Future of potential community land hangs in balance

A decision over the future of land that could be put to community use or sold for development looks set to be taken next year.

A long-running campaign to save land at Devon County Council’s headquarters on Topsham Road has hindered a possible bid to sell it off.
The land, which previously had temporary buildings there known as the Matford offices, has been the focus of efforts to retain it as part of the broader community benefit that County Hall’s grounds provide to many Exeter residents.
However, the land was declared surplus to requirement by the former Conservative cabinet back in October 2023.
Back then, when he was opposition leader, Councillor Julian Brazil (Liberal Democrat, Kingsbridge) called the disposal of land a “fire sale”, criticising the approach to raising money for council coffers.
Now Cllr Brazil leads the council, and so any decision about the land will be closely watched by campaigners.
Exeter’s Green Party said it was looking to “reverse” the land sale decision.
“The Greens successfully led the campaign to save this part of County Hall in 2024, and we’re doing the same thing with residents again,” the party said on Facebook.
Back in February 2024, GP and St Leonards resident Will Duffin said an application last year for the demolition of the temporary buildings stipulated their footprint be grassed over for five years.
“This sale doesn’t appear to be part of any wider strategy,” Mr Duffin said at the time.
“And this only came to light as the council put a very small public notice in the local press stating they were planning to sell this plot off, and gave three weeks for people to submit objections.
“It wasn’t a consultation or a meaningful exercise in seeking the local community’s views.”
The county council has once again published a notice in the newspaper seeking comments from the public about the future of the land. It gave two weeks to send objections, ending on 19 December, and those had to be made in writing and posted.
A spokesperson for Devon County Council said: “The land is no longer required by the council having been declared surplus at a cabinet meeting in October 2023. 
“As County Hall grounds are designated as public open space, the council is required to consult and the feedback from the consultation will go to the land and property committee where a decision will be made in relation to offering the land for sale.
“This may mean that the committee decides to refer the decision to cabinet.”
The next meeting of the land and property committee is slated for Tuesday 27 January.
The council spokesperson also confirmed that as the land is not on the market pending a decision, “we haven’t had any expressions of interest or offers”.