Martin Redfern is editor of Exeter Observer and a director of its publisher Exeter Observer Limited.
He has 30 years’ experience working with public and private sector organisations in multi-stakeholder contexts to achieve social change goals, and has been actively engaged with public policy and practice around climate change since the 1992 Rio Summit.
He holds a Master’s degree with distinction in Journalism at Birkbeck, University of London and has a background in campaigning, project management and multimedia design and development.
He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Journalists and the Society of Editors and is an accredited UK press card holder.
The police inspectorate says DEVON AND CORNWALL POLICE must make urgent improvements after it was found to be inadequate in three of nine areas including responding to emergency and non-emergency calls and managing registered sexual and violent offenders. Its assessment found two other areas required improvement while two more were graded “good”. A new chief constable was appointed in December after the force was placed under enhanced inspectorate monitoring last year.
EXETER CITY FUTURES published the agenda for its last board meeting on 30 January, two months after the meeting was held. It says it is “committed to being completely transparent and open about the things that are discussed at board meetings”. No minutes were included.
New figures show that 2.2 million people used EXETER CENTRAL RAILWAY STATION in the year to March 2022, making it the 155th busiest of 2,569 UK railway stations and (slightly) busier than Exeter St David’s.
DEVON COUNTY COUNCIL is not making sufficient progress with its children’s services since they were judged inadequate in January 2020 according to the latest Ofsted monitoring report which found that key areas still require significant change and serious issues remain.
The opening of MARSH BARTON RAILWAY STATION has been delayed yet again, to “this spring”, putting project completion more than six years behind schedule.
EXETER CHIEFS rugby club has reintroduced its offensive “tomahawk chop” chant during games at Sandy Park despite seeking to rehabilitate its reputation over misappropriation of Native American imagery.
The police inspectorate says DEVON AND CORNWALL POLICE must make urgent improvements after it was found to be inadequate in three of nine areas including responding to emergency and non-emergency calls and managing registered sexual and violent offenders. Its assessment found two other areas required improvement while two more were graded “good”. A new chief constable was appointed in December after the force was placed under enhanced inspectorate monitoring last year.
EXETER CITY FUTURES published the agenda for its last board meeting on 30 January, two months after the meeting was held. It says it is “committed to being completely transparent and open about the things that are discussed at board meetings”. No minutes were included.
New figures show that 2.2 million people used EXETER CENTRAL RAILWAY STATION in the year to March 2022, making it the 155th busiest of 2,569 UK railway stations and (slightly) busier than Exeter St David’s.
DEVON COUNTY COUNCIL is not making sufficient progress with its children’s services since they were judged inadequate in January 2020 according to the latest Ofsted monitoring report which found that key areas still require significant change and serious issues remain.
The opening of MARSH BARTON RAILWAY STATION has been delayed yet again, to “this spring”, putting project completion more than six years behind schedule.
EXETER CHIEFS rugby club has reintroduced its offensive “tomahawk chop” chant during games at Sandy Park despite seeking to rehabilitate its reputation over misappropriation of Native American imagery.
Exeter has more empty and second homes than built in city in past two years
Council tax premium proposals that aim to raise additional revenue from underused housing stock might also encourage return to residential occupancy.
NEWS ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
30,000 students based at Exeter university campuses in 2022-23
Freedom of information request reveals significant drop on last year with postgraduate students accounting for 58% of fall in numbers.
COMMENT ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
Council development levy changes are insufficiently evidenced and don't meet city infrastructure needs
Exeter City Council and Liveable Exeter partners impose faulty typology driven by policy objectives while ignoring new local plan, evidence base and statutory funding statement and excluding residential and retail charges from review.
COMMENT ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Is the grass really greener in Exeter city centre?
Academic research placing Exeter retail area at top of green space table was nationally reported, locally misrepresented then repurposed as booster fuel by local politicians overlooking study's social justice focus.
ANALYSIS ⁄ COMMUNITY & SOCIETY
Council lottery operator to take cut from local charitable donations
Decision to promote gambling as "incentivised giving" plays down risks without assessing potential impacts or evidencing claimed benefits, disrupting relationships between community and voluntary sector organisations and supporters.
