Controversial land sale given go-ahead

Portion of land within County Hall set to be sold

A portion of land within a Devon council’s headquarters looks set to be sold after a more than two-year saga about its future.

The so-called Matford Offices site that sits within Devon County Council’s County Hall headquarters will now be sold off in a move that is likely to frustrate those behind the 133 objections to its disposal.

The move has been endorsed by the county council’s land and property committee, which is making decisions about land and buildings that are no longer needed and therefore might be able to be sold off.

The former Conservative administration agreed in October 2023 to include the Matford offices site in a list of potential disposals, but the sale was frustrated by the fact the area notionally includes public open space.

That meant further public consultation was needed, and when that happened, a wave of opposition emerged against the sell-off, largely due to objections to the land being used for housing when it might be able to be used for the community.

Another issue occurred when the county council secured planning permission for the demolition of the Matford offices, which included a stipulation that the footprint of the building should be returned to grass.

That galvanised efforts to try and keep it as open land.

A lack of action to remove the foundations of the former office meant the council ran another public consultation before Christmas as part of requirements ahead of any potential sale.

But in spite of efforts to frustrate a sale, the land and property committee felt it made sense to sell the land, partly because the proceeds could help fund other expenditures. Those would be one-off expenses, such as property or infrastructure, and not day-to-day spending.

The committee also heard that the land represented less than 5 per cent of the open space on the County Hall site, and so its loss wouldn’t be significant.

A report presented to the committee also claimed that there had not been a footpath in the area set to be sold off, contrary to claims by some objectors.

Some members of the committee asked whether if the site was developed for housing, that it could be targeted at key workers.

However, the committee heard that such specific targeting might not be possible, but a request for a certain proportion of any development to be affordable was more realistic.

The committee heard that a contractor had now been appointed to remove the foundations of the former offices and that the land would be grassed over by June.

The site hasn’t been marketed yet, so it isn’t clear how much the council might earn from its sale.

Councillor Tony Stevens (Reform UK, Exwick & St Thomas) asked how many homes a developer might put on the 1.5-acre parcel of land.

An officer explained that Exeter City Council’s local plan had identified it as suitable for 29 units, but suggested that seemed “extremely dense”.

Councillor Andrew Leadbetter (Conservative, Wearside and Topsham) said he had been on the cabinet when the initial decision to sell the land had been made in 2023, but that there had been a “step-back” from it after criticism from opposition members who called the sale of buildings and land a “fire-sale”.

“Also, there was lots of concern about selling the land because we didn’t know what we might be able to use it for in the future,” he added.

Cllr Leadbetter also raised the prospect of the council needing the land in the context of local government reorganisation (LGR), which is the ongoing process where most of Devon’s councils will be abolished and merged into a smaller number of new, larger councils.

“There could be an issue because if the One Devon proposal is selected, we might need more buildings or more space for parking, but we just don’t know, and nobody does,” he said.

Matthew Jones, director of transformation and business services, noted that while LGR outcomes were still being considered for Devon, the county council still had a mandate to decide if it wanted to sell land or buildings.

It also emerged that an assessment had been carried out in relation to County Hall’s ability to take on staff from other councils that might be merged away, with one officer stating that the county council’s offices could “absorb” Exeter City Council staff if needed within its current footprint.

“We’ve also got Great Moor House, so we have space to accept higher numbers of staff,” the officer added.

The committee voted in favour of selling the land, but asked officers to investigate all potential sale routes, including with registered providers of social or affordable housing.

Officers said they could complete such an analysis ahead of the committee’s next meeting in April.