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North Devon
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class="toccolours" style="border-collapse: collapse; float: right; margin-left: 1em" border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="300"> | North Devon District
Shown within Devon | | Geography | | Status | District |
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North Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in Barnstaple. Other towns and villages in the North Devon district include Braunton, Fremington, Ilfracombe, Instow, South Molton, Lynton and Lynmouth.
The district was formed on April 1, 1974 as a merger of the Barnstaple municipal borough, the Ilfracombe and Lynton urban districts, and Barnstaple Rural District and South Molton Rural District.
Population
North Devon is popular with retired people, but not overwhelmingly so. The 2001 census showed 15 454 (18%) people aged 14 years and under, 54 413 (62%) aged 15-64 and 17 651 (20%) aged 65 and over. For comparison, the same age distributions across England are 19%, 65% and 16% respectively. People over 65 helped to live at home is below the national average. Life expectancy for men, at 76.9, is close to the national average, and increasing more slowly than throughout England. Female life expectancy is good at 82.1; and rising in line with England. There is a gap of 6 years in the life expectancy of people in the highest fifth of wards and the lowest fifth.
Transport
The area is well served by transport in relation to its neighbours to the east and west, Torridge and West Somerset. The rump of the post-Beeching railway network has left a branch line to Exeter. The region is linked by a three A roads. The primary link is the A361 (known locally as the Link Road) which was constructed between 1986 and 1989. It heads north-west from the M5 motorway, past South Molton, to Barnstaple, with the classification continuing then northwards along older roads Ilfracombe. The modern Link Road continues westwards from Barnstaple as the A39 where is designated the Atlantic Highway. The eastern section of the A39 links Barnstaple to Lynton, then over the northern coastal hills of Exmoor into Somerset.
The other two A roads are the A399, a minor local route between Ilfracombe and South Molton (used as a de facto Barnstaple-bypass to Woolacombe), and the A377, which is the main road between Barnstaple and the county town of Devon, Exeter.
Due to significant peak time traffic delays in Barnstaple, coupled with severe congestion at both peak and non-peak times in the summer when tourist traffic is at its busiest, the Barnstaple Western Bypass has been opened.
Economy
Due to the historically agricultural nature of the economy, many areas of North Devon were considered deprived. The average income for the district is 73% of the average for the United Kingdom as a whole.
The largest employers in the area are the National Health Service, mainly through North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple, and the Ministry of Defence, at Royal Marines Base Chivenor, Fremington Camp and Arromanches Camp, Instow.
Barnstaple
Barnstaple is on the River Taw estuary, and functions both as the main service centre and the administrative centre for North Devon District Council. The population of 34,000 excludes the exurbs of Bickington, Landkey, Ashford and Sherwell, suburban villages outside of the main urban area of Barnstaple itself but that are dependent on the main settlement for services and employment.
Ethnicity
The region is one of the most homogenous in England, with 99.0% of the population putting their race on the 2001 census as White. This means North Devon is ranked 318 out of 354 where rank 1 has the lowest percentage of white people and rank 354 has the highest percentage of white people.
See also
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