ANALYSIS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Exeter City Futures falsely claims development fund documents disclosed under FOI legislation
Senior council director puts company on collision course with Information Commissioner's Office as significant governance failings emerge after councillors and public kept in dark over Liveable Exeter financing scheme proposals.
NEWS ⁄ COMMUNITY & SOCIETY
Historic nurses strike goes ahead after government refuses to negotiate over pay
Royal College of Nursing members out in force at Exeter NHS trusts alongside colleagues across the country as recruitment crisis threatens profession.
NEWS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
South West Water performance remains among worst in sector as it falls further behind targets
Regulator highlights "sustained poor performance" after serious pollution incidents nearly triple and Environment Agency condemns company in annual assessment.
ANALYSIS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Exeter City Living put council at "significant financial risk" after £2.2 million loss in first two years
Missing business plan, lack of transparency and conflicts of interest among senior council directors prompt board resignations and governance review at council-owned and funded company.
ANALYSIS ⁄ COMMUNITY & SOCIETY
University of Exeter lags behind on female pay and employment terms
HESA figures show poor performance compared with Universities UK members and only incremental changes over past five years, mostly since staff began industrial action over pay, pensions and working conditions.
NEWS ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
Information Commissioner to investigate university over student accommodation numbers refusal
Compliance failure follows university admission that nearly 39,000 students based at Exeter campuses in 2021-22, suggesting around three quarters of city's private rented housing stock occupied by students.
ANALYSIS ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
Motor vehicle infrastructure continues to dominate Devon transport spending
New active travel infrastructure to receive just 5% share of capital allocations this year and next, with new roads capital expenditure to increase from 74% to 86%.
NEWS ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
University holds public consultation on 1,700 bed West Park redevelopment design
Outline plans to demolish 30 buildings and construct 50,000m2 of student accommodation on fifteen acre Streatham campus site did not comply with university or council environmental policies.
ANALYSIS ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
Figures show declining Exeter walking and cycling rates as active travel delivery falls by the wayside
County council plans to remove Queen Street active travel infrastructure despite road space reallocation commitments expose equivocal city transport policy aim.
NEWS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Pinhoe, St Loye's and Topsham all in new Exeter East and Exmouth constituency under revised changes
Final boundary commission consultation follows city council proposal to move marginal Pinhoe to safe Conservative seat and keep Priory Labour stronghold in city.
NEWS ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
University says 39,000 students – nearly 30% of city's population – based at Exeter campuses in 2021-22
Freedom of information request reveals 11,500 more students than published FTE figures with major implications for council planning policy but university refuses to disclose numbers in PBSA vs residential housing stock.
ANALYSIS ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
Heavitree Road developer gets sixth pitch for student/co-living complex
Eight design iterations, six council meetings, four consultation rounds and two deferrals combine to impede public participation in planning process on key Liveable Exeter site and increase chances of decision being overturned at appeal.
ANALYSIS ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
Flood risk threatens to sink Haven Banks redevelopment plans
Proposals for 434 rental units accommodating up to 1,167 people on 1.7 hectare Liveable Exeter site would deliver extreme housing densities that deny amenity to prospective occupants while inflicting significant impacts on existing residents.
COMMENT ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
Will council seek investment zone status for Liveable Exeter sites?
Government growth plans combine tax breaks with planning deregulation, putting affordable housing provision and environmental protections at risk with little evidence that promised investment zone benefits would result.
ANALYSIS ⁄ ECONOMY & ENTERPRISE
Council borrowing nearly triples in three years as property acquisition and development loans mount
Freedom of information request reveals five paragraph "outline business plan" for £55 million Guildhall shopping centre investment.
GALLERY ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
Kidical Mass returns to Exeter's streets
Hundreds of people took part in Exeter's third Kidical Mass family bike ride on Saturday as part of a global campaign for safe cycling routes for children, young people and families.
COMMENT ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
World car free day ignored in Exeter as Extinction Rebellion challenges council climate inaction
Protestors gathered outside council offices as CEO Karime Hassan posed for photo with construction company development manager at Princesshay promotion.
