PLANS for a major new Morrisons supermarket at police headquarters in Middlemoor have been approved.
The proposal includes a big supermarket, petrol station, 83 homes and a new criminal justice centre for the police.
The 83 homes are being discussed separately.
There was concern that the store would take significant amounts of trade away from other parts of the city.
But in the planning report presented to city councillors at a meeting this evening, it says a recent report fails to find that a new Morrisons would hit other locations.
Members of the planning committee backed the application to approve the proposal in the last few minutes.
The planning report said: "Morrisons store proposed as part of this application will not have a significant adverse impact upon any defined existing shopping centre in Exeter in terms of either vitality or viability.
"With regard to the the city centre, Pinhoe local centre and Heavitree district centre, it concludes that none of them will experience a material reduction in their health and that any trade loss will be minimal.
"Based on the submitted analysis, whilst it is acknowledged that the scheme would have some impact, it is not considered that this would be so significant as warrant refusal on the grounds of impact on vitality and viability or local consumer choice."
However, the Highways Agency is preventing the granting of planning permission for six months, until further assessments are completed on the affect of the development on traffic at junctions 29 and 30 of the M5.
Richard Short, assistant director of city development, said: "The Highways Agency has powers of direction, we cannot overrule it, planning permission will not be granted while the holding direction is in place, hence the recommendation to delegate to me subject to its removal by the agency.
"The developer will need to provide further technical work to persuade the agency to withdraw the holding direction.
"If matters are not resolved six months after it was made it can extend it or direct refusal."
Sport England has also objected to the new police custody centre because part of the site is football and cricket pitches and there would be an overall loss of open space.
