Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ashwood, Baldwin, Hannaford, Leadbetter and Thompson.

The Council observed a minutes silence in memory of Clive Tarr a former Councillor who had recently passed away.

Minutes of the meeting of the Leisure Complex and Bus Station Programme Board - 28 September 2017 were taken as read.

The Portfolio Holder for Health and Wellbeing, Communities and Sport presented the minutes of the Leisure Complex and Bus Station Programme Board - 28 September 2017.

The Leader proposed the recommendations from the Leisure Complex and Bus Station Programme Board 28 September 2017 in respect of the way forward for the Leisure Complex and Bus Station, with the amendment to recommendation (3) that the bus station will close by the end of February 2018, at the latest, as agreed with the bus company. This was seconded by the Portfolio Holder for Health and Wellbeing, Communities and Sport.

The Leader stated:-

·         that the point of tonight’s meeting was to discuss the Council’s ongoing commitment to redeveloping the bus station and to outline how the Council would progress plans for the future of the site.

·         The recent decision by Crown Estates to pull their retail scheme presented the Council with some challenges and tonight was an update on how the Council would deal with these challenges. The Council’s commitment to building a new leisure centre and new bus station was as strong as ever. Some people were saying this was a time to stop and reconsider everything, but anyone who had seen the state of the bus station or used the Pyramids recently would know that these facilities were not good enough for Exeter, and were in desperate need of replacing.

·         This was what the people of Exeter elected the Labour Group to deliver, and this is what the administration intended to do. Redeveloping this site had been Council policy for the last 20 years. It had taken this administration to get the plans to this stage, and it would be this administration that delivered it.

·         The decision by the Crown Estates to pull out had presented the Council with some challenges but also some new opportunities. The Council now need to do some design work to change the interface between the developments and what the Crown Estates had planned. The Leader stated that he was very proud of the design of the new leisure centre and new bus station and this would not change. The Council would look to retender next spring to find a contractor, with work on the leisure centre and bus station starting in the winter of 2018, and opening to the public in 2020.

·         The Council would be looking for new development partners for the longer term, and had already been contacted by interested parties and was no longer tied just to retail, as the Crown Estates wanted. The site lent itself to a mixed use development including offices, housing, social housing, retail, cafes and restaurants with some public open space and it would not be student housing. Whilst some people had called for the bus station to remain open for the foreseeable future if that happened all the momentum that had been built up would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.