Following council elections in 2024, Exeter Green Party has seven councillors on Exeter City Council and are form the second largest group on the Council after the ruling Labour group. We are looking to increase our number of councillors further in the next City Council elections to be held in May 2026.
We believe a fairer, greener Exeter is worth fighting for. We are holding the Labour-led council to account, challenging them on their social, economic and environmental impacts.
We rely on people power rather than corporate finance in all that we do. Our growing success is thanks to an amazing group of volunteers and supporters. Get involved with us today so that we can achieve so much more for Exeter. And meet likeminded people in the process and have lost of fun!
Our Green Councillors’ Priorities
We are a group of 7 Green Party City Councillors representing wards in Exeter on Exeter City Council. Local Councils provide vital services for our communities. Where Green Party Councillors are elected, people see hard working individuals who listen, help and support residents with their concerns. Your Green Party Councillors provide a strong voice for the community and stand up for the local environment.
Many people have told us they feel overwhelmed by national and environmental concerns. Some feel in ‘survival mode’ because of the cost-of-living crisis. Greens understand that action to address the climate crisis can, and must, tackle the cost-of-living crisis and reduce inequality in our city. This understanding underpins all our work and informs our key priorities listed below.
“We believe that a wider range of voices on the Council leads to better decision making. Debate and constructive challenge are an important part of a healthy democracy, especially in these difficult times.” Councillor Diana Moore
Our key priorities
✅Build the right homes, in the right places and – at the right price – for everyone in Exeter.
✅Enable communities in Exeter to have a better say in helping shape a greener, fairer city.
✅Fight cuts to vital services and support for people in greatest need.
✅Protect and improve our green spaces and waterways – investing in parks, planting more trees and holding polluters of the River Exe to account.
✅Design and Create a new ‘Ridgetop Park’ connecting Exwick, across the Mincinglake and Beacon Hills, to join up to the Clyst Valley, and down to the Valley Parks to protect precious landscape from development.
✅Transform Exeter’s recycling rate from the lowest in Devon to one of the highest.
✅Improve air quality by supporting active travel, school streets, and other measures.
✅Decent homes that are affordable, to proper space standards and sufficient temporary accommodation to prevent rough sleeping.
✅Establish a modern market in the city centre – a space for small local businesses and with local affordable food.
✅Ensure a visible police presence in the city centre to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.
✅ Press Exeter City Council and Devon County Council to work better together, especially on frequent, reliable and joined up public transport and bike and storage strategy, and safer streets for healthy walking, cycling and wheeling.
Housing
We believe in the right homes, in the right place, at the right price. We will work with communities for better solutions to the housing crisis. We want people to live locally rather than feeling forced out of the city.
- Truly affordable homes to rent and buy: the Council must enforce the policy that developers provide 35% affordable housing in new developments. We want empty homes brought back into use, and spaces above shops converted into decent homes. We will work to ensure sustained funding to help people out of homelessness and partner with other organisations to develop creative housing solutions and sufficient temporary housing to prevent rough sleeping.
- Homes to be fit for purpose: We need homes for single people and young people that are built to recognise decent space requirements. The rent must be affordable. Better regulation of landlords and houses in multiple occupation will ensure safe and decent homes to rent.
- Keeping communities warm is vital: We need a planned programme to improve the insulation and ventilation of homes, making them more affordable to heat. We’ll prioritise help for those least able to afford to do this work themselves and focus on improving the skills, jobs, and investment across the city to achieve it.
Communities
Our strength as a city lies in people coming together for good – in our neighbourhoods and those with common interests. The Council has an important role working with communities, not doing things to them.
- Planning for a realistic future for our city: From neighbourhood plans to planning applications, we believe communities must have a meaningful say in Exeter’s future development. We will continue to speak up for local people to shape a new Local Plan that creates healthy communities, protects local heritage, enhances nature, and really considers how our small, regional city can respond to the impact of climate change.
- Working with our communities: We continue to value and support the important role of community building and community grass roots action in the city. Whether it’s creative, heritage, culture or democracy – the life of the city is enriched by community action.
