East Devon Local Plan · Exmouth and Budleigh Salterton
EXMO20: the wrong place for 700 homes
East Devon District Council's draft Local Plan includes allocation EXMO20: about 700 homes on farmland at St John's, between Exmouth and Budleigh Salterton, right next to the internationally protected East Devon Pebblebed Heaths. We're local residents, and we think it should come out of the plan. You don't have to take our word for it: our case is built from the council's own public meetings.
What is EXMO20?
EXMO20 is the council's reference for a large housing allocation on the north-east edge of Exmouth, around the hamlet and church of St John in the Wilderness. The main road access would come from the B3179, which runs alongside the Pebblebed Heaths. The Heaths are home to rare ground-nesting birds such as the nightjar and Dartford warbler, and are protected by law in the UK.
The site had been rejected in the council's own assessment, and the officers' report to the committee recommended against allocating it. At the Strategic Planning Committee on 3 September 2024, members voted to put it in the plan anyway, while officers said further work would be needed first. In both public consultations since, EXMO20 has drawn more responses than any other part of the plan: about 1,110 of 3,510, then 1,672 of 3,114. Natural England, the RSPB, Devon Wildlife Trust and Historic England have all raised serious concerns (see the evidence).
The case in plain words
1The protected Heaths
Officers say harm to the Pebblebed Heaths from traffic pollution can't yet be ruled out. The law says avoid harm first, and removing sites is one way to do that.
2It failed the test
EXMO20 failed the council's own site assessment and was a rejected site. It was added before the evidence was in.
3Alternatives
When replacements for EXMO20 were looked at, only other Exmouth sites were tested.
4Access and sewage
Where the access road from the B3179 would go is not known, and it would have to cross the 400 m protection zone. Sewage capacity couldn't be assessed.
5Homes not needed
The sites officers recommended already met the housing requirement, and the requirement has since fallen by 563 homes.
6"Significant change"
EXMO20 is kept because removing it would be a "significant change", but that phrase has never been defined.
7Evidence and consultation
The plan went out for consultation with key evidence unfinished, and responses were summarised with AI.
8In their own words
Committee members themselves have said EXMO20 shouldn't have been included.
Check the record yourself
We transcribed 27 recordings of the council's Strategic Planning Committee and Full Council, from September 2024 to October 2026. For each meeting you can see who attended, what we found, and what the official minutes left out. There's also the full transcript, with every mention of EXMO20 highlighted and a link to the exact moment in the recording.