Welcome to the DNA page!

Who Am I?

I’m Sally Henley and I have been in the role since Christmas 2008. My background is retail management and more recently I  opened and managed the new Princesshay shopping quarter in Exeter. On more than one occasion I have been likened to a poacher turned gamekeeper, but rather than this,  I like to think that I now have a  good understanding of what it is like to be on both sides of the fence!

In this role  – I do not have a sales turnover, a team of staff, nor a budget of hundreds of thousands........

As Newton Abbot's Town Development Manager, my job is to promote the physical, social and economic wellbeing of our town and I do this through working in liaison with the following groups.

Local business community

General public

Representatives of organisations and agencies

Town, District and County Councils

So What Do I Do?

·         In a nut shell, I try identify ways of  improving our business environment and enhancing our visitor and residents experience.

·         My role is not to take over the responsibilities of others, but to add value to the current management process by remaining apolitical and independent.

·         I act as the Voice of Businesses to the Councils and can also be the Voice of the Council to the Businesses, providing a quick and efficient route into either sector and being a point of contact for all sorts of issues.

·         I act as  Town Development Ambassador, which can be effective as my holistic view of our town allows me to speak with authority of the businesses and partnerships.

·         I serve the Town Development Partnership Board, helping to define, communicate and implement agreed visions, objectives and plans for our town.

Please Talk to Me!

Without your feedback and comment I cannot do my job. Many people asked me when I started the job ‘What plans do you have for  Newton Abbot and my answer is always the same. ‘What do you want?’  and ‘How can I help you achieve that?’

You can contact me in various ways

·         By e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

·         By phone on 07595 893151

·         Stop me when you see me! I’m always out and about in the town centre

·         Write to me c/o the Town Hall, Great Western House, 9 Devon Square, NEWTON ABBOT, TQ12 2HN

‘DON’T FORGET YOUR OLD BAG’

In Partnership with Teignbridge District Council, the Town Centre Partnership, Devon County Council and Newton Abbot Transition Town; and with the endorsement of the Newton Abbot Chamber of Trade, let me introduce this simple new campaign. The campaign was launched with full media coverage prior to a ‘Don’t Forget Your Old Bag’ Roadshow, which was staged in Newton Abbot town centre on 24^th April 2009.

We all know by now, that plastic bags are really bad news! 

Many businesses, both national and local have already made a great start in  encouraging customers to provide their own bags and we hope to take this a stage further by obtaining the support of ALL businesses in Newton Abbot in getting this simple message across. The aim is to make Newton Abbot plastic bag free. No one is badgering you to sponsor a bag in exchange for advertising, it’s a simple campaign aimed at everyone. It’s about changing habits..... 

It hasn’t taken us long to remember to take our mobile phones with us every time we leave the house, so why not an old bag? We all have old bags around the house – the goody bag from the demonstration, the favourite branded bag from a previous purchase, the ‘bag for life’ from one of the Supermarkets (or the one from the previous Newton Abbot campaign!), your granny’s vintage wicker shopping basket – the list is endless. This isn’t a campaign about buying new bags it's about recycling and simply getting a new habit!

House keys? Check – Wallet? Check – Mobile phone? Check – Old Bag? Check!

Retailers which have adopted the ‘ask first’ approach, have reported significant financial savings as the need to order new bags becomes less frequent, so it’s got to be good for your business as well as for the environment.

To reinforce the message to the public and to help retailers too, P.O.S., posters, staff training aids and stickers are available from Teignbridge District Council. There will also be a small number of Don’t Let Devon Go to Waste’ re-usable bags, which will be available for businesses to give out on a first come first served basis.

We want this to be realistic and we want it to be fun – of course some purchases are going to need a bag from the retailer (we don’t want to discourage impulse buying), of course some of us may take a while to ‘remember our old bag’ and of course we don’t want upset customers! We think the ‘old bag’ approach will raise a smile, which might make us all remember.

This campaign is a really easy one to sign up to and yet one which could make a huge difference. You only have to look at the photographs, which were taken only a few weeks ago to see current damage to our environment and also to wildlife.

Thank you for your support!