At the time of the 1997 Census of Employment, the District’s businesses provided work for more than 35,000 employees. Achieving a better balance between the workforce of the District and locally accessible jobs is at the heart of the Council’s commitment to sustainable local economic development.

The image of leafy prosperity which attracts visitors to the towns and villages of East Devon, can sometimes mask the challenges faced by its resident communities. Just over 37% of the District’s workforce earn less than two thirds of national average earnings.

The most obvious example of this is found within the farming communities of the District. Agricultural practice is reflected in the quality of the landscape we all enjoy but the vitality of the District’s farming enterprises is being severely tested. The Council has no direct influence over the market for local farm produce but will continue to support practical measures to assist farming and other forms of rural enterprise. The current review of the East Devon District Local Plan is a useful example of how, through planning policy, the Council is working to identify ways of promoting a sustainable future for land based enterprise.

Urban communities within the District are not immune to the challenges of the 21st century. The prosperity which was based upon earlier patterns of tourism, is challenged by global access to leisure and recreational opportunities. East Devon’s tourism industry is responding and the Council will continue to support their efforts to promote the District as a high quality visitor destination.

The District is home to a wide range of industrial and commercial activity. At Exeter International Airport, for example, highly skilled engineers provide world class aviation servicing facilities. In Axminster the skills of traditionally woven carpet manufacture continue to be practised and successfully adapted to the demands of the market. Here and elsewhere in the District, local businesses are responding to the opportunities afforded by new technologies and the Council will play its part in supporting further diversification.

The Council recognises that only through partnership with other agencies, employers and the workforce of the District can its objectives for local economic development be achieved.

The Council’s objectives for the future are set out in the Corporate Strategy. Its primary goal is to promote and support viable communities and to secure the long term future of the local economy:

through living and working, by:

ensuring that the agricultural economy and associated infrastructure is bolstered by support for diversification projects;

seeking to reduce travel by endeavouring to support communities by the provision of employment land;

encouraging the multi-purpose use of village halls not only for social and cultural activities but also for health care, communications centres and business purposes;

working in partnership with communities and transport providers to secure regular and frequent public transport between all settlements in the District and employment, retail, social and leisure destinations;

through tourism by:

supporting East Devon’s tourism businesses as they respond to the challenges of a changing visitor market;

reinforcing the District’s image as a destination of high environmental quality and promoting a focus on customer service;

working in partnership with East Devon’s tourism industry to promote the district as a year round destination for overnight (staying) visitors;

through the creation of jobs, by:

working in partnership with the business community to promote the maintenance and extension of local employment opportunity and to ensure that the District is promoted successfully as a location for inward investment;

promoting the extension of the District’s skill base by working to ensure that workplace and other skills training is widely accessible, particularly within East Devon’s rural communities.

The Corporate Strategy provides the framework within which the Council’s economic development policies are devised and implemented. It is revised annually and we are always happy to receive your comments and suggestions.

Heart of Devon Enterprise Agency contact details

Research contacts for Economic Trends and Tourism in East Devon

Click here to view new East Devon businesses at Business South West 2003.

www.east-devon.gov.uk/business/index.htm

Source of the above information

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