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Exeter Plan consultation closes 15th January

Thank you to everyone who has taken time to have their say on the Exeter Plan. For the past 12 weeks, the Local Plans team has attended events across the city to speak to people about how they think Exeter should develop over the next 20 years.

Landowners and developers are being invited to submit potential development sites for consideration as part of the Exeter Plan.

The plan is the document which will set out the vision and policies to guide Exeter’s future up to 2040.

A key challenge highlighted in the Exeter Plan is the need for at least 13,000 new homes over the plan period.

The call for sites aims to:

The City Council welcomes submissions for sites of all sizes within the city boundaries.

Priority will be given to brownfield sites and locations near services, amenities and sustainable transport links. The sites will be assessed to consider suitability for inclusion in the next version of the Exeter Plan.

Landowners are advised to only submit sites if they have not been submitted in a previous call for sites exercise undertaken since 2020.

Consultation on the Exeter Plan has been running for seven weeks and staff from the City Council have been speaking to residents at events across the city.Questions from residents have been varied - many topics have proven of great interest to people, while some people simply ask what is the Exeter Plan?Cllr Emma Morse, Lead Councillor for City Development, said: “The Exeter Plan is a planning document that will look at the future of Exeter. It looks at all ranges of planning needs across the city and it will form development applications as they come forward. So now this is really the time to get involved. This is how you shape the future of Exeter.”There have also been many questions about height and density of future brownfield development.

Submit your answer on our consultation website.

The consultation closes on 15 January.

There are four weeks left to have your say and tell the City Council what you think about the Exeter Plan.

Consultation events will be held on:9 Jan - Exeter Library, Castle Street, Exeter, EX4 3PQ, 11am to 2pm11 Jan - St Thomas Cricket & Social Club, Grace Road, Marsh Barton, EX2 8PU, 1pm to 7pm

People are being encouraged to look at policies which will provide more affordable housing in Exeter.

A number of public consultation events have been organised so that people can have their say on the Exeter Plan. These are happening all across the city right up until the start of the New Year.

As demand for homes increases, fuelled in part by a rising population, the size of the housing supply gap - the difference between the available stock and the number of homes needed for everyone to have a liveable home - has widened.

Cllr Emma Morse, Lead Councillor for City Development said: “Across the UK, homelessness and overcrowding are on the rise, home ownership has been declining and there is a shortage of social homes. ‘What to do about housing demand’ is a question that is the subject of much debate with policymakers, economists and the public.”

“In Exeter we have many of the same issues. Exeter is one of the fastest growing cities in the UK and we need more homes in the city to accommodate our growing and diverse population.

“The Exeter Plan has 14 housing policies which include housing density, allocation, student accommodation, co-living as well as accessible homes.

“Please go and take a look and share your feedback on this and the other issues impacting people in Exeter,” she added.

The Government requires the City Council to plan for around 640 new homes to be built in Exeter each year. To meet this target between the years 2020 and 2040, and allow for a headroom of 10% to allow for choice and competition in the market, the Exeter Plan will target the delivery of approximately 14,000 homes. This will include planning for around 5,000 homes on sites in the Plan.

The Exeter Plan includes housing policies that will address the affordable housing shortage and provide the quantity, type and quality of homes that Exeter needs while ensuring they are in appropriate locations.

These policies work together with other policies in the Exeter Plan to provide for communities, deliver employment and infrastructure alongside homes to provide high-quality places and contribute to net zero carbon ambitions.

Visit https://exeterplan.commonplace.is to find out more information and a complete a few short surveys until 15 January 2024.

People from across the city have been attending consultation events on the Exeter Plan and asking questions about the how policies will impact the city for the next twenty years.

Polices for the natural environment, climate change and active travel are the topics that, just like last year’s consultation, receive the most interest and feedback.

In fact, last year’s consultation feedback clearly showed that Exeter supports a sustainable agenda, including focus on brownfield development, with responses suggesting that the Exeter Plan should go further.

As such the full draft plan has been updated and now includes new policies on future development standards, embodied carbon, ground-mounted photovoltaic arrays and solar ready development.

Cllr Emma Morse, Lead Councillor for City Development, said: “The city’s ambition for climate and the natural environment is incredibly challenging, but the nature of the issue justifies. Success will only be achieved through a genuinely collective effort; we need all organisations, individuals and institutions to play their part.

"The Exeter Plan will need to manage development pressures on our local environment to provide benefits for landscape and wildlife, improve access to natural greenspaces and provide gains for wildlife. Whilst also helping us to combat climate change and provide a high-quality environment for people to enjoy.

"These policies impact every one of us living and working in Exeter. So please get involved with this consultation and tell us what you think. Your voice matters.”

The Exeter Plan is a document detailing the planning policies that will shape the city for the next 20 years.

An important change from the existing Local Plan is the new spatial strategy, which guides the pattern and characteristics of development in the city, and the proposed development sites included in the Exeter Plan.

A key strand of the new strategy is to steer the majority of development to brownfield sites.

Building on brownfield sites - land that has been used for something else - to provide the homes Exeter needs means we need to build closer to the city centre at higher densities, with taller buildings but more generous streets and spaces.

Developing new homes and communities in this way will protect the city’s green fields within and surrounding the city.

Cllr Emma Morse, Lead Councillor for City Development, said: “The spatial strategy will deliver on Exeter’s Vision 2040 including the city’s ambitions for net zero, health and wellbeing, the vitality of the city centre and cultural diversity.

“It is important to me and the leadership of the council that all members of the public engage with this consultation and take ownership of this plan.”

A call for new sites for future housing and other development has been launched in the city as part of the Exeter Plan.

The City Council is inviting landowners and developers to submit proposals for sites within the city.

This call aims to identify new sites that can help Exeter meet its need for new homes and economic growth over the next 20 years.

The Exeter Plan sets out the vision and policies to guide Exeter’s growth up to 2040.

A key challenge highlighted in the plan is the need for new housing, with a target of at least 14,124 new homes over the plan period.

The call for sites will help identify land that can be allocated for housing and mixed-use development in the next review of the Exeter Plan.

The council welcomes submissions for sites of all sizes within the city boundaries. Priority will be given to brownfield sites and locations near services, amenities and sustainable transport links.

Landowners are advised to only submit sites if they have not been submitted in a previous call for sites exercise undertaken since 2020.

The call for sites process will help inform the publication version of the Exeter Plan and the Council's housing and employment land allocations.

Residents, visitors and those working or studying in Exeter are getting another chance to help shape the future of their city.

Exeter City Council will be launching further public consultation on the Exeter Plan from Monday 23 October until 15 January.

The Council has written the draft Exeter Plan which looks at how the city will evolve over the next 20 years.

Once adopted, the Exeter Plan will replace the current planning policies for the city and include the locations of many of the developments which will be seen in future.

Councillor Emma Morse, Lead Councillor for City Development, said: “We are consulting on the Exeter Plan with all of our communities, businesses and partners across the city. The plan will touch the lives of everyone living in the city as well as those working, studying or visiting Exeter, so everyone needs to own it and have a say.

“Last year we had responses from so many people across the city, and their comments have been integral to developing the next version of the plan.

“Writing a plan of this kind is a significant and time-consuming endeavour but, as we are getting closer to a final version, I would encourage even more people to get involved this year and have their say on the future of Exeter.”