Design and Development Brief for the Eastern Town area
Latest Developments from the Port Royal & Seafront Group
Largely due to lobbying by the Port Royal Group, the Executive Board of the EDDC voted on 28th February 2008 to back the commissioning of a Design and Development Brief for the Eastern Town area.
However, Officer Rob Speers of the EDDC planning department made it clear in August 2008 that this Brief ‘has not been handed out to anybody to take responsibility for’; that ‘current resources are allocated to Seaton and Exmouth’; although if the Drill Hall were acquired, Sidmouth would be considered by Corporate Director for strategic planning, Karime Hassan, responsible for ‘big projects’ which would include the East Ham; and that ‘all are concerned about the possibility of a ransom strip’ blocking any future development at Port Royal/East Ham – as ‘private developers’ are still very much on the scene and might force the owners of the Drill Hall to sell to the highest bidder under Charity Commission rules.