Exeter city car park to be demolished for housing site

Mary Arches Street car park is set to be demolished

A landmark Exeter city centre car park is to be demolished and turned into housing.

Mary Arches Street car park needs a £3.8m refurbishment to "extend its usable life", according to the city council.

The council's executive approved its demolition and turning it into a "residential-led mixed use scheme".

If the decision is rubber-stamped at the next full council meeting, the car park could close before January.

A report by council finance director Dave Hodgson said a public consultation on the site's future would then start in the new year, followed by a planning submission next August and demolition of the car park in November, as reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The brownfield site, for which the council has secured £1.3m of government funding towards demolition and asbestos removal, is expected to be ready for redevelopment in January 2024.

'Significant archaeological interest'

A number of upgrades are required to Mary Arches including structural, surfacing, accessibility and decoration works. The lifts also haven't worked for over five years and bringing them back into use would cost £240,000.

The report said the proposed regeneration scheme "is in the public interest and would improve the wellbeing of residents in a number of ways," including by increasing the city's housing supply, removing the "unattractive and obsolete existing car park" and reducing anti-social behaviour.

The report added: "In addition, the site is a key gateway to and from the north of the city and a high-quality scheme will contribute towards the positive forward-looking image of Exeter ensuring it is an attractive place where people choose to live, work, study and visit."

The closure of the car park will mean the loss of 481 parking spaces in the city centre, but the report states there is spare capacity.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr Hodgson said part of the site had "significant archaeological interest underneath," adding it was highly unlikely that section would be disposed of for residential use.

Responding to questions about what the residential development would consist of, council leader Phil Bialyk said: "I can be clear, if it is the city council's land, there will be no purpose-built student accommodation."

Mr Bialyk added the finer details were "all a matter that will come forward in a planning application of which we've got a consultation charter and we will fully consult with everybody else."

Councillors were told the date of the car park's closure was still to be finalised, depending on its safety and the confirmed timetable for the project.