Let’s end the nightmare of Speculative Development

South Gloucestershire moved one step closer to ending the nightmare of speculative development taking place across the district by approving the Local Plan at its Full Council on 12th Feb in order to move on to the next stage.

Councillors expressed praise for the plan whilst acknowledging that it does not come without challenges.

Cllr Chris Willmore (Lib Dem, Yate North) said the council shared campaigners’ pain that land had to be found for so many new homes but stated today’s vote is not about whether we like or dislike this plan or not - it is about whether to publish a plan by 12 March or not. 

She said: “If we don’t publish this plan by March 12, the published plan would have to add another 5000 houses immediately. The plan’s allocation of 22,500 new homes is painful but that the suggestion that they could be built around South Gloucestershire's villages would mean doubling every one in size. The Conservatives have not come up with a single reasonable proposal for where to put the first 15000 new homes - they don’t seem to have a clue where they would put these extra houses.”

“Not voting for this plan means voting to say we want to return to the days of the worst excesses of unregulated planning by appeal. Maybe that is what they want - but we don’t. Not having a plan means developers will be falling over themselves to put in planning applications and we will be left with a situation like in the past where the houses are built without the right infrastructure in place. I say not on my watch!”

Cabinet member for adults and homes Cllr John O’Neill (Lib Dem, Charfield) said data published last week showed 74 children in temporary accommodation across the country had died in the last five years because of damp, mould or cold homes.

He said: “That is absolutely shameful. We’re the fifth largest economy in the world, it’s 2025, and we’ve got children dying in temporary accommodation. In South Gloucestershire we are increasing our affordable homes to 40 per cent and we will do whatever we can for children at risk and families to get them into warm, safe and secure homes.”

Council leader Cllr Maggie Tyrrell (Lib Dem, Thornbury) said: "Getting any Local Plan to this stage is a monumental task but in this case there has been added pressure of last-minute changes to government guidelines including how we calculate the housing numbers. Understandably much of the public focus is on the housing numbers and sites but this plan is so much more than that.

“It supports our strategic objectives on climate emergency and nature recovery with thoughtful policies. It looks at how to support our businesses and the connectivity between jobs and homes.

“It means housing will be delivered in the most sustainable locations where schools, health and transport issues can best be addressed while, despite what some people might claim, using only 2.5 per cent of greenbelt land. The plan acknowledges that some areas have seen significant development, including damaging speculative development with poor infrastructure in recent years.

“That’s because we’ve had no up-to-date Local Plan in place. So to have this going forward, which at least has a fighting chance of getting through that inquiry, it will stop that speculative development and lead us into well-made local planning decisions that won't be overturned on appeal.”