Confusion as diggers and trucks roll up at Exeter park
There has been confusion in Exeter as temporary and fencing suddenly appeared in a popular riverside park earlier this week. It was thought that Exeter College had "pre-emptively" started its work on a new all-weather rugby pitch on the site.
Exeter College was granted permission to install a 3G all-weather pitch on Flowerpot Playing Fields and to build a new sports pavilion on adjacent Exwick Playing Fields in November 2021. In February 2023, a revised version of the application was approved, which saw the proposed location of the new pitch shifted to be over one of its three existing pitches.
Last month, Exeter City Council said it was launching a consultation on plans to lease two parcels of land at Exwick Playing Fields to the college. The authority said the leasehold disposal would "allow the college to proceed with plans for a new all-weather, floodlit rugby pitch of the minimum recommended RFU size.".
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Cllr James Banyard, who represents the St David's ward for the Greens, said he noticed the fencing and diggers on September 3 and had asked the Exeter City Council to investigate whether the college had started work too soon. He said the review of the consultation, which stopped taking submissions on August 30, had not yet been completed.
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, on September 4, Cllr Banyard said: "I can confirm that Exeter College have been instructed to halt the diggers on Exwick Playing Fields, as the consultation review has not been completed. Yesterday I noticed new fencing and plant being moved in pre-emptively, and I asked the council to investigate."
The following day (September 5), he added: "Diggers and trucks continue to work on the site at Exwick Playing Fields today, despite an instruction from the council to halt work. Turf has been ripped up, and I saw a tipper truck dump a load of aggregate. I am following up today"
But Exeter City Council has since said that the works have been allowed to continue as the consultation only related to the lease, not to the works on the new pitch.
A spokesperson for Exeter City Council said: "The works are able to continue, as the consultation – which ended in August – was about the terms of the lease and not the works to create a new 3G rugby pitch, which received planning consent earlier this year."
Exeter College has said that the consultation is about extending their lease beyond the current 40 years they have already been granted. They say the land where work has started is not the land that is under live consultation.
A spokesperson for Exeter College said: "Work has commenced on the development of a state-of-the-art new sports facility for Exeter. We are currently in consultation with Exeter City Council regarding the extension of the lease for the area of pitch, beyond the current 40 years, as this is such a large long-term investment for our students and community.
"We want to clarify that the enabling work underway in the pitch locality is not taking place on the pitch area under the live consultation, but on land where we already hold an agreed lease and have received full planning permission from Exeter City Council for all the works. We remain committed to working closely with all stakeholders to bring this exciting project to Exeter."