Victory has Greenbelt housing application refused

18/10/2011

Local campaigners and politicians in Whitchurch are celebrating the news that a planning application for 300-home housing development on Greenbelt land in the area has been turned down.

The area's Conservative Councillor Peter Edwards, alongside the Whitchurch Village Action Group and local MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, campaigned against the plans, arguing that the development would destroy the last green field separating the village from Bristol.

Over 800 letters opposing the plans were sent to Bath and North East Somerset Council, which has announced its decision to refuse the planning application. The campaign recently received a boost after Conservative councillors in Bath & North East Somerset successfully voted down a proposal which could have seen Greenbelt land at Whitchurch earmarked as a contingency site for large-scale new housing development.

In its Core Strategy development document, the Council has earmarked Whitchurch Village for between 30 and 50 new homes over the next fifteen years, which the authority believes can be accommodated within the area's existing infrastructure.

Local Councillor Peter Edwards (Cons, Publow&Whitchurch) said:

"This is fantastic news for all local residents in Whitchurch Village who have supported the campaign against these Greenbelt housing plans. The council has agreed time and again that large-scale new housing development should be focussed on disused Brownfield sites not Greenbelt, so I'm really pleased that the authority has stuck to this principle. The local campaigners should be congratulated for their hard work in securing 800 letters of objection, which represents over 70% of households in the village.

"Whitchurch village has its own separate identity to that of the Whitchurch area within Bristol City Council's borders which residents value, and which the Greenbelt helps to protect. This decision will mean this community identity can be maintained into the future."