Seven themes will kick-start Exeter

Post-covid planning underway

Exeter City Council has outlined seven themes to help kick-start Exeter as it comes out from the peak of covid-19.  Construction and development, city centre, visitor economy, transport, education, business support and community wellbeing are to be the focus.

Karime Hassan, the council’s chief executive and growth director, said that while the country is in the midst of a profound economic shock, Exeter is likely to fare better  than other areas of the region with very low levels of public sector employment. But he added: “Maintaining the city’s recent economic performance can’t be assumed. On the contrary there are significant challenges facing the city and the recovery programme has been designed to prioritise these areas.

“We are hoping for a sharp return but we have a plan for a much longer recession. The council’s financial position has also considerably worsened in the short term owing to both the restrictions in place and the impact this is having on our income and we no longer have the capacity that we had at the last recession so there is a genuine resource issue.”

The recovery plan was backed by the leaders of the opposition groups, before recovery unanimous backing from the executive. Here's a summary

Construction and development

In the short-term, the difficulty of working with safe social distancing has closed many projects while longer-term prospects are also uncertain. His report added: “In simple terms the cost of opening up large sites with high infrastructure costs may create cause sites to stall and it is also common to see an immediate race to the bottom with developers seeking to reduce costs and reduce standards to improve margins. The city will need to support the development sector. 

“What is required is a long-term vision (Exeter Vision 2040, Greater Exeter Strategic Plan, Liveable Exeter Transformational Housing programme, and Net Zero Exeter 2030) backed by organisations (Liveable Exeter Place Board) that are willing to work together to support the sector through these difficult times.”

City Centre

Over the last decade the city centre has successfully managed to diversify away from retail to more mixed uses: residential, restaurants and cafes, gyms, and educational institutions, Mr Hassan said.

He added: “High Streets like Exeter that have responded to the online shopping revolution by reshaping themselves as ‘destinations’ could struggle until the public is fully confident that social distancing is no longer required. Importantly the city council has a long term interest in the city centre with considerable commercial assets in the centre and ambitions for improving the city centre with greater pedestrian-dominated spaces and redevelopment of some of our car parks.”

Visitor Economy

The culture and entertainment sector is particularly vulnerable to the impact of COVID-19, the report said, adding that the city has developed a strong visitor brand in recent years, and visitor numbers to the city were rising. But the coronavirus lockdown restrictions have meant in the arts, entertainment and recreation sector 82 per cent of businesses have closed or paused trading and accommodation and food services have seen 81 per cent close or pause.

Mr Hassan said: “The relationship between the city centre and the cultural sector is vital, as is the sense of place and our very sense of what we require of a city and the businesses will need support and will require the cultural partnership to chart a longer term view of how we get out of this crisis and build on our opportunities.”

Transport

Even before the coronavirus crisis hit, the Exeter local economy was hit hard by the collapse of Flybe, and social distancing will be a massive challenge to the airline industry, public transport and the ability to deliver commercial services where social distancing requirements may limit passenger numbers to 10 per cent of capacity.

Mr Hassan said: “In recent years we have been prioritising active travel, encouraging walking and cycling in the city and the government is keen to make rapid progress in expanding active travel in support of opening up businesses and social distancing will require changes to the footways as in some places they are too narrow to support social distancing in the city centre.”

But he raised concerns about the message from government to use cars instead of public transport, saying: “The city has the second largest travel to work area in the country, the message the public is hearing is use the car. This will lock in behaviour that we have been trying to shift. But not everyone has a car, car sharing is ruled out because of social distancing, and therefore we need to come up with other solutions."

Education

The impact on the university sector could be significant with the prospect of large numbers of oversees students no longer returning to study in the short term, Mr Hassan said.

He added: “The University contributes massively to the economy of the city and was instrumental in playing a major part in getting the city out of the last recession with an extensive capital investment programme and increase in employment and student numbers. The large growth in its research funding also saw the emergence of local impact work supporting the growth of the innovation and science agenda for the city."

Business Support

The skills agenda will continue to be a consideration, especially given the challenges faced by pupils and schools and the backdrop of the national economic picture, Mr Hassan said, adding: “The city council has focused in recent years on inclusive growth and the development of the skills agenda.”

Community Wellbeing

Exeter is a great place to live, but there are hidden and widening inequalities with some areas in Exeter amongst the 20 per cent most deprived areas in England, Mr Hassan said, adding there is a 15 year life expectancy gap between the most and least affluent areas in the city.

He said: “Prior to covid, as in cities around the country there was a growing concern that anti-social behaviour in the Exeter city centre was on the increase. There are obvious signs of begging on streets in and near to the city centre and a growing perception of an increase in illegal substance misuse ranging from illegal drug dealing and taking to street drinking, unauthorised 'busking–type' activity as well as rough sleeping in shop doorways, car parks, subways and in tents.

“It is vital that covid recovery plans for the city centre and its surrounds ensure that all areas are safe and social spaces for everyone and that services for people with complex needs are accessible, joined up and consistently and collaboratively engage with people in a supportive and assertive way.