Check out the other masterplan ideas – not just the supermarket

I am pleased that my comments on LDA Consultants’ draft masterplan have stimulated some response from your readers. That was what I hoped to achieve.

As a councillor, I believe it is important to represent my Exmouth electors on East Devon District Council - and that’s what I do. But I feel I should also express a view and encourage others to do the same.

As regards the supermarket, I have not closed my mind to other possibilities. However, most Exmouth residents want to see more supermarket choice and competition.

Another supermarket outside the town centre would undoubtedly further reduce town centre shopping, so we need to consider which sites in or near to the heart of the town would be in the best interests of Exmouth’s aspirations as a retail centre.

Of course, the masterplan covers many other issues apart from the supermarket question.

As one of your correspondents rightly points out, there has been much consultation over the last few years. However, a lot of that has centred on the supermarket issue in isolation from the rest of the town’s needs.

What makes the masterplan different is that it includes the supermarket as part of a wider, joined-up approach to reinvigorating the town as a whole, both as a holiday resort, a shopping centre and a place to live, work and enjoy retirement.

There are new and interesting proposals put forward in the masterplan that deserve comment and could affect the town greatly. Those located on the seafront are both imaginative and constructive and do not involve vast building projects.

I hope there will be lots of comments on them before the closing date of September 12.

Councillor Tim Wood

East Devon District Council Member

Champion for Exmouth.