Get Exmouth seafront done!

Some claim it's the Brexit of Devon

East Devon councillors have expressed a desire to "get seafront done." Described as "the Brexit of Exmouth," the saga of what happens to the Queen’s Drive site has been rumbling on for close to 10 years.

While phase 1 – the realignment of the road and the car park – has been completed, and phase 2 – the new watersports centre – is on the verge of completion and should be fully open early in 2021, the final phase of the regeneration remains as unclear as ever.

Planning permission for the redevelopment of a 3.6-hectare swathe of Queen’s Drive has been granted, and has been implemented, the council says, with the realignment of the road, but the attractions currently on the Queen’s Drive space – the replacement for the former Fun Park – only have planning permission to stay on the site until March 2022, with no further extension allowed.

The Exmouth Queen’s Drive Delivery Group accepts that something had to be decided sooner rather than later, but that it is important to get it right and for residents to be in favour of the proposals.

The latest scheme, which followed a consultation led by regeneration specialist Wayne Hemingway, would bring a high-quality waterfront restaurant, an 80 bedroom hotel and an area for play and leisure.

In February East Devon’s cabinet agreed to ask developers for proposals – but that decision has now been reversed, with no clear way forward  agreed. The latest meeting saw members of the public and councillors thrash out historic grievances over what has happened, but that no decisions about what should happen next were agreed.

Laura Woodward-Drake, chair of Exmouth Chamber of Commerce, said: “The Hemingway plans did reenergise the seafront. There are concerns, but from a business point of view, it combined business and beauty well, and combined leisure and culture. We need to get it moving as have wasted a lot of time in the past.”

Justin Moore added: “We cannot allow this to slip through our fingers. The Hemingway design was balanced and the hotel will complement the Sideshore development that is taking place. Exmouth will be turned from a staycation in the summer to an all year round destination. I was apprehensive and I see positive change, but we need to deliver – it is fast becoming the Brexit of Exmouth.”

But Gordon Hodgson said that the site needed to be unburdened from the need to raise large sums of cash, the public had to be involved in the decision-making process, and to remove any requirement for a hotel.

Cllr Paul Arnott, leader of the council, said that they must look to the future, but added: “Those who do not remember the past are doomed to make the same mistakes. We have to get on with this, but the economic aspects have changed, and we need to have an idea of what we would want for next spring.”

Cllr Paul Millar said: “The public consultations haven’t been meaningful and last year the former leader of council said it would be a hotel or your council tax goes up, and that goes down like a pint of cold sick with the public. We should market the sites but with a wider remit. I’m not predetermined wither for or against a hotel but some are, and local residents don’t want a hotel and we need to listen to local residents. We need something that is commercially viable but we cannot ignore the views of residents.”

Cllr Olly Davey said: “A hotel was the least popular with the residents and I’m not connived a hotel on that site is the way to go. Something has to be commercially viable and generate income for the council – there has to be something that will be self-financing, but should not necessarily pay off the historic debt. What is there is fantastic and what we need, and we need to build on what we have to make it more attractive, but we need something else to compliment it and help pay for it.”

Cllr Steve Gazzard said the current Queen’s Drive play space is superb and what the tourists are looking for, adding: “If we do anything that takes away from the jewel in the crown, it will affect people coming to Exmouth,” while Cllr Eileen Wragg said that they need to be careful as whatever the council chooses to build will be there for a very long time."

The council’s portfolio holder for the economy, Cllr Paul Hayward, said that Exmouth is the biggest town in East Devon, so it was critically important to the economy and the reputation of the council that they do the right thing.

But he said: “If you have an artificial deadline to hit, you will make poor decisions, and it may be that we need to extend the planning deadlines as I would rather kick it down the road than make a poor decision now. If we need to park a final binding decision then we park it until we see the outturn as to what Brexit will give. I would like to lock everyone in a room with pizza and coffee and not leave until we have a consensus view, and I think that is going to be necessary."

Tim Child, a council officer for estates management said: “The site requires further investment before too long, not all of the site is used, and the layout is not ideal with poor integration of the events area to the rear thus not affording optimum use of the site for the enjoyment of the public and the generation of income.”

The committee also agreed that the future of the Ocean building should be brought into the scope of the Queen’s Drive board.

THE HISTORY OF QUEEN’S DRIVE

In 2012, plans to redevelop the area between the old lifeboat station and the Maer, known as the Splash Zone, formed part of the Exmouth Masterplan which sets out future regeneration in the town

The controversial plans divided opinion in the town in 2013 when more than 500 people completed questionnaires about the authority’s intention to redevelop the area between the old lifeboat station and the Maer, known as the Splash Zone. When asked for a general opinion, 52 per cent of respondents of the questionnaires were in favour of the overall proposals with 41 per cent against. The remaining seven per cent did not express a preference. Around 26,000 Exmouth adult residents didn't take part in the survey.

