Save Our Green Spaces South Gloucestershire

South Gloucestershire Council New Local Plan

The South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) Local Plan proposes to build a mass development, in excess of 9000 new homes, across our green belt in the Eastern Fringe of Bristol, which will have a devastating impact on the historic communities of Shortwood, Mangotsfield, Warmley, Oldland Common, Hanham, Bitton, Wick and Pucklechurch.

Save Our Green Spaces – South Gloucestershire (SOGS-SG) are campaigning to prevent the Local Plan from attaining final approval.

To achieve this, we will need to raise substantial funds to help you to fight this hugely damaging Local Plan. We have begun the process of employing a Planning Consultant to assist in raising the appropriate objections, but there will be other expenses, including hiring halls to provide public meetings, maintaining and expanding our online presence, creating printed material, insurance cover, and more.

What stage are SGC currently at, and what happens next?

Following a public consultation in January 2024, SGC are preparing to submit a revised Local Plan for final public consultation. This is currently scheduled for January 2025 - as soon as they possibly can after the Government published their revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) on 12 December 2024. This Consultation will be known as the Regulation 19 stage. It will be the final opportunity to raise objections to the Local Plan. Any objections raised at the previous Consultation should have been considered by SGC, and either incorporated into the new Draft Plan, or disregarded. Upon completion of the Regulation 19 process, SGC can submit their Local Plan to the Government for approval and sign-off by the Planning Inspectorate. This process includes the opportunity for the public to raise objections to the Planning Inspectorate BUT they will only consider objections raised during the upcoming Regulation 19 Consultation period. This is why the January 2025 Consultation is so important.

Who are Save Our Green Spaces South Gloucestershire (SOGS-SG)?

Save Our Green Spaces (SOGS) were established back in 2008 and successfully fought proposals under the last Labour Government to build an urban extension of 5000 homes on Green Belt land between Warmley and Shortwood. Some of the original SOGS members have been instrumental in setting up the new Save Our Green Spaces – South Gloucestershire (SOGS-SG) group to oppose proposals set out in South Gloucestershire Council’s emerging Local Plan.

SOGS-SG wish to make it clear to the public that they are not opposed to building new homes within our communities - we have seen a large increase in new homes in Warmley, Oldland Common, Wick, Bitton, Pucklechurch and Mangotsfield over recent years. We call this sustainable, organic growth. We want to see local people have the option to stay within the area that they grew up in.

What SOGS-SG does strongly object to, is the huge number of new homes that this Local Plan proposes to build on the East Bristol Green Belt.

So what are the arguments?

South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) claim that they are building thousands of new homes on our green belt – for local people! This is simply not true. Building thousands of new homes in one area of South Gloucestershire, and building a small number elsewhere, will simply lead to thousands of people migrating into our area from other parts of Bristol, or other parts of the country. This high number of homes in one area is just an easy (but hugely damaging) option for SGC to build the numbers of homes that the government demands.

If this green belt land was of poor quality then you could argue that it could be better used for housing. The land that will be lost is prime agricultural land. We live in a dangerous world. Food security is extremely important for this country.

Large-scale development on greenfield sites is a developers dream. Smaller, sustainable developments protect our villages from losing their unique identity, but they do not return the huge profit margins that the developers are looking for. SOGS-SG would support SGC if it spread the required housing numbers equally across the whole of

South Gloucestershire. House buyers would like a choice on where to buy their new home wouldn’t they? This Local Plan dictates that most of the new homes in South Glos up to 2036 will be east of Kingswood.

South Gloucestershire Council rejected virtually every proposed site in our area during the early stages of their Local Plan, with most development planned for the northern boundary of South Glos. They now claim that they have ruled out building in Thornbury, Yate, Coalpit Heath and Chipping Sodbury, due to the lack of infrastructure there. If that same logic is applied to our area, then you would not build here either. Our roads are at capacity, and our local schools, doctors and dentists are struggling to cope with the demand they have now.

So what can SOGS-SG do to oppose this hugely damaging Local Plan?

Since the last Consultation stage, it has become clear to SOGS-SG that South Gloucestershire Council are determined to implement their Local Plan, regardless of the consequences, ignoring the huge concerns raised by local residents. The final Consultation stage on the Local Plan will most likely be opening in early January, and will be open for 6 weeks. This will give residents the opportunity to respond to the Local Plan. If you have responded to the previous Consultation stages, then please be aware that SGC will have considered any objections and feedback made previously. Those responses will not be considered when the final Consultation period ends. If you value the green space between Bitton and Lyde Green, then please respond to the final Consultation. If we fail then many thousands of homes will be built, swamping the communities that lie between.

During 2025, the Local Plan will be put before the Planning Inspectorate for final approval. The Planning Inspectorate will hold a public enquiry, providing SOGS-SG with an opportunity to raise objections, although only objections made during the final Consultation period can be raised at this stage. We will be employing a planning consultant to act on our behalf. This will cost a considerable amount of money, but we will not give up on our mission to save the East Bristol Green Belt.

If you would like to find out more about SOGS-SG then you will find us on:-

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/sogssg

Alternatively,

take a look at our website www.sogssg.org

Thank you for your support.