Once again, the Labour leadership of Exeter City Council have reaffirmed their commitment to delivering the homes that our communities so desperately need.
At the Executive meeting on 28th November Executive Members confirmed Labour’s priority remains protecting our green spaces, both within the city centre (such as Clifton Hill or Water Lane) and our rural fringe. We can only achieve this by prioritising brownfield sites for developments.
Phil Bialyk, the Labour Leader of Exeter City Council, said:
“We will continue to work to get the right homes built in the right place, for the right people.
We will do this even when it is the option that doesn’t give the highest financial return. By choosing to invest in the future development of our city in this way we will ensure that our shared vision continues to be delivered.”
Appropriately Council officers recommended to the Executive that Clifton Hill, and other sites, were sold for development on the open market, this could ultimately end with private developers bringing forward plans for purpose built student accommodation (PBSA), this is something that the Labour leadership of the council have been clear in stating is unacceptable. A stance which has been supported over and over again by the electorate in our city who continue to elect a majority of Labour Councillors.
The Labour leadership of the council thanks the officers, and others, for the work they have carried out to bring these recommendations to them but remain firm in their view that this, like all local government should be, is a member led council and decisions about the direction of strategy will always remain with the elected members. Decisions will be taken looking at all the information available, including the agreed corporate strategies and previous political policies and pledges. A link to the current Liveable Exeter Strategy can be found here: www.liveableexeter.co.uk
As time moves on what we will see in our city is new homes being built, homes that will help our city continue to thrive and go some way towards fulfilling the housing needs of our community. The Labour leadership of our council will continue to invest to help build the future that we all want.
Please complete the public consultation on the new draft Exeter local Plan, which can be found here: Exeter plan consultation