Exeter & East Devon News

A new community safety project in Exeter will help tackle the city’s anti-social behaviour problems and make it a safer place for residents and visitors.

Detectives are looking for witnesses following reports of a stabbing last night [Monday 23 March] in Exeter.

Wales & West Utilities has finished its work to upgrade the gas pipes in the Buddle Lane area of Exeter, ahead of schedule.

A £4million project to transform one of Exeter’s best-loved green spaces is to be partly funded by developers building homes around the city.

A bid to allow motorbikes to use a lane reserved for walkers, cyclists and horseriders has been blocked after decisionmakers declared it would be against policies aimed at encouraging health and wellbeing.

Plans have been submitted by an Exeter-based firm for 14 small-scale industrial units at a major Devon hub.

Officers in Exeter seized six e-bikes and made four arrests as part of efforts to tackle antisocial behaviour and organised crime. On 12 March, neighbourhood police conducted an operation targeting illegally modified e-bikes in the city.

East Devon District Council and Devon County Council are challenging the government’s decision not to select Marlcombe for the next phase of the national New Towns programme, as consultations are launched by the housing ministry today.

Developer contributions for Exeter homes could help fund a £6m Wonford leisure centre revamp. Sport England may add a third, creating a new hub in the city’s most deprived area with poor health and low activity levels.

Proposals have been submitted for a major Ottery St Mary site to allow storage, offices, professional services or light industry. East Devon District Council’s planning committee will debate it on 24 March amid local disagreement despite officer approval.

Staff at Exeter City Council are celebrating after being Highly Commended at the Exeter Sustainability Awards. The team was recognised for working with Great Western Railway and partners to encourage train travel to the city’s green spaces.

Exeter has secured £20 million in Pride in Place funding to strengthen communities. The investment will be spent over ten years in Whipton and Heavitree, giving residents a central role in decision-making to reflect local needs, ideas and ambitions.

Devon & Cornwall Police are appealing for help to locate 39-year-old Luke Down from Devon. He is wanted in connection with reports of stalking and assault. Down has links to Exeter and is believed to be in the Exmouth area.

A dispute has arisen over a Devon council’s move to remove a resident’s claims about a controversial planning process. Officials are identifying sites for new housing across East Devon through to the early 2040s as part of drafting a new local plan.

Nightingale Hospital Exeter is helping to see, diagnose and treat more patients with scoliosis, a debilitating medical condition where the spine develops an abnormal sideways curvature.

The Renters’ Rights Act is designed to make renting fairer, safer & more secure and changes how private renting works. The new legislation covers tenancies, evictions, rent rises, home standards and ending discriminatory practices like specifying no pets. 

East Devon District Council is urging residents and visitors to put their safety first and strictly follow path closures currently in place along Sidmouth seafront, as essential cliff works continue.

Residents are being reminded to ensure they are registered to vote ahead of the Exeter City Council elections on Thursday 7 May. The deadline to register to vote is midnight on Monday 20 April.

The city had put significant effort into trying to secure the honour, but has not made the long-list of cities now in the running. The snub extended to other South West cities, too, with Plymouth and Bristol also being rejected.

Over £3 million has been secured to boost Exeter’s flood defences, including £2.8 million for Trews Weir upgrades and £484,000 for wider works. The Environment Agency says the 1970s system has been pushed to its limits.

An Exeter takeaway, Curry King, is facing a licence review after authorities discovered some employees were working there without legal permission. The end-of-terrace property will now be scrutinised by Exeter City Council.

East Devon District Council has reissued an edited recording of the Strategic Planning Committee meeting on Tuesday 3rd March. The original recording was temporarily removed as it contained unsubstantiated allegations about the conduct of a senior officer.

Work is underway on an exciting new scheme making it easier and safer for people to walk and cycle in Newtown.

People across Devon are being invited to find out more about fostering at a special event in Exeter this week.

Our volunteers crews have had a busy few days after being tasked three times.

Due to essential cliff repair works, the undercliff / Millennium Walkway is closed from Jacob’s Ladder to the beach access steps near the offshore breakwaters until further notice.

Citizens Advice Exeter is running a series of community roadshows across the city to raise awareness of scams, the harms caused by gambling and the importance of having an up-to-date will.

Community police officers visited Sidmouth College to speak with performing arts students about the realities and consequences of drink driving.

Residents in Exeter are being asked to give their views on nature in the city - how we can best protect and support it and how it can thrive in the future.

