Plans unveiled for another 1,000-home new town on edge of Bristol
The land proposed includes equine charity Horseworld but goes much further
Plans for a new primary school, community centre and 1,000 new homes will be unveiled later this month as another new town extension to Bristol is announced.
Developers Barwood Land are looking to develop a vast swathe of what is currently green belt land to the east of Whitchurch, off the A37, and includes the land and headquarters of well-known equine charity HorseWorld, but also goes significantly beyond there.
Barwood Land has announced it is holding a public consultation on its proposals, which take in all the green fields from Whitchurch Village to the southern edge of Stockwood in Bristol, and over to the woods next to the village of Queen Charlton, near Keynsham.
That event is planned for later in June, and the developers will then be submitting a planning application to Bath and North East Somerset Council to gain permission for the development later in the year.
The land at Horseworld has long been mooted for development, but the plans for 1,000 homes and the area covered by the proposals are much bigger than previously discussed for just the HorseWorld site.
Last year, people living in Whitchurch Village came together at a public meeting to strongly voice their opposition to the idea of development all around the village - with B&NES council planners looking to re-designate much of the green belt surrounding the village in the last Local Plan as land for development in the new Local Plan.
People in Whitchurch Village created their own Neighbourhood Plan, which included limited housing development on just the HorseWorld area, but the new Labour Government told local councils like Bath and North East Somerset they would have to go back to the drawing board and include thousands more new homes between now and 2040.
That is now in the process of happening, and developers Barwood Land are taking the opportunity to unveil their plans - directly challenging B&NES to include all the land it wants to build on in its draft Local Plan.
“We are proposing a high quality, attractive new neighbourhood with its own character adjacent to Whitchurch,” a spokesperson for the developer said.
“The development would have a new primary school and a new community centre at its heart. The new centre would provide space for potential healthcare, community use, convenience store, post office and other services to meet the needs of new and existing local residents.
“Approximately half the site would be green, open space for everyone to enjoy. Bath and North East Somerset Council has been directed by the Government to deliver a substantial number of homes over the next few years and to address a significant shortfall of affordable homes to meet the needs of its residents.
“There are very few locations where significant numbers of new homes could be built outside of areas designated for their heritage and landscape value and we believe this site is well located to support a highly sustainable development with green spaces, new community services and facilities and much-needed homes that could benefit the whole community,” he added.
The 1,000 homes and a new community hub with a school is the latest major planning application for what are effectively new towns around the edge of Bristol to emerge in just the past month or so.
The existing new town, called Brabazon - on the site of the former Filton Airfield - has got Government approval, and metro mayor Helen Godwin has since got the backing of councillors in South Gloucestershire to form a Mayoral Development Zone which would develop new towns near Bristol Parkway, and the North Lyde Eco-Tech village, north of the M4 near Emersons Green.
Last week, developers unveiled plans for a new town called Woodspring, either side of the A38 between Bristol and Bristol Airport, and this week, the metro mayor’s West of England Combined Authority also approved a ‘masterplan’ for a new town called Hicks Gate, between Brislington in south east Bristol, and Keynsham, which would see thousands of new homes and a new transport hub.
The Whitchurch Village proposals bring the number of major new developments around the edge of Bristol to six.
Barwood Land said they wanted to include affordable homes, land for a new primary school and nursery, and a local community centre which would be ‘easily accessible to existing and future residents’. “This would be an all-purpose hub, which could potentially include a convenience store, healthcare, community space, office space, a post office, café and co-working space,” a spokesperson said.
“Approximately half the site would remain as green, open space, and the development would include improvements to roads, public transport, pedestrian and cycle routes to create sustainable links between the development, surrounding communities and key employment areas.
“We appreciate this would be a significant change for the local community,” the spokesperson added. “We want to hear what local people think so we can try and address any concerns. Everyone is welcome to come along to our public exhibition, speak to our project team and provide us with their feedback,” he added.
The first consultation event is to take place at the Whitchurch United Reformed Church, at 24, Bristol Road in Whitchurch on Wednesday, June 24. It will be a drop-in event between 3pm and 7.30pm.