Local News

A decision by an independent planning inspector to allow development to go ahead in the Topsham Gap has been described as "extremely disappointing" by Exeter City Council.

Officers have strongly criticised the decision for failing to recognise local sentiment and called the government's formula for calculating housing supply as "illogical” and “fundamentally flawed".

The City Council originally refused the application for a 60 bed residential care home, 47 assisted living apartments and 55 homes for older people on a site north of Exeter Road, Topsham.

However the...

Four Exmoor ponies will spend the summer grazing the heathland at Trinity Hill. The ponies, which arrived on Monday April 25, are on loan from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) in Aylesbeare, which look after the animals during the winter. The ponies will spend the summer at Trinity Hill, bringing new life to the heathland through conservation grazing.

Countryside Ranger, Nathan Robinson said: ‘’Livestock has been used throughout history as an essential component of heath land management. Selectively grazing vegetation helps to create a variety of ecological...

Exeter BID Board is pleased to announce that Philippa Rutherford has been appointed BID representative for the Gandy Street, Harlequins and Queen Street area of the city, following a ballot among members within the area.

Philippa Rutherford, who owns and manages the independent jewellery, accessory and gift shop, Mantis on Gandy Street said: “As a BID board member my focus will be to raise awareness and increase footfall in the area. Gandy Street, Queen Street and the Harlequins shopping centre have some of the best independent and big name retailers, cafes, restaurants, bars and...

On Thursday evening, April 21, East Devon District Council’s Chairman, Councillor Stuart Hughes, officiating the event, was joined by the leader and deputy leader, Councillors Paul Diviani and Andrew Moulding, to watch a beacon on Sidmouth’s seafront being lit in celebration of Her Majesty The Queen’s 90th birthday.

Situated on a rock groyne near Fore Street, the beacon – one of a chain of 1,000 beacons, which were lit across the country to mark the occasion – was set ablaze by Charlie Plowden, the council’s Service Lead for Countryside and Leisure, viewed by a large crowd of local...