The Greens made a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) to access parts of the business case for the planned council owned leisure complex.

They say the council has “persistently refused” to give them the information.

Green Party member Peter Cleasby complained to the Information Commissioner, the independent authority set up by Parliament to uphold public access to documents.

Mr Cleasby said the public had a legitimate right to see information shared privately to councillors about the financial viability of the leisure complex project.

The commissioner agreed, and has ordered the council to publish its estimates of income from the leisure centre.

The council are seeking advice regarding an appeal against this decision.

Mr Cleasby said: “The public were not consulted about whether we wanted the leisure centre or not. We were simply told that £26 million of the Council’s money would be spent on building it.

“We were not offered the chance to suggest other uses for £26 million, and we were not allowed to see the assumptions made by the Council about whether the leisure centre could be run without being a drain on public finances.

“So as an individual I asked for this information to be made available for scrutiny by others who could form an independent view on whether the numbers added up. The Council refused, three times changing their reasons for not releasing it.”

A council spokesperson hit back, saying: “The public were consulted multiple times in accordance with the open and transparent planning process for what will be one of the greenest schemes of its kind anywhere in the country.

“As Mr Cleasby has pointed out, we are entitled to appeal the Information Commissioner’s decision and we are taking appropriate advice.”

Diana Moore, former parliamentary candidate for the Green Party in Exeter, said: “Exeter Green Party are not opposed to a new leisure complex in principle, but openness and real public engagement are essential in major projects of this sort.”