- Better democracy: We know that the Council can’t do what everyone wants all the time, so we will scrutinise plans and work for the Council to be accountable and transparent. When the Council consults on new ideas, or on changes to services, Greens believe decisions should be taken at the most local level possible.
- Positive partnerships: We will work to encourage the Council to partner with communities, businesses, and organisations to develop positive solutions together. We want the Council to improve how it works with social enterprises, voluntary organisations, and community groups to support community needs.
Council Services
We will work to protect essential services from the impact of the rolling programme of cuts planned over the next 3 years. We will scrutinise spending and decision making and stand up for services that communities rely on.
- Improving Recycling Rates: Work for the full roll out of food waste collection services to all our homes in the next year. Work for the introduction of a glass doorstep collection service. Exeter’s recycling rates are the lowest in Devon – 26%. This is no better than in 2004.
- Leisure Services Accessible for All: Improved access for people with disabilities or particular needs to Council-run leisure services and facilities.
- Bringing the Council to the People: Work to ensure council services are easy to use and offer a new customer service centre in the Guildhall Shopping Centre.
- A More Equal Exeter: We will push the Council to use all its powers to support those most in need. We want to reduce rising inequality in the city. We will work better with communities and other agencies to prevent and tackle the most pressing issues in our city.
Environment
We want people to enjoy our local green spaces and the water that runs through the heart of the city. We believe there is space for people, nature, and heritage to thrive.
- A New Ridgetop Park: Connecting Exwick, across the Mincinglake and Beacon Hills, to join up to the Clyst Valley, and down to the Valley Parks to protect precious landscape from development.
- Investing in Green Spaces: We will invest in the infrastructure to connect our parks and gardens. We will provide fresh planting including trees and improved pathways, benches and bandstands. We want to make it easier to get to green spaces – increased footfall will enable these to be social spaces and drive out anti-social behaviour. Along our streets we want to see more trees planted on verges.
- Community Ownership: We will support the growing number of communities keen to nurture unloved spots. To meet rising demand, we’ll push for increasing the number of allotments, especially on council owned land.
- Clean Waterways: We will continue our campaign to clean up the Exe. We want healthy waterways for nature, swimming, and boating.
- Clean Air: The Council must take an active role to tackle air pollution. A range of solutions, and enforcement where required, can improve air quality, and reduce environmental damage.
A Welcoming City
Our wonderful regional city should be a welcoming place, with a wide range of activities available for visitors and residents. We want residents who live in the city centre to enjoy green space near their homes.
- New City Centre Park and Market: We want to develop a new city centre park and home for a covered modern market in the city centre to give shoppers a real choice where to buy their food. It will offer a great community space for supporting new and small local businesses and promoting local affordable food and products.
- Promoting our assets: A new arboretum on the slopes of Northernhay Gardens. Restoration of the City Wall and celebration of our great heritage.
- Better for business: Work with local businesses to support energy efficiency and promote community safety.
- Safe for All: Support those who are victims of anti-social behaviour and work to reduce the threat and fear of anti-social behaviour. Improve and support the night time economy safety schemes and develop an alternative early evening calm and safe space for young people.
- Police and Health Presence: Continue our campaign for a Police Office on South Street. Coordinate a public health lead response to those who are ‘street attached’.
Green Councillors making a difference:
Getting the city moving
Exeter City Council and Devon County Council have different transport responsibilities. They must do better at working together to keep people moving in a sustainable way. We will continue to press for this as a priority.
- Better Buses: Improve the reliability of buses and increase frequencies of services in the evening.
- Joined Up Transport: We need buses and trains to connect better – both within the city and beyond. This will make them viable options for people to get to college and work.
- More Frequent Trains: We will campaign for an increase in the trains stopping at the 10 stations across the city. We want guaranteed bus replacement services all the way to and from Exeter when rail lines are disrupted.
- Green Travel: Promote safe and healthy walking, cycling and wheeling*, slowing traffic speeds to 20mph in residential streets and making routes and crossings safer.
- Better Bike Storage: Secure, covered, and lockable community bicycle storage spaces – with charging points for electric bikes.
