800 objections to Deaf Academy site plans

Councillors will debate proposals

A much-criticised application involving new retirement apartments in Exeter will be decided next week.

Construction is underway for 146 new homes at the former Royal Academy for Deaf Education campus on Topsham Road, while a nursery and a 68-bed care home will also be built.

The scheme was approved in 2017.

A 61-bed assisted living complex was also included at that time. However Churchill Retirement Living now wants to replace that with 84 retirement apartments instead, with access from the adjoining Weirfield Road and a drop off point on Topsham Road.

The development will range from three to five-storeys, providing one to two-bedroom homes for people aged 60 or over, together well a communal lounge, patio area and guest accommodation.

The company says its vision is to “deliver a development that meets our customers’ needs and the local need for retirement apartments whilst also contributing to the character of Exeter.”

But local residents have slammed part of the plan, claiming the Weirfield Road cul-de-sac – popular with pedestrians and cyclists as it slopes down towards the riverside footpaths – is wholly unsuitable as an access road.

Illustration of retirement apartments planned for Topsham Road site in planning documents

Over 800 people have signed a petition against the current proposal, calling instead for developers to “provide an access and slip road directly on to Topsham Road and take responsibility for vehicular movements and associated queues generated by their premises.”

It added: “Weirfield Road is a public taxpayer funded steep, narrow, residential cul-de-sac which already provides sole access to St Leonard’s Church and adjoining roads. The detrimental impacts include unsustainable traffic congestion and reduced safety for pedestrians and vehicles.”

A further 118 objections have also been received, with more concerns about the access, as well as other issues such as the previously agreed assisted living accommodation being “vital to reduce pressure on NHS” and how “parking will overflow into surrounding streets.”

The St Leonards Neighbourhood Association objects to the plan, saying in its response that the Deaf Academy used Topsham Road as its vehicle access point.

It continues: “Weirfield Road is also a major access path for pedestrians accessing the riverside path, a path much advertised and its use much encouraged by Exeter City Council. Where Weirfield Road joins Topsham Road there is an access gateway for St Leonards Church and its busy community hall.

“That junction is just a few yards from the junction of St Leonards Avenue. It is completely unnecessary and dangerous to create more congestion and confusion around this junction, especially when drivers are concentrating on safely exiting onto Topsham Road.

However, Devon County Council’s highways department says in a planning report that the access on Weirfield Road and drop-off point off Topsham Road were already agreed as part of the previous application, while the opening on Weirfield Road is already built-out.

The report adds there is “no objection” from the highways authority for the access proposals “which replicate those of the approved assisted living scheme” – and that the revised scheme would actually result in “fewer vehicle movements.”

Officers recommend approval of the revised development, subject to conditions including an agreement on affordable housing. They say it is a “sustainably located brownfield site” in accordance with a local plan policy and “as such, residential development is acceptable in principle.”

But the report indicates uncertainty as to whether payments will be made towards affordable housing, which would be provided at another location because of the nature of the retirement development.

It says: “The developer has advanced that the scheme is unviable and cannot support an affordable housing contribution,” before adding that “viability is a matter of ongoing work with the applicant” and “the ability of the scheme to support financial contributions including affordable housing is subject to conclusion of that work.”

The securing of affordable housing contributions “could be delegated to officers and secured through an appropriately worded legal agreement,” the report explained.

While councillors are recommended to approve subject to conditions, the report also says they should refuse “if an agreement regarding viability (and hence contributions) cannot be reached.”

Exeter City Council’s planning committee will consider the application on Monday evening.