VILLAGERS are invited to air their views on speeding and traffic issues at a special meeting in Mary Tavy next month.

The parish council will hold a public meeting in the Coronation Hall, Mary Tavy, on Thursday, February 2 at 7pm.

The parish council will use the meeting to also discuss the future of the cemetery as it reaches capacity.

An update will be supplied on progress made since the speeding public meeting that was held in Mary Tavy in November 2019.

This is also an opportunity for residents to identify and discuss their thoughts on future road and traffic issues and needs in the parish.

The future of Mary Tavy Parish Cemetery is also up for debate because space in the current parish cemetery is running out.

The parish council needs the input of local residents to decide whether to keep searching for land in the parish to provide a new cemetery or stop interments in new graves once the current cemetery is full.

Cllr Paul Reid, council chairman, said the position with the cemetery needed to be addressed soon: ‘The options are quite straightforward.

‘Unless we can find a suitable piece of land in the parish for a new cemetery we will have no option but to cease interments in new graves once the current cemetery is full.’

The village has long wanted a lower speed limit on the main A386 through the village on the way from Tavistock, reducing it from the national 60mph, especially after accidents at a potentially dangerous junction outside the Mary Tavy Inn on Lane Head, on the way to Horndon.

The idea is for traffic to be slowed gradually as it reaches the 30mph limit beside the Station Road junction.

Presently traffic comes too fast into the heart of the village where people are using local services. Traffic coming from the Tavistock direction has to brake suddenly after coming over a hill and round a bend and reaching a pedestrian crossing, village post office and church.

Villagers want traffic slowed gradually under 60, 40 and 30mph limits, as from the opposite direction from the Okehampton direction.

Cllr Reid said: ‘The campaign for a speed limit is actually to have a 40mph limit put in place on the A386 from where you enter the village at the southern end - near Lane Head and the Mary Tavy Inn, up to the current 30mph limit near the junction of the A386 with Station Road.

‘This request is still under consideration by Devon County Council highways. We hope to meet with Highways representatives and get an update before our public meeting.’

The meeting also gives residents the chance to hear the parish council reflecting on the successes and challenges it has faced during the four-year term of the current set of elected parish councillors.

Cllr Reid added: ‘As to the question of successes and challenges - I guess that’s quite subjective. We look forward to feedback on this from parishioners at our public meeting.’

Residents are invited to stay after the main meeting to chat with councillors over refreshments to find out about the role of a parish councillor and about the elections for a new parish council which are in May.