group makes me part of a community.’

► THOUSANDS of children and low-income families across the South West, will benefit from a surplus of over 30,000 vegetables, as organic veg box company, Riverford and food charity, FareShare South West join forces to get the excess greens to those in need.

The glut of giant cabbages, cauliflower, and leeks is a result of the unseasonably mild autumn weather in the UK.

► NEWTON Abbot Christmas Show celebrated its 100th show this week, as farmers from across the region came together to show off the best of Devon’s produce, as they have done for generations.

► CURRENT defences designed to protect Dawlish Warren are ‘unsustainable’, environment experts have warned.

Efforts put in place five years ago in a bid to shore up the spit against ongoing coastal erosion and rising sea levels have not performed as well as expected.

The Dawlish Warren Beach Management plan cost £12 million and was completed in 2017. But a consultation with communities along the Exe estuary has said that the spit will continue to change with ongoing beach lowering and erosion.

► DEVON Valley Holiday Village shuts its doors on December 1st, just eight months after changing ownership.

A spokesperson stated: ‘Following our eight months of ownership, we have concluded that the park, after 20 years of a visible lack of investment, is neither profitable nor reflective of the standards we want to offer guests.

‘It is therefore envisaged that the park will not open for the 2023 season, and all bookings will be refunded.’

► RESIDENTS in Teignmouth’s Charlemont Road say they have been waiting for three years for South West Water to repair a water main.

This comes in the wake of another Teignmouth resident complaining about the response time to fix a water leak in his road.

► A PROJECT is underway to investigate the possibility of bringing wildcats back to the South West of England after an absence of more than 100 years.

Devon Wildlife Trust has announced that it wants to appoint what is believed to be England’s first ‘Wildcat Project Officer’. The successful candidate will lead a feasibility study which will judge whether wildcats could be reintroduced successfully to the region.

► LARGE crowds of people with placards gathered outside Dartmoor National Park’s visitor centre at Princetown to protest over a major landowner’s attempt to overturn the right to wild camp on Dartmoor.

The Authority is contesting the case at the High Court with the Dartmoor landowner.

► THREE late night shopping events in Newton Abbot – including a Victorian evening, Lantern Parade and Pets’ Carol Service – got the town in festive mood.

David Austin, of Austins Stores said: ‘We had a fantastic December.

'It’s been quite beyond our best expectations so we’re really encouraged. This is great for us and great for the town.’

► IN the week leading up to Christmas we reported on the latest strikes during a winter of discontent – this time the nurses took action and came out on strike.

Nicky Richardson, a nurse at Torbay Hospital, told the Mid-Devon Advertiser: ‘This is about providing fair pay for what nurses do, every single day a nurse goes to work, they have somebody’s life in their hands, but we don’t think that they get paid enough for their responsibilities.

‘We’re short-staffed all the time, we can’t keep our nurses, but we can’t get new nurses.

‘It’s scary what’s happening in the NHS and the time has come to do something.’