Posted by As campaigners look at ways to continue the fight against the new football stadium at Ashton Vale being built on Green Belt in south Bristol, the ruling Liberal Democrats are now attempting to stop further development from next year.
Last week, a planning committee said it was “minded to approve” the construction of the stadium and one housing development on a former landfill site. (Click here for the full story)
While the plans caused protests from a number of environmental and residential groups, planning officers and councillors agreed that the benefits of the new stadium to the city outweighed the damage to the Green Belt.
At the full council meeting on Tuesday, a new strategy document will be presented to protect about 100 acres of
the city’s green outskirts from housing and industrial development.
If approved, the Bristol Development Framework Core Strategy will effectively rule out new developments on the Green Belt for at least 10 years after its formal adoption in late 2010.
Cotham councillor Neil Harrison, the assistant executive member for sustainability, said the plans were part of his party’s manifesto commitment to protect Green Belt land.
“As one of our manifesto commitments, we promised to protect the city’s Green Belt where we could and this document achieves that.
“Through their changes to the Regional Spatial Strategy, the Labour government had wanted to force Bristol to build more houses within its boundaries than there is capacity for.
“Along with other councils across the country, the Lib Dems in Bristol have resisted this and worked to set a realistic target that allows for sustainable growth without jeopardising the city’s green threshold.”
The Core Strategy sets a target of 30,000 new homes within the boundaries of Bristol by 2026. There are also new targets for the provision of affordable homes, especially in more affluent areas and the city centre, where up to 40% of new developments will be expected to be affordable.
It also lays out sustainability standards for new housing and other buildings in the city, including a specific commitment to energy efficiency and renewable energy sources.”
Update:
At the full council meeting on Tuesday, November 10, councillors endorsed the policy put forward. It means 100 acres of green land around the city cannot be built on for at least 10 years once the policy comes into force next year. Councillors have agreed to build 30,000 new homes within the city of Bristol, but promise these will be on brownfield and disused green space within the city boundaries.
Further reading
If the Lib Dems were serious about the green belt they would have stopped this developement, wouldn’t they!
As a local businessman, my company http://www.funkypigeon.com is based in Bedminster and I feel that there are arguments for and against this development, however I thought this article was written in a well balanced manner and both sides should be considered.
Not all change is bad, is it?