At the end of the first day of the Panel’s visit, we were invited to a dinner at the ‘City Gate’. Gert Vonhoff, who represented us on this occasion, was questioned by several Panel members about a wide range of issues. They asked whether we found the Exeter Plan was ambitious enough. We said we agreed on the focus on brownfield site as major development opportunity for the next decades, but that this would bring about issues with the height and density of building as costs for development are normally higher for these sites. It would be important to do this with the input and as far as possible the consent of established neighbourhoods in the vicinity of the sites. We also pointed out that we saw the Exeter Plan as special in its comprehensive approach, but that we needed to see what had been taken up from our comments to come to a final view, especially as so many aspects were quite vague in the various versions the public had seen so far. We agreed on potential shortcomings of online consultations, where the shear number of replies is no indicator for proper engagement. We talked about the importance if master planning and that late Design Codes are not a replacement, especially when developers by then have already been working on their applications. We spoke about the state of the Roman Wall and the Panel wanted to know what importance the wall had for people in Exeter. The Panel was surprised by the high number of commuters coming into Exeter on a daily basis for work – we discussed how this impacts road traffic and what mitigating measures need to be put into place. To some length we talked about the cultural life in Exeter and how it had become more cosmopolitan over the last twenty years, not least because of the MET Office coming to Exeter and the substantial growth of the university. But we still have no theatre and music hall with 1,000 seats in the city centre, and are left with a big white elephant in the city centre with the empty former Debenham’s building and other vacant premises in Bedford Street.
For their final session, after a walk down Sidwell Street – whose vibrancy had impressed them – the Panel met members of the Exeter Place Partnership (formerly Liveable Exeter Place Board) and representatives of other organizations like the Civic Society and Inclusive Exeter. Julia Neville represented our Society at this meeting. The focus was intended to be on how to use heritage to promote tourism and thus benefit the city’s economy. The Portfolio holder for Arts, Culture and Tourism and the Deputy Leader from Exeter City Council were both present. Two presentations were made on behalf of the Exeter Place Partnership by its newly elected co-chairs. The first by the Earl of Devon focused on Exeter’s heritage which, he suggested, was a heritage of innovation and radicalism and portrayed the EPP as a forum whose members were ready on a voluntary basis to use their influence and resources to help attract inward investment. The second, by Fiona Corden, the Chief Executive Officer of Exeter’s Co-Lab focused on a bottom-up approach, suggesting that it was crucial to support individuals and local communities in becoming confident in the city to achieve a true sense of well-being. The Panel asked questions about how engagement could be broadened and strengthened, and listened to suggestions about, for example, a greater emphasis on supporting creativity. The Panel then retired to digest all they had seen and heard and prepare their report.