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Labour councillors plumb new depths to cling to power – and personal financial gain – as government-backed contempt for democracy enables seven of eight executive members to avoid ballots in their wards until council abolition in 2028.
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EXETER SCIENCE PARK has appointed a new chief executive to take over from Sally Basker, who will retire in June this year after more than nine years in the post. Appointee Lindsay Lucas will leave her role as Head of Training and Consultancy at social enterprise Cosmic.
1,250 people have signed a petition to save Guildhall Shopping Centre children’s play space LITTLE EXETER from closure. The petition calls on Exeter City Council, which owns the shopping centre freehold and borrowed £55 million to buy back its leasehold and redevelop the building in October 2021, to “intervene, support and advocate” to preserve the play space. Former Guildhall Shopping Centre marketing manager Nikki Fairclough, who founded the non-profit play space three years ago, announced its closure in November last year. It is due to open for the last time on Saturday 21 February.
Network Rail and Great Western Railway have announced that the lines running from EXETER ST DAVID’S to Barnstaple and Okehampton will remain closed until further notice for safety checks following last week’s storms. Dive teams will inspect submerged structures such as bridges and viaducts to check for damage. Limited rail replacement bus services are in place.
Two ex-Reform UK Devon county councillors have joined ADVANCE UK, a far-right party launched in 2025 and led by former Reform UK deputy leader Ben Habib. Edward Hill and Angela Nash won seats as Reform UK candidates in last year’s Devon County Council elections. Two months later Edward Hill was expelled from the party then Angela Nash left in September. Advance UK counts far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – known as Tommy Robinson – as a member.
Alison Hernandez, Police & Crime Commissioner for Devon, Cornwall and The Isles Of Scilly, says that a 2026-27 government funding shortfall has left her with “no choice” but to propose increasing the DEVON & CORNWALL POLICE council tax precept by 5.2% – the maximum permitted – equating to a £15 increase per annum for council tax band D properties across the peninsula.
A BARNFIELD ROAD cycling and walking scheme has been rejected by the Exeter Highways and Traffic Order committee. The proposals included widening a footpath, raising road crossings to give pedestrians priority at junctions, widening cycle lanes and re-routing motor traffic to prevent traffic exiting Southernhay at the junction of Barnfield Road and Western Way.
DEVON COUNTY COUNCIL has confirmed it intends to dispose of a 1.5 acre plot in the grounds of County Hall despite the submission of 180 objections in two rounds of public consultation. The sale was proposed by the county cabinet in October 2023 after buildings known as the “Matford offices” which occupied part of the plot were demolished, leaving their foundations intact. The county council says that selling the site of the buildings alone would not yield the optimal financial return required by its best value duty and that the inclusion of 0.91 acres of public open space in the sale – which amounts to 7.4% of the green space at County Hall – provides curtilage that is necessary to the site’s redevelopment viability. It also says that Exeter City Council, which has earmarked the site for residential housing in the new Exeter Local Plan, is responsible for many of the issues raised by objectors as local planning authority.
Exeter City Council has accepted extensive historic fabric damage and foregone a £2.4 million affordable housing contribution to enable the redevelopment of the ROYAL CLARENCE HOTEL site as luxury flats and commercial space. After revisions to the scheme in response to extensive criticism from the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, Historic England, Devon Buildings Group and Devon Archaeological Society of the approach taken by Nooko Developments Limited, the council accepted the conclusions of a developer-submitted viability assessment in approving the redevelopment plans and application for listed building consent. As a result, just as happened with the building’s previous owner, the developers will not make any contributions to local affordable housing or healthcare provision unless a further viability assessment, to be performed after the building’s completion, concludes that they can afford to do so after making a profit of around £2.5 million.
SATURDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2026
Dance, drumming and mask-making workshop to raise funds for charities working in Sudan.
EXWICK COMMUNITY CENTRE
Leigh Curtis is deputy editor of Exeter Observer and a director of its publisher Exeter Observer Limited.
She writes most of our community and culture stories as well as news and contributes to features and investigations.
Leigh holds a degree in Fine Art at Goldsmiths, University of London. She leads on marketing and also manages our finances and administration.
She is an accredited UK press card holder and a member of the National Union of Journalists.
Martin Redfern is editor of Exeter Observer and a director of its publisher Exeter Observer Limited.
He writes many of our news stories and features, leads on investigations and maintains the Exeter Observer website.
Martin holds a masters degree in Journalism with distinction at Birkbeck, University of London.
He is an accredited UK press card holder and a member of the Chartered Institute of Journalists and the Society of Editors.
Charges for waterways access are set to be imposed from the quay and canal basin to the coast under proposed Harbour Revision Order powers after six years of rising costs propelled by pursuit of Port Marine Safety Code compliance. They risk driving away craft of all sizes, from kayaks to yachts, while redevelopment threatens canalside land – but it’s not too late to change course.
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Losses include £6.2 million loan write-off associated with Sandy Park Hotel owned by club chairman Tony Rowe.
Around 850 people took part in city centre event held under “Unite Against the Far Right” banner while “Unity March Exeter” attendees numbered around 60.
Public consultation on changes explores possibility of closing some branches altogether despite claims to the contrary while Libraries Unlimited contract extension decision scheduled for six weeks before consultation ends.
Complex of seven blocks up to six storeys tall on site of police station and magistrates court to bring purpose-built temporary accommodation tally to 3,250 beds in Newtown alone – while failing to meet local plan minimum building separation policy.
Campaign film underscores dedicated homelessness charity mission as demand for its support services grows.
21 people died while homeless in Exeter in 2024, nearly three times as many as previous year, but council says nothing despite report publication during city homeless awareness week.
Labour councillors plumb new depths to cling to power – and personal financial gain – as government-backed contempt for democracy enables seven of eight executive members to avoid ballots in their wards until council abolition in 2028.
Council land disposal to include rights to lay underground distribution pipework across River Exe floodplain following “low-to-zero carbon” Grace Road Fields heat plant planning approval in face of Environment Agency sequential test concerns.
Charges for waterways access are set to be imposed from the quay and canal basin to the coast under proposed Harbour Revision Order powers after six years of rising costs propelled by pursuit of Port Marine Safety Code compliance. They risk driving away craft of all sizes, from kayaks to yachts, while redevelopment threatens canalside land – but it’s not too late to change course.
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Exeter Observer analysis finds more students living in city centre than residents as council bid to include PBSA in housing delivery figures weakens local planning policy – but does not remove it from decision-making altogether.
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Five gas boilers to provide 80% of “low-to-zero carbon” Grace Road Fields plant generation capacity for distribution to institutional consumers through privately-run 13-mile underground network expected to take ten years to complete.
Rejection of voluntary and community sector calls for more inclusive response follows thirteen-year council failure to comply with legal duties under crime and disorder legislation in relation to Exeter Community Safety Partnership.
