Devon County Council has dropped its plan to redevelop a 1.5 acre plot in the grounds of County Hall following a long campaign by local residents and councillors to restore the site as a green space.
The sale of the site was proposed by the county council in October 2023 after temporary office buildings known as the Matford huts which occupied part of the plot were demolished, leaving their foundations intact.
The county council said that selling the site of the buildings alone would not yield the optimal financial return required by its best value duty and that the inclusion of 0.91 acres of public open space in the sale – which amounts to 7.4% of the green space at County Hall – would provide curtilage necessary to the site’s redevelopment viability.
The decision to sell the plot was confirmed at a county council committee in January this year.
However, after it became clear that a report to the committee had incorrectly stated said that the 0.91 acres of public open space to be included in the sale represented 4.65% of the green space at County Hall, the matter was referred back to to the county council cabinet.
Despite 180 objections in two rounds of public consultation and a residents campaign to prevent redevelopment supported by local councillors which culminated in a 350-strong demonstration at County Hall, Devon County Council leader Julian Brazil said in March that it remained the council’s intention to sell the land in order to help deliver affordable housing.
The cabinet then agreed that the sale decision should be deferred in order that covenants and/or contractual obligations could be implemented to ensure that site redevelopment would provide social housing, care leaver or key worker accommodation.
Meanwhile, the city council said it wanted a three-storey block built on the site to provide 27 flats, twice as many as the county council had intended.
The county council has now said, however, that it no longer plans to go ahead with the sale and is instead returning the whole site to grass.