Your Green Councillor team making a difference…
Our seven Green Councillors on Exeter City Council work cooperatively with our Liberal Democrat colleagues as the Progressive Group. We are the official opposition to Labour. As a group, we continue to offer constructive challenge for positive change, putting forward bold, fairer and greener solutions to the issues facing Exeter.
Since May 2025 we also have three new County Councillors representing Exeter (and six across the whole County). We will be pushing to get better joint working between the two Councils that serve our communities.
Since 2010, austerity has starved local authorities of vital funding. This has led to deep cuts, and means Councils must be even more careful about the spending decisions they make.
Our alternative budgets have found the funds to ensure that the services that matter most can be protected or invested in. Our ideas, such as a planning enforcement officer and pre-application fees for large developers have since been adopted.
For Services: We put forward alternative budget proposals. In 2025 our budget proposals aimed to generate the income needed to protect vital front line services including public toilets, leisure services and city centre street cleaning services and support the Citizens Advice Service. The proposals also supported development of a Biodiversity Strategy and the introduction of a new doorstep glass collection and recycling service. We also planned a new scrutiny officer to hold the Executive to account and help secure value for money for the Council. Labour rejected these proposals and forced through £3.5m cuts to the council’s budget.
For Climate Action: We are working to secure a clear action plan to address the climate emergency, including adaptation and building community resilience.
For nature: We’ve led scrutiny on the nature crisis and achieved agreement for more work on biodiversity to be progressed. We planted 500 trees to create a new woodland by the Canal, with Devon Wildlife Trust, the community, and the Council. We’ve helped protect trees, secure tree protection orders, and worked to protect access to open spaces.
“Green Councillors worked with residents and City Council planning officers to ensure the Panny crossing in Heavitree remained open to the public.” Cllr Carol Bennett.
For waterways: Greens won the backing of the Council to protect and improve the condition of the River Exe for people and for wildlife. In particular, to hold South West Water, the Environment Agency, and Natural England accountable for levels of sewage discharge. Greens are supporting citizen science efforts to test water quality.
For housing: We fought for affordable housing and challenged Labour’s plans for a Council owned private-rental property company. We continue to challenge their backing of co-living bedsits and are working hard to improve the Council’s housing repairs service.
For public and active travel: We campaigned for better bus services, directly lobbied bus company Stagecoach, and spoke up for residents to the Transport Commissioner. We will continue to push for better joint working with the County Council to improve the frequency and reliability of the bus services. We encouraged residents to give constructive feedback to the active streets trial. We responded to proposals for walking and cycling improvements.
For our High Street: The Progressive Group of Councillors brought a motion to Council calling for a business rates loophole to be closed which deprives Exeter City Council of an estimated £150,000 per year and leaves empty commercial premises in our high street. This issue continues to be considered by a Council committee.
For community safety: We worked with residents to develop local responses to reclaiming spaces to prevent anti-social behaviour. There are now regular community activities in St Bartholomew’s cemetery.
For better development: We challenged Labour’s proposed developer levy rates – demanding more from developers of ‘co-living’ to help fund vital city infrastructure like community centres, parks, cycle paths and bridges. And we secured an end to the subsidy to the developers of luxury student blocks who now have to pay their fair share of the developers’ levy. We continue to speak up for residents on unacceptable developments and help residents respond to planning policy.
For road safety: We backed residents’ calls for greater road safety – for people walking, cycling and wheeling to Council leisure centres. The Council backed a motion backing ‘School Streets’ to make it easier for Schools and the community to work together to improve childrens’ safety.
“As a result of our work, the council have now acknowledged that the Paris Street roundabout crossings are dangerous and need improving.” Cllr Andy Ketchin.
For democracy: We won the backing of the Council to call on the Government for proportional representation to be used for General Elections. We have worked to improve transparency and how the council works.
“Now more than ever it’s important that decisions are scrutinised to make a positive difference for residents and ensure that the Council’s precious funds are spent wisely.” Cllr Catherine Rees.
For residents: We have helped many individuals with their difficulties and supported residents and businesses who asked for help with planning, licensing and community safety – our Green Councillors have worked hard to help.
The Green Party is committed to our vision of a fairer, greener city. Our alternative Council budgets show that this is achievable. With careful stewardship – we can deliver better outcomes for Exeter.