Agenda and draft minutes

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 20 October 2025 were approved as a true and accurate record.

Cllr A Bailey – Minute 18; Affects Non-Registerable Interest: Member of Exmouth Town Council.

Cllr O Davey – Minute 18; Affects Non-Registerable Interest: Member of Exmouth Town Council.

Cllr T Dumper – Minute 18; Affects Non-Registerable Interest: Member of Exmouth Town Council.

Cllr N Hookway – Minute 18; Affects Non-Registerable Interest: Member of Exmouth Town Council and Devon County Council.

Information on public speaking is available online.

One member of the public had registered to speak at the meeting.

Mrs Ann Membery raised questions regarding the future plans for the Harbour View Café, and advocated for public engagement.  Mrs Membery also made suggestions concerning the use of the former Fun Park on the seafront, and an electric operated Park and ride service from the Maer Road car park.

The Chair thanked Mrs Membery for her contribution and outlined how the Placemaking Plan addresses seafront assets, fun park redevelopment and transport ideas.

There were no matters of urgency.

To agree any items to be dealt with after the public (including the press) have been excluded.  There are no items which officers recommend should be dealt with in this way.

There were no confidential/exempt items.

The Corporate Lead – Major Projects and Programmes presented this report which summarised the review of the Exmouth Placemaking Plan (EPP) and minor changes made based on feedback received from the public consultation exercise, member and officer workshops and sought an endorsement from the Placemaking in Exmouth Town and Seafront Group of the EPP and the Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC).

Discussion and clarification included the following points:

·        The Corporate Lead was unable to confirm the budget spent on the Placemaking project to date having only been involved since 2024 but stated that she would provide this information outside of the meeting.  It was noted that some of the expenditure had come from external sources such as the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

·        Once adopted, the Placemaking Plan will have a 10 year life, offering reassurance and opportunity to local businesses, and certainty to funders.  Furthermore, it will serve to protect the seafront from inappropriate development particularly following Local Government Reorganisation.

·        Loss of parking, or restrictions on traffic are always controversial and some members were disappointed that the pedestrianisation of Queen’s Drive had been dropped from the Placemaking Plan.  It was suggested that national and local government needed to be bolder and do things that were unpopular but which may be to everybody’s benefit in the long run.

·        The Placemaking Plan does not make specific reference to the arts; however, the Council has adopted an East Devon Cultural Strategy which sets out the approach for the district.  The Corporate Lead suggested that she could review the Placemaking Plan to consider if there was anything further that could be added concerning the arts.

·        Councillors were keen that the Council delivers some tangible outcomes from the Placemaking Plan as quickly as possible and it was suggested that a signage and wayfinding strategy could be implemented as a visible, actionable project subject to the availability of funding.

·        The Strategic Outline Business Case sets out an indicative cost of £50k for a signage strategy which will not only consider where the signage may go but will also consider the design of the signage and how it fits within the placemaking approach. 

·        It was suggested to reassess how much needs to be spent on a signage strategy and to benchmark the cost against other authorities, to ensure value for money.

·        Councillors expressed disappointment that there is no mention of a long term goal to have a transport hub by the station, and emphasised the importance of transport improvements.  The Council has an advocacy role to ensure that the town gets the transport it needs not only for the town centre and seafront but also linked to the rest of the town.

Following the discussion the Placemaking in Exmouth Town and Seafront Group agreed to endorse the Exmouth Placemaking Plan and Strategic Outline Business Case.

RECOMMENDED to Cabinet:

1.     That the Exmouth Placemaking Plan and Strategic Outline Business Case is adopted by East Devon District Council.