News

December 2009

Each year The Topsham Society marks a significant improvement in the town’s physical environment with the Enhancing Topsham Award. This year’s award went to the Topsham Station Adoption Group for their work in improving the appearance of Topsham Station, and in 2008 the winner was Topsham Museum for the new River Gallery extension. We are now seeking nominations for the Enhancing Topsham Award for 2010. If you would like to make a nomination, please get in touch with Bill Dickens (877496), with me or with any other member of The Topsham Society Committee, by 18th December.

On 3rd November, Tony Smale of the Bletchley Park Trust gave a most interesting, entertaining and well illustrated talk on the “Codebreakers of Bletchley Park 1939-45”. Matthews Hall was packed for the occasion. The audience included a number of people who had personal connections with Bletchley Park and afterwards we were able to introduce to each other three people who had all worked there during the second world war.

The Society’s next talk will be on Tuesday 14th January 2010 when John Allen will speak on “The Anglo-Saxon Charter of Topsham”. All our talks are in Matthews Hall and start at 7.30 p.m. Wine, tea and coffee will be available before the talks, with the doors opening at 7 p.m.

The Society has responded to Exeter City Council’s Consultation on the Exeter Core Strategy Plans for the Growth of Exeter. The full text of our response is shown below. In the past, whenever Exeter City Council has consulted us about the need to release land for future development, we have been successful in resisting any in-fill residential development on land between Topsham and the M5.   We have based our argument on the view that it is essential that we protect this area as a green wedge separating Topsham and Exeter.  The existence of large areas of land available for development around the City, including the former Royal Naval Stores Depot, helped us win the day in all those earlier battles.

This was the case in the City Council’s initial Core Strategy document, published in 2006. The current document differs in two significant respects. First, the period under consideration is extended from 2021 to 2026. Secondly, the Secretary of State has proposed that the number of new dwellings in Exeter in the period to 2026 should be 15,000, rather than the proposed figure of 12,000 to 2021.

This would mean that additional areas would have to be brought forward for development towards the end of the plan period.   The draft document indicates that if the target of 15,000 new dwellings is imposed, the area of land between the M5 and Topsham should be designated as having the potential to provide about 400 dwellings in the period up to 2026.

The Topsham Society’s first response to the Core Strategy is to urge the City Council to resist the imposition of the 15,000 target. The current economic downturn has caused a 2 to 3 year hiatus in the original programme, equivalent to a reduction of nearly 3,000 houses. So, despite the extension of the period being considered, we believe that the target number of new dwellings need not be increased from the proposed figure of 12,000. We have therefore argued that the 15,000 target should be resisted, and none of the area of land between the M5 and Topsham should be released for development unless the 15,000 target is imposed by central government. Even if the 15,000 target is imposed, we have argued that:

(i) the release of any part of this area must be phased towards the end of the plan period, and only brought forward if monitoring of completions and land availability elsewhere in the City dictates that the release of this land is unavoidable.

(ii) a ‘green wedge’ of a minimum width of 150 metres, should be maintained alongside Topsham Road/Exeter Road. This section should be reserved for sports/recreational and open space activities, and ribbon development of housing should not be permitted.

(iii) a full traffic and car parking impact study should be carried out, to assess the effects on Topsham; and developer contributions should be sought for the necessary infrastructure measures which are identified. 

(iv) the City and County Councils should investigate the possibility of developing the area (and providing access) from the former RNSD site via the existing M5 Newcourt Road overbridge.  If this is not possible, they should examine the construction of a new link road through the site, from Exeter Road to Clyst Road, to serve as the main access road for the development and to provide a new traffic route avoiding High Street and Station Road, Topsham.

Naturally, we hope that the City Council will be successful in resisting the 15.000 target and so none of these measures will be necessary.

GEOFF WILKINSON (879107)

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