Liberal Democrat Cllrs for the Duryard and St James ward welcome the decision to refuse planning permission for a planned co-living development at Victoria Street, in the heart of St James.
The controversial scheme was originally set to provide 101 co-living units on the site of a disused garage and through demolishing a Victorian villa and established mature garden.
Developers were told their original plans were unlikely to be given the green light and over 160 objections were received from the local community. Updated plans at a reduced number of 89 units also failed to gain approval for multiple reasons.
Cllr Tammy Palmer, who led the campaign with local residents, said “This is the right outcome for this proposal. This site was never appropriate for such a large development: the height and general design completely overshadowed existing homes and it would have dramatically reduced the quality of life for many residents. The whole concept of co-living is questionable: it is unaffordable, does not provide a long term home for residents, and we must have clearer polices on co-living in Exeter moving forward.”
Cllr Michael Mitchell, ward Cllr for Duryard and St James, commented “Community imbalance here in St James is a big concern – this is one of the key areas the St James Neighbourhood plan highlights. We know that co-living creates more transient communities and what St James needs is family homes for long term residents.”
The Exeter Progressive group on has previously called for clearer policies on co-living, which was rejected by the ruling Labour group in 2020. With a wave of new co-living applications on the horizon, Liberal Democrats are once again calling for clear co-living polices to be included in the new Exeter Plan to ensure future developments are fit for purpose and built in the right location.
Details of the planning application in question can be found at: https://publicaccess.exeter.gov.uk/online-applications/simpleSearchResults.do?action=firstPage
An updated planning application has been submitted for a site in St James - have your say before the 5th May.
