Exciting News!

A full planning application for the cafe and community facility in Heavitree Pleasure Ground is now with Exeter City Council. Local residents have been contacted this week. It is live on the Exeter City Council Planning page, our planning application code is: 18/0519/FUL and the link to the page is http://publicaccess.exeter.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=P6CI1PHB01800

Any individual or organisation can register, log in and comment on the planning application. If you feel you'd like to show your support please follow the link to the application, log on and comment.

We have spent a lot of time speaking to local people about what they think would make their park better, and have held informal consultations in the park, during which preliminary plans for the building were well received. We have used this insight in the design of the building. This is the next stage of development for our community charity and will give us the chance to expand our activities in the Heavitree area and reach more people.

The building will be part not-for-profit café and part hirable hall. It has been fully costed along with a professionally written business model to ensure it will be viable and sustainable over the long term. We are currently working on fundraising for grants and donations to cover the full build costs to ensure the building begins life without debt.

Park Life are committed to the success of the Café and Community Hub in the long term and truly believe it will benefit Heavitree. With increased council budget cuts our parks and open spaces are increasingly under threat. We would hate to see this amazing park fall into disrepair and become inaccessible to all. The cafe and community space will help to ensure the long term sustainability of Heavitree Pleasure Grounds.

“We are currently involved with Park Life in their quest to improve community facilities within Heavitree Pleasure Grounds. Overwhelmingly positive support from the local residents and wider users of the park, and positive responses from Exeter City Council and the Planning office, have after several years gestation enabled Park Life to develop the proposals towards firm construction proposals. The local community has been consulted and involved through all stages to develop a brief for the building which will suit a wide range of needs. A community cafe will provide an every-day meeting place and form the hub of the activity. In addition a multi-purpose hall will be available for hire to local groups, activities, individuals and businesses for meetings, classes, talks, parties, etc. The building is located to be visible from the main entrance to the park and respond to the focus of activities in this area, particularly as families use the pools and play areas heavily in the summer. It will be a simply structured and carefully designed building demonstrating a sustainable approach to building not just a space but a community; it will support the wide range of social and support activities that Park Life are developing. We are pleased to be able to include here early design schemes that form part of the ongoing public consultation; these will be further developed towards a Planning Application in the summer of 2017. Once Planning Permission is secured the group will be in a position to seek full funding for the construction stages. “