Chris Sunderland, Director of the Bristol Pound project, will be explaining the value of a local currency for local businesses at a public meeting in St Stephen’s Church in Exeter High Street, Thursday evening 26 September (6.45pm arrival for 7pm start).
The Bristol Pound project was launched last year as a paper currency with internet banking facilities. Supported by Bristol City Council and the Mayor George Ferguson, it helps people support their local firms and shops and keeps purchasing power in the local economy. Users can also make mobile phone payments in Bristol Pounds....
Two council workers who discovered £62,460 of cash in envelopes while clearing a house have been praised for their honesty and integrity.
Exeter City Council workers Steve Yeo and Chris Lawrence came across the cash whilst clearing the carpet and any perishable items from a council house in the Alphington area of Exeter, whose tenant had recently died.
They immediately returned it back to the office where it has been placed in a safe whilst the Council attempts to trace the next of kin.
Council Leader Pete Edwards, said: "Steve and Chris have acted with great...
A new poster campaign has been launched to tackle begging in Exeter.
The campaign highlights the dangers of giving cash to beggars and instead promotes donations to an alternative giving scheme, providing additional funding to projects that help those in need.
The campaign, which is run by a partnership of Exeter City Council, Devon and Cornwall Police and several local drugs and homeless support agencies, also draws a link between drugs abuse and money provided by begging.
Council Leader Pete Edwards said: “We just want to get this message across that it’s better...
New travel opportunities for Exeter's residents and commuters will be opened up by two new rail stations, which are moving closer to becoming a reality.
Plans for the new community at Newcourt have always included a station, and the scheme now has a green light, with Devon County Council giving planning permission in July, and their successful application to the Government's New Stations Fund completing the funding package. The train service will provide direct links to the city centre and beyond.
Meanwhile, plans are on track for a station at Marsh Barton, which will be...
Exeter City Council has been named as a good practice case study in Bill Grimsey’s review of the High Street.
The review, which is relased amidst a clash between Mr Grimsey and TV retail expert Mary Portas over the future of the High Street, recommends that more local authorities form strategy teams like Exeter City Council.
Cllr Rosie Denham, Lead Councillor for Economy and Culture, said: "In Exeter we have our eyes very much focussed on the future of our High Street and the City Centre in general. In fact, the High Street is probably in the strongest position it has been...
As part of an innovative digital art and performance project, a series of new short films about Exeter are being released in weekly episodes on screens across the city as well as online. The micro-documentaries – 12 in total have been created by filmmaker David Salas and are based on the experiences and memories of Exeter residents.
Divided into two strands – A Tale of Two Cities and The Potential for Important Moments to Occur in Non-Descript Places – the documentaries focus on unknown aspects of the city and bring to light the personal experiences of some of its residents....
Exeter City Council has criticised the Government and the RAC Foundation for misleading tax payers over the collection and expenditure of income from parking. This comes in response to an RAC Foundation report released today that says the vast majority of local authorities in England generate a surplus from their parking charges. The release of the data also follows government figures, released on Wednesday, showing that English councils' income from parking charges and fines is likely to continue to rise.
Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles said: "This municipal parking profit...
Homes across Exeter are to come under close scrutiny in a major review of supposedly empty properties across the city to check that they are actually unoccupied.
The action is being taken because many people do not inform the Council when empty properties become occupied. This can lead to the local authorities missing out on council tax payments as well as New Homes Bonus payments that are paid out by the government on every home brought back into use.
Cllr Rob Hannaford, Lead Councillor for Housing, Community Involvement and Maintaining Assets said: "Houses that have been...
Exeter has been named amongst one of the UK’s rent hotspots where private rents may be off-limits to many households.
A report by the Resolution Foundation has found that Exeter is among places where the cost of rent exceeds the income of many households even on a modest property.
Across the UK, 125 of the 376 local authorities studied were shown to have a rent which was unaffordable on a £22,000 net income. For family with an income of £19,000, nearly half of the studied areas were unaffordable.
The report claims that the root of the problem is a UK-wide housing...
History comes to life in Exeter on Friday 5 July, with the centuries-old tradition of Lammas Fair.
The colourful ceremony of the Proclamation of the Fair dates back more than 900 years and Exeter is one of the few cities to maintain the tradition.
The word Lammas derives from the Anglo-Saxon Hlafmaesse or Loaf Mass. Lammas Day, the festival of St Peter and Vincula, was when the first fruits of the harvest were offered to the Church in the form of a loaf.
The franchise of a fair was a very valuable possession, giving exclusive right to tolls on all articles sold. The...