A 22-year-old man from Wolverhampton, has been jailed for three-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to manslaughter at Exeter Crown Court, following the death of a man in Exmouth.

It’s English Tourism Week until 22 March and to mark the occasion, Visit Exeter is celebrating the people and businesses that make the city such a special place to visit.

A ban on motor vehicles using a Devon lane reserved for walkers and cyclists could be partially reversed after an action group’s threat of legal action.

A closure order has been issued to a residential property on Albert Street in Exeter, after the flat became a hotspot for anti-social behaviour; causing concerns for people living in neighbouring properties.

A fundraising appeal for a new state-of-the-art operating theatre at the Royal Devon & Exeter (Wonford) Hospital has hit its £1.4million target in less than 18 months.

Letting cars back into an Exeter street which has been a haven for cyclists since the Covid pandemic could leave Devon County Council liable to legal action, it has been claimed.

A new community car club is being launched in Devon, providing people with access to a car without the cost and responsibility of owning one.

People wanting to know more about the UK landline switchover can pop along to free information event in Exeter.

Councillors have approved a proposal to construct the Mosshayne to Cranbrook section of the Exeter to Cranbrook cycle route.

More than £1 million has been invested in improving facilities at the city’s play areas over the last six years, new figures have revealed.

Charities and community organisations are being invited to attend a special fair offering volunteering opportunities for members of the public.

People living near an Exeter McDonalds restaurant have decided they don’t relish the prospect of it being open all night.

Former Exeter Lord Mayor Margaret Danks has died at the age of 82.

Campaigners have claimed a decision that could mean a plot of land at County Hall is developed was “bludgeoned” through.

Denva Smith died after being stabbed in the arm during an attack in the early hours of May 31, 2025. The wound severed a major artery, causing him to bleed to death in a garden in Ashfield Close.

Officers are appealing for witness and information following a serious collision that occurred on the A30 near Honiton overnight.

East Devon District Council’s Countryside team are celebrating a vibrant start to Spring, launching a packed programme of events and stepping up preparations for the busy bird‑breeding season.

East Devon District Council is launching a new programme to support startups, offering advice, grants and training.

A toilet block in Sidmouth has been extensively damaged by a suspected arson attack.

In the space of one hour on the evening of 9 May 2025, Sonny Boyes carried out multiple sexual offences against two teenage girls in Exeter. Today, 6 March, the 19-year-old appeared at Exeter Crown Court where the judge jailed him for 17 years, described him as having ‘breathless arrogance and distorted thinking’.

Public consultation on possible changes to Dryden Road in Exeter has reopened.

The Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is launching a pilot to evaluate the use of Ambient Voice Technology (AVT) in its Emergency Departments (ED), supported by NHS England.

At a council meeting this week, councillors debated a Motion on Notice: Recognising and Protecting the Rights of Rivers in East Devon, reflecting the strength of feeling locally and nationally about the health of rivers and waterways.

Residents are being reminded to check they are registered to vote ahead of the Exeter City Council elections on Thursday 7 May.

One of Britain’s biggest transport companies is preparing to fight an Exeter business in a battle over late-night booze.

Police are appealing for witnesses and information following a serious road traffic collision on A35, at Axminster, on Wednesday 4 March.

Patients in Exeter will benefit from improved access to local healthcare as St Leonard’s Practice opens five new clinical rooms to expand neighbourhood health services.

There’s still time to take part in the council’s consultation on Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funding.

A new report from Devon County Council sets out proposals to complete a new off‑road walking, wheeling and cycling route between Exeter and Cranbrook.

A nearly £29 million shopping list of infrastructure and services for Devon’s newest town has taken a step forward.

Devon’s libraries provide a ‘lifeline’ for families across the county, and cutting their opening hours will leave vulnerable people with nowhere to go, councillors have been told.

Plans to restore an Exeter car park that looks like a ‘dystopian film set’ and smells of urine have been put on hold.

Everyone who lives, works in or visits Exeter is being asked to give their views on nature in the city, how we can best protect and support it and how it can thrive in the future.

Friction between residents and planners erupted as the process over deciding where thousands of homes in a Devon district rumbles on.

Exeter has a vital role to play in Devon’s forthcoming devolution deal despite being in the ‘second tier’ of councils involved.

Supporters across the heart of Devon opened their gardens to raise vital funds for hospice charity amidst funding deficit. 55 gardens opened during 2024 in support of Hospiscare, the local hospice charity for Exeter, Central and East Devon.