• Save Our Green Spaces Web Page
• Briefing on the South West Regional Plans

August 2008

The Secretary of State has responded to the proposed SW Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) and the inspection panel report. I have now received a copy in electronic form. It is on CD if anyone wants to have a look at it, or I can email bits of it. We have until Friday 17 October to respond if we so wish.

• Large chunks of the RSS have been rewritten, so it is hard to work out what the changes are.
• In terms of Council areas, the housing numbers in the West of England have gone up as in the table below:-

In terms of areas of search, the housing numbers will now be:-

Alan

• The consultation on the regional strategy, including the effects on the green belt, has now closed, and the petition has been handed in.
• Our campaign has persuaded South Gloucestershire Council to oppose the plans, and they have allocated £150,000 to fight them at the inquiry into the plans in April 2007.
• For further details click here.
• We thank everyone for their support in this campaign.

• See the College Green Demo pictures here

• Download this as a leaflet to print out: leaflet (220KB)
• See our detailed proposals here, (also available in pdf for printing (450KB))

Regional planners want to massively increase the population in Bristol: by about 40% by 2026. This growth would require massive house building on the Greenbelt around the city, equivalent to five new Bradley Stokes. They believe this huge expansion will improve the prosperity and attractiveness of the Bristol area. We believe that the growth will significantly reduce the quality of life for everyone in the Bristol area.

The planners want to build around 100,000 new homes over the next 20 years. Their best estimates are that 60,000 could be built on “brownfield” sites within the existing built-up area. So that leaves over 40,000 to be built in the surrounding countryside, absorbing places like Almondsbury, Winterbourne, Keynsham, Long Ashton and Dundry into the urban sprawl. The Greenbelt was designed to stop cities sprawling over the countryside: giving city dwellers green space to enjoy, allowing the city to breathe, enabling local food production, and preserving wildlife.

100,000 new houses will force us to squeeze at least 100,000 more cars onto our already congested roads. More cars lead to more traffic jams, leading to pressure for more roads. Building more roads will mean that even more of our beautiful local countryside is lost forever. More traffic means more noise intruding on our lives. More traffic means fewer safer places for our kids to play. All this will also increase climate change. We should instead be looking to reduce energy use in all new plans.

Huge growth is being pressed on the West of England by central Government, regional policies and by commercial interests who will profit from it. High growth does not always improve quality of life. The Index of Sustainable Welfare shows that over the last twenty years or so, despite economic growth, quality of life in the UK has declined steadily. Extra wealth does not compensate for increasing traffi c congestion, noise, pollution and the loss of open spaces, local shops and services.

The FOE vision (also available in pdf for printing (450KB)) is for Bristol to be the happiest and most sustainable city in Europe, not the biggest building site. We offer a proposal based on low population growth, high quality of life:

• keep the urban area at its current size, surrounded by beautiful countryside.
• build only on brownfield sites where shops, schools and buses already exist.
• create urban villages: sustainable communities of homes clustered tightly around a local centre within walking distance of shops, jobs and buses routes.
• invest in and improve local public transport:
  • reduce city car traffