Hundreds of letters object to Whitchurch house-building

13/01/2010


Several hundred letters objecting to proposals to build thousands of new homes on the outskirts of Bristol have been handed over to the area’s local councillor.

A total of 550 signed letters have been handed to Conservative Councillor Peter Edwards (Publow and Whitchurch) by the Whitchurch Action Group raising concerns about the prospect of several thousand new homes being built in the Whitchurch area over the next two decades.

The possibility of so many new homes being built emerged from Government-dictated house-building targets, known as the South West ‘Regional Spatial Strategy’, which include plans for up to 8,000 new homes in the Whitchurch area, equivalent to a town about size of Keynsham.

Bath and North East Somerset Council has refused to go along with the plans for 8,000 new homes, saying the figure is unsustainable. However, at the instruction of the Government Office for the South West, B&NES Council has begun the process of an options consultation based on the housing numbers and general locations contained within the Regional Spatial Strategy.

However, in their letters of objection, local residents have said they remain extremely concerned about the possibility of even the lower number proposed in the Council’s consultation. Having received the letters from Whitchurch residents, Councillor Edwards has now submitted them to the Council to form part of the formal consultation process.

Cllr Peter Edwards (Cons, Publow & Whitchurch) commented:

“I have been very keen to support the campaign against the Government’s massive house-building targets from the start. The numbers the Government is trying to impose on our area are simply unsustainable and undeliverable.

“I agree with residents that even the lower figure now suggested in the Council’s consultation document is still too high, and was very happy to pass on resident’s letters to the planning department. The Council’s consultation document shows that major infrastructure improvements would be needed to cope with this many new homes, and I simply cannot see these being delivered.”

Conservative Councillors on B&NES Council have set three clear policies for future development as part of the Core Strategy process:
Brownfield first; infrastructure upfront; jobs alongside housing.

They have also pledged that if the Government’s Regional Spatial Strategy is scrapped, then the Council must revise downwards the current 15,500 new houses earmarked for the B&NES area.