HEADLINES
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. Read more.
Met Office to sell Exeter Science Park supercomputer and office buildings
Disposal motivated by replacement of nine year-old supercomputer with £1.2 billion government-funded off-site Microsoft facility. Read more.
Annual city council rough sleeper count “consistently underestimates” extent of Exeter rough sleeping
Homelessness charity St Petrock’s calls on council to change count methodology which identifies fewer rough sleepers than those known by outreach workers and reflected in government figures. Read more.
LOCAL ELECTIONS
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. Read more.
ON OUR RADAR
Titus Andronicus // St Nicholas Priory
Lightbear Lane hosts a reading of Shakespeare’s bloody revenge tale. More details.
2025 Topsham Music Festival // Various venues
Three day event features jazz, percussion and classical music played by young professional musicians from across the country. More details.
City Slam 2025 // Exeter Phoenix
Exeter City of Literature, Taking the Mic and Spork! co-host a third city-wide spoken-word poetry competition. More details.
BELOW THE FOLD
Devon County Council reveals perilous financial state with SEND spending having “significant impact” on cash balances
5.9% budget increase for 2025-26 conceals £22 million cuts and £66 million cost increases with “inevitable” impact on “vital” services. Read more.
Exeter Energy insists Riverside Valley Park only viable heat plant site but fails to explain Marsh Barton brownfield rejection
Company admits River Exe water source connection merely “potential” after 2036, incinerator connection only “possible” after 2030 and solar array “will not” meet plant electricity demand while statutory objections challenge Grace Road Fields plans. Read more.
Councillor misses 12 of 14 meetings to leave Heavitree & Whipton Barton without County Hall representation for over a year
Dates of two public rights of way committee meetings attended by Danny Barnes – neither conducting Exeter business – meant no by-election held despite Labour councillor missing all meetings of Devon County Council since December 2023. Read more.
Three Devon & Cornwall Police chief constables costing £64,000 per month
Police and Crime Commissioner seeks Home Office help with wage bill equating to £767,000 a year resulting from suspension of two chief constables in 18 months. Read more.
Exeter Community Lottery income spent on gambling licence fees and costs despite council marketing and point of sale claims
Materially misleading claims that 60% of ticket sales revenue goes to good causes repeatedly made on lottery website and in official council communications as Australian multinational profits from local voluntary and community sector support. Read more.
