Honiton Town Council sets out its emergency plan.

Honiton Town Council is ready for action after setting out a plan to deal with an emergency situation in the town.

At a meeting of the full council on Monday night, councillors agreed to ratify an emergency plan to deal with incidents such as severe weather, animal or human disease, road traffic accidents, building collapse and even terrorism.

The plan was ironed out at last week’s policy and finance committee meeting.

During that meeting, Councillor Bayliss said that the council should have a plan in place to allow the town and community to respond to such incidents in circumstances where emergency services or other agencies may be delayed.

He said: “We still need to consult some of our partners, East Devon District Council and Devon County Council, to find out what plans they have for Honiton in the event of an emergency - our plans should compliment theirs.”

The plan has been drawn up by an emergency planning group.

Councillor Liz Tirard, speaking last week, said: “What happened on the M5 is a wake up call that we have got to know how to react, so we don’t run around like headless chickens.”

Councillor Mike Allen added: “We should be prepared. At some point, we want to get a full plan operational and should be able to respond if something happens tonight.”

As part of the plan, a Town Emergency Response Group (TERG) will be set up, which will be made up of members of the town council and other key members of the community. The town’s emergency plan would be activated when an incident has occurred or at the request of emergency services or Devon County Council or East Devon District Council.

Alternatively, it will be activated at the discretion of the TERG, which is made up of members of the town council and other key members of the community.

In case of emergency, TERG members would ensure vulnerable individuals within the community are taken care of and ensure that communications are maintained with community as well as the district and county council.

The town council will be working with other partner agencies to identify key resources and volunteers that can offer assistance in times of an emergency.

Anyone interested in volunteering for the town emergency response group can contact the town clerk on (01404) 42957 or email towncouncil@honiton.gov.uk