Bristolians will have their say this autumn on a crucial 20-year plan for how many new homes should be built in the city and where.
The new local plan will shape how the city grows over the next two decades, including a huge variety of developments like housing, offices, GP surgeries and solar farms. A public consultation will launch in November to find out Bristol’s priorities for the next 20 years.
Bosses at Bristol City Council believe developers should focus on building tall, dense apartment buildings rather than houses on the city’s outskirts, to protect the green environment surrounding Bristol. This could also encourage people to drive cars less often.
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Councillor Nicola Beech, cabinet member for strategic planning, said: “Many rapidly growing cities, when faced with the challenge of where to build, decide to spread outwards which can lead to the destruction of their nearby greenbelt land and fragile local ecology. So how do we decide where to put our children’s and our grandchildren’s homes and workplaces? How can we provide for ourselves and future generations yet still build sustainably for Bristol?
“Well to start with, we could build affordable homes close to where there are jobs, shops and sustainable travel routes. This will likely mean building more densely and this will sometimes mean taller buildings. We have little choice but to build sustainably upwards on available brownfield land close to the rich culture and entertainment hubs of our city centre.”
She made the comments in a guest post on the mayor’s blog earlier this month. The post also gave details and timescales of how the replacement local plan will be developed. Initially a regional approach was planned across the West of England, in a similar document called the ‘spatial development strategy’, but this fell through after a row on housing targets.
Now councils in Bristol, South Gloucestershire, Bath and North East Somerset will revert back to planning their housing growth on a local level, instead of the regional approach. As well as housing numbers, the local plan will likely include rules for developers on energy efficiency, affordable housing, environmental protection, wheelchair accessibility and more.
After the autumn consultation, the council will publish its draft new local plan in summer next year. Then in early 2024, government planning inspectors will examine the plan, before it’s adopted and signed off by the council in autumn later that year. More details about how residents can take part in the consultation should be made clear in November.
Cllr Beech added: “The new plan will promote the most sustainable forms of heat and power. It must not just consider the carbon emissions associated with each new development, but the carbon emitted during construction and manufacture, also known as embodied carbon. We also intend to revise our plan so that it will support new health infrastructure close to new planned developments.
“Please do take the time to contribute and have your say on what is one of the most crucial issues for Bristol’s future. As one of the fastest growing cities in the UK, Bristol needs to rapidly embrace new jobs and homes in the right places to protect our fragile environment.”