NEWS ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
First Exeter "co-living" block comes on stream with rooms at £946pcm+
Even "affordable" rooms in six storey 133-unit Gladstone Road block would leave many local key workers living below minimum income threshold.
NEWS ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
Council paves way for 186-bed "co-living" block in Summerland Street
Freedom of information request reveals intended scale of development after executive committee takes decision behind closed doors.
COMMENT ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
Exeter Development Fund: rent extraction, unaffordable housing and gentrification, but not net zero
Exeter City Futures' private debt-driven Liveable Exeter property development financing scheme is under fire from councillors who say it is based on insufficiently-evidenced assumptions and won't meet Exeter's housing needs.
COMMENT ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
Exeter cycling & walking strategy five years late and counting
County council soft-pedalling on infrastructure plan which city council says will not form part of new Exeter Local Plan despite Department for Transport guidance.
COMMENT ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
Property development promotion as community planning participation
If the Liveable Exeter property development scheme and its Exeter Development Fund financing vehicle are already intended to "anchor and underpin" the new Exeter Local Plan, what will public consultation on the plan decide?
NEWS ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
St James HMO conversion refusal overturned at appeal
Council failed to provide sufficient evidence to support 2012 planning policy introduced to limit impact of student occupation of residential housing stock.
NEWS ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
Progressive Group planning enforcement proposal adopted despite public Labour rejection
Newly-published register also reveals council has issued as many planning enforcement notices in the past three months as it has in the past three years.
COMMENT ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
University emissions study confirms Net Zero Exeter plan redundancy
Council retains Exeter City Futures' services despite history of delivery failures and lack of capacity to support defined decarbonisation targets.
COMMENT ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Net Zero Exeter accountability under scrutiny
Exeter City Council's response to the climate crisis has so far been characterised by numerous failings. Unfortunately its attitude towards accountability for its actions in this area is also cause for concern.
ANALYSIS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Exeter greenhouse gas report disregards hundreds of thousands of tonnes of annual city emissions
Restricted scope of study misrepresents scale of city's impact to produce partial decarbonisation targets while ignoring opportunities to reduce emissions imported by residents, businesses and visitors, guaranteeing net zero failure.
ANALYSIS ⁄ ECONOMY & ENTERPRISE
Exeter beset by unaffordable housing, low graduate retention and economically inactive over 50's
Exeter City Council executive ignores key challenges flagged in major council-commissioned employment and skills research report.
ANALYSIS ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
Alphington "enhancements" will not mitigate traffic impact from massive South West Exeter extension
County council manipulates public consultation and allocates just 1% of £55 million grant to pedestrian scheme while spending 75% on new roads and increased road capacity for 3,500 new cars expected on greenfield housing estate.
NEWS ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
Council rejects calls for greater community involvement in Exeter planning policy and decisions
Council defends existing approach despite Statement of Community Involvement consultation producing just 17 responses, and won't do more to promote neighbourhood planning despite prospect of enhanced community powers.
ANALYSIS ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
£900,000 to keep Magdalen Road one-way system despite decisive public support for low traffic street
County council misrepresented and omitted key public consultation findings in report and did not publish results until after decision taken in favour of option with only 18% public support. Exeter Observer snapshot survey finds 90%+ motor vehicles passing shops are through traffic.
ANALYSIS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Labour councillors appointed to all fourteen city council committee chairs at annual meeting
Council leader falsely claims "overwhelming majority" voted Labour in Exeter local elections while circumvention of council decision-making scrutiny continues.
GALLERY ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
Kidical Mass Exeter: "The best day ever"
300 people took part in the first Kidical Mass Exeter family bike ride on Sunday 15 May as part of a global campaign for safe cycling routes for children, young people and families.
ANALYSIS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Greens take three seats from Labour so Progressive Group replaces Conservatives as official opposition
Conservative loss in Topsham among significant vote share changes in 2022 Exeter City Council elections suggesting city's political landscape in flux.
ANALYSIS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Do Exeter Labour election campaign claims stand up to scrutiny? Coda: Council tax
The last part of our 2022 local elections series is a coda examining Exeter Labour's claim that the city has one of the lowest rates of council tax in the country.
