Home / Exeter Observer

Exeter Observer

Devon & Torbay Combined County Authority has privately produced a Local Growth Plan that is intended to guide regional development for the next decade before holding a brief public consultation on its contents with the minimum-possible publicity. It says the plan has been “shaped by extensive engagement with stakeholders across the region” but when asked...

A new community event with live music, talks, workshops, stalls, refreshments and family-friendly activities is being launched on Saturday 19 July at St Thomas Church. Love St Thomas Summer Festival will be headlined by Revelation Roots, with other musical performances by Poco Drom, Tano Taiko, Mum’s Choir Exeter and Walking Wounded. There will be talks...

Seven years ago last week Exeter City Council’s executive committee decided to close Clifton Hill sports centre permanently on what it claimed were best value grounds. Heavy snowfall had damaged its roof, apparently beyond repair. The council would sell the whole Clifton Hill site for development. Proceeds from the sale would be used to offset...

St Nicholas Priory is hosting a fairy tale-themed concert of opera and piano music for children and their families on Saturday 12 July. The programme includes arias, duets and trios from composers including Henry Purcell, Gioachino Rossini and Engelbert Humperdinck. Among pieces to be performed are Hark! Hark! the Echoing Air from The Fairy-Queen, No,...

HEADLINES 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. Read more. Exeter City Council renews Public Spaces Protection...

Theatre Alibi is hosting a maritime-themed Paddleboat Theatre production at Emmanuel Hall on Sunday 6 July. Signals of the Sea follows the keeper of an island lighthouse as he seeks out what’s really going on beneath the waves. The production is the culmination of workshops held with young people and families during a two-year outreach...

Democracy doesn’t work when people don’t know who is deciding what on whose behalf and what the costs and consequences of those decisions will be. Exeter Observer is proving that reader-funded media can deliver the independent public interest journalism our local democracy needs. Upgrade to a paid Exeter Observer subscription to support our work and...

HEADLINES First Exeter build to rent flats marketed at £1,375-£2,350 per month with “affordable” units costing £1,080-£1,800 plus bills Eutopia Homes rents in Exmouth Junction block would leave many workers with substantially lower income than Joseph Rowntree Foundation minimum for a socially-acceptable standard of living. Read more. Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez launches Devon...

Devon, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez has launched a monthly “Commissioner’s Accountability Board” which she says will ensure Devon & Cornwall Police delivers an “effective and efficient police service”. The board is attended by interim chief constable James Vaughan and other senior police officers and staff from both Devon...

Exeter’s first build to rent residential flats are being advertised to let at The Hay, a five-storey 53-unit development in Prince Charles Road, with full-price rents ranging from £1,375 to £2,350 per month. Ten of the units are “affordable” flats reserved for key workers including nurses, teachers and firefighters, the minimum proportion required by government...

Spork! is presenting an evening of live poetry with Caroline Bird and Malaika Kegode on Saturday 26 July at Exeter Library, with music by local singer-songwriter Lizzie Lidster and a pop-up bar serving soft drinks and alcohol. Caroline Bird published her debut poetry collection Looking Through Letter Boxes in 2002. She was shortlisted for the...

123...6