North Somerset Council has consulted on a draft Local Plan. After earlier rounds of consultation in 2020, the Council invited comments on its Preferred Option, the first draft of the detailed Plan.
The Society commented:
- We support the overall approach adopted by the draft Local Plan – that new residential development should be focused close to existing facilities, services, jobs, and public and active transport connections. It is a welcome change from the approach adopted in the West of England Joint Spatial Plan.
- It is unrealistic to accommodate Bristol’s housing requirement within its own boundaries. We are concerned that effective joint working across local authority boundaries should provide for housing needs across the whole city-region.
- The allocation for future development at Yanley Lane (Woodspring golf course) is of interest to us as it is close to Bristol. We suggested that a new station on the main railway line should be considered, which could serve both the new development and Long Ashton.
- We suggested that the Local Plan should address the issue of road links between the M5 and Bristol airport.
- It would have been helpful to provide an overview map of the proposals, and we pointed out the need for such a ‘Key Diagram’ in the final document.
Alan Morris