ANALYSIS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
2022 Exeter local elections guide
City council elections take place on Thursday 5 May. Our essential guide highlights who's standing where, wards to watch and what the results might look like and mean. We also outline their context and explain when, where and how to vote.
ANALYSIS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Do Exeter Labour election campaign claims stand up to scrutiny? Part III: Climate & environment
The third in our 2022 local elections series examines Exeter Labour claims about climate crisis leadership, renewable energy, recycling, retrofitting and development standards as well as decisions to scrap council and city decarbonisation goals.
ANALYSIS ⁄ ECONOMY & ENTERPRISE
Do Exeter Labour election campaign claims stand up to scrutiny? Part II: Economy & city centre
The second in our 2022 local elections series examines Exeter Labour claims about the city centre and Exeter's wider economy, including its misrepresentation of content marketing materials as authoritative sources of information about the city.
ANALYSIS ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
Do Exeter Labour election campaign claims stand up to scrutiny? Part I: Exeter's housing crisis
The first instalment in our 2022 local elections coverage examines Exeter Labour claims related to the housing crisis overtaking the city.
NEWS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Exeter City Council abandons city 2030 decarbonisation "ambition"
Unannounced decision to exclude scope 3 emissions constituting around 43% of Exeter's carbon footprint from "net zero" plans effectively ensures city will not meet its decarbonisation goals.
ANALYSIS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Why does Exeter City Council evade public scrutiny of Exeter City Living property development decisions?
Significant decisions concerning the council-owned company are being taken in secret despite transparency legislation and assurances when it was created, with governance and scrutiny arrangements also potentially putting the council at risk.
ANALYSIS ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
Council consultants confirm 58% of Exeter's university students live in city's residential housing stock
2021-22 university figures suggest there are now more than 4,500 student HMOs in the city, consistent with ONS findings, with number set to surpass Exeter's council housing provision.
ANALYSIS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Exeter City Futures secondment decision may be unlawful
Backbench city councillors denied scrutiny call-in powers to challenge controversial decision to send chief executive and senior director to work for private company.
NEWS ⁄ COMMUNITY & SOCIETY
Ukrainian refugee support hub opens in Exeter city centre
Conversation Café pop-up offers information, resources, events and meeting space to help cut through the confusion surrounding the Homes for Ukraine scheme and enable Devon's response to the crisis.
ANALYSIS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
£55 million Guildhall shopping centre decision may breach local government transparency rules
Exeter City Council decision to purchase and redevelop shopping centre may be unlawful, ineffective and subject to judicial review, increasing already significant commercial investment risks.
ANALYSIS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Decision to send council CEO and director to work for Exeter City Futures is "disservice to citizens"
City council disregards governance, risk and conflict of interest issues despite cross-party challenges and conflates decarbonisation agenda with property development financing scheme.
NEWS ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
Individual overseas ownership of Exeter property triples in ten years
350% rise greater than in Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster, increasing housing costs, reducing home ownership levels and harming housing affordability.
NEWS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Exeter decarbonisation plans found wanting in nationwide council climate action plan study
Somerset West and Taunton highest scoring local authority area with East Devon in third place nationally in comprehensive Climate Emergency UK analysis.
ANALYSIS ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
Pennsylvania petitioners expose fifteen years of flawed student accommodation policy-making
City council policies based on faulty premises, inaccurate information and miscalculated projections have failed to prevent mass student occupation of Exeter residential housing stock despite the proliferation of Purpose Built Student Accommodation across the city.
ANALYSIS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
County council doubles down on pension fund divestment position
Devon Pension Fund remains committed to fossil fuel investment despite increasingly untenable pension fund committee position that relies on unfounded shareholder influence claims and failure to understand sector position and plans.
NEWS ⁄ COMMUNITY & SOCIETY
University of Exeter ranked bottom of Russell Group and 103rd overall in social mobility league table
Landmark study by Institute for Fiscal Studies, Sutton Trust and Department for Education finds University of Exeter undergraduates are less likely to come from disadvantaged backgrounds, and those that do are less likely to be high earners.
