King George V Playing Fields: £4.09m work starts 17 August

Contractors move on to King George V Playing Fields, the 40-acre council-owned sports ground off Topsham Road, on Monday 17 August to start the first phase of a £4.09 million rebuild: a floodlit 3G artificial pitch and two multi-sport PlayZones. Those areas will be fenced off and out of use until the pitch work finishes, which Exeter City Council expects by spring 2027. The rest of the fields, including the accessible play area and the paths, stay open. (Exeter City Council, Work to begin on improvements to the King George V Playing Fields, 7 August 2026)

The project is led by Exeter City Community Trust (ECCT), the charity attached to Exeter City Football Club, which now holds the site on a long lease. The council granted the lease on 17 February 2026 to Exeter KGV Limited, the Trust’s wholly owned company, with the consent of the Fields in Trust charity that legally protects the ground. Planning permission, reference 25/0197/FUL, was granted in August 2025. (Exeter City Council, report to Council, King George V Playing Field Improvements, 24 March 2026, PDF)

What is being built, and when

The council’s own release describes phase one as the artificial grass pitch and two PlayZones, “high-quality surfaces designed to be used for a range of sports and activities such as basketball, cricket, football, netball, and tennis”, plus improvements to the parking areas and a refurbished pavilion with accessible changing rooms and community-use rooms. Construction runs in standard working hours. The council says the pitch work should be complete by spring 2027. (Exeter City Council, 7 August 2026)

The Trust’s project pages add the dimensions: a 91m by 55m floodlit 3G pitch, and PlayZones each about the size of one or two tennis courts, floodlit for year-round use. (ECCT, KGV project information) The March council report is more specific still about the pavilion: four Sport England compliant changing rooms, officials’ changing rooms, a first aid room, community space and an office, replacement public toilets and a Changing Places facility. One PlayZone gets a 3G surface and the other a 2G astroturf. (Council report, 24 March 2026, paragraph 10.10)

Sixty-five new trees are to be planted with the council, forming a community orchard and screening. The Trust’s February announcement says the planting offsets the felling of two oak trees, both in the last stages of their natural life, one of them badly damaged by squirrels stripping the bark. Part of the site was historically a traditional orchard. (Exeter City Community Trust, Work to start on ambitious city project, 19 February 2026)

Phase two, not yet dated, is due to add padel courts, an extension to the pavilion with a community cafe and social space, woodland trails and walkways, and further work on the grass pitches. (Exeter City Council, 7 August 2026)

Who is paying

The council report puts the total project cost at £4,096,633, with £3.5 million secured or pending approval at the time it was written. The Football Foundation, funded by the Premier League, The FA and the Government, is the biggest contributor. The Trust puts the grant at £1,997,354, towards the 3G pitch, the pavilion refurbishment and the two PlayZones. The Trust itself is putting in £1.2 million. On 24 March 2026 the council was asked to approve up to £464,948.02 as a grant to Exeter KGV Limited, drawn from section 106 payments made by developers under seven separate agreements, money that has to be spent on community and recreational facilities near the developments concerned or handed back. Any shortfall is to be borne by the Trust. (Council report, 24 March 2026, paragraphs 2.1, 6.2, 10.12; ECCT, 19 February 2026)

The report is candid about why the timing mattered. The Football Foundation money was “time limited funds based on the funding being secured and works commencing by the end of March 2026”, part of the section 106 pot had to be committed by April 2026, and the council said it had found no other project that met the terms of those agreements within a kilometre of the developments. It also records why the site was chosen: the council’s Playing Pitch Strategy identifies a shortfall of three to four artificial grass pitches across the city, and the natural turf at KGV is “frequently rendered unplayable due to poor drainage and wear”. (Council report, 24 March 2026, paragraphs 3.2, 4.2, 10.7, 10.18)

What the fields are now

The report describes KGV as one of the council’s most important outdoor sports sites and the home of Central FC: up to six full-size football pitches, eight mini-soccer pitches and one youth football or rugby pitch, changing rooms, two tennis courts by Bridge Road, two play areas, public toilets and a collection of veteran oaks. The Trust’s programme for the new pitch names Central FC, Exeter Strollers, Exeter International, walking football and Masters leagues, boys’ and girls’ development centres, Exeter College academies, Man v Fat, para football including visually impaired and deaf hubs, and Football for Good. Under its Football Foundation agreement at least 20 per cent of bookings must go to women’s and girls’ football, rising to at least 30 per cent by year three. (Council report, 24 March 2026, paragraphs 10.1 to 10.3, 10.23, 10.26)

The fields are one of hundreds across the UK created after the death of King George V in 1936 “to promote and assist in the establishment of playing fields for the use and enjoyment of the people”, and are protected by Fields in Trust. The Trust says its role is that of custodian, and it will lease the site for 50 years. (ECCT, 19 February 2026)

The start has slipped since it was first announced. On 19 February the Trust said work would begin “this week”; the council’s 7 August release gives 17 August as the day the first phase starts on site. Neither statement explains the gap. (ECCT, 19 February 2026; Exeter City Council, 7 August 2026)

What it means for you

If you use the fields. From Monday the footprint of the new 3G pitch and the two PlayZones is fenced and inaccessible, and stays so until the pitch work is done, expected in spring 2027. Everything else, including the accessible play area and the paths, remains open, and the council says there is no disruption to the rest of the site. Work is in standard working hours only. (Exeter City Council, 7 August 2026)

If you live nearby. The council says disruption will be kept to a minimum. The March report notes that a letter drop to residents was carried out by the Trust in February ahead of the works. Questions go to kgv@ecct.co.uk. (Council report, paragraph 10.21; Exeter City Council)

If you run a club or team. The finished pitch is meant to be bookable across the community, not reserved for the football club, and the women’s and girls’ quota is written into the funding. The Trust’s project site is the place to register interest. (ECCT, KGV project)

The full planning file, including the biodiversity net gain assessment, is on the council’s portal under 25/0197/FUL; our Exeter planning news page tracks the city’s larger applications, and if the works bring any temporary parking or road restrictions on Topsham Road we will pick them up on the Exeter roadworks and travel page.