In December 2013, East Devon District Council’s Development Management Committee gave the go-ahead for the development of the Queen’s Drive area in Exmouth. The outline permission includes the realignment of the road to give easier access to the beach and stunning views from the proposed new watersports hub, cafe and public open space.

East Devon District Council were then working with Moirai Capital Investments of Bournemouth to put forward proposals to “breathe new life into the nine acre council-owned seafront site at Queen’s Drive with a range of exciting leisure facilities”. The plans included luxury flats, shops, eateries, a multi-screen cinema and a new Harbour View Café and coastwatch tower. At the same time, a new action group was launched to ‘save’ Exmouth seafront from developers, with Save Exmouth Seafront concerned that the £18 million redevelopment would mean some of the town’s most popular businesses closing. In October 2015, the Carriage Café on the seafront left the town. It had been open for nearly 50 years and the restored 1956 carriage business’s closing brought an end to an era for residents.

At around the same time, more than 1,000 residents and visitors town took part in the Exmouth Seafront Survey, initiated by Cllr Megan Armstrong. Led by author and analyst Louise MacAllister, the survey aimed to discover if plans for a multi-screen cinema, outdoor water splash zone and adventure golf park were wanted by those who would be using the facilities.

Organisers said the survey showed 95 per cent were against the redevelopment, it showed widespread support for the businesses at the time occupying the seafront and that many Exmouth residents felt their concerns regarding the plans have been ignored. 

In April 2016, Exmouth residents went to the polls, and around 95 per cent of those who turned out to vote want more consultation on multimillion-pound plans for Queen’s Drive. Called by concerned residents, the parish poll saw 4,754 people – 17.8 per cent of the electorate – take part.

The summer of 2016 Moirai Capital Investments sacked as the developer due to the length of time it had taken for them to bring more plans.

September 2016 saw the Jungle Fun attraction and Arnold Palmer Putting Course close. Hours earlier, locals and tourists had flocked to the attraction for one last round. The crazy golf course had been established around 40 years ago.

In November 2016, campaigners in Exmouth staged a protest march calling for further consultation on controversial seafront redevelopment plans. The Save Exmouth Seafront protesters set off from the lorry park in Marine Way and marched through Imperial Road, The Strand and Alexandra Terrace before finishing on the seafront.

A planning process completed in April 2017 meant the council could now go ahead and build the £18 million redevelopment, but had no plans to do so. Had the application been rejected, it would have meant the outline permission for redevelopment would have no longer been extant and sent the project back to the drawing board.

The Fun Park, run by the Wright family, closed after more than 40 years at the end of August 2017, with a vigil held and floral tributes presented.

A last gasp bid to reprieve the Fun Park from closure failed two weeks later, when East Devon councillors voted 26 to 21 against extending the lease of the Fun Park. The contents of the Fun Park were auctioned off the following day. The Harbour View café was also due to close at the same time, but has seen its lease extended.

October 2017 saw Grenadier reveal plans for the Watersports  entre, before submitting the formal planning application in February 2018, which was then approved in June 2018 by eight votes to five. It should now open early in 2021.

The temporary attractions for the seafront at the Queen’s Drive Space, which include the food and drink area and the dinosaur-themed play park opened in May 2018. Permission expires in March 2022, and the council will not be able to apply for any further temporary use.

Work began at the end of 2018 to realign the Queen’s Drive road, which was completed in June 2019, although questions have been raised about where the funding for the road, which East Devon District Council paid for, actually came from.

At the end of 2019, HemingwayDesign and Lambert Smith Hampton submitted their vision for Phase Three for Exmouth Seafront to East Devon District Council. The suggested uses include a new two storey café/restaurant on the existing Harbour View café site to the south of Queen’s Drive, a mix of playspace (including free play) and open public space on the remainder of the site, and an 60–80 bed three or four star hotel.

East Devon District Council’s cabinet, when they met in February, agreed to launch a formal marketing exercise to identify developer/operator partners for the Queen’s Drive site, with a final decision on what to take forward set to be made in July. But that the council’s scrutiny committee then unanimously agreed that the panel the purpose of agreeing the selection criteria for the commercial development was not properly balanced, and expressed their anger at how they felt Exmouth residents were not being listened to.

Having been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic and a change of administration, in August, full council accepted that recommendation and sent it back to cabinet, who are now able to make the decision they wish over the future of Queen’s Drive.