ANALYSIS ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
Exeter City Council approves second Harlequins "co-living" block, sealing fate of Paul Street
Previously rejected vision will now form basis of "abysmal" and "poorly thought through" Liveable Exeter development of 383 "units of accommodation" with increased proportion of substandard studios but reduced economic value to city.
ANALYSIS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Greens call for evidence-based Exeter carbon budget as city council clings to net zero rhetoric
The Net Zero Exeter plan lacks baseline emissions figures, recognised scope definitions and measurement and reporting frameworks, placing the city's decarbonisation agenda at risk. The opportunity for Exeter to demonstrate genuine climate crisis leadership nevertheless remains.
ANALYSIS ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
Council plans to scrap affordable housing requirement for Clifton Hill sports centre site redevelopment
Council-owned and financed developer cites unpublished report which values council-owned land for student housing despite council decision ruling out this use.
NEWS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Proposed Exeter parliamentary constituency changes pit Priory against Pinhoe
City council responds to boundary commission consultation by proposing Conservative East Devon takes marginal Pinhoe and city keeps Priory Labour stronghold instead.
ANALYSIS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
City council outsourcing Exeter local government to unaccountable Liveable Exeter Place Board
An Exeter Observer investigation of Liveable Exeter Place Board has found that it is a de facto decision-making and governance body which exercises public functions with the potential to affect everyone who lives and works in Exeter.
NEWS ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
30 year plan for SW transport outlined in consultation document
Strategic vision places investment in roads ahead of decarbonisation despite acknowledging the region's high car dependency rate.
NEWS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
South West Water misses pollution targets for tenth year running
Environment Agency says regional company's performance "drags down the whole sector's reputation" as report places it at bottom of annual assessment league table while company pays out millions in shareholder dividends.
SATURDAY 31 JULY 2021
St Sid's holds double celebration of community centre's 20th anniversary and Sidwella Day
Local residents are invited to an afternoon of live music, good food, heritage tours and garden discovery trail in honour of Sidwella, Exeter's patron saint.
ST SIDWELL'S COMMUNITY CENTRE
NEWS ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
Harlequins developer plans to scrap hotel to build second "co-living" block on shopping centre site
Existing planning approval will be factor in decision to return to earlier, rejected, vision which would mean 378 studios and "cluster flat" rooms along Paul Street.
ANALYSIS ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
River Exe green spaces and heritage harbour site threatened by "Liveable Exeter" development scheme
Exeter Civic Society and Green, Liberal Democrat and Independent councillors raise alarm at prospect of Exeter City Council development in river valley park and historic canal basin.
ANALYSIS ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
University drops environmental standards for huge student flats development with council approval
University of Exeter and Exeter City Council both ignore own policies in plans to demolish 30 buildings and construct 50,000m2 of new student accommodation, telling us more about their priorities than their climate leadership claims.
ANALYSIS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Devon Pension Fund fossil fuel investment position exposed by Shell and BP AGM votes
Shareholder support for Paris Agreement-compatible goals increases but fails to prevent continuing oil and gas exploration, extraction, production or consumption as experts intensify warnings that emissions reductions goals will be missed.
NEWS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
South West Exeter district heating network plan abandoned
Property developers refuse to back scheme despite local authorities committing £7.3 million to project to supply 2500 new homes with waste heat from Marsh Barton incinerator, Exeter's largest single source of carbon emissions.
ANALYSIS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Did Exeter's local elections results tell a Labour success story?
Exeter Labour lost just one seat in the city council elections and held all seven of its county hall seats, but on closer inspection its performance was more mixed than these headline results imply.
COMMENT ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Is Exeter City Council going to abandon its Net Zero 2030 target?
Review suggests alignment with Devon Carbon Plan, currently aimed at 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 and net zero by 2050, citing "technical and financial challenges ahead", although change in policy would require decision by councillors after 6 May local elections.
NEWS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Devon Carbon Plan consultation finds majority want net zero by 2030
Devon Climate Emergency Response Group questions whether 2030 "realistic" and suggests "palatable" compromise while only 13% of consultees support UK government's 2050 target.
NEWS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
High Court rules council meetings must resume in person after local elections
Case seeking judgement to allow local authority meetings to continue remotely when temporary coronavirus regulations expire fails to override requirement for primary legislation.
