ECS responds to City Centre and Cultural Strategies

We were disappointed that we needed to complain about the initial poor status of the consultation webpage because at that time it did not meet the standards set out in your own Consultation Charter.

The vision statements set a reasonable ambition for city centre activity, but if the order is an indication of priority we are not sure this reflects what residents will prioritise. It would be better if the vision was better aligned to the 6 themes.

The ‘City Centre Today’ and ‘The Bounds of Our City’ need to be merged into one, or re-written. The first, whilst having a good opening statement and a good first description of the city, then has four statements about the future, but we would like to see some honest recognition of ‘our city today’ recognising that there is too much traffic, ant-social behaviour, and a lack of evening events. The strategy should mention the leisure and cultural attractions that do exist and then build on these and fill gaps. The strategy fails to define the difference between the city centre and the city centre area, which might not be the same given the colouring in the map on page 7.  The map would benefit from more distinctive colour choices and a legend explaining their use.

Six themes in the City Centre Strategy

We recognise that people will have different views about their priorities, but as the Civic Society for Exeter we believe the priority order should first reflect the needs of local people and then those who live in the city’s hinterland that travel into the city for shopping leisure and cultural activities.

Appearance and Cleanliness

We believe there should be more priorities, such as repairing street paving and furniture timely to maintain pride and safety; a commitment by the council to remove graffiti; and to encourage landlords to improve and maintain the upper floors of their buildings – many facades are neglected.

Safety, Accessibility and Wellbeing

We find this theme to be reasonable as written but we would like to see more of a commitment to improve parks and open spaces with plans to modernise them so they are more vibrant and usable for all, with more seating, art, and perhaps children’s play equipment. Perhaps a development plan for each park/green space with input from the public could help achieve this. This could offer great volunteering opportunities for the public to maintain the grounds and plants.

Daytime and Night-Time Economy

We find the opening statements and priorities appropriate but we wonder how deliverable these are without initiatives driven by the city council to achieve them. With most shops in the city centre controlled by private landlords how will start-ups be attracted without subsidised rents? It should not take long for the council to ascertain from landlords whether this is likely. In addition, ECC could commit to making a range of their premises available at reduced rents, although it is important that a diverse range of shops develop in each street.  The Society will also be responding to the draft Cultural Strategy, but it seems to us that without an improved range of city centre theatre, music venues, and galleries, the desire to improve the night-time economy will be unsuccessful.

Destination Offer

To achieve a destination offer we believe the new unitary council will need to drive many of the priorities forward rather than rely on businesses, and it is worth noting that the UNESCO City of Literature, and the canal’s Heritage Harbour status have been established by independent organisations, not the city council.  As a destination offer, we believe attracting people and tourists to visit our built heritage should be the priority because our history is all around the city and just needs minor changes to attract more people, ensuring sufficient hotel space and promotion. Less tangible culture such as arts and literature need more development.

The council must develop a central hub for tourist information etc., either at the ticket office in Fore Street, and/or the underground passages office on Paris Street. The latter has an excellent exhibition in the basement about ancient Exeter and we know from a FOI request that it is well visited and staffed, so with a few adjustments it will make an excellent visitor centre. The Fore Street ticket office is a short distance from the tourist bus stops in South Street, so ideally placed to support tourists. It will not take much to turn these venues into much needed tourist information centres.

City Centre Living

There has not been any affordable or family housing built in the centre for some time now- all PBSA, Co-living, and expensive apartments. We hope that in developing briefs and/or master plans for the city centre, the council will cite the need for homes that addresses the city’s housing needs register, and with mixed communities as the Local Plan. Encouragement of developing upper floors into homes is positive. We suggest an additional ‘Priority action’: Support innovative use of student flats outside term times’, especially in the summer (e.g. for tourists, language course participants) to guarantee a year-round lived-in environment in the city centre, and increase the viability of shops during the period when students have left the city and footfall is reduced. Enhancements and expansion of green spaces within the centre should be included to provide people with more leisure space, rather than just paved areas.

Connectivity of the City Centre

The opening statements are fine but the following priority actions fail to include an emphasis on cycle routes in/out of the city centre, and reducing the number of non-essential vehicle journeys. More P&R and the use of the existing sites with advanced signage is needed (but of course outside the centre, and probably outside the city itself) and a reduction of work based parking for those who do not need a car for work will help reduce daily congestion. The council’s car park strategy should be reviewed as part of a joined up strategy to reduce car use. There’s no mention of the lack of a coach station or improvements to the bus stops that serve coaches, or the need for more rail services to bring people into the city rather than using private cars.

