Plans emerge for more than 500 homes on green belt land next to Brislington’s P&R

Bellway Homes already owns the 39-acre site off the Bath Road
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Plans have emerged to build a residential estate with up to 555 homes and a community centre on green belt land next to Brislington’s Park and Ride.

Developer Bellway Homes is undertaking survey work and technical assessments at the 39-acre site it owns off the Bath Road, and has approached Bristol City Council ahead of lodging a planning application.

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It wants an agreement that an Environmental Impact Assessment is not required ahead of the full submission of its plans, claiming the estate is ‘unlikely to have significant effects on the environment’.

The site is made up of fields and trees and sits between the park and ride and both the Bath Road allotments and the former Wyevale Garden Centre. The plans are for up to 555 homes, a local centre with a mix of retail and community uses, roads, children’s play areas and green space.

The 39-acre site off the Bath Road where Bellway Homes want to build up to 555 homesThe 39-acre site off the Bath Road where Bellway Homes want to build up to 555 homes
The 39-acre site off the Bath Road where Bellway Homes want to build up to 555 homes

The proposal might not come as a surprise, however, as the land was identified as one of 12 ‘Strategic Development Locations’ (SDL) by councils in the Bristol region for more homes under a Joint Spatial Plan, which was rejected by the Government in 2019.

A new Spatial Development Strategy led by the West of England Combined Authority (WECA), set to give broad locations for up to 105,000 homes over the next 20 years, is due to be published this Spring.

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And agents Marrons Planning, working on behalf of Bellway Homes, believe the site next to Brislington Park and Ride is set to be included as the developer looks to push forward with plans to build on the area.

In a letter dated May 4, Marrons Planning director David Fovargue said: “ Both Bristol City Council and the WECA have previously identified the site and wider area as a SDL, and it is currently being assessed as part of work in support of the new WECA Spatial Development Strategy.

Image from Google Earth showing the fields and trees at the site in BrislingtonImage from Google Earth showing the fields and trees at the site in Brislington
Image from Google Earth showing the fields and trees at the site in Brislington

“Given the lead-in times to the delivery of a strategic scheme such as this, its status, importance and significance for Bristol as a whole, Bellway Homes is undertaking early survey work and technical assessments, seeking to agree the scope and approach with Bristol City Council officers.”

Mr Fovargue adds: “It is considered that the proposed scheme is unlikely to have significant effects on the environment and... (a) Environmental Impact Statement is therefore not required.”

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The plans emerge as residents living nearby continue to complain over the use of land next to the site, at the former Wyevale Garden Centre, where four enforcement notices have been issued against the owner over alleged harm to the green belt.

The owner, Sam Litt, of Wyevale Bristol Ltd, has since appealed, arguing that the impact to the green belt was irrelevant because of future plans for housing development in the area, and the claimed impending removal of protected status.

To view the letter from Bellway Homes’ planning agents to Bristol City Council, visit https://www.bristol.gov.uk/planning-and-building-regulations/search-and-track-planning-applications and use reference 22/02238/SCR.

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