Green light to revitalise Exmouth seafront
East Devon District Council’s Development Management Committee has given the green light to move forward with proposals to revitalise Exmouth seafront.
The district council, who are the landowners at Queen’s Drive, already has outline planning permission to develop the area for leisure facilities. It’s latest application - called ‘Reserved Matters’ – concerned the scale, access, appearance and landscaping of the site which was approved by councillors by ten votes to four.
The decision opens the way for more detailed plans to come forward and the people of Exmouth will be fully consulted for their views on any development proposals for the site.
Mark Williams, Chief Executive of the district council, said: “I'm very pleased. Exmouth is a world-class location and we want it to be a world-class destination and the important part of today's approval is that it allows us to get on with that now.
“The character will change because there will be something different there, but actually I think it will open up the beach, it will bring more activities down to that area of the seafront for people to enjoy.
“We look forward to working with all the residents of Exmouth on the future of this exciting seafront opportunity. As we have said since the start of this year, there will be five opportunities for the community to have their say on the proposals as we move forward and we welcome constructive participation from all.”
The council submitted the application to ensure that there is continued planning permission for the land and to give confidence to developers who want to invest in the site. It will also enable the council to build Phase 1 of the development to realign the Queen’s Drive road and build a new car park.
Phase 2 of the development is for a watersports centre and developers Grenadier Estates will now be putting their plans before the public and will be fully consulting with the community before applying for planning permission. Officers will be meeting with Grenadier now to discuss timescales for their consultation and engagement process.
Their proposals will be subject to further consideration by the Local Planning Authority as part of the planning process before any decision is made.
Once planning consent is approved for the watersport centre, the council will then begin the building works to move the road and car park to make way for the centre to be built.
New ideas are being sought for Phase 3 of the development and the council is keen to ensure that Exmouth residents have their say on what happens there so that the town can keep pace with the times and offer all-year-round attractive facilities which are already on offer at other seaside resorts.
