BANES Core Strategy

The Liberal Democrats have welcomed the final adoption of the B&NES Core Strategy, hailing it as good news for the area.

The Core Strategy, which has been in preparation since 2007, was adopted by 40 votes to 21 with Councillors from all parties voting in favour of the strategy.

Councillor Sharon Ball commented “The final adoption of the Core Strategy is good news for our area because it paves the way for homes and jobs to be delivered for local people. Everyone will have heard stories of local people who have been forced to move to Bristol or further afield to find somewhere affordable to live, despite working in Bath. We can’t help solve this problem without building more homes. Local people need homes, services and jobs.”

Lib Dem Campaigner Sarah Moore said “The Core Strategy being adopted was the only deal on the table for B&NES.  Without it the council would not have any defence against speculative planning applications on any piece of land throughout the district."

Placemaking Consultation

Local people are being invited by Bath & North East Somerset Council to have their say on what the future of development should look like across the district through the Placemaking Plan.

A consultation started on 25th July 2013 and will continue until Friday 20th September. Key questions are being posed by the Launch Document, such as:

• How should sites relate to the surrounding environment and communities?
• How should new streets and spaces be connected to existing ones?
• What mixture of homes and jobs should be provided on which sites?
• What important views should be protected?
• How should we manage the changing nature of retailing?
• How do we ensure more low carbon development?
• How do we safeguard our high quality environments, and ensure high quality design?

The main purpose of the Launch Document is to spark debate and discussion about these detailed planning issues. The feedback from the consultation will be used to inform further preparation of the Placemaking Plan. A series of events will take place Autumn onwards as part of this stage.

The consultation does not cover the potential new areas of housing adjacent to Bath, Keynsham and south east Bristol at Whitchurch.

Get involved today

The Placemaking Plan Launch Document and comments form are available on the Council’s website www.bathnes.gov.uk/placemakingplan   

They can also be viewed at the following locations during opening hours:

• Council offices
• The One Stop Shop, Manvers Street, Bath, BA1 1JG;
• The Hollies, Midsomer Norton, Bath, BA3 2DP;
• Riverside, Temple Street, Keynsham, Bristol, BS31 1LA;
• At all public libraries in the District, including the mobile library service.

How is this related to the Core Strategy?

The Placemaking Plan sets out the detailed development site principles and other policies for managing development within the context of the Core Strategy. It is being progressed at the same time as the Core Strategy to ensure a robust set of planning policies are in place as soon as possible.

Relief in sight for Local residents

Westmoreland residents can feel a sigh of relief as the council approves its core Strategy.

The Bath Press site that has been subject to a Tesco hypermarket planning application has had its designation changed in the emerging Core Strategy to a site of mixed development with an allocation for over 100 new homes.

"This element of the Core Strategy makes a huge hypermarket on the Bath Press site very unlikely says Westmoreland ward councillor Sharon Ball, but it still leaves room for a modest size store that would be more in keeping with the area".

The Core strategy was approved by a full Council of Bath & North East Somerset on Monday night that included housing growth figures of 12,700 new homes to be built by 2029, with an element of over 3,000 affordable homes.

Local Liberal Democrat campaigner Sarah Moore said: "I have always thought that there was a need for a modest store on this side of the City and the Core strategy helps to deliver this".

The Core Strategy is now out for consultation and if you want to read more and make a comment then follow this link. Core Strategy

Sarah Moore's speech in favour of the core strategy can be found here.

 I would like to urge the council to all vote for the core strategy proposed this evening.

BANES is in desperate need of more affordable family and social housing, far too many of my family and friends have been forced to move out of the area due to high housing costs.

My family tree can be traced back to the early 1700's in the BANES area, but if you do not act soon,  feel there will be no family homes for my children to afford .

The high prices on one side of the city coupled with the significant number of HMO's on the other has limited the options for far too long and will only get worse.

You need to reduce the number of properties able to become HMO's sooner rather than later and allow for more affordable homes to be built.

If large companies such as Tesco and Sainsbury were to reduce their footprint for stores in the area there would be more room for affordable houses to be built, enabling lower paid residents the opportunity of owning their own home.

Finally, I would like to congratulate all councillors and council staff that took part in the bath half yesterday and also the council employees who managed to get the route clean and open so quickly.