EXETER DEAF ACADEMY PLAYING FIELD. (Mount Radford Lawn.)

Mount Radford Lawn Playing Field.
On Thursday 10th December 2025 I and one other member of the SLNA committee were invited to an update on the progress of The Deaf Academy’s (DA) plans for the playing field.
In the absence of a press release from the DA I will attempt to summarise what is happening, may happen, or not happening.
A lot of us had imagined that their intention to celebrate their 200th anniversary by making MRL a social space for the community meant that there would be some changes to be seen on the land in 2026, whereas it almost appears that a final decision being made to do something might be the actual celebration as far as the MRL project is concerned.
The DA have spent a lot of money so far on a feasibility study and if the Trustees agree they intend to spend another sum on professional fees before they reach a time when they feel ready to put in a formal planning application. A matter on which the Trustees are finding it hard to make a decision is the governance structure - who will run it? - the balance of control between the DA and the community? And other matters.The sums spent seem eye watering, maybe the Trustees feel that’s the only way to get the job done, but I can’t help feeling that they are getting carried away with outsourcing everything. One reassuring aspect of these high payments is that by putting such sums up front they are showing commitment.
Before the DA achieve their stated aims for MRL there is one intervening project which will be very unpopular with residents, I’m sure. To cover some of the expenses they are considering leasing the field to Exeter Energy Ltd as a compound for the storage of materials and equipment during the process of creating the Heat Network. No lease has been signed yet, but if it is it will help to defray some of the costs as mentioned before.
We came out of the meeting (a) slightly bemused by the time and money it has taken to get this far and (b) slightly reassured by the financial commitment they have shown.