West takes fight against 117,350 new homes to Westminster

THE battle against mass housebuilding in the greater Bristol area was moving to Westminster today with campaigners travelling to London to voice their opposition to the controversial proposals.

They were heading for the capital on the day that Northavon MP Steve Webb was leading a 90-minute debate on the plans that could see acres of protected green belt lost to development.

Mr Webb secured the parliamentary discussion as fears increase about the West having to find space for 117,350 houses by 2026.

That figure includes 38,500 homes for Bristol, 32,800 for South Gloucestershire, 26,750 for North Somerset and 19,300 for Bath and North East Somerset.

Mr Webb said his criticism of the housebuilding plans would focus on two main areas in South Gloucestershire – the loss of green belt around Shortwood and Pucklechurch and the implications for Yate and Chipping Sodbury given the already over-crowded roads and lack of public transport.

Other MPs from the West were expected to take part in the debate, while people living in areas likely to be affected by the expansion used the occasion to pass on their feelings to the Government.

They included members of the Save Our Green Spaces group in Siston and Warmley, who fear an urban expansion of 8,000 new homes – bigger than Bradley Stoke – will threaten a huge area of green belt from Oldland Common to Shortwood.

Events in London also coincided with South Gloucestershire Council's ruling cabinet deciding to challenge the level of building in the district outlined in the latest draft of the South West Regional Spatial Strategy.

The council wants the level of housing proposed to be cut to 21,500 – the most it had previously said the area could accommodate.

Mr Webb said people had great concerns about the numbers of houses suggested and urged them to make their views known by the deadline for comments of October 24.

He said: "We are not objecting to measured and sustainable housebuilding in the right places, but over-development on the scale proposed could destroy our quality of life. I hope everyone will do their best to respond before the deadline so the Government knows the strength of local feeling."

Members of the Avonside branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) said the pace and scale of development had to be reconsidered.

Georgie Bigg, chairwoman of CPRE North Somerset District, said: "We are concerned this level of development will have devastating effects on many communities, including Long Ashton, Dundry and Barrow Gurney. Although we recognise significant housing affordability problems within the region, building excessive levels of open market housing is not the solution.

"The proposed level of development must be reconsidered, especially in light of the current economic climate, which makes us question how deliverable this level of housing would really be. A more sustainable and realistic approach to development must be found."

Hundreds of people have debated the proposals in recent weeks at public meetings organised variously by residents, MPs, conservation groups and prospective parliamentary candidates. Housing is one of the most controversial of the subjects in the regional spatial strategy, which also sets the framework for transport and economic development in the region.

In Bristol there will be pressure to build on brownfield sites, but in the surrounding areas there are fears that councils will be pushed to release areas of countryside for new homes.