2. Place
The first section looks at a range of issues related to Place, including location and geography, transport, housing and environment. East Devon is a good place to live with a rich natural environment with two thirds of the district being designated as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and its coast line being part of a world heritage site. We have good transport links including the main airport for the south west region Exeter International Airport being based in the district. The rural nature of parts of the district means that we have high levels of car ownership. There is also a large out flow of workers leaving the district to work in places such as Exeter, Mid Devon and South Somerset.
Levels of home ownership are high with a significant proportion of houses in the top three most expensive council tax bands. Affordability of homes is an issue in the district with East Devon being in the top 25% of all Local Authority areas for house prices but one of the lowest nationally in terms of wages.
The natural environment makes East Devon a wonderful place to live and to visit and our natural economy brings significant employment and business opportunity to East Devon.