EXETER IN BRIEF

Exeter in brief - February 2023

Keeping you up to date with local news that matters.

East devon district council  Exeter science park  University of exeter  Devon county council  Exeter transport strategy  Cycling & walking  Devon & cornwall police  Royal devon nhs trust  Exeter city council  Local elections  Exeter city living  South west water  Co-living  Student accommodation  Exeter college 

, updated

Pre-application exhibition of plans for a 164-bed "co-living" block on SUMMERLAND STREET will take place from 11am-4pm on Friday 3 March at the former windscreen repair business in the centre of the redevelopment site, which includes Yonk Asian Foods and Sai Kung supermarket.

Instead of varying its EXETER CITY LIVING management agreement to allow the council-owned company to submit its 2023-24 business plan five months late – a fortnight after the financial year to which it applies begins – as agreed in January, the city council has now decided not to set a deadline for its submission at all.

Revised proposals for a student/co-living complex on the site of HEAVITREE ROAD POLICE STATION AND MAGISTRATES’ COURT were rejected at a council planning committee meeting on 20 February.
The scheme’s eighth design iteration provided 955 rooms at “optimum density”, 89 fewer than before, and slightly reduced building heights and footprints from the previous version. An appeal against the decision is expected after the May local elections.

Exeter City Council approved EXETER COLLEGE plans to erect floodlights and a three metre fence around a new artificial pitch at Flowerpot Fields at the same meeting despite widespread objections to its original plans. Its revised plans addressed some, but not all, of the issues raised.

Simon Jupp has been selected to stand in the new HONITON & SIDMOUTH constituency which will replace the East Devon seat he currently holds for the Conservatives at the next general election.

A 30 year-old man from Exmouth has been charged with the murder of a 74 year-old woman from Exeter in LUDWELL VALLEY PARK following his arrest Exeter High Street on 18 February. Members of the public who may have information that could assist in the investigation are asked to contact Devon & Cornwall Police.

Plans for an ultra-high density build-to-rent development at HAVEN BANKS have been revised to rely on a Welcome Street bridge being built over the railway in response to Environment Agency flood risk objections.

EXETER CHIEFS rugby club has applied to vary a planning restriction imposed when it was granted permission to double the capacity of its Sandy Park stadium in 2012 which currently prevents its use as a music or performance venue. The application follows the approval of a licensing variation to allow its use as a venue for boxing, wrestling, theatre, film and music events on 30 January.

PINHOE COMMUNITY HUB has resubmitted its application for a new building at Station Road playing fields following the lapse of the previous permission, granted three years ago.

The prison inspectorate published a damning report on 16 February into what it called "shocking standards" at EXETER PRISON after issuing a second consecutive urgent notification for the prison – the first time it has done so.
The prison has the highest rates of self-harm in the country, with 26 suicides in recent years, high levels of violence, very poor conditions and multiple leadership failures.
The previous urgent notification concerning conditions in the prison was sent to the justice secretary in 2018.

Works at controversial Gladstone Road co-living block THE GORGE have resumed, with the project not now due for completion until the end of the year.

SOUTH WEST WATER is consulting on its draft Water Resources Management Plan, which sets out how it intends to ensure a secure regional water supply and manage its environmental impact, until 19 May.

EXETER CITY COUNCIL has confirmed that its food waste collections now cover 10.9% of the city’s residential addresses. Coverage is expected to reach 16.9% from early March with further expansion aiming at 35% coverage by the end of May, seven years after the collections were promised.

Another 100 new homes will be built in the TOPSHAM GAP beside Clyst Road after the developer successfully appealed against the council’s planning permission refusal. The same developer also won an appeal against council refusal of 155 homes and a 64-bed care home on an adjacent site in 2019.

The budget for the EXETER CITY LIVING Vaughan Road redevelopment has soared from £9.2 million to £27.2 million, with the council now expected to lend an additional £13 million to its development company to complete what will now be a mix of 35 affordable and 56 market rent flats, 25 fewer affordable homes than planned.

