Anyone who might have been tempted to believe that the climate crisis is at the heart of everything Exeter City Council does (as it repeatedly claims) need look no further than its response to the consultation on the Devon climate assembly’s output report for clarification.
It would be too much here to point its many faults, omissions and misunderstandings, not to mention the grammatical errors which confirm that it was cobbled together at the last minute, but it should not escape notice that the council only deigned to share it with its executive committee a month after it had been submitted.
The council said its response was discussed with council leader Phil Bialyk, Net Zero Exeter portfolio holder Rachel Sutton and strategic scrutiny committee chair Barbara Denning. No worries, in that case.
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Exeter homeless death rate highest among English cities featured in annual Museum of Homelessness campaign charity report
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.
Heavitree Road police station student accommodation and “co-living” scheme consultation extended
Developers revise application for full planning permission for 813-bed seven-block complex submitted in May as similar proposals proliferate across city centre.
Unique retro games arcade to create new Sidwell Street venue after long search
Boneyard arcade seeking permission to change use of empty Brighthouse retail unit after making way for “co-living” block at previous Red Lion Lane location.
Mary Arches “co-living” developer resists “miniscule” room size criticisms as design revisions prompt further consultation
Changes include increased building footprints and removal of twelve rooms to provide eleven communal kitchens – between residents of 297 studios – while gates obstruct pedestrian thoroughfare and site’s historic setting and significance essentially ignored.
Council denies data and contrives criteria to dismiss community balance concerns in third King Billy student block approval
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.
, updated
Botched consultation restarted on sale of 8.5 acres of Riverside Valley Park green space
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.
On Our Radar
SATURDAY 8 & SATURDAY 22 NOVEMBER 2025
Carmen
Exeter Opera Group performs Bizet’s tale of a free-spirited woman and her passionate and destructive love affair with a soldier.
EXETER CASTLE
SATURDAY 8 NOVEMBER 2025
The Weather Book
Exeter Philharmonic Choir performs a new weather-inspired work plus pieces by Brahms, Poulenc and Ralph Vaughan Williams.
EXETER CATHEDRAL
SATURDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2025
Sacred and Profane
Medieval music with Steve Tyler, Marco Cannavò and Katy Marchant.
