Stories about Exeter Local Plan

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.

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.

Exeter Energy plant replaces rationale for Grace Road Fields location near River Exe with reliance on air source heat pumps
Developer nevertheless seeks planning permission to build in Riverside Valley Park, claiming public open space “not bound” by local plan policy, as scheme ambition and city council environmental leadership claims begin to drain away.

Council consults on Riverside Valley Park land sale without admitting heat plant proposals contravene local plan policy
4.5 acre Grace Road Fields plot “most suitable” for development despite Belle Isle Depot brownfield site location beside river on heat network distribution route.
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Council to mothball Exeter City Living Vaughan Road flats after first phase leaving £2.75m groundworks fenced off
Twelve year-old plan to rebuild remaining pre-war Laing’s Easiform council houses in Buddle Lane estate to be seen through to completion instead, as undelivered local housing promises finally collide with reality.