Winning unanimous consent for Water Lane regeneration in Exeter
Winning unanimous consent for Water Lane regeneration in Exeter
KOR Communications designed and delivered the stakeholder engagement and public consultation for Water Lane, a 980-home canalside regeneration in Exeter and one of the largest urban regeneration schemes ever proposed in the South West. Two public exhibitions drew more than 360 visitors, 94 per cent of first-round respondents backed the scheme's low-carbon principles, and Exeter City Council's Planning Committee approved the outline application unanimously in January 2025.
The project
Water Lane is one of the largest urban regeneration schemes ever proposed in the South West. The plans include up to 980 new homes, 320 student accommodation units, shops, restaurants, workspace and an energy centre totalling 40,000 square metres of commercial space on a stretch of former industrial land between the Exeter Ship Canal and the railway, creating a low-car, low-carbon waterside neighbourhood a short walk from the Exeter's historic Quay.
We were appointed by the Water Lane Development Management Company in December 2021 to design and deliver a programme of stakeholder engagement and public consultation to support the outline planning application, in line with a Planning Performance Agreement with Exeter City Council.
Our approach
Working closely with the project team, led by Nash Partnership, we mapped stakeholder organisations and more than 1,100 neighbouring addresses before embarking on a programme of consultation spanning three years to provide residents, businesses, elected representatives and statutory consultees a genuine opportunity to shape the proposals before they were submitted to Exeter City Council.
Two public exhibitions in June 2022 and March 2023 attracted more than 360 visitors, supported by a dedicated project website, briefings for senior council members and officers, ward councillors and other elected representatives, and sustained dialogue with community and interest groups. The feedback received directly shaped the application before its submission in August 2023. We managed media relations throughout, securing front-page coverage in the Express & Echo and Western Morning News.
The outcome
Through a combination of digital and traditional engagement, the consultation generated almost 4,000 visits to the project website, with 94 per cent of respondents in the first round of engagement backing the low-carbon principles and three quarters of attendees to the second exhibition supportive of the updated plans.
In January 2025, Exeter City Council's Planning Committee unanimously approved the outline planning application, with members describing it as "probably one of the most important this committee has considered in many years." Permission was granted subject to completion of a Section 106 agreement for a new neighbourhood that will bring homes, jobs and leisure to a brownfield site close to the city centre.
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Water Lane is a regeneration of former industrial land between the Exeter Ship Canal and the railway, comprising up to 980 homes, 320 student accommodation units and 40,000 square metres of commercial space in a low-car, low-carbon waterside neighbourhood. Exeter City Council's Planning Committee approved the outline application unanimously in January 2025, subject to a Section 106 agreement.
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The Water Lane consultation ran for almost three years and included two public exhibitions nine months apart, in June 2022 and March 2023, so that feedback from the first round could shape the proposals shown at the second, where three quarters of attendees supported the updated plans.
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At Water Lane, feedback gathered through two exhibitions, a project website and stakeholder briefings directly shaped the outline application before submission in August 2023, and the committee approved it unanimously in January 2025 after a three-and-a-half-hour meeting.