New Exeter homes 'must have' new GP surgery

NHS urged to spend levy on primary care

The new government is being urged to do more to make housebuilders provide services for local people.

Exeter City Council leader Phil Bialyk (Lab, Exwick) said homes need proper infrastructure and medical facilities around them, and he planned to lobby MPs to make sure it happens.

Councillors were discussing Water Lane at Exeter, where up to 1,500 new homes are planned for a site that once housed a gasworks and a plant for rendering animal carcasses.

Green councillors have called for new primary care medical services to be provided there to deal with new residents.

It is nearly 30 years since the Water Lane area near Exeter Ship Canal was first earmarked for redevelopment, and it is currently home to businesses, workshops, car parks and community facilities.

The council envisages a ‘high-quality, low-car’ new neighbourhood, and has agreed  new rules for any future Water Lane developer.

Labour promised up to 1.5 million new homes across the country in its manifesto ahead of the general election, and its housebuilding plans were outlined in the King’s Speech on Wednesday.

Exeter's councillors are largely united behind the Water Lane project, which would see the homes going built on a brownfield, former industrial site.

But at the same time, the NHS has been urged to create all-new facilities for people buying the new properties rather than just expanding existing practices.

Cllr Diana Moore (Green, St David’s) said local people welcomed the Water Lane plans, for which a developer has yet to be found. But she added: “It is absolutely imperative for a new community of this size to have at its heart decent primary care facilities.”

Cllr Bialyk said: “It’s fantastic when MPs talk about needing affordable and social housing, but what about the infrastructure that goes with it - GPs, roads, schools and sustainable transport? There needs to be more emphasis on that.”

And he questioned what the NHS actually did with the money it received from developers under rules where developers have to pay levies to the local community.

“The money is just going into their budget,” he said. “Are they employing more doctors and nurses? I doubt it very much.”