Stop EXMO20

Full Council

15 April 2026

Public speakers on the Local Plan and EXMO20; the council's response.

Read the full transcript

Meeting recording ▶ · agenda and papers · official minutes (PDF on the council website)

Summary of our findings

EXMO20 was not on the agenda, but it was the main subject of public speaking. The council's formal response explained that the Strategic Planning Committee had 'resolved to allocate the site' after considering the plan as a whole.

  • Three members of the public spoke about the draft Local Plan and EXMO20 during public speaking (item 4 on the night; minute 111).
  • The first speaker said the air quality assessment and mitigation for the Pebblebed Heaths, including the traffic from EXMO20, should have been completed before the site was allocated, and urged councillors not to endorse a plan 'at any cost'.
  • The second speaker raised sites that failed the HELAA, the scale of growth at Exmouth, and the number of objections to EXMO20, and asked the council to reconsider EXMO20.
  • Councillor Fitzgerald read the council's response: all decisions were made in public at more than 60 Strategic Planning Committee meetings, the committee had considered EXMO20 several times and resolved to allocate it, and objectors will be heard by the Planning Inspector.
  • The council's response said the Strategic Planning Committee would receive an update on the Habitats Regulations Assessment and air quality mitigation work on 5 May 2026.
  • The Monitoring Officer answered the third speaker's question about the editing of the 3 March 2026 committee recording, giving the council's account.
  • Under reports from committees, a councillor asked about the timing of the outstanding technical reports in the 3 March Strategic Planning Committee minutes; the Monitoring Officer said only that committee can approve its own minutes.
  • No decision about the Local Plan was taken at this meeting.

EXMO20 is named 8 times in the transcript of this meeting.

What the Minutes Missed

Minutes are a summary, not a word-for-word record. Below are points from the recording that matter for EXMO20 or the Local Plan, set against what the official minutes say about them. Judge for yourself: each clip opens at the moment it was said.

Question on when the outstanding technical reports would be ready

Not in the minutes · unidentified councillor (probably Cllr Chris Burhop) · 00:34:48 ▶

Said in the meeting“Can we just confirm that the next SPC is due to meet on the 5th of May and that technical reports which are stated in the minutes are um not to be not expected to be completed until the 12th of June.”
The minutesNot recorded in the minutes. Minute 116 records only that the Strategic Planning Committee minutes of 3 March 2026 were noted.

It shows councillors were told the key air quality and habitats work was not expected until after the next committee meeting, close to the then submission deadline.

Who attended

From the council's own attendance record for this meeting. Members of the public who spoke are not named here.

Officers (6)

  • Simon Davey
  • Tracy Hendren
  • Andrew Melhuish
  • Catrin Stark
  • Melanie Wellman
  • Andrew Wood

Councillors present (43)

  • Councillor Paul Arnott
  • Councillor Brian Bailey
  • Councillor Jessica Bailey
  • Councillor Ian Barlow
  • Councillor Kevin Blakey
  • Councillor Kim Bloxham
  • Councillor Colin Brown
  • Councillor Jenny Brown
  • Councillor Alasdair Bruce
  • Councillor Christopher Burhop
  • Councillor Sarah Chamberlain
  • Councillor Maddy Chapman
  • Councillor Bethany Collins
  • Councillor Roy Collins
  • Councillor Olly Davey
  • Councillor Tim Dumper
  • Councillor Peter Faithfull
  • Councillor Charlotte Fitzgerald
  • Councillor Steve Gazzard
  • Councillor Mike Goodman
  • Councillor Marcus Hartnell
  • Councillor Sam Hawkins
  • Councillor Paul Hayward
  • Councillor John Heath
  • Councillor Nick Hookway
  • Councillor Mike Howe
  • Councillor Stuart Hughes
  • Councillor Ben Ingham
  • Councillor Sarah Jackson
  • Councillor Richard Jefferies
  • Councillor Vicky Johns
  • Councillor Geoff Jung
  • Councillor Fabian King
  • Councillor Yehudi Levine
  • Councillor John Loudoun
  • Councillor Duncan Mackinder
  • Councillor Melanie Martin
  • Councillor Tony McCollum
  • Councillor John O'Leary
  • Councillor Helen Parr
  • Councillor Eleanor Rylance
  • Councillor Susan Westerman
  • Councillor Eileen Wragg

Councillors who sent apologies (13)

  • Councillor Aurora Bailey
  • Councillor Violet Bonetta
  • Councillor Paula Fernley
  • Councillor Anne Hall
  • Councillor Matt Hall
  • Councillor Dan Ledger
  • Councillor Cherry Nicholas
  • Councillor Todd Olive
  • Councillor Henry Riddell
  • Councillor Marianne Rixson
  • Councillor Simon Smith
  • Councillor Joe Whibley
  • Councillor Daniel Wilson

Councillors absent (1)

  • Councillor Sophie Richards

Notes on the recording

  • Transcript source: YouTube's automatic captions for the council's recording (video gDHGdhPN4qc), not our own transcription. Only the Local Plan parts of the meeting are transcribed (00:00–25:20 and 34:07–35:55); the rest of the meeting dealt with other council business.
  • The council's meeting page for 15 April 2026 does not link to the video; the recording is listed on the council's YouTube channel under the title 'Full Council 15 April 2026'.
  • Members of the public who spoke are named in the official minutes; we don't name them here.