Bristol

Welcome to the Bristol section of the CPRE Avonside Web site. There is no separate District Group for Bristol but members in north Bristol are represented by the South Gloucestershire District of the Branch and those in the south of the city by North Somerset District.

Our Aims

CPRE champions the concept of urban renaissance because a healthy, pleasant environment in our towns and cities goes hand in hand with a healthy and attractive countryside.

We therefore support the provision of attractive, well designed and good quality homes close to shops, public transport, schools, leisure facilities and workplaces. Sustainable cities also depend on reliable public transport systems, while green spaces in towns and cities, whether communal areas or in private gardens, matter just as much to people as green open spaces in the countryside and are vital for the good health and quality of life of residents of urban areas.

As a major city which is continually evolving and developing, Bristol generates a constant stream of planning applications which have implications for the character and quality of its environment.

We are able to monitor and respond to just a few of these applications. For local residents who are concerned about proposals for their area the CPRE Planning Help website offers useful guidance on how to respond to applications, while the Planning Finder website is a useful tool for tracing the latest applications in your area. The Government’s Planning Portal also gives helpful information about the planning system.

Bristol City Council Consultations

Bristol City Council is also currently consulting on a number of draft policies relating to the future development of Bristol. CPRE has responded to some of these, including:

• Bristol Development Framework
  This contains the key planning policy documents which will guide Bristol’s growth over the next 20 years. CPRE is currently attending a number of ongoing consultation events which are helping to shape the final version of the documents. For an explanation of Local Development Frameworks click here to link to the guide on the Government’s Planning Portal website
• The Core Strategy
  This is a key document within the Bristol Development Framework, setting out the Council’s strategic approach to shaping the future of the city. The finalised version has been published and is being examined by a Planning Inspector at hearings being held between June and September 2010. We have made representations about the soundness of the document relating to the sections on Green Belt and Green Infrastructure which we consider to be ineffective. We will be participants at the hearing sessions on housing numbers and housing in the Green Belt.  These have had to be postponed because of changes in Government policy and the revocation of Regional Spatial Strategies. (See the Avonside home page on Housing in the Avonside Area for information on these changes). Several earlier consultation documents were produced at different stages in the preparation of the final Core Strategy. These include:
  • The Preferred Options Paper of 2008  Click here to read our response to the preferred options paper;
  • The Preferred Options Review produced in Spring 2009 as a response to the Government document “The Regional Spatial Strategy for the South West: Proposed Changes“;
  • The Draft Development Principles of June 2009.

  We responded to these consultations, objecting to proposals for urban extensions on the Bristol Green Belt and urging that revitalisation of areas within the city boundaries, including prioritising brownfield development, use of vacant properties and imaginative approaches to increasing density where appropriate, should take priority over allowing development on the green fringes of the city.

• Bristol Parks and Green Space Strategy
  This outlines a 20 year investment programme for the future provision of green space and the facilities and services that should be provided. As the first step in implementing this Strategy the Council is currently consulting on a series of Area Green Space Plan ideas and options papers. We are concerned about plans to build housing on some green spaces and will be responding accordingly.
• Site Allocations and Development Management Document
  This will contribute to delivering the policies of the Core Strategy by allocating specific sites for development and by giving protection to sites which are sensitive to change. Some sites are those designated in the Area Green Space Plan document. It will also outline Development Management policies which will be used to help determine planning applications.
• The Statement of Community Involvement
  This is another document within the Framework. This sets out the Council’s strategy and methods for involving people in plan making and development issues.

The Greater Bristol Area

The greater Bristol area extends into South Gloucestershire in the North and North Somerset to the South, and this adds to the complexity of the range of policies and proposals which affect local residents and which are of concern to CPRE. Current examples include:

• Housing in the Avonside Area
  The Regional Spatial Strategy for the South West suggested a huge increase in housing numbers in Bristol and surrounding areas by 117,000 new homes to the year 2026. This included several urban extensions in the Green Belt.  We were extremely concerned about the proposals and our comments about the threat to Bristol and its environment were included in the CPRE South West Response to the latest consultation on the Strategy. However the RSS has now been revoked.  While the new planning system places the responsibility for determining housing provision in the hands of local authorities, it is still not entirely clear how the new system will work. Bristol’s Core Strategy is currently being examined for soundness by a Planning Inspector and we expect his decision in the autumn on Bristol’s proposals for a lower figure than that in the RSS. We made representations on the plans for housing in the Green Belt and will be participants at the hearing in September. See the Avonside CPRE home page for a link to the text of the complete CPRE South West response to the consultation on the RSS.
  To read the section of this Response relating to housing plans for Bristol please read this document:
  Regional CPRE Proposed C response Oct 08 – Section 4(2)HMAs
  To read our press release about the likely effect of the proposals on Bristol please read this document:
  Press Release Oct 08: Excessive New Build In Bristol “A Nonsense!” In Current Economic Climate
• Bristol International Airport Expansion plans
• The Green Belt
• West of England Joint Waste Core Strategy

Roads

• The Greater Bristol Strategic Transport Study
• The Joint Local Transport Plan
• The South Bristol Ring Road

For submissions and comments by the Avonside Branch and its Districts on some of these issues, see the Branch and  District sections of the website.

Support Us

If you would like to support CPRE by becoming a member, you will find details on the CPRE website.  If you are already a member and would like to take a more active role in influencing decisions about Bristol’s future then we would be pleased to hear from you via  the Contact Us page.