THE BISHOP of Plymouth is paying a three-day visit to Newton Abbot as part of a nine-month tour around the diocese.

The Rt Rev Nick McKinnel was to meet residents and councillors and find out more about future developments in the town.

Part of his trip included a meeting with planning officers at Teignbridge Council, with Rev Patrick Parkes, to hear about proposals for 4,000 new homes in Newton Abbot,

Tomorrow, he will be guest at a lunch at Newton Abbot town hall hosted by the mayor, Cllr Liz Roberts, fellow town councillors and town centre development manager Sally Henley along with senior members of the clergy in the deanery.

After lunch, he will have a whistle-stop tour of the museum.

This will be followed by a walk through the town centre, led by the town crier, pausing at the clock tower to hear ladies’ community choir Unity In Sounds before heading to the town council’s planned new offices, museum and community space at St Leonard’s Church where he will hear about plans to transform the former church building.

Further visits are arranged to the HITS food bank in Bradley Lane finally ending the tour at the Golden Lion Square in Bank Street where there will be a formal exchange of greetings between the mayor and the Bishop, announced by the town crier.

The visit is part of a new vision by the Bishop of Exeter the Rt Rev Robert Atwell.

At the diocese synod earlier this year, he committed the three bishops of Exeter, Plymouth and Crediton to embark on nine months of travelling around the diocese, visiting people, projects and parishes and talking to communities about how to grow the church in Devon.