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First indication of North Somerset Spatial Strategy

Ashley Cartman • 11 March 2021

Not an enticing headline but this is really important......

As many of you know North Somerset has to accommodate 20,475 new homes over 15 years which represents a 20% increase. In simple terms the council works out how to do this by developing a Local Plan. This Local Plan is based upon an assessment of the sites available, the needs and desires of the local community, and guidance and regulations issued by central government. An important step in this process is when the Council sets out its preferred strategy for picking development sites. 

This week the public got their first glimpse of the direction of council thinking when a draft spatial strategy was discussed at a meeting of the Strategic Planning, Economic Development and Regeneration policy and scrutiny panel (known as SPEDR).  You can watch the full 2 hour meeting on YouTube. 

This is draft strategy the scrutiny panel discussed;

Priority should be given to locating new residential and mixed-use development in or close to urban areas where there is an existing or proposed wide range of facilities, services, and jobs, and where there are opportunities to encourage active travel, particularly at locations which are currently, or have the potential to be well served by public transport.

 

Employment opportunities should be encouraged at accessible locations well related to the urban areas and on sustainable transport corridors.

 

Residential development in areas at risk of flooding should be avoided outside the towns.

 

The amount of development at villages and in the countryside should be minimised and should relate to local community needs.

The there are two important implications of this statement:

  1. By focusing on existing urban areas it appears small villages will be excluded from large development, especially given the last sentence. What it actually means is that rural development will be considered last, but where they are considered then areas such as South Bristol and Weston will be considered first in preference to other areas as they are deemed to be more sustainable. 
  2. The green belt is not mentioned. However, under legislation the green belt must be considered last and development is only permitted after all other options have been exhausted. That is why the statement on 'areas at risk of flooding' is important. By saying that these areas are not to be developed mean that there is increased pressure to release green belt.


My view is that of this statement effectively means that the council is looking to release a significant amount of the green belt. There is simply not enough land to accommodate 20,475 homes outside of the greenbelt in a sustainable way if areas at risk of flooding are excluded. It could mean thousands of houses being located in greenbelt around south Bristol.


If this is the case then which sites are chosen will depend on how sustainable they are perceived to be.



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