Chairman of Exeter Civic Society, Keith Lewis says,: “This proposal is completely against the City Council’s Local Plan policy CP16 which states that no development will be permitted in any valley park unless it enhances their use, and this proposal clearly does not. When the council considered this disposal the committee paper acknowledged that the site is within the valley park, it failed to reveal that the council’s own planning policies prevent developments such as this in a valley park, leaving councillors not fully briefed. […] The Society is supportive of a new low carbon energy centre and a district heating system but it needs to be in the right place, and the city council needs to also consider the long term need for the valley park for existing and future residents for the development sites they have identified at Marsh Barton and Water Lane for up to 7,500 homes with an appropriate level of green space.”
On Tuesday 9 July the city council’s Executive committee considered a committee paper entitled ‘Disposal of land at Grace Road Fields for the facilitation of the Low Carbon Exeter District Heat Network’, but they discussed this in part two of the meeting where the public and press are excluded, so it was not certain how councillors were briefed. Councillors agreed to sell a third of the playing fields to Exeter Energy Network for an energy plant that will extract heat from the river Exe, use excess heat from the nearby incinerator, as well as from a proposed Data Centre, to provide a low carbon district heating system for commercial and domestic premises alongside the river, including the RD&E and County Hall. Opposition leader Cllr Moore expressed concern about development in the valley park.
You can read the society’s the full press release from from 18 Sep 2024 under: https://exetercivicsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Press-release-Energy-Centre-Sep-2024.pdf
Express and Echo had an article based on our press release in the 26 Sep 2024 issue, p. 5. See below.
Devon Live published an article where they interviewed ECC about our concerns on 4 Oct 2024, details under: https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/energy-plant-could-built-green-9594476?utm_source=app
