Proposed sports ground redevelopment offers enhanced facilities for students and local community alike
6 October 2025
Exeter College and Hertford College have released new computer-generated images showing the proposed redevelopment of their adjoining sports grounds at Edgeway Road, Marston. The plans are designed to modernise the facilities and open them up beyond the student population to local residents, schools and clubs, breathing new life into an underused site that has suffered from vandalism and antisocial behaviour in recent years.
The plans include padel tennis courts (covered and outdoor), cricket nets, hardcourts suitable for basketball and netball, four football/rugby pitches and two cricket pitches, a golf simulator, and refurbished pavilions. A new community café and flexible rooms for clubs and local groups will provide Marston with much-needed social and meeting space and students with new and improved facilities.
The Colleges have worked with specialists in ecology, landscaping, flood resilience, lighting and access to ensure the proposals are sensitive to their setting in the Green Belt and adjacent to the New Marston Meadows SSSI. The green space will be protected and members of the public encouraged to use it, whether walking their dogs or going for a run. The project aims to achieve a 20% biodiversity net gain and will include new wildflower areas, trees, and sustainable drainage systems. It repurposes the site’s run-down squash buildings to accommodate the café, community space, changing facilities and golf simulator.
Key features of the Sports Hub
- Four covered and three outdoor padel courts
- Hardcourts suitable for basketball, netball and 5-a-side
- Football, rugby and cricket pitches (reorganised and enhanced)
- Outdoor cricket nets
- Community café with indoor and outdoor seating
- Flexible community rooms
- Refurbished cricket pavilions
- Golf simulator in the repurposed Exeter squash building
- New footpaths, making this valued green space easier and safer to reach
- Running and walking routes around the site
- Wheelchair accessible lift, changing facilities, and disabled parking
- 40 new bicycle spaces and provision for e-scooters
- Sustainable design with permeable surfaces, drainage improvements and habitat creation
The Colleges are working with Oxfordshire-based company Padel People. Co-founders James Rock and George Sandbach have a strong track record of running sports and hospitality facilities, delivering quality, affordable opportunities to play sport and encouraging people of all ages and abilities to take part. The sports facilities and café will be open to students and residents year-round, with the café serving locally sourced products throughout the day, including fresh coffees, teas, pastries and sandwiches.
The planning application is likely to be considered later this year. If approved, the Colleges hope to begin work in 2026.
Find out more about the proposed improvements to the sports grounds.