Land for new Exmouth school may stay fallow for years

Ladies will have to breed more if proposed school is ever to fill places, says Exmouth councillor

Land set aside for a new primary school in Exmouth is a complete waste of space, according to a local councillor. The town already has eight primary schools, but just one secondary. Now, as part of an application to build 350 new homes on farmland off Dinan Way, the county council has insisted that provision is made for a new primary school, in case one is needed at some point in the future. However, at a planning meeting at East Devon District Council this week, the county has objected to the plans, saying that Exmouth's community college is its priority, and that particular school is already operating at capacity. The county is also concerned at access into the new development, where traffic is busy.

Exmouth town councillor Maddie Champman, a former mayor, says she's disgusted by the county council's position on the proposed new development. "I think it's absolutely ridiculous," she says. "Unless the good ladies of Exmouth want to start breeding and have second families, I don't know how we're supposed to fill places at a new primary school. What this area needs is space for children to play. Changing rooms. Sports facilities. There's none of that in these plans. It could lay empty for a decade. I'm furious."

Cllr Brian Bailey told the planning meeting: “This application is aspirational as the lack of facts in it is unbelievable. What is in front of us today is a wish list full of ifs, buts and maybes, so I want to turn this down.”

Cllr Mark Williamson said: “It may be that there are no planning reasons to turn this down, but we can voice our deep concern about this. When we were first working on this, it was 140 affordable homes, but the policy has since changed. That was then reduced to 87, and now we are looking at 18.