Magnolia - The Town Centre

Magnolia Centre; London Inn; Builders Yard (Jewsons) and Old Gas Depot

Image produced from the www.old-maps.co.uk service with permission of Landmark Information Group Ltd. and Ordnance Survey

Area boundary

- Rolle Street

- The Parade

- Albion Street

- Montpelier Road

- Church Street/Fore Street

Vision - The Town Centre.

A central (possibly covered) shopping and cafe area with a spacious pedestrian area and walk-through links directly to the other central areas of the town (i.e. Tower Street; The Strand; The Estuary; The Parade and Exeter Road.)

Comments

If the town is to become a pleasurable place to be for residents and tourists alike, then this area is the key to it. One word "Integration" sums up the criteria by which any proposals for this site should be judged. Simply adding to what is already there may fragment the town further and an imaginative approach is needed to "open up" this, currently cramped, shopping precinct. We should be prepared to remove existing buildings - if, by doing so, a better long term result may be achieved.

The Potential.

The geographical centre of the town is currently a delivery yard and bombsite car park behind the present Magnolia Centre. This patch of concrete has direct links to Tower Street (via Market Street); The Parade (by the Halifax BS); The Strand (by Nat West Bank) and the Estuary (by the Powder Monkey). At its most extreme if the Magnolia Centre from Boots through to Somerfields was demolished a large flat open square would be created. Converting this into the towns main shopping centre would make the town into a compact unit with shoppers and tourists wandering from one pedestrianised area to another.

Somerfields should be resited in the present Post Office buildings and the proposed development areas behind the London Inn car park should be landscaped to provide level parking thereby avoiding the need for a multi-storey car park.

Current Proposals.

There are suggestions that a supermarket should be built in the present Post Office complex and further retail developments should be added in the London Inn car park. A costly multi-storey car park would be required in order to cater for the anticipated increase in traffic. This could be built on one or more of the sites identified behind the London Inn car park.

Comments on Proposals.

There is local feeling that if a supermarket is to be built in the town it should be sited on the estuary side of KFC - though not on the actual waterfront. Multi-storey car parking will not be popular with many Exmouth people. Furthermore, if a multi-storey car park is built in the London Inn or surrounding area, it will have an adverse impact on the local residential properties. Many houses are old and roads in this area are unsuitable for high levels of traffic. Access to any supermarket here is bound to be difficult if it attracts the number of shoppers that would be necessay to assure its long term survival. It is likely that most people will opt to continue using Tescos where parking is easy, on the level and free.

If money is to be spent in Exmouth it should be used in developing facilities for people NOT for cars!