W HEN THE Council Tax demands come thudding through Bideford letterboxes do look at the way the tax is divided between different bodies. I say this as there have been various increases — ranging from 1.98% for Devon county council to 2% for Torridge.

Amazingly the Devon and Cornwall Police Authority have gone for a massive 4.95% increase and Devon & Somerset Fire Authority have put in a hike of 3.74% — the second year that both these groups have opted for a well-above inflation increase. I know that many local councillors are extremely perturbed at these swingeing increases — especially when one reads that the constabulary is talking about cutting large numbers of front line staff. Where does this increased cut of your council tax go? Perhaps a representative of the Police and Fire Services could let us know. I, for one, would be intrigued.

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I HAVE just returned from taking 40 students to Morocco on a Geography field trip which was both rewarding and very tiring. We visited the Sahara Desert which is spreading northwards as a result of global climate change - with the worst predictions saying desert-like conditions could reach Southern Europe this century.

The climate of Devon would also change of course, with either colder or hotter conditions being a possibility, and I do wonder how quickly local farmers could adapt to such a new scenario.

I know my students were shocked at the poverty we encountered, which made all of them thankful to live in Devon even if we don't get the sunshine that Morocco does. The dreaded "Health & Safety" may have made many teachers avoid taking students on such trips but how else are our young adults to develop a mature world view?

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WHEN I write these columns I am never sure how many people read them but a story I penned a few months ago proves that a lot of my readers have kind hearts.

The original piece concerned the Store Homelessness Project here in Bideford which helps the homeless and needy families with furniture and electrical equipment. Many readers contacted the organisers with offers of help and donations of goods, which have gone to help the 2,000 cases of need the store deals with each year.

My photograph shows the project managers Joe Buckingham and Valentina Kassam amidst some of their "stock". They have contacted me to say thank you to all who helped and to renew their on-going need for household goods including fridge freezers, washing machines, tumble dryers etc (so long as they are working). They can be contacted on 07925 654206 11am to 5pm and they do collect.

Incidentally in this bitter weather they are making a special appeal for sleeping bags so if you have any of these things lying around unused then why not contact them — the articles you give will be going to people who are in desperate need.

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At this week's Full Torridge district council meeting we heard that the Pollyfield Centre "Manager's Action Plan" has been approved with the Manager being given a six-month probationary period to see whether they can make a success of the scheme or not.

Cllr Tony Inch said he had heard rumours that things were not going as well as they could be and added that he hadn't seen much evidence of the Centre extending a welcome to people from the rest of Bideford, which was one of the criteria agreed some months ago before any money was put into the place. Given that we are talking considerable sums of cash here from the town council, Torridge and Tarka Housing it will be interesting to read future progress reports about the Centre from its Manager.

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Well, the first election leaflets have started to arrive so it must be Spring. Over two days I received three examples from the Lib-Dems trumpeting the all-round marvellousness of their candidate which if nothing else makes me wonder at the party's rather profligate use of presumably volunteer leafletters. Amongst all the rather simplistic questions such as "Are you finding it more difficult to make ends meet because of the recession?" I was heartened to see they have picked up on points I have been making about our current Member of Parliament and the earnings he still makes from practising as a barrister. One leaflet puts it crudely, but effectively, "Did you know…your current Conservative MP earns more money in a week in his second job than most people here earn in a year" — a piece illustrated with a photograph of an uncharacteristically glum-looking Geoffrey Cox. I am unsure how this yah-boo style of campaign will go down but I do note the Lib-Dem's e-mail address is twdld.org.uk — which seems as close to Tweedledee as you can get. I look forward to seeing the Tweedledum Tory's reply.

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UNFORTUNATE typing errors are fairly common in the very voluminous agendas/reports councillors receive but I had to smile at a recent one. Councillors who are members of both the town council and Torridge have to declare themselves "dual hatted" when considering planning applications but in a recent set of minutes from the Planning Committee of Torridge poor councillor Philip Pester, our Deputy Mayor, was noted as being "Dual Hated" which seems rather cruel given Philip's very affable nature!