B&NES Council has recently consulted on updated Local Plan policies based on changes in local circumstances and national policy and legislation since the 2014-2017 adoption of the Core Strategy and Placemaking Plan.

Proposed revisions intend to address the Council’s declaration of a Climate and Ecological Emergency, update the local authorities housing supply to ensure the Core Strategy requirement can be met, and the update of specific policies addressing issues such as parking standards, purpose-built student accommodation, and Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs).

In response the Trust has welcomed ambitions for the development of greener policies in response to the Climate Emergency and increased energy efficiency targets for new builds, although we continue to encourage an increased cross border collaboration to address proposals such as large-scale renewable energy generation (wind and solar farms) and sustainable transport strategies.

We have encouraged policies to link student accommodation developments with education providers to ensure proposed sites meet demonstrated demand, and do not take up sites that could be used to provide housing.

We have raised serious concerns in response to the proposed “destination” function of Park and Rides; we maintain these sites should be primarily multimodal in their usage.  We will oppose any proposed removal of these sites from the Green Belt as we consider this could lead to ‘free-for-all’ development on these sites, at the gateways to the city.

You can read our full response here.

All consultation documents can be accessed here. The consultation closed on 18th February.