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THE EXETER DIGEST

Exeter Digest #21: Greener grass? - Council lottery - EDF secrecy - £2.2 million ECL loss

A bumper festive holiday edition also covers the nurses strike, South West Water’s ‘sustained poor performance’ and the university’s gender pay gap plus a Community Infrastructure Levy consultation.

TOP STORIES

IS THE GRASS REALLY GREENER IN EXETER CITY CENTRE?

Academic research placing Exeter retail area at top of green space table was nationally reported, locally misrepresented then repurposed as booster fuel by local politicians overlooking study’s social justice focus.

COUNCIL LOTTERY OPERATOR TO TAKE CUT FROM LOCAL CHARITABLE DONATIONS

Decision to promote gambling as “incentivised giving” plays down risks without assessing potential impacts or evidencing claimed benefits, disrupting relationships between community and voluntary sector organisations and supporters.

EXETER CITY FUTURES FALSELY CLAIMS DEVELOPMENT FUND DOCUMENTS DISCLOSED UNDER FOI LEGISLATION

Senior council director puts company on collision course with Information Commissioner’s Office as significant governance failings emerge after councillors and public kept in dark over Liveable Exeter financing scheme proposals.

FIRST DAY OF HISTORIC NURSES STRIKE GOES AHEAD AFTER GOVERNMENT REFUSES TO NEGOTIATE OVER PAY

Royal College of Nursing members out in force at Exeter NHS trusts alongside colleagues across the country as recruitment crisis threatens profession.

SOUTH WEST WATER PERFORMANCE REMAINS AMONG WORST IN SECTOR AS IT FALLS FURTHER BEHIND TARGETS

Regulator highlights “sustained poor performance” after serious pollution incidents nearly triple and Environment Agency condemns company in annual assessment.

EXETER CITY LIVING PUT COUNCIL AT “SIGNIFICANT FINANCIAL RISK” AFTER £2.2 MILLION LOSS IN FIRST TWO YEARS

Missing business plan, lack of transparency and conflicts of interest among senior council directors prompt board resignations and governance review at council-owned and funded company.

UNIVERSITY OF EXETER LAGS BEHIND ON FEMALE PAY AND EMPLOYMENT TERMS

HESA figures show poor performance compared with Universities UK members and only incremental changes over past five years, mostly since staff began industrial action over pay, pensions and working conditions.

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ON THE AGENDA

COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE LEVY REVIEW

Exeter City Council is consulting on a partial review of the charges it levies on developers to pay for community grants, habitat impact mitigation and projects like Marsh Barton railway station.

Its decision to launch a public consultation as the holiday period begins follows an attempt by opposition councillors to prevent the proposals going ahead in their current form.

The council employed a firm of consultants to produce background and viability reports to justify its revised charging proposals which are incomplete and insufficiently evidenced.

The revised charging schedule will be submitted for public examination next year. Anyone wishing to speak at the examination hearing must notify the council in writing before the end of consultation period on 25 January.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

INFORMATION COMMISSIONER TO INVESTIGATE UNIVERSITY OVER STUDENT ACCOMMODATION NUMBERS REFUSAL

Compliance failure follows university admission that nearly 39,000 students based at Exeter campuses in 2021-22, suggesting around three quarters of city’s private rented housing stock occupied by students.

STAGECOACH ESCAPES MAJOR SANCTIONS OVER SERVICE FAILURES

Traffic commissioner decides four days of free weekend travel in Exeter Plus ticket zone is sufficient penalty for poor performance despite public inquiry hearing severe criticism of company.

UNIVERSITY OF EXETER STAFF STRIKE IN LARGEST WALKOUT IN SECTOR HISTORY

Dispute over pay, pensions and working conditions continues as universities generate record income.

MOTOR VEHICLE INFRASTRUCTURE CONTINUES TO DOMINATE DEVON TRANSPORT SPENDING

New active travel infrastructure to receive just 5% share of capital allocations this year and next, with new roads capital expenditure to increase from 74% to 86%.

LAST WORD

Exeter City Council’s announcement this week that its CEO Karime Hassan is leaving at the end of March came replete with a range of eyebrow-raising claims yet was missing key information.

We’re looking forward to examining the former and investigating the latter in the new year.

In the meantime, best wishes for the festive season to all our readers from everyone at Exeter Observer.

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Boneyard arcade games

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.

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September 2025 permitted replacement scheme west elevation

Council denies data and contrives criteria to dismiss community balance concerns in third King Billy student block approval

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, updated

Grace Road Fields in March

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.

Proposed Clarendon House student block aerial view

Proposals to replace Clarendon House with 297-bed student accommodation complex submitted for approval

Developer Zinc Real Estate arrives at final proposal for up to ten storey Paris Street roundabout redevelopment after nearly two years of informal public consultations and meetings with city councillors and officers.

On Our Radar
Jo Eades

FRIDAY 31 OCTOBER 2025

Spork! Dead Poets Slam 2025

Halloween spoken-word special featuring Jo Eades and Samuel L. Cohen with a £100 cash prize poetry slam.

EXETER PHOENIX

Carmen with rose graphic

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

Exeter Philharmonic Choir

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