Exmouth residents to decide towns future

Six-week consultation set to launch

Residents of a major East Devon town will get a say on a rejigged plan that aims to improve the experience for residents and bolster its appeal to tourists.

Efforts have been ongoing over several years to formulate a plan to improve parts of Exmouth, with specific ideas for certain areas of the town and initiatives around how to better direct visitors to its various highlights, including its centre and seafront.

Early-stage ideas released in a document last year were given a lukewarm response by some key people in the town, but those overseeing the project have removed some of the long-term aspirations entirely, and tried to shift the focus towards better promoting things the town already has.

The previous iteration of the 10-year plan included 13 projects for phase one, with a potential value of £6 million, but this and other phases look like they could be scaled back.

David Thompson, from the consultancy firm WSP which has been commissioned by East Devon District Council to create the plan, told a group of councillors about the changes.

“There were certain projects referenced in the original plan, which tended to be longer term, but were just not developed and should not have been included so we have removed several of those projects,” he told the Placemaking in Exmouth Town and Seafront (PETS) group.

“There was a reference to decked car parking in a number of locations, a suggestion of moving things like the leisure centre and changing the Pavilion Theatre, but we have removed anything directly affecting existing, great, well-loved and well-used assets and emphasised reuse and better linking all the great things Exmouth got.”

The changes come after both public feedback, as well as input from councillors and council officers.

Mr Thompson said a six-week public consultation where residents could have their say had been suggested for November and December, with further details to be confirmed.

He described the revised plan as less “transformation but with an emphasis on evolution and making the most of what we’ve got”.

Key strands of the plan include better signage around the town to help the likes of visitors and those less familiar with Exmouth better navigate it and locate specific areas or services, while encouraging so-called active travel – such as walking and cycling – is also amplified.

Elsewhere, it’s likely that surveys will be carried out to assess how each of the town’s main car parks are used, with the hope that the information gleaned from this could identify whether parts of some car parks could be taken over for other uses.

But Mr Thompson emphasised there would not be an overall loss in the number of parking spaces across the town if that happened.

Councillor Tim Dumper (Liberal Democrat, Exmouth Halsdon) welcomed the new plan, and the collaboration that occurred to produce it.

“Getting all stakeholders to work together and ensuring we are working as a team is important as in the past there have been quite a lot of differences of opinion between the county and district councils in particular,” he said.

He added aspects such as a signage strategy for the town needed to be worked on as a team so “we don’t get anomalies occurring” and emphasised a wish for public transport to be improved in the town.

Some councillors, including Anne Hall (Liberal Democrat, Exmouth Littleham), expressed a wish for better separation between areas for pedestrians and cyclists, particularly around the town’s train station.

However, a council officer noted that there had been a plan to fill in the nearby subway, which would have created a larger area where pedestrians and cyclists could more easily have been separated, but that the town’s residents had opposed the suggestion, meaning the government funding for it was redirected elsewhere in the town.

Councillor Olly Davey (Green Party, Exmouth Town) said he thought the revised plan was “excellent” and that it had a “lot more realism” than the previous version which had “caused some local panic”.