Campaigners fighting to save an Exeter city centre green space have had their hopes of taking it over dashed.
In April a decision on a plan to build retirement homes on the old Bramdean School playing field in Heavitree was deferred to give local people the chance to draw up plans to buy it themselves.
But now the plan is coming back to the city council’s planning committee with a recommendation that the homes plan should go ahead after all.
The community’s application to have the land listed as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) has been turned down.
Making the area an ACV would have given the community the right to put in a bid to buy it if the campaigners could raise the money they needed.
At the time the plan first came before the committee Cllr Gemma Rolstone (Lab, Topsham) said the residents should be given the opportunity to prepare its bid.
But a report to the committee explains: “The ACV application has been refused on the grounds that site does not currently and has not in the recent past furthered the social well-being or social interests of the local community. The criteria for registration had not been met.”
Developer McCarthy And Stone Retirement Lifestyles wants to build a three-storey block of apartments on the old playing field. The development would also include car parking, an electrical substation and landscaped grounds.
Bramdean School closed in April 2020, citing financial difficulties and falling pupil numbers. The playing field is not open to the public.
Around 130 formal objections were submitted by the community by the time of the original meeting, reflecting concerns about the loss of open space, increased traffic risks and the lack of need for more retirement housing in the area.
Local resident Charlotte Corden said: “The land deserves a use that honours its beauty and its 100-year history as an educational space for children to enjoy.”
While the land is privately owned and not open to the public, it has been used for sports by a local primary school.
Independent councillor Lucy Haigh (Heavitree) said the planning committee had given the local community a great opportunity by deferring its decision.
The council believes the public benefits of the proposal outweigh the ‘less than substantial’ harm caused to the Heavitree Conservation Area. It would provide 36 age-restricted homes in a ‘highly-sustainable’ location to help meet local housing needs.
A recommendation to the planning committee, which meets next Monday (July 6) says permission should be granted subject to conditions.
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