The UNIVERSITY OF EXETER has twice refused to identify the members of its community engagement panel or residents liaison group under Freedom of Information legislation and is being referred to the Information Commissioner for failing to do so.

EXETER CITY COUNCIL has approved plans to replace Buckerell Lodge with a retirement home, deferred a decision on a development of 350 dwellings at St Bridget horticulture nursery on Old Rydon Lane and refused a 26-bed student accommodation block on Howell Road.

EXETER LABOUR proposals to spend £100,000 on a splash pool in St Thomas, a marginal ward in which the council’s deputy leader nearly lost her seat at last year’s local elections, has led city council news coverage of a budget which cuts more than £3 million of public spending.

EXETER CITY COUNCIL has approved the use of Exeter Chiefs’ Sandy Park stadium as a venue for boxing, wrestling, theatre, film and music events.

DEVON COUNTY COUNCIL is consulting on its draft proposals for adult social care provision until 19 March.

Royal College of Nursing staff at the ROYAL DEVON NHS TRUST resumed strike action on 6 February alongside South Western Ambulance Service workers as healthcare professionals across the country stage the biggest strike in NHS history.

Detailed plans for the Honiton Road MOOR EXCHANGE RETAIL PARK have been submitted for approval. Outline planning permission for the development was granted two years ago.

The police inspectorate says DEVON AND CORNWALL POLICE must make urgent improvements after it was found to be inadequate in three of nine areas including responding to emergency and non-emergency calls and managing registered sexual and violent offenders.
Its assessment found two other areas required improvement while two more were graded “good”. A new chief constable was appointed in December after the force was placed under enhanced inspectorate monitoring last year.

DEVON COUNTY COUNCIL is consulting on its draft Exeter Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan, which is already nearly six years late, until the end of March. Public exhibitions take place from 11am-7pm on 14-15 February and 15-16 March at County Hall.

UNIVERSITY OF EXETER staff resumed strike action over pay, pensions and working conditions on 1 February alongside Exeter school teaching staff with dozens more strike days planned during February and March.

EAST DEVON DISTRICT COUNCIL has granted planning permission for 44 new dwellings and 6,000m2 of new office space beside Exeter Science Park.

More Exeter in brief

Recent stories
Recent stories
Local authority economic activity levels change 2011-2021 census

Decline in Exeter economic activity levels among largest in country

Devon County Council National Bus Strategy Bus Services Improvement Plan cover image

Future of Devon bus services being decided behind closed doors

Exeter City Council community grants budgets bar chart

Council slashes community grants but splashes cash on paddling pools in contested wards

Exeter City Council in session at Exeter Guildhall

Exeter City Council's approach to decision-making is damaging local democracy

Local authority economic activity levels change 2011-2021 census

Decline in Exeter economic activity levels among largest in country

Devon County Council National Bus Strategy Bus Services Improvement Plan cover image

Future of Devon bus services being decided behind closed doors

Exeter City Council community grants budgets bar chart

Council slashes community grants but splashes cash on paddling pools in contested wards

Exeter City Council in session at Exeter Guildhall

Exeter City Council's approach to decision-making is damaging local democracy

News
Local authority economic activity levels change 2011-2021 census

ECONOMY & ENTERPRISE

Decline in Exeter economic activity levels among largest in country

Census figures also show population increasing at nearly six times rate of job creation over past decade while healthcare, wholesale/retail and teaching make up nearly half of all employment, reflecting low pay and productivity.

Special educational needs and disabilities protesters at County Hall

COMMUNITY & SOCIETY

Devon County Council charged with "relentless institutional failings" in SEND children's services provision

Children with special educational needs and disabilities protest alongside parents at County Hall as Ofsted monitoring continues to find serious unresolved issues and key areas that require significant change.