ANALYSIS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
2021 Exeter local elections guide
Elections for Exeter City Council, Devon County Council and the Devon & Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner are taking place in Exeter on 6 May. Our essential election guide highlights wards and divisions to watch, changes taking place and how, when and where to vote.
NEWS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
World Meteorological Organization report confirms "relentless" intensification of climate crisis despite pandemic lockdowns
2020 set to be equal warmest year on record despite cooling La Niña while Internal Energy Agency warns post-pandemic economic stimulus expected to drive second largest annual increase in carbon emissions in history and UK emissions set to overshoot 2030 target by 40%.
NEWS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Independent county councillor Claire Wright stands down
First elected to Ottery St Mary Town Council in 2009, the parliamentary candidate for East Devon in 2015 and 2017 also served on East Devon District Council for four years and Devon County Council for eight years.
NEWS ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
Okehampton to Exeter "Dartmoor Line" passenger rail service reinstatement confirmed
£40 million Department for Transport "Restoring your Railway" funding to enable trains every two hours by end of this year, with plans to increase to hourly service during 2022. Stakeholders combine to get South West infrastructure needs onto Whitehall agenda.
NEWS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Atmospheric concentration of CO2 now 50% above pre-industrial levels
Met Office says 2021 will be first year on record in which symbolic threshold breached for more than a few days as UK prepares to host COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference.
NEWS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Door to door campaigning for May local elections to go ahead after all
Government announces relaxation of coronavirus restrictions on election canvassing from next Monday 8 March in step with planned lockdown rule changes.
NEWS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Report places Devon County Council among UK's top local authority fossil fuel investors
£157 million of Devon Local Government Pension Scheme is invested in companies including Royal Dutch Shell, BP, BHP, Anglo American and ExxonMobil despite local authority climate emergency declarations and carbon reduction commitments.
NEWS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
May local elections to go ahead despite COVID-19 challenges
Ban on doorstep canvassing and door to door leaflet distribution likely to favour the two major parties on 6 May as postal and proxy voting encouraged in Exeter City Council, Devon County Council and Devon & Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner elections.
NEWS ⁄ ECONOMY & ENTERPRISE
Exeter Science Park STEMM "grow-out building" construction begins
A new specialist centre for fast-growth Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths & Medicine businesses will be completed by November 2021.
NEWS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
District heating network planned for new South West Exeter development
Local councils are investing up to £7.3 million in a £23 million project to supply a development of 2500 homes with heat which depends on the Marsh Barton waste incinerator, Exeter's largest single source of carbon emissions.
NEWS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
University research consortium launches "Accelerate to Net Zero" project
The GW4 Alliance of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter universities has launched a collaborative project aimed at accelerating decarbonisation across South West England and Wales.
ANALYSIS ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
First Liveable Exeter homes are substandard "warehousing for people" which is student accommodation "in all but name"
Harlequins shopping centre redevelopment approved by Exeter City Council includes 251 co-living units in seven storey tower block despite widespread opposition from conservation charities and community campaigners who have since appealed to the Secretary of State to call in the decision.
NEWS ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
Council abandons temporary COVID-19 cycling and walking safety plans in Exeter city centre
Devon County Council cites "pushback" from traders as schemes on North Street, South Street, Fore Street and Cowick Street are scrapped. Meanwhile temporary changes in Topsham are dropped after "snap poll".
ANALYSIS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Is the "Net Zero" Exeter plan fit for purpose?
Exeter City Futures' carbon reduction plan ignores over a million tonnes of carbon emissions and massively underestimates the challenges facing the city.
ANALYSIS ⁄ COMMUNITY & SOCIETY
Exeter rough sleepers in COVID-19 emergency accommodation face uncertain future
Exeter City Council has yet to confirm whether it will use any of the £2.15m Rough Sleeping Initiative funding it has received since 2018 to keep housing rough sleepers when government emergency accommodation funding runs out.
NEWS ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
Devon County Council fails to deliver promised COVID-19 cycling and walking infrastructure
Deadline for action on social distancing for safe travel set by county cabinet member passes despite Devon receiving £1.7 million share of government emergency fund.
