Agenda item

Karime Hassan, Interim Director of Economy and Development to make a presentation.

The Interim Director Economy and Development made a presentation which identified the challenges of delivering Exeter’s Growth Agenda.  Exeter will have difficulty in supporting such levels of growth and subsequent impact on demography unless there is an adequate public transport, education, social and transport infrastructure in place. The areas covered were:- 

• scale of growth
• infrastructure demands
• cross boundary working
• uncertainty over the national/regional picture
• funding cuts for transport and affordable housing
• costs of delivering a low carbon solution for sustainable homes

The provision of sufficient number of dwellings presents significant challenges and not least the current policy for the delivery of 28,500 new dwellings by 2026, which the City Council’s Executive will have to consider. It will also be necessary to determine the amount of housing growth appropriate to meet Exeter’s housing and employment needs. The Government have already stated their intention to rapidly abolish regional spatial strategies and return decision-making powers for housing and planning to local authorities.

The presentation also identified the critical transport infrastructure needed to deliver the growth including the enhancement of Junction 29 of the M5 motorway. The immediate demands must be to ensure a funding access strategy for phases one and two of the East of Exeter developments including the Science Park, Sky Park and Cranbrook. Future growth is dependent on the Department for Transport and Regional Infrastructure funding and a decision on whether such projects will proceed is largely dependent on whether the funding will continue after the forthcoming Emergency Budget on 22 June.  A number of alternative funding models were discussed.

The future direction and way forward included consideration of the following:-

• consideration of the core strategy and identify the total number of dwellings to be provided;
• develop an essential Infrastructure Plan;
• provide an alternative delivery plan for the Phase 2 Access Strategy;
• explore alternative funding mechanisms;
• scrutinise key public transport proposals to assess implications for delivering the Devon Metro, (the network of services radiating from Exeter to Paignton, Plymouth, Exmouth and Barnstaple), to look at providing additional train capacity on the existing and future infrastructure/ and High Quality Public Transport, which could provide a real alternative to private car use, persuading more people to use public transport with new and faster bus routes across the city; and
• explore with energy providers the option for bringing forward energy distribution networks.

The Chair suggested that the Scrutiny Committee explore up to three of the topics identified above through Task and Finish Working Groups and they could explore the subject matter in more detail, inviting representatives from relevant individuals or bodies.  The Interim Director suggested that the groups would need to consider the principles and detail of the future infrastructure, and draw on existing effective partnership work as well as source new and established contacts. It was suggested that up to four sessions would enable an understanding of the topics and to report back to Scrutiny Economy in the Spring 2011. Members would be contacted for a  nomination from each Group.   A Member agreed that there was also a need to have a discussion with the most relevant Highways and Traffic Orders Committees including Exeter, East Devon and Teignbridge District Councils. It was noted that a considerable amount of work was already being carried out by these Districts and the County Council.

Members supported the establishment of a Task and Finish Working Group to consider the Devon Metro concept.