TOP STORY
Exeter local elections to go ahead in May after government cancellation U-turn
Secretary of State Steve Reed withdraws decision following legal advice in face of Reform UK High Court challenge, leaving city council leader Phil Bialyk facing electoral oblivion. Read more here.
EXETER IN BRIEF
Exeter City Council is holding a public consultation on the way it spends Neighbourhood COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE LEVY – a charge paid by the developers of most new development which is intended to mitigate its impact – which the council has been controversially spending on community grants and Wellbeing Exeter since 2019. The consultation follows extensive criticism of levy spending governance risks which were first identified by council auditors eighteen months ago.
The redevelopment of KING GEORGE V PLAYING FIELD by Exeter City Community Trust has begun after a scheme to install a full-size artificial football pitch with floodlighting, refurbish and extend a sports pavilion and expand its car park was approved by Exeter City Council last August. The decision was made by officers and did not go before the council’s planning committee. It followed a July 2024 council decision to transfer 40 acres of land at the Countess Wear playing fields to the trust which was made without a promised “wide-ranging, fully open public consultation” on the proposal. The trust instead held an informal consultation in December 2024. The council executive is due to hear an otherwise unexplained item related to the scheme next month described as “relating to financial ask of c.£475,000”.
£46 million of debt – including £392,000 owed to former employees – will be left unpaid by MIDAS CONSTRUCTION LIMITED following its dissolution, according to documents filed at Companies House by its administrator. The 2022 collapse of Midas, which had seven offices in Exeter and across the south west, led to hundreds of job losses and left numerous projects stalled including schools, homes, hotels and warehouses.
Significant storm damage has prompted emergency works to shore up the bank separating the Exe estuary from the BOWLING GREEN MARSH nature reserve at Topsham. Exeter City Council has repeatedly postponed a flood defence scheme proposed for the site, which it owns. It says that the emergency works are “not likely not be a long-term solution” and that “longer-lasting repairs for the areas of worst damage” are “currently being investigated”.
The developer of a scheme at 130 FORE STREET is seeking to amend the design, height and layout of the building, which extends down West Street towards Grade I listed St Mary Steps church, by converting the building’s basement level – previously occupied by Crankhouse Coffee – from commercial to residential use and reducing the number of flats in the scheme, which was originally approved thirteen years ago. Exeter City Council rejected an attempt to add a fifth storey to the scheme in 2023, a decision which was upheld at appeal last year.
Exeter City Council has approved the replacement of CLARENDON HOUSE on the corner of Western Way and Heavitree Road with a ten-storey 297-bed student accommodation block. Developer Zinc Real Estate first sought public feedback on a sixteen-storey scheme in December 2023 before returning for further consultation twelve months later having removed six storeys from one of the proposed towers. The council planning committee approved the student block despite attempts by one of its members to defer the decision to review final scheme proposals which were submitted recently alongside alternative plans to instead convert the office block to 32 residential flats.
The government has said it will write off 90% of the SEND SERVICES deficit accumulated by Devon County Council to the end of March this year. The Devon deficit reached £171 million last October, among the largest in the country and £62.9 million more than the limit agreed with the government as part of its “safety valve” deal, according to a county cabinet report published last month. Devon County Council leader Julian Brazil said it had since risen to around £200 million. The council welcomed the announcement, although it will have to agree to change the way it offers SEND services under as-yet unpublished government plans, adding that it would need to “work through the detail” as part of its budget-setting process.
ON OUR RADAR
Exeter Seed Swap 2026 // Positive Light Projects
Fourth annual event includes hands-on activities, soil testing and over 5,000 packets of seeds to share. More details here.
Two Short Nights // Exeter Phoenix
Short film festival returns with awards ceremony and more. More details here.
The People of Exeter // St Thomas Church Hall
An afternoon hosted by Love St Thomas focussed on Exeter’s historic multicultural character with talks, conversation and a community lunch. More details here.
From Haydn to The Highlands // St Nicholas Priory
The Orchard Cafe Quartet plays folk and classical music from Scandinavia and Scotland. More details here.
International Women’s Festival 2026 // Exeter Phoenix
A free one-day celebration with live music, dance, workshops, panel discussions and more. More details here.
