Exeter City Council had submitted a request for a screening opinion in support of plans for up to 200 new flats at Southgate as part of its Liveable Exeter development scheme.
The Southgate site, which is allocated for development in the new Exeter Local Plan, includes the Magdalen Street surface car park and the Western Way gyratory that surrounds it.
Its boundary has been revised so it no longer includes areas of existing housing or the Cathedral & Quay multi storey car park, the redevelopment of which has been abandoned by Exeter City Living, the council’s development company.
Of the resulting site of around four acres, half will be used for residential development of up to 200 flats in tall towers and half for a remodelled highways layout which will replace the existing gyratory with a series of T-junctions.
Southgate development site plan
An environmental impact assessment screening report submitted on behalf of the council concludes that the development would not harm the ancient city wall, a section of which is inside the site boundary, or its setting.
It also concludes that, while the proposals exceed technical thresholds for scale and size, the site’s existing uses mean that they are not likely to result in significant environmental impact.
The council, which is site developer and planning authority, says it will bring forward more detailed proposals for the site in November.
It is expected to employ a development financing and delivery model for the site prepared by Global City Futures, Exeter City Futures’ parent company, as part of its Exeter Development Fund project.
The project met with strong criticism from opposition councillors at a meeting last year.
UPDATE
More detailed proposals for the site were not included on the agenda for the 7 November city council Executive committee meeting as planned, and the council has not said when it expects to bring them forward instead.