ANALYSIS ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
Coronavirus exposes council failure to deliver Exeter transport plans
Devon County Council's failure to deliver overdue Exeter transport strategy and cycling and walking plan has led to an inadequate response to government demands for emergency coronavirus road layout changes.
NEWS ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
Coronavirus halts decision to spend £3.9 million on car park repairs and upgrade
Exeter City Council spending plans will be revisited in June at same time as Net Zero Exeter carbon reduction plan is discussed by Executive.
ANALYSIS ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
Exeter's first "zero carbon" housing development includes 96 car parking spaces for 40 homes
Exeter City Council has approved plans to develop land at Pinhoe with a parking ratio of 2.4 cars per household as part of an "exemplar scheme for future residential development in the city" while accepting that zero carbon construction comes "at a cost to the provision of affordable housing".
NEWS ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
Cranbrook town centre community building application submitted
Devon County Council is to develop new town centre facilities including a children's centre with public health nursing provision, youth centre with indoor and outdoor recreational spaces and library with small café.
NEWS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Exeter City Council announces £1.584m April budget shortfall caused by COVID-19 restrictions
Council revenues have fallen dramatically during the coronavirus pandemic, prompting a £6.357 million capital spending deferment. But financial support from government has so far been limited.
NEWS ⁄ ECONOMY & ENTERPRISE
Half of COVID-19 support grants unclaimed by Exeter businesses
Exeter City Council in bottom third of local authorities as only 45% of eligible local businesses claim government coronavirus support money.
ANALYSIS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Conservative vote share varies across Devon but still blocks an Independent MP in East Devon
Labour loses vote share in every constituency, but retains Exeter and Plymouth Sutton & Devonport to leave the county position unchanged from 2017.
NEWS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Conservatives hold Topsham in Exeter city council by-election
A by-election held on general election day produced an unusually high turnout but a lower Conservative vote share than at the May local elections.
ANALYSIS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
East Devon Independent Claire Wright set to unite Remain voters in close historic two-way contest
Claire Wright is poised to make history by beating the Tories in East Devon next week. If she does it will be without thanks to the LibDems and Greens, who insisted on standing candidates against her despite the preferences of local party members and the Unite to Remain campaign.
GALLERY ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Exeter climate strikers create human chain around County Hall
Fridays for Future Exeter led a march through the city to form a human chain around County Hall in protest at climate change inaction.
NEWS ⁄ COMMUNITY & SOCIETY
University of Exeter staff strike over pay, pensions and working conditions
The Exeter branch of the University & College Union (UCU) is taking part in a national eight day strike for fair pay and pensions, including equal pay for female and BAME staff, and against casualisation and increasing workloads.
ANALYSIS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Exeter youth climate strikers launch Green New Deal for Devon
Fridays For Future Exeter have published a detailed vision of a more equitable future that calls on elected representatives across the county to recognise the climate crisis as a symptom of a dysfunctional political economy.
NEWS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Thousands march in Exeter for global climate strike as millions mobilise worldwide
Fridays for Future Exeter led 3500 people on a climate crisis demonstration through the city backed by dozens of organisations on the eve of the UN Climate Action Summit in New York.
NEWS ⁄ COMMUNITY & SOCIETY
Education union challenges university to address widespread casualisation of teaching staff
Exeter University & College Union (UCU) launched an anti-casualisation campaign on Friday as a prelude to negotiation with the University of Exeter over academic staff contracts.
GALLERY ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Exeter Extinction Rebellion Wave of Water march
Extinction Rebellion campaigners marched through Exeter city centre led by a samba band and dressed in blue to represent a wave of water, highlighting rising sea levels and the coming global water crisis.
NEWS ⁄ CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Mock funeral march brings Exeter city centre to a sombre standstill
Extinction Rebellion campaigners brought the gravity of the ecological emergency home to Exeter on Saturday in a funereal procession commemorating wildlife loss caused by climate change.
ANALYSIS ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
We already know what to do about the climate crisis. We must get on with doing it as fast as we can.
Exeter and Devon council leaders must begin rapid regional decarbonisation now. The quickest, cheapest way to cut emissions in Exeter is to deter combustion engines from entering the city. Clean air legislation offers a basis for action.