Exeter empty and second homes by council tax band October 2022 bar chart

PLANNING & PLACE

Exeter has more empty and second homes than built in city in past two years

Council tax premium proposals that aim to raise additional revenue from underused housing stock might also encourage return to residential occupancy.

All News
Analysis
Devon County Council National Bus Strategy Bus Services Improvement Plan cover image

TRANSPORT & MOBILITY

Future of Devon bus services being decided behind closed doors

Devon County Council does not want the public to hear whether local service improvements are going according to plan.

Exeter City Council community grants budgets bar chart

COMMUNITY & SOCIETY

Council slashes community grants but splashes cash on paddling pools in contested wards

Exeter grants programme budget reduced from £425,000 to £15,000 leaving hundreds of grassroots groups out in the cold as the impact of borrowing takes its toll and council fails to consult on budget cuts despite auditor recommendation.

Lottery graphic

COMMUNITY & SOCIETY

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.

All Analysis
Comment
Exeter City Council in session at Exeter Guildhall

DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE

Exeter City Council's approach to decision-making is damaging local democracy

Separation of powers and transparency provisions intended to safeguard public interest being subverted while council defies auditor over loss-making company.

Co-living - discover a new way to rent

PLANNING & PLACE

Council development levy changes are insufficiently evidenced and don't meet city infrastructure needs

Exeter City Council and Liveable Exeter partners impose faulty typology driven by policy objectives while ignoring new local plan, evidence base and statutory funding statement and excluding residential and retail charges from review.

Exeter city centre retail area map 2017 and 2022 CDRC data

CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT

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.

All Comment
On the agenda

A public exhibition of revised redevelopment plans for the WATER LANE area is being held at Haven Banks Outdoor Education Centre from 10am-7pm on Friday 24 March and from 10am-4pm on Saturday 25 March. Around 1,000 high density housing units, including student accommodation and built to rent flats, are expected on the brownfield site. The information on display will also be available on the developer’s website.

The consulation on the draft DEVON COUNTY COUNCIL Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan for Exeter, which is already nearly six years late, closes at the end of March.

Plans to redevelop the derelict COWLEY BRIDGE ROAD Johnsons cleaners site to provide a total of 350 beds of student accommodation in four blocks up to six storeys tall have been submitted for approval by the city council. The laundry facility was badly damaged by fire three years ago and was demolished last year.

A public consultation on a DEVON, CORNWALL & ISLES OF SCILLY CLIMATE ADAPTATION PLAN which will attempt to minimise the impact of climate change on the South West peninsula will be held from 8 May before a final version is adopted during the autumn, four and a half years after Devon County Council convened the Devon Climate Emergency Response Group to “act now to tackle [the] climate emergency”.

Plans for an ultra-high density build-to-rent development at HAVEN BANKS have been revised to rely on a Welcome Street bridge being built over the railway in response to Environment Agency flood risk objections.

EXETER CHIEFS rugby club has applied to vary a planning restriction imposed when it was granted permission to double the capacity of its Sandy Park stadium in 2012 which currently prevents its use as a music or performance venue. The application follows the approval of a licensing variation to allow its use as a venue for boxing, wrestling, theatre, film and music events on 30 January.

PINHOE COMMUNITY HUB has resubmitted its application for a new building at Station Road playing fields following the lapse of the previous permission, granted three years ago.

SOUTH WEST WATER is consulting on its draft Water Resources Management Plan, which sets out how it intends to ensure a secure regional water supply and manage its environmental impact, until 19 May.

Detailed plans for the Honiton Road MOOR EXCHANGE RETAIL PARK have been submitted for approval. Outline planning permission for the development was granted two years ago.

The UNIVERSITY OF EXETER has submitted detailed plans for its 1,700 bed West Park redevelopment of 50,000m2 of student accommodation. They include ten storey blocks which are two storeys taller than agreed when outline permission was granted in May 2021.

On our radar
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