Council's eye-catching vision suggests bright future for trade throughout the city
Exeter City Council has unveiled an ambitious plan, branded 'Liveable Exeter', to significantly transform the Devon city over the next 20 years. New homes and cultural centres, as well as a "garden bridge" to cross the River Exe, have all been pledged as part of the scheme.
Especially promisingly, with the council set to create new types of accessible workspaces and encourage the reduced use of cars, the plan could have positive financial implications for trade.
What is 'Liveable Exeter' about?
Sweeping changes will see 12,000 new homes built in the cathedral city, where demand is strong for affordable housing. According to a recent Centre for Cities report cited by Devon Live, the city is the country's sixth least affordable, and the local property crisis has not escaped the council's notice.
Reporting to councillors, Exeter City Council's Chief Executive and Growth Director Karime Hassan admitted: "There is a national housing crisis, and this is reflected locally", adding: "As much as practical, the housing programme will seek to increase density of future housing".
The Government aims to add a further 53,200 new homes to the Greater Exeter area surrounding the city over the next two decades – a project that should also help to lower local property prices.
How Exeter looks set to bloom for both individuals and businesses
Crucially, however, the council will place new housing strategically to enable residents to more easily journey by foot and bicycle to local amenities. Those amenities could include the new workspaces set to be integrated in various parts of the city.
For example, Liveable Exeter specifies the creation of a whole new neighbourhood, Red Cow Village, in the St David's area. Here, under-utilised station buildings will be converted into workspace in a location readily accessible from the 664 new homes to be built in the neighbourhood.
Meanwhile, a new Marsh Barton neighbourhood will comprise 5,544 homes, with living and working spaces integrated where practically possible to take better advantage of the riverside location. The new workspaces proposed for Marsh Barton include light industrial, office and shared workspace.
It has also been suggested that the Marsh Barton development could be linked to a new train station, which is just one of many ways in which the council is set to bolster public transport connections.
Hassan has declared: "We will need to ensure we create a comprehensive and coherent permeable cycle and pedestrian network that connects key economic hubs to transport interchanges and residential areas." These projects could help many local workers to save money on transport.
It's an exciting time to start a business in Exeter
Hassan has conceded: "Exeter has a number of challenges and congestion is one of the key challenges." In practice, many local businesses may remain reliant on extensive use of their own transport. Still, fleet insurance could help them to reduce how many vehicles they must maintain.
With the future of Exeter business looking promising, you might start wondering: "What insurance do I need to start a new business?" Online advice on this subject is abundant.