COMMENT ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Is EU membership essential to our ability to deal with the climate emergency?
Molly Scott Cato, Green Party MEP for the South West, visited Exeter during her re-election campaign to explain why the EU and its Green Group is leading the way on a wide range of progressive policies.
ANALYSIS ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
Mount Radford Lawn development proposals conflict with St Leonards community vision
Exeter Deaf Academy hopes to sell a school playing field to developers who plan to build luxury homes. Local residents have other ideas about how best to use the land. A dispute is looming over an historic green space driven by prospective profit from planning gain.
NEWS ⁄ ARTS & CULTURE
Rainbow Trail LGBTQIA+ exhibition queers RAMM for Exeter Pride 2019
A new collaboration between X-Plore Youth Devon, Exeter College LGBTQ+ society, Natalie McGrath of Dreadnought SW and Dr Jana Funke of the University of Exeter explores gender and sexual diversity across time, place and culture by reimagining objects from the RAMM collections.
NEWS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Exeter Labour loses local elections in all three city centre wards
Voters in Exeter yesterday elected three new councillors to represent them in the key wards that cover the city centre, with all the city's ruling Exeter Labour group candidates missing out despite the party's confident campaign.
ANALYSIS ⁄ DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Local resident stands as independent candidate in Exeter elections
Jemima Moore is a 36 year-old part-time primary school teacher and mother of two young children with little political experience. So why has she decided to stand for election to Exeter City Council on 2 May?
Today around 70 people joined the Exeter branch of Extinction Rebellion on the city's streets to demand urgent action to minimise the risk of catastrophic impacts from climate change.
COMMENT ⁄ PLANNING & PLACE
Exeter St James regeneration
How can the supply of low-cost, incrementally investable city centre accommodation be stimulated to attract and retain creative, technically-skilled young entrepreneurial talent?
COMMENT ⁄ TRANSPORT & MOBILITY
Streets are for people, not cars
Cars adversely affect economic output, air quality and wellbeing, take up valuable space when parked and discourage people from walking and cycling when driven. Reducing their use would enhance Exeter's retail and leisure offer, improve public health and attract needed workers to the city.
News
PLANNING & PLACE
Exeter has more empty and second homes than built in city in past two years
Council tax premium proposals that aim to raise additional revenue from underused housing stock might also encourage return to residential occupancy.
PLANNING & PLACE
30,000 students based at Exeter university campuses in 2022-23
Freedom of information request reveals significant drop on last year with postgraduate students accounting for 58% of fall in numbers.
DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Underperforming county council children's services to receive nearly half of proposed spending increases
Details of simultaneous £50 million 2023-24 spending reductions not yet published as finance director cites service delivery "re-prioritisation".
Council lottery operator to take cut from local charitable donations
Decision to promote gambling as "incentivised giving" plays down risks without assessing potential impacts or evidencing claimed benefits, disrupting relationships between community and voluntary sector organisations and supporters.
DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Exeter City Futures falsely claims development fund documents disclosed under FOI legislation
Senior council director puts company on collision course with Information Commissioner's Office as significant governance failings emerge after councillors and public kept in dark over Liveable Exeter financing scheme proposals.
DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE
Exeter City Living put council at "significant financial risk" after £2.2 million loss in first two years
Missing business plan, lack of transparency and conflicts of interest among senior council directors prompt board resignations and governance review at council-owned and funded company.
Council development levy changes are insufficiently evidenced and don't meet city infrastructure needs
Exeter City Council and Liveable Exeter partners impose faulty typology driven by policy objectives while ignoring new local plan, evidence base and statutory funding statement and excluding residential and retail charges from review.
CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Is the grass really greener in Exeter city centre?
Academic research placing Exeter retail area at top of green space table was nationally reported, locally misrepresented then repurposed as booster fuel by local politicians overlooking study's social justice focus.
PLANNING & PLACE
Will council seek investment zone status for Liveable Exeter sites?
Government growth plans combine tax breaks with planning deregulation, putting affordable housing provision and environmental protections at risk with little evidence that promised investment zone benefits would result.
