MARY TAVY COMMUNITY FIELD & HALL

 To whom it may concern.

 Tyres at the entrance of the Recreation Ground and Coronation Hall.

The Mary Tavy Victory Memorial Recreation Ground Trust established in 1946 owns and is responsible for the Coronation Hall, Eleven Acre Recreation Ground which also includes the driveway entrance from the A386 up to and including the car park at the Coronation Hall. The Trust permits parking only in the designated car park. This facility is solely for users of the Recreation Ground and the Coronation Hall and, in recognition of the contribution made to the community by the owners of the Post Office and Store, for short term parking by visitors to the store. It is not, and has never been, considered to be a public road.

Trustees have to consider the safety of those using the driveway, particularly when exiting onto the A386. The last 18 months have seen a considerable change to the junction. As part of the development of the Burrows the main road was moved towards the Hall entrance to accommodate the parking bays outside the Post Office. At the same time the boundary wall of the new housing estate has moved out an extra metre, further restricting the view up the A386 of anyone – pedestrian or driver – wishing to exit onto the main road. When the boundary wall at the junction was first erected there was a great deal of complaint from users of the Hall that – at just over a metre – the wall was too high and made the junction dangerous as drivers were forced to pull into the main road in order to see around the wall. The Parish Council, Dartmoor National Park and Devon County Council supported this view and the wall was reduced in height so that drivers could see over the top.

The quantity and speed of the traffic using the A386 has also increased in recent years, to the point where the Parish Council have put together a working party in response to public pressure to explore ways of slowing traffic through the village. The risks to users of the junction are also increased at night and in poor weather conditions.

There has also been an increase over time in the frequency of parking directly in front of the main gated drive onto the Recreation Ground, obstructing the designated access for ambulances to meet the air ambulance when it lands on the football pitch. The landing site needs to be accessible 24 hours a day for ambulances needing to meet the air ambulance.

With all of this information the Trustees decided that the entire junction area of the driveway was not suitable for parking because of the dangers it posed to anyone wanting to exit onto the main road, and because of the potential risk to life if ambulances are not able to meet the air ambulance.  Trustees have tried to prevent parking by putting up signs, putting stickers on windows, and speaking to vehicle owners directly. When all of this failed to stop indiscriminate parking Trustees sought advice and assistance from the Parish Council, Devon County Council Highways Department and the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary, none of whom felt able to act because they all considered that the driveway is private land and not a public road.

Trustees felt that they were left with no alternative other than to put up physical barriers to prevent this inconsiderate and potentially dangerous parking on private land, and that doing nothing about it was not an option. The tyres will be painted and planted over time. Trustees are sorry for any inconvenience, and will be happy to receive constructive messages containing alternative solutions through our website listed below.

John Hill

Chairman

Mary Tavy Victory Memorial Recreation Ground Trust

www.marytavycoronationhall.com