South Molton held a Big Tidy Up on Sunday 17th March, and the Town Team, who organised it, were delighted to see how many people willingly gave two hours of their weekend to support the initiative and to help ensure the town look it very best for the 2013 tourist season. 

The Town Team are a group of local people who came together early last year to compile a bid for a share of the Government’s Portas Pilot funding, which was earmarked to help revitalise High Streets across the country. The South Molton Town Team membership is currently composed of Joint Chairmen Dave Goodman (Mayor) and David Walker (Chairman South Molton Business Association), Andrew Coates (South Molton Town Council), Paul Henderson, Barbara Miers, Natalie Doel, Calum Robb, Susi Atkinson, and Paul Ellis all came from the local business community, while Sharon Webber, represents the Tourist Information Centre. 

Town Team Chairman and Mayor of South Molton Dave Goodman says:

“The event went very well and it brought together a lot of people, some of whom I had never seen before.   There were young people, very young people, older people and some who do not even live in South Molton.  There were both members of the public and organisations, so the event brought people together who care about South Molton.   When I drove around the town on Sunday morning there didn’t seem to be much litter, but from 1.00 – 3.00 our volunteers managed to find a rather large pile of the stuff (35 big bags), including an abandoned bicycle, a bicycle wheel, a car number plate, an estate agent sign, four odd socks, a full bottle of vodka  and one person found a purse containing a large amount of money, which will now be returned to its owner! 

What Next? 

Already the Town Team are considering the next steps in sprucing up South Molton. First on the list is installing lots of hanging baskets around the centre of the town which should really brighten it up. Mole Valley Farmers are kindly supplying the baskets and brackets for free, while South Molton’s Flower Shop will plant them.  It is hoped that  local businesses will ‘adopt’ the baskets, helping our town to look attractive throughout the summer. 

 Also, responding to feedback from the local business community, the Town Team have  started reviewing the signage to and within the town.  Once research is completed, the team hope to remove unnecessary signs before arranging another voluntary event to clean up those which remain.”