A large part of the attraction of Lydford is its isolated setting, nine miles from the two local urban centres of Okehampton and Tavistock and 33 miles from the city of Exeter. But this comes with drawbacks.
The principle authorities in cases of a local emergency are West Devon Borough Council and Devon County Council. Both authorities have plans in place explaining exactly how they expect to respond should there be an emergency in communities such as ours.
However, these plans will take time to bring together and for the appropriate services to reach Lydford. The parish council has prepared its own very local response plan, led by a group of local Councillors and volunteers, which will come into action when an emergency is first declared. The council does not have the resources or manpower to cope on its own with any major emergency, the plan provides a very local first response in the early stages of any emergency incident.
The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) have tried to identify all of the major potential hazards and possible risks that could impact the community of Lydford. The team has developed two documents which together are designed to provide resilience for the parish and to help parishioners develop their own preparedness.
The two documents are –
1. Home Emergency Plan – a guide to the key information that householders will need to have to hand should an emergency occur in the village.
2. The Lydford Community Emergency Plan – the key document which outlines how the Emergency Team will respond, and how they can be contacted.