Labour run Exeter City Council formally hand the Queens Crescent Garden over to the Exeter St James Community Trust.

Duncan Wood, the Council’s Communities Champion said:

“This inspirational project is a testament to what communities can achieve when they work with a common purpose, belief and determination.”

It was almost exactly 5 years ago today that the City Council adopted the St. James Neighbourhood Plan, which was prepared by the Exeter St. James Forum.  The Neighbourhood Plan was over two years in gestation before that, and the Forum started life in 2010.

The St James Neighbourhood Plan was the first and remains the only Neighbourhood Plan in Exeter, which is an achievement in its own right.

The plan has 5 priority projects to focus community action and empower the community to shape its own environment. Bringing Queen’s Crescent Garden back to life as a community green space was the number one priority.

Backed by the Ward Councillor Keith Owen and the Labour’s Council Leadership, the Council set out to secure ownership of the gardens and then to pass the land over to Community with funds to develop and maintain it.