Plans to turn Exeter's former bus station into a temporary car park have been dropped after costs proved too high. Green councillors are urging the Labour-led council to abandon the idea and press ahead with finding a long-term use for the site.
Plans to turn the site of Exeter’s old bus station into a temporary car park have been shelved.
Now the city council is being urged to hurry up with an alternative for the derelict city centre site. The old bus station closed in 2021 and was knocked down in 2024.
Since then the site has been empty, and council leader Phil Bialyk (Lab, Exwick) said: “Most days I look out of my window and see a space which could be doing something.”
The council’s Labour administration came up with a plan to use the site as a temporary car park while a long-term solution was considered, but Green councillors said the site should be used as a market instead.
Now the cost of using the old bus station for a car park has proved too steep, and the Greens are urging Cllr Bialyk and his Labour colleagues to get on with the job of finding a different use for it.
A meeting of the full council heard that while members had approved a budget of £75,000 to create a temporary car park, the costs more than doubled after consultations with the county council, meaning it was no longer financially viable.
The project has now been removed from the council’s capital programme and other options are being considered.
The Greens say the site should become an independent market place for traders, community activity and cultural uses, at least until its long-term future is decided.
Cllr Lynn Wetenhall (Green, Newtown and St Leonards) said: “We welcome Labour moving in that direction, but the leader has failed to give any specific commitments.
“This is one of the most important sites in Exeter, sitting at the heart of the city centre, and it has stood empty for far too long. Residents are entitled to ask a simple question – if everyone now agrees the site has huge potential, why is there still no timetable for making something happen?”
Cllr Bialyk said that, given the steep rise in costs, the city would not ‘pour money down the drain’ on the car park project, but would conduct a feasibility study into other potential uses.
“That’s not a fudge,” he said. “That’s not throwing it into the long grass, but we have to go through the correct process to make sure that we’re spending the money and doing everything correctly.”
“We’re all fed up with that site the way it is. We want to see it being put to some good use. It’s in the middle of our city. We’re proud of our city and it’s not the best advert we’ve got. We want to do something.”
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