Democracy doesn't work when people don't know  Upgrade to paid

News

The independent public interest journalism Exeter needs

Exeter College and Petroc campuses map

Exeter College and Petroc merger set to create largest college group in South West

Colleges hold public consultation on creation of new organisation which they say would educate 16,000 students at Exeter and North Devon campuses and employ 2,000 staff with £100 million turnover.

Proposed Clarendon House student block aerial view

Proposals to replace Clarendon House with 297-bed student accommodation complex submitted for approval

Developer Zinc Real Estate arrives at final proposal for up to ten storey Paris Street roundabout redevelopment after nearly two years of informal public consultations and meetings with city councillors and officers.

Exeter City Council 2024-25 unaudited statement of accounts cover image

Unaudited 2024-25 city council accounts published for annual inspection period

Special information access rights enabling residents to examine records apply until 6 October after asset revaluation delayed publication from 1 July to 26 August.

Illustrative elevation of proposed student block in Summerland Street, Exeter

Pre-application feedback sought on proposals for six storey Summerland Street student accommodation block

Redevelopment of Unit 1 nightclub and Best Tyre Auto Centre in Verney Street would add 180 beds to 1,575 student bedspaces in immediate area on top of 145 studios in consented but unbuilt Summerland Street “co-living” block.

, updated

All News

Features

Stories that explore key issues behind the headlines

Proposed revised Mary Arches Bartholomew Street East co-living block elevation

Mary Arches “co-living” developer resists “miniscule” room size criticisms as design revisions prompt further consultation

Changes include increased building footprints and removal of twelve rooms to provide eleven communal kitchens – between residents of 297 studios – while gates obstruct pedestrian thoroughfare and site’s historic setting and significance essentially ignored.

Nadder Park Road application site location map

Barley Lane greenfield plans place persistent threat to Exeter’s north and north-west hills in spotlight

Council inability to identify sufficient land to meet government housing delivery targets leaves residents with faint hope of local plan policies preventing Nadder Park Road ridgeline development despite 175 public objections to scheme.

25 stories for the 2025 summer recess image montage

25 stories for the 2025 summer recess

Catch up with a curated selection of Exeter Observer stories from the past twelve months while the team takes a short break from publishing to carry out essential maintenance and development work.

All Features

Comment

Analysis and opinion that cuts through the noise

Grace Road Fields in March

Botched consultation restarted on sale of 8.5 acres of Riverside Valley Park green space

Council land disposal to include rights to lay underground distribution pipework across River Exe floodplain following “low-to-zero carbon” Grace Road Fields heat plant planning approval in face of Environment Agency sequential test concerns.

Save Northbrook Pool campaigners dressed in black outside Exeter City Council's offices on 24 June 2025

Labour councillors dive deeper into denial in decision to abandon Northbrook pool

Exeter residents mourn as council suppresses destructive consequences of creating St Sidwell’s Point complex that looms in leisure service shadows like a leviathan.

Mary Arches car parks redevelopment site aerial view

300-bed “co-living” blocks to trump social housing vision for Mary Arches car parks

More people could be crammed into Eutopia Homes complex than current car parking spaces after Exeter City Council commits to “homes for the people of Exeter” on Liveable Exeter North Gate site.

Devon & Torbay Combined County Authority inaugural meeting 19 March 2025

Devon & Torbay CCA sets sail for regional democratic deficit with £500,000 crew

Combined county authority throws public accountability overboard as future regional strategic governance body ratifies constitution at inaugural meeting but fails to explain why so many staff needed to deliver so little at such colossal cost.

All Comment

Special Reports

In-depth insight about what's going on in Exeter that you won't find anywhere else

September 2025 permitted replacement scheme west elevation

Council denies data and contrives criteria to dismiss community balance concerns in third King Billy student block approval

Exeter Observer analysis finds more students living in city centre than residents as council bid to include PBSA in housing delivery figures weakens local planning policy – but does not remove it from decision-making altogether.

, updated

Exeter Energy heat plant indicative render north elevation

Exeter City Council disregards national planning policy and Environment Agency criticism to approve Riverside Valley Park flood zone heat plant plans

Five gas boilers to provide 80% of “low-to-zero carbon” Grace Road Fields plant generation capacity for distribution to institutional consumers through privately-run 13-mile underground network expected to take ten years to complete.

Northbrook pool

Exeter City Council fields false prospectus in determination to close Northbrook pool

Ian Collinson reports double down on misrepresentation, material omission and flat denial as council plans to rend more of city’s fabric from its roots.

Northbrook Swimming Pool campaign demonstration Exeter Guildhall 13 May 2025

Campaigners compel Exeter City Council to reconsider Northbrook pool closure with 2,250-strong resident petition

Pressure on council intensifies after freedom of information request responses confirm £3.5 million budget cuts included potentially unlawful decision to close swimming pool without public consultation or impact assessment.

All Special Reports

On Our Radar

Community and culture highlights curated by the Exeter Observer team

Jo Eades

FRIDAY 31 OCTOBER 2025

Spork! Dead Poets Slam 2025

Halloween spoken-word special featuring Jo Eades and Samuel L. Cohen with a £100 cash prize poetry slam.

EXETER PHOENIX

Exeter Philharmonic Choir

SATURDAY 8 NOVEMBER 2025

The Weather Book

Exeter Philharmonic Choir performs a new weather-inspired work plus pieces by Brahms, Poulenc and Ralph Vaughan Williams.

EXETER CATHEDRAL

Carmen with rose graphic

SATURDAY 8 & SATURDAY 22 NOVEMBER 2025

Carmen

Exeter Opera Group performs Bizet’s tale of a free-spirited woman and her passionate and destructive love affair with a soldier.

EXETER CASTLE

Steve Tyler, Marco Cannavo and Katy Marchant

SATURDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2025

Sacred and Profane

Medieval music with Steve Tyler, Marco Cannavò and Katy Marchant.

ST NICHOLAS PRIORY

All On Our Radar

The Exeter Digest

Exeter Observer's essential free email newsletter

Exeter Digest #91: King Billy community balance - Grace Road Fields disposal - Summerland Street “co-living” postponement - Exeter College merger - Clarendon House PBSA

With our pick of upcoming local community and culture highlights and a recap of the top stories from our previous edition.

Exeter Digest #90: Barley Lane greenfield plans - Summerland Street student block - Heavitree school playing field retirement flats - city council accounts inspection

With our pick of upcoming local community and culture highlights and a recap of the top stories from our previous edition.

Exeter Digest #89: Grace Road Fields special report - 2025 summer recess stories

With our pick of upcoming local community and culture highlights and a recap of the top stories from our previous edition.

Exeter Digest #88: West Park development demolitions - Devon & Cornwall Police performance improvements

With our pick of upcoming local community and culture highlights and a recap of the top stories from our previous edition.

All Exeter Digest