33,000 say no to houses on Bristol green belt

Thousands of people worried about the loss of huge tracts of protected land for new homes in the greater Bristol area are pushing for the plans to be scrapped.

They have bombarded the Government with letters in a campaign against the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) for the South West, which proposes building 500,000 new homes by 2026 – half of them in the countryside in big urban extensions.

For the former Avon area, that would see some 117,000 houses built in Bristol, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset.

Meanwhile, thousands of homes across the region lie empty.

A consultation website has revealed nearly 33,000 responses to the RSS – the same number as homes proposed for the whole of South Gloucestershire.

Councillors in that district are backing residents in opposing such massive building.

They said 21,500 extra homes were needed for local people but 33,000 was too great a number and started a No Way to 33K campaign.

Brian Allinson, the executive member for planning, transport and the environment, said: "It is clear that thousands of residents in the South West have joined South Gloucestershire Council in sending the Government an unequivocal message – these housing numbers are damaging and unsustainable.

"The sheer scale of the response from South Gloucestershire residents is undoubtedly down to the tremendous efforts put in by local campaign groups in places such as Shortwood, Siston and Warmley – not to mention the district-wide No Way To 33K campaign.

"I pay tribute to their hard work because it has galvanised people not just in South Gloucestershire but across the West of England and the South West."

Councillor Sandra Grant, whose Boyd Valley ward contains the green belt around Shortwood, said: "Only the most arrogant of Government ministers could ignore such a strong and decisive collective response so I hope the new Secretary of State, John Denham, listens to us and scraps these plans. It is the future of our district that is at stake."

Jackie Dalgarno, of the Save Warmley and Siston Green Spaces group, said: "The focus must be on regenerating our towns before fields and countryside are built on.

"The Government is due to publish its final decision on the future of the South West very soon. What's at stake are our precious green spaces and wonderful open countryside."

She urged anyone who had not yet responded to the consultation to do so before it was too late.

Jo Haywood, spokeswoman for the Save Our Green Spaces coalition of South West action groups, said members were planning to deliver thousands of letters, emails and postcards to Mr Denham, who succeeded Hazel Blears in his new job.

She said: "We want to be one of the first groups to meet with him and will be writing to ask for an early appointment."

Pip Sheard, of Bristol Friends of the Earth, said: "The RSS represents an environmental disaster for Bristol. We cannot afford to lose any of the countryside which surrounds our city to development. We must protect it by transforming our urban areas with higher housing densities using land more efficiently, mixed developments and better public transport."

Ron Morton, of Shortwood Green Belt Campaign, said: "Our cities do not need unsustainable urban sprawl.

"While we recognise the need for extra housing, it is totally unacceptable to eat into the green belt, which has the sole purpose of preventing such an occurrence. What about the 6,000 empty homes in Bristol?"