Buckfastleigh Town

Fore Street in winter

Fore Street in winter

The historic mill town of Buckfastleigh and the neighbouring abbey village of Buckfast, can be found nestling on the southern edge of eastern Dartmoor in Devon just off the A38, midway between the cities of Exeter and Plymouth.

The name "Buckfast" means "stronghold" – traditionally a place where deer and buck were held, and "Leigh" would have been the pasture belonging to Buckfast – hence the meaning deer held in a pasture (buck-fast-leigh). Buckfast probably existed before Buckfastleigh as it is mentioned in the Domesday Book and in 1018 a Benedictine Abbey was founded and endorsed by King Canute at Buckfast.

Read more about the town here...

Proposed Closure of Ashburton Fire Station

The Town Council has voted to oppose the proposed closure of Ashburton Fire Station and other cuts to the Fire Service.  It was noted that this closure will have a huge impact on the town because we often need Ashburton's assistance in the event of a fire or rescue situation and their fire engine is far closer than Totnes or Newton Abbot, which can make all the difference in the case of a serious incident. Read here to find out more information and how you can express your opinions to the Fire Service.

Electronic Community Noticeboards coming to town

Buckfastleigh's first trial electronic community noticeboard can be seen in Searle's window.  More will be on the way....  Read all about it here

Walking for Health

Buckfastleigh Walking for Health is offering free easy guided walks every second Wednesday this year. Walking is the lowest risk of all physical activities, yet produces massive benefits to physical fitness and mental wellbeing. It is a great way to explore your local area, make new friends and learn more about your immediate community. The next walk is on July 17th and will go to Dr Blackall's Drive on Dartmoor.  More info here

Get to know your new Town Council

The new Council met for the first time on Wednesday 15th May. 

You can find out more about the new Councillors here.

You can read a summary of the meetings here. 

Proposed Housing Developments in Buckfastleigh

You can read here a current summary of the major housing developments in our town that are either currently being considered by Dartmoor National Park planners or are proposed.

Youth Consultation

Buckfastleigh Town Council is developing a youth strategy, working in partnership with Young Devon. In order to identify what needs are currently not being met we are gathering information through consultation with our young people. If you are a young person or young adult who would like to Have Your Say please complete our survey using this link.

There are 15 simple questions to answer so it won't take long.  We'd love to hear what you think!

Teignbridge Residents Satisfaction Survey

Teignbridge District Council would like to know how satisfied residents are with the way they run things.  You can complete the survey online here (takes about 10 minutes) or pick up a paper copy in the Town Hall.  Anyone who completes the survey online will be entered into a free draw for a month's leisure centre membership.  Deadline for responses is Friday 27th September.

New Town Guide

Our new Town Guide is now out!  Copies have been distributed around town and to tourist information centres and other places that visitors congregate in the surrounding area.  It is intended to encourage people to come into town and explore all that Buckfastleigh has to offer.  Pick up a copy from the Town Hall or you can view the full document here.  

Climate Emergency

Teignbridge District Council (TDC) declared a Climate Emergency in April this year.  They are working with other councils on what this means and how Zero Carbon can be implemented by 2025 for the whole of Teignbridge.  Find out more about the meeting here.

Buckfastleigh Town Council has passed a 'Climate Emergency' motion aiming for our community to be carbon neutral by 2030.

As a first step we will set up a Citizens Assembly - a working group to recommend actions that will do three things:

  • Enable the Council to achieve this goal within its own activities
  • Inform, promote, support, encourage and resource our local community to implement actions to achieve this goal
  • Promote and campaign for action and legislation at all levels of government locally, nationally and beyond to achieve this goal

We cannot achieve this goal on our own and we will need to get our community and government on-side to have any hope of achieving it, but by committing to the process in this proposal we can make a start and show the way.

The group will have the support of the Town Council and they will attempt to implement its recommendations.  

If you are interested in joining the group, email:  <clerk@nullbuckfastleigh.gov.uk>

The motion can be found here