The Establishment of an Exeweb Redevelopment 'Think Tank'

[Grecian1966]

The consensus is that this is a pretty stupid idea therefore can the thread be closed?

 

[Antony Moxey]

Provided you get planning permission from East Devon Council you mean. Like that's ever going to happen.....

Is the correct answer. East Devon don't want a football ground and all the perceived problems that go with them (look at the trouble the Speedway lot had in trying to find a venue), and I suspect none of the other councils that surround Exeter do either.

Identifying the greenfield sites is the easy part - aquiring them and gaining planning permission is another thing altogether.

 

[grecianred]

Is the correct answer. East Devon don't want a football ground and all the perceived problems that go with them (look at the trouble the Speedway lot had in trying to find a venue), and I suspect none of the other councils that surround Exeter do either.

Identifying the greenfield sites is the easy part - aquiring them and gaining planning permission is another thing altogether.

Speedway is slightly different from football in terms of being a "bad neighbour" with noise and dust as much as anything else - although of course a football ground isn't exactly high up on the wish list for a neighbour for most! The preferred site for the falcons was at haldon racecourse which is Teignbridge not East Devon but I do agree with your point (up to a point).

 

[Antony Moxey]

Speedway is slightly different from football in terms of being a "bad neighbour" with noise and dust as much as anything else - although of course a football ground isn't exactly high up on the wish list for a neighbour for most! The preferred site for the falcons was at haldon racecourse which is Teignbridge not East Devon but I do agree with your point (up to a point).

It wasn't, originally it was Westpoint. And yes, do you think the genteel blue rinse mafia would ever allow a football ground to be built on their patch?

 

[Herschel]

RW,

How big is the plot of land that St James Park (all areas, car parks, etc.) sits on?

H

 

[grecianred]

It wasn't, originally it was Westpoint. And yes, do you think the genteel blue rinse mafia would ever allow a football ground to be built on their patch?

You're quite right I don't believe a planning app was ever submitted for Westpoint though? I worked for Teignbridge in the planning dept at the time of the original application. Totally off topic but Somerset Devils new track in Highbridge is hardly in a particularly "sustainable" location for a major transport generator like a speedway track...

Say what you will about East Devon (and you could argue if the planning as just starting today I wouldn't happen) but they are effectively accommodating a significant proportion of Exeter's development requirements of the next fifteen years at Cranbrook.

 

[Antony Moxey]

You're quite right I don't believe a planning app was ever submitted for Westpoint though? I worked for Teignbridge in the planning dept at the time of the original application. Totally off topic but Somerset Devils new track in Highbridge is hardly in a particularly "sustainable" location for a major transport generator like a speedway track...

Say what you will about East Devon (and you could argue if the planning as just starting today I wouldn't happen) but they are effectively accommodating a significant proportion of Exeter's development requirements of the next fifteen years at Cranbrook.

Regarding Westpoint, I did surveys of the proposed track out there a long time before the Falcons left the CG and think, although I don't have any evidence to prove it one way or the other, that it was the weight of residents' objections that led to it being withdrawn from consideration as a potential site.

Regarding Cranbrook, were East Devon ever in much of a position to block it?

 

[StixUK]

The big question is: can we actually leave where we are or are we stuck in a lease? And for how many years??

 

[Antony Moxey]

How big is the plot of land that St James Park (all areas, car parks, etc.) sits on?

19,000 square metres, including the jungle path area between the OG and BB but not including the Fountain Centre car park or the road hammerhead at the end of Stadium Way

 

[grecianred]

Regarding Westpoint, I did surveys of the proposed track out there a long time before the Falcons left the CG and think, although I don't have any evidence to prove it one way or the other, that it was the weight of residents' objections that led to it being withdrawn from consideration as a potential site.

Regarding Cranbrook, were East Devon ever in much of a position to block it?

Its history goes back more than 10 years to the Devon County Structure Plan I believe. This meant it was a decision taken on the basis of professional planners advice by the politicians at the County Council. This was subsequently taken forward through the Regional Spatial Strategy.

The Coalition aren't keen on strategic plan-making and wish to see decision making pushed down to the lowest possible level. This means increasingly local planning authorities potentially at least have a likely greater say in where development takes place (and notionally how much). Of course once a decision is made in planning it's usually next to impossible to un-make it and I'd suggest it's all a matter of timing which means East Devon probably had limited ability to resist it.

Interestingly I seem to recall that the Council have taken a more restrictive view about the scale of development they wish to plan for post May 2010. This will have a bearing on how much is planned for in Sidmouth, Exmouth, Honiton and the rural areas but not Cranbrook (as effectively a planning commitment so far as I am aware).