Work on flats starts again at site of bomb detonation

WORK has resumed on the building site where an unexploded Nazi blitz bomb was detonated two weeks ago, causing damage to many nearby buildings.

Workmen came across the device, weighing 1,000kg and measuring 2.55m long, while beginning work on a four-storey student flats block on land at Glenthorne Road, next to the family-run Dennyshill Care Home.

The care home was the most severely damaged property when the device was blown up by military personnel on February 27, after it was discovered the previous day.

Around 2,600 properties were evacuated, including 1,400 students from university premises.

The student accommodation scheme was backed by Exeter City Council’s planning committee in May 2018, but it was not until December 2018 that final approval was granted when all the conditions of the application were signed off on.

Objections had poured in against the scheme, including from the Duryard Trust which owns the private road leading to the development site, residents of Glenthorne Road and, for the first time ever, the University of Exeter itself. It will house 244 students.

Following the detonation of the bomb found on the building site, a post-incident report has been requested by the Secretary of State for Defence. Despite hundreds of tonnes of sand and a special structure being built to contain the blast, many buildings nearby have been left badly damaged.

Serious concerns and questions over the decisions made when dealing with the bomb have been shared with Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw. It has prompted him to call for the Government to carry out a full and transparent investigation.