Regeneration project commended at top awards ceremony 

Exeter City Council has won the Royal Town Planning Institute’s ‘Best Plan’ award for the Liveable Water Lane Supplementary Planning Document. The award was presented at a ceremony at Sandy Park, hosted by the Institute’s South West Branch.

An exciting initiative to regenerate a former industrial site in Exeter into a waterside neighbourhood has been commended at a top awards ceremony. 

Exeter City Council has won an award from the Royal Town Planning Institute for the Liveable Water Lane Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) in the ‘Best Plan’ category. The City Council received the award at a ceremony held at Sandy Park and hosted by the South West Branch of the Institute.  

The SPD, which includes a vision, masterplan and design code was adopted by the Council last summer and aims to shape the regeneration of Water Lane, creating a high quality, low-car neighbourhood including more than 2,000 new homes, a primary school and other community facilities, as well as sustainable travel and new employment.  

The site is a large area of former industrial land located on the waterside, close to the Exeter Ship Canal and the Riverside Valley Park.  

The Council engaged LDA Design, a local firm of Landscape Architects, based on the Quay, to help produce the document. Partners included Devon County Council, Homes England, the Environment Agency, and Historic England. The SPD was also informed from the outset by early community engagement, including with residents, businesses and community organisations in the Water Lane area.  

Judges for the award said: "In selecting this entry for a commendation, the judges felt that the plans focus on a clearly challenging brownfield site in a built-up part of the city has clear parallels with many such sites that lie vacant in towns and cities across the region.  

“It is testament to the plans success that it has overcome these challenges to enable development of high quality and energy efficient homes to come forward through subsequent planning applications. Judges felt that this was a submission where the role of planners was clear to see and fundamental to the overall success of the document." 

Council Leader Phil Bialyk, said: “I’m delighted for the planning team and its partners for the commendation, which underlines the excellent work that they do on a day-to-day basis. I now look forward to this key development being delivered.”  

Cllr Susannah Patrick, Lead Councillor for City Development, said: “This is great recognition for a terrific piece of collaborative work between the City Council and its partners. The Water Lane project is one of the city’s flagship regeneration areas that will deliver much-needed housing and a mix of uses.   

The day before the awards ceremony, Helen Fadipe MBE, the President of the RTPI, visited Exeter and was taken on a tour of Water Lane, by Council officers. She was welcomed to Exeter by Cllr Phil Bialyk, Leader, Bindu Arjoon, Chief Executive and Ian Collinson, Strategic Director for Place. 

The award ceremony took place at Sandy Park Stadium on 11 June and the winner of the Best Plan award was the Jersey Marine Spatial Plan entered by Fiona Fyfe Associates and Government of Jersey.