Bristol, Woodlands

 SWSD have been appointed to promote a major garden village proposal to the north of Bristol. Work has been ongoing to identify the planning constraints, infrastructure requirements and concepts for the project. 

The SWSD team took part in the West of England Joint Spatial Plan Examination in Summer 2019. Represented by Satnam Choongh of No5 Chambers, we successfully argued that the preparation of the JSP had been unsound and that sites such as North Bristol were being overlooked due to their Green Belt status, despite it being sustainably located in close proximity to existing transport hubs and employment. 

The Inspectors agreed with this assertion and asked the four West of England Councils to withdraw the plan and start afresh to reconsider this issue. South Gloucestershire has now prepared an alternative plan for the area, which has recently been published. This now includes the Woodlands Garden Community as an integral part of its spatial strategy and the site is earmarked for allocation for 1,800 homes. This is a significant turnaround achieved through SWSD’s diligent work.

We are now working in partnership with the council to work up more detailed proposal for this large site and have also commenced the preparation of a planning application to further ensure that all technical constraints are addressed to give the council comfort that the site can be delivered and could be allocated without adverse effect. 

It is anticipated that the application will be lodged in 2024 and we hope that permission will follow soon after.