Bristol locals speak out against new homes plan

More than 130 people showed their opposition to the proposed green-belt development in south Bristol.

Concerned residents and campaigners packed Bedminster Down School hall last night for a meeting to discuss the controversial Ashton Park plan.

In the next few months, North Somerset District and Bristol City councils will consider an outline planning application for a plan to build about 9,500 new homes and other facilities in Ashton Vale over the next 20 years.

Also within the plan for the area between the A38 at Dundry and the A370 Long Ashton bypass are shops and offices, a leisure centre, a new secondary school and as many as six new primary schools.

The Government has said thousands of new homes will be needed in the Bristol area as part of the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS).

And although the RSS has not yet been ratified nationally, council planners could make a provisional decision on the Ashton Park plans in January.

Dundry Residents Action Group (DRAG) chairwoman Debbie Nicholls said: "This is not going to be a fairy tale come true. This is going to be a nightmare for at least 20 years."

The Bedminster Down and Uplands Society (BDUS) and its friends paid for the hire of the school hall and, with DRAG, organised the meeting.

BDUS chairwoman Diana Porter said: "We are convinced that this represents the greatest threat yet to destroying our local landscape forever."

The majority of the land in question is owned or controlled by the Land Trust.

John Baker, of project manager Baker Associates, told the audience this amount of new homes would be needed in the future and this was the nearest suitable land to the city centre.

Mr Baker outlined the transport infrastructure that would be provided, including a rapid transit bus route and a link road from the A370 to the A38.

He also said green spaces would be kept and a new energy plant would use waste to create power for the development.

But questioning the figures given for future housing needs, Jill Britten, who runs an organic beef farm in Whitchurch, said: "Is there nobody in this world that sees sense?"

Chris Pope, 61, of Dundry Lane, said: "People living round here today will be expected to live in the middle of a building site for the next 20 years if this plan gets the go-ahead."

Other residents were concerned where the jobs would come from for people living in Ashton Park. Mr Baker responded: "The continued growth of Bristol will bring employment into Bristol and the housing will support that."

Peter Crispin, of the Ashton Vale Heritage Group, said: "We are being fobbed off by the idea that you can have a development like this and it's not going to create any more traffic."

Other fears were raised about drainage and flood risks and increased crime. Chairing the meeting, Bristol City Council's Conservative party leader Richard Eddy said the RSS should be "abolished" and said the amount of houses it has earmarked for the region is "unsustainable". Fellow Bishopsworth councillor Kevin Quartley was also at the meeting.

One Bedminster Down resident of 25 years spoke in favour of the proposals. He said apart from the new secondary school, there had been very little investment in the area.

Residents in North Somerset – where 98 per cent of the development would be – have until October 23 to register their opinions. Write to the planning department, North Somerset Council, Somerset House, Oxford Street, Weston-super-Mare, BS23 1TG. Bristol residents can send comments to City Development, Brunel House, St George's Road, Bristol, BS1 5UY.