Measuring Success

Whilst in parts of the Strategy it mentions that the City Council will take the lead, we are disappointed that on page 35 the responsibility, accountability and delivery is delegated to ‘the Business Growth and Economy Group of the Exeter Partnership’, a non-democratically formed body, which despite some claims when it emerged from the previous Liveable Exeter Partnership, is still not inclusive and has not reached out distinctively to the community. We accept that their advocacy will be useful, but leadership should sit with the council which is accountable. In this paragraph, as in the whole document, it remains unclear what is meant by ‘key city centre stakeholders and partners’. Perhaps some clarity can be added as each action point may involve different partners. As the preeminent organisation for the built environment in the city we would welcome the opportunity to become a partner / stakeholder in developing the City Centre Strategy.

Our written statement contains a lot of more issues, especially where the present state of the document remains too vague or does not look optimised for a strategy paper. The letter can be found in the side panel.

The focus of the strategy is on creators and makers and making Exeter a city of creative confidence. While we recognise the value of creativity, many participants will be consumers, not producers or creators. Further thought needs to be given to how to enrich people’s’ lives through culture without necessarily making them creators in their own right. Also, the focus on ’creative confidence’ means that events that bind communities together such as fetes and fairs and which provide fun are ignored. But these are things which enhance the culture of a locality. Such events may well include creative or heritage activities to experience and enjoy.

There are areas where the council and its unitary successor should take a clear lead  and which cannot be done by a Partnership Board of voluntary members. We provided a listing of where we think ECC need to commit their leadership. It seems to us unlikely that any coherent action plan will emerge without such clear leadership and input from the elected council.

It is disappointing that few of the ideas, data and exemplars set out in the baseline report and the assessment have been taken forward into the strategy. Nor have the weaknesses identified been clearly addressed. Doing so would give the strategy a harder edge with better measures of achievement and more visible steps, rather than its current series of vague aspirations and promises of further discussions with partners  with no underpinning concrete actions. For example, specific steps to retain Exeter University graduates in the city; and a quantifiable target of getting near to or matching the tourist economies of York, Bath and Canterbury and the creative and cultural economy of Norwich.

Finally, we were also disappointed and surprised that the Civic Society has not been involved as a stakeholder given the nature of our organisation. We are a membership organisation. We have a strong and continuing visible role in celebrating and championing  Exeter’s heritage. Our blue plaques commemorating individuals are highly visible. Our ‘Discovering Exeter’ guides cover the history and architectural features of areas outside the city centre, and see a 2nd revised edition being rolled out. We were also instrumental in securing the national registration of the grounds of Larkbeare House by Historic England and are currently discussing with the council a process for locally listing buildings under the new Exeter Plan.

Answers we provided in the online questionnaire:

Suggest project ideas or partnerships you would like to see   

A central welcome hub for tourist information, bookings, exhibitions relating to the city and if space allows learning and research to make the City of Literature concrete.

A large, modern central theatre and concert venue. Consider an open air venue for the summer, e.g. on the old bus station site.

Greater involvement of students and young people in city culture e.g. a schools wide arts strategy through the Ted Wragg Trust.

Further develop the partnership between the University’s Innovation centre and local heritage assets and organisations to make a more creative impact.

What is the single most important thing this strategy should achieve for Exeter?

Raising Exeter’s profile in the tourist and creative industries by:

• sustainable funding, better maintenance and promotion of Exeter’s heritage assets;
• improving the city’s appearance;
• providing a better welcome for visitors with information available in the centre in person as well as digitally;
• showcase events, attractive to residents and visitors alike and which get national attention.

The result would be more jobs in tourism and the creative industries and a better cultural experience for residents. The aim should be to be ahead of comparable cities in terms of jobs and funding.

Which communities and voices do you think are currently underrepresented in Exeter’s cultural life.

Groups who live in the suburbs and who do not go into the city centre regularly. Their views need to be better represented and more effort should be put into events in local centres.

People with long term mental health problems who can benefit from long-term volunteering in the creative sector. Historic England’s research show the importance of connection with heritage in creating feelings of fascination, relaxation, restorativeness and a decrease in stress, see  Improving Mental Health Through Heritage | Heritage Counts | Historic England

Ethnic minorities and low-income families.

What types of cultural activities best help bring people together in your community?

Fetes, local fairs, sports days, and fun days in the park. With council support our communities can do more of this.

Heritage projects, including walks, giving local communities a focus on undervalued aspects of their past – for example recent projects on Countess Wear’s heritage and one in Whipton, helped by the community builder; and a Heavitree heritage walk.

Green projects e.g community gardens which offer well-being, engagement with the environment and climate change, and opportunities for creativity. They also foster pride of place.

Projects which take place in reality and not digitally.

How could creative activities help people engage differently with climate and environmental challenge.

Green projects e.g. community gardens which offer well-being, engagement with the environment and climate change, and opportunities for creativity. They also foster pride of place.

Our full reply can be found in the side panel.