THE Crediton Heart Project’s proposed 300-seat venue comes wrapped in all the right marketing buzzwords: “inclusive,” “welcoming,” “transformative.” It’s being hailed as a beacon of arts, culture, and community spirit. Lovely. But there’s a rather large, car-shaped elephant in the room: where is everyone supposed to park?

The chosen site - tucked between the War Memorial (which they quietly want to move—just don’t mention that to the veterans) and the Bike Shed - is arguably fine for a coffee kiosk. But for a theatre? Not so much.

This project has gone straight from vision to visuals without asking the most basic question: how are 300 people meant to get there?

The answer, apparently, is that they’re not. Unless they’re local, mobile, and happy to brave a cold, wet Tuesday night in January carrying nothing heavier than optimism.

There’s no parking. No drop-off point. No delivery access. The nearest car parks are a decent walk away - fine if you’re young and sprightly, but less appealing in sideways rain for the elderly, disabled, or anyone visiting from out of town.

And yet a feasibility study - by award-winning designers, no less - declared the site ideal. Well, of course they did. They were asked to design a building, not a functioning venue.

They took the brief, took the cheque, and delivered a glossy “vision” with zero concern for how the place might actually be used. Parking? Access? Common Sense? Not their department - or their problem.

Now, someone is probably already muttering, “Parking isn’t everything.” True. It’s not - unless you’re trying to fill 300 seats regularly with people who don’t live within five minutes' walking distance.

Then it’s the difference between a thriving venue and an empty building with great acoustics.

And as for the “people should walk” crowd—firstly, you are forgetting those travelling from afar- secondly, tell that to the locals who drive two minutes to pick their kids up from Landscore or Haywards every day.

Yes, Crediton: the town where everyone walks everywhere... until they actually have to.

This is classic form-over-function. A building proposed because land became available—not because it made sense. Projects like this don’t become community assets. They become white elephants with shiny foyers.

We’re told logistics like parking can be “sorted out later.” That’s not vision, that's oversight. It’s exactly how ambitious projects become beautiful failures.

Don’t get me wrong - I’d love to see a proper community venue. The concept isn’t the problem. The location is. Without access, it’s doomed before leaving the drawing board. One frustrating, rain-soaked visit and people won’t come back.

This isn’t a big city with park-and-ride. The train station is a trek. The buses are fine if you’re coming from Exeter - but good luck catching one to Colebrooke at 11pm. And unless "The Park House" intends to stage "The Walking Dead: Devon Edition", featuring a cast of villagers staggering in from Sandford and Shobrooke, 300 people are not turning up on foot.

A smarter choice? A site near Redlands, where parking and access actually exist - if the land hadn’t been reserved for the highest bidder (KFC, anyone? I jest… mostly). Or better still, a partnership with QE/Ted Wragg Trust for a shared space that serves both students and the wider community. You know, something practical, common sense (there are those words again).

But no - we’re being handed a centralised vanity project, shoehorned into the town centre because it fits the branding. It’s the “Heart Project,” after all - so why let reality get in the way of a catchy name?

Great architecture isn’t about pretty drawings. It’s about real people using real spaces. And if they can’t get there, they won’t come. Not even award-winning designers can sketch their way out of that.

Gary Stanley

QE Drive

Crediton