News / Development
Long Ashton’s battle not to be ‘identikit extension of Bristol’
There is a “dawning acceptance” in Long Ashton that thousands more homes will have to built in the green belt near the village.
As North Somerset Council is told it needs to find space to build more than 1,500 homes a year, a new plan could see thousands of houses stretch to the edge of Long Ashton from Bishopsworth in south Bristol.
Long Ashton is located in what is considered to be the most valuable stretch of green belt in North Somerset, which villagers have fought to protect over the last few decades.
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But now a local councillor says there is an increased recognition of the scheme in the village if locals can help shape the plans.
“I think there is an acceptance, given the need for housing and the pressure from the central government, that saying no is not an answer and there’s a dawning acceptance locally that’s the case,” said independent councillor Ash Cartman, one of Long Ashton’s two representatives on North Somerset Council.
North Somerset has been told by the government it needs to build a mandatory 23,895 new homes by 2040; 8,620 more than it had previously been told it needed to find space for.
The council has now delayed its local plan – the major document which determines the planning policies of the area for the next 15 years – to consult again on where the new homes should go.
A map of the proposals shows a 205 hectare swathe of land east of Bishopsworth around the A38 and Woodspring Golf Course, just across the valley from Long Ashton, highlighted as one of the “most suitable” sites for 4,000 homes.
Meanwhile, more land just across the Long Ashton Bypass and right on the edge of the village has been earmarked as having “other potential” and could accommodate just over 3,000 homes.
A map of the proposals sees the ‘most suitable’ areas for development highlighted in yellow and ‘other development’ potential in orange – map: North Somerset Council
Cartman said the site closest to the village would be a “no go” but that locals could work with the homes being built on the other site.
He said: “It’s not fair that we take everything on the proposals but it possibly is fair that we take a significant development if we can preserve our identity, spatial gap, etc.
“If everyone says no we are not going to get anywhere (but) if we are going to build something there, I think it should be something we can be proud of…
“And that isn’t just an identikit extension of Bristol.”
Cartman said that depends on North Somerset Council “listening to legitimate concerns and not just characterising us as blockers and NIMBYs”.
Long Ashton lies a short distance from the edge of Bristol in what is considered to be the most valuable stretch of green belt in North Somerset – photo: Right Move
The proposal to open up the green belt near Long Ashton for more housing comes shortly after the village lost a battle against plans for an American healthcare technology company to build their European headquarters in a large campus on a triangle of land between the Long Ashton Bypass and South Bristol Link Road.
The development was fiercely opposed by Long Ashton Parish Council, who warned the village would be “subsumed into Bristol”.
Cartman had been a Lib Dem councillor but left the group “in disgust” at how the council and members of his former party had supported the plans.
The consultation on North Somerset’s local plan will run until March 21.
Other major new housing locations could include the new village of Wolvershill; more development in Backwell; expanding Nailsea to the north, south, and especially west; building about 1,000 more homes in Pill; and 400 homes on Portishead Down.
To take part in the consultation, visit n-somerset.inconsult.uk
Main photo: Martin Booth
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