NEWS

Exeter City Futures board minutes published nearly nine months after meeting held

Minutes confirm Global City Futures work on Exeter Development Fund continues via direct city council contract framework and suggest university could retain brand after company dissolution.

Martin Redfern

Exeter City Futures has published the minutes of its 1 December 2022 board meeting nearly nine months after the meeting was held.

While the company’s website says the page from which the minutes are accessible was published on 26 June, the minutes themselves were not made available until 24 August.

The page also says the company’s board is “committed to being completely transparent and open about the things that are discussed at board meetings”.

Exeter City Futures 1 December 2022 board minutes Exeter City Futures 1 December 2022 board minutes, published in August 2023.

The minutes confirm that Global City Futures, another Oxygen House company which was previously in control of Exeter City Futures, has continued work on the controversial Exeter Development Fund via a direct contract framework agreement with the city council under Ian Collinson, the council’s development director.

The fund is expected to focus on redevelopment in the Southgate area, allocated site reference 46 in the current version of the new Exeter Local Plan, and an area alongside Exeter St David’s station known as “Red Cow village”, site reference 22 in the new Exeter Local Plan.

Exeter City Futures branding Exeter City Futures branding

The minutes also suggest the University of Exeter could retain use of the Exeter City Futures brand following the company’s dissolution.

The city council announced in June that Exeter City Futures would be wound up at the end of the month following the final event in its £250,000 National Lottery-funded community engagement programme, although it has yet to file.

The eight-year-old company, on which the city council has spent nearly £500,000, is responsible for the redundant Net Zero Exeter 2030 plan.


Democracy doesn't work when people don't know who is deciding what on whose behalf and what the costs and consequences of those decisions will be.

Exeter Observer is proving that reader-funded media can deliver the independent public interest journalism our local democracy needs.

Upgrade to a paid Exeter Observer subscription to support our work and get access to exclusive premium content and more.

More stories
2024 duration in hours of monitored spill events at water company overflow sites bar graph

South West Water bills rise by a third following worst performance in sector with 550,000 hours of sewage spills

Tariffs increase as Environment Agency publishes damning data after South West Water owner Pennon Group issues £24.5 million in dividends to shareholders.

Devon & Torbay Combined County Authority inaugural meeting 19 March 2025

Devon & Torbay CCA sets sail for regional democratic deficit with £500,000 crew

Combined county authority throws public accountability overboard as future regional strategic governance body ratifies constitution at inaugural meeting but fails to explain why so many staff needed to deliver so little at such colossal cost.

Exeter Post Office in Guildhall Shopping Centre WHSmith

Sidwell Street Post Office to close as WHSmith shops sale raises risk of Exeter city centre counter service disappearance

Closure follows loss of Exeter’s last Crown Post Office in Bedford Street, since when all city branches operated by franchisees or independent businesses.

Average number of days taken by OPCC to complete a complaint review bar chart

Devon & Cornwall Police complaints handling “not good enough by a long way”

Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez criticises force for poor performance but statutory report also finds poor commissioner’s office complaint appeals performance.

Northbrook swimming pool

City council holds sham Northbrook swimming pool closure consultation

£600,000 Exeter Leisure services budget cut signed off two weeks before pool consultation opened as St Sidwell’s Point drains other council leisure sites.

Exeter local elections campaign materials

Help hold Devon’s political parties and politicians to account during the 2025 local elections

Send us any campaign materials you receive so we can fact-check candidates’ claims and hold them to their pledges after the votes have been counted.

On Our Radar
RAMM Late Friday 25 April 2025 at Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter

FRIDAY 25 APRIL 2025

RAMM Late

An adults-only evening of workshops, demonstrations, dancing, music and talks.

RAMM

Jess Hughes Cameron and Chin See at 2024 Topsham Music Festival

FRIDAY 25 TO SUNDAY 27 APRIL 2025

2025 Topsham Music Festival

Three day event features jazz, percussion and classical music played by young professional musicians from across the country.

TOPSHAM

Tabatha Andrews sculpture

SATURDAY 26 APRIL TO SATURDAY 21 JUNE 2025

The Slightest Gesture

Sculptor and installation artist Tabatha Andrews presents a new immersive exhibition.

EXETER PHOENIX

Liberation in Venice 1945

SUNDAY 27 APRIL 2025

Festa Di Liberazione

Italian Cultural Association Exeter hosts a day of music, dance, poetry and Italian culture.

KALEIDER

Edward Tripp

TUESDAY 29 APRIL 2025

City Slam 2025

Exeter City of Literature, Taking the Mic and Spork! co-host a third city-wide spoken-word poetry competition.

EXETER PHOENIX

Detail from Panorama of Prague from the Schönborn Garden

SATURDAY 10 MAY 2025

Czech Classics

Isca Ensemble and chorus perform a programme by Czech composer Antonín Dvořák.

EXETER CATHEDRAL