Devon County Council

Devon County Council is the county-level local authority responsible for services across the whole of Devon, including the towns and parishes around Dartmoor. On and around Dartmoor its most visible role is looking after the road network: maintaining and repairing the roads and rural lanes that link moorland villages, gritting routes in winter, and managing highway drainage and verges in a landscape prone to flooding and snow. The council also runs Devon's school system, coordinating admissions and supporting schools in Dartmoor market towns such as Tavistock, Okehampton, Ashburton and Moretonhampstead, and it is the lead authority for children's and adults' social care, including support for isolated rural households. Devon Libraries, run by the county council, provides branches in several Dartmoor-edge towns. For residents and visitors near Dartmoor, Devon County Council is usually the point of contact for road problems, school places, adult or child social care concerns, and library services, working alongside the district councils and the National Park Authority. Cover photograph: photo by David Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.