Ivybridge - Governance

Governance

Ivybridge is represented by five tiers of elected government.

5 Ivybridge Town Council forms the lowest tier of governance whose statutory role is to communicate local opinion to local and central government.

4 The next tier is the district council — South Hams District Council. They take care of matters such as local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection and recycling, cemeteries and crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism.

3 The next tier is Devon County Council, who take care of much larger matter such as: education, social services, libraries, main roads, public transport, policing and fire service trading standards, waste disposal and strategic planning.

2 The Parliament of the United Kingdom is responsible for matters such as education, health and justice.

1 The highest elected authority is the European Parliament in Brussels.

It is a town and parish divided into three wards: Ivybridge Filham (the east of the town), Ivybridge Central (the central area of the town) and Ivybridge Woodlands (the west of the town). The current mayor is Councillor Trevor Parsons who was appointed in 2011. In 2007 Ivybridge town council won the Aon/NALC (National Association of Local Councils) Council of the Year. Its town hall is located close to the centre of the town and the previous town hall - Chapel Place is still in existence and located in the centre of the town close to the Ivy Bridge.

Before 1894 Ivybridge was made up of four neighbouring parishes: Harford - 2 miles (3.2 km) north; Ugborough - 2.5 miles (4.0 km) east; Ermington - 2 miles (3.2 km) south and Cornwood - 3 miles (4.8 km) northwest. All the parishes’ boundaries met at the Ivy Bridge. In 1836 the Parish of Saint John was formed (the name of the church at the time, which was named after John the Evangelist). The parish represented the small central area of Ivybridge known at present. In 1894 St John's parish became a parish church for the newly created parish of Ivybridge. 83 years later the village and civil parish of Ivybridge became a town in 1977. Its local government district has been the South Hams since 1 April 1974 and its county constituency has been South West Devon since 1997.

The town forms part of the county constituency of South West Devon. Its Member of Parliament is Gary Streeter formely an SDP politician, but now a member of the Conservative party who held 56% of the votes at the last election. The town’s three wards are each used for voting at the local elections and general elections.