St Sidwell's Point
Exeter City Council allotment fees increases 2016 to 2024 line graph

ANALYSIS  ⁄  CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT

Council plans huge allotment fees increases to claw back cash from 1,500 city gardeners and growers

Plot holders provided with incomplete picture as consultation held which does not comply with council's own charter and delayed scrutiny report that omits key survey findings suggests council aims to turn profit from allotment provision.

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Scrutiny Programme Board agenda extract 21 July 2022

SPECIAL REPORTS  ⁄  DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE

City council scrutiny board enabling illicit obstruction of democracy

Essential safeguard against misuse of power misdirected by Executive members and senior officers while backbench councillors persistently denied rights to examine high-risk schemes and citywide climate crisis response.

Old bus and coach station demolition plan

NEWS  ⁄  PLANNING & PLACE

Old Exeter bus and coach station to be demolished five and a half years after closure

Bristol-based Wring Group appointed as contractor by city council to demolish building to slab level but not to remove foundations, leaving rest of CityPoint site untouched.

St Sidwell's Point leisure centre behind derelict Exeter bus station

NEWS  ⁄  DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE

£1 million leisure overspend fuels £3.2 million city council deficit

2022-23 budget review confirms £2.2 million annual leisure subsidy to continue with St Sidwell's Point expected to make a loss for at least five years while another £22 million to be spent on Exeter City Living Vaughan Road development.

St Sidwell's Point cafe

COMMENT  ⁄  CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT

City council sustainable food policy is a climate crisis red herring

Proposed changes don't apply to council meetings or most council food provision and are expected to have unquantifiably small impact while diverting resources from major decarbonisation challenges.

Exeter city centre retail area map 2017 and 2022 CDRC data

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.

Exeter City Council government borrowing 2014-2022 bar chart

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.

https://unsplash.com/photos/90S8ll64S_o

NOTES & SKETCHES  ⁄  ECONOMY & ENTERPRISE

How to inflate housing costs and influence people

Despite Exeter’s rapidly worsening housing crisis, the council has continued its relentless promotion of the city as a destination to potential incomers by commissioning a coterie of Instagram influencers to flog the place to their followers after spending a May weekend here.

Shops to let on Exeter High Street

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.

https://unsplash.com/photos/YHTOh2q13Eo

NOTES & SKETCHES  ⁄  TRANSPORT & MOBILITY

Bonanza on the buses

There was no shortage of hyperbole to accompany last Sunday’s opening of Exeter’s glamorous new bus station.

Exeter Guildhall needs repairs

ANALYSIS  ⁄  DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE

£37.5 million council maintenance backlog caused by underinvestment to be part-funded by asset sales

Exeter City Council has allowed property assets to deteriorate while prioritising new schemes including the £44 million St Sidwell's Point leisure centre, forcing it to identify assets for sale to pay its outstanding repair bills.

Net Zero Exeter 2030 plan proposals vs Exeter territorial emissions vs Exeter carbon footprint bar chart

SPECIAL REPORTS  ⁄  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.

Exeter Paris Street construction site on which Roman remains were found

ANALYSIS  ⁄  PLANNING & PLACE

Echoes of Exeter's Roman past reveal risks to city's future vision

The unexpected discovery of Roman remains on Exeter's bus station redevelopment site suggests significant risks may also exist for the adjacent CityPoint regeneration scheme.

Exeter City Council city centre wards map

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.

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