Exeter St James Community Trust

Exeter St James Community Trust is a spin-off from the successful Exeter St James Forum (2011 – 2022). A 91.6% Yes vote in the May 2013 referendum endorsed Exeter St James Neighbourhood Plan (view here). Created by the Forum it was the first ever urban Neighbourhood Plan to be adopted by its local authority in the country. The map below indicates the area coterminous with the ward boundary at the time.

The extensive local research and consultation which was undertaken in order to write the Neighbourhood Plan identified projects which the community would like to see undertaken – first and foremost of those potential projects was the wish that Queen’s Crescent Garden be improved.

In order to undertake projects, St James Forum needed a ‘body corporate’ which could take them on. The Forum itself was not sufficient to take on the lease for Queen’s Crescent Garden once the City Council had compulsorily purchased it. To this end Exeter St James Community Trust Ltd, a Community Benefit Society, was set up in July 2014 and granted charitable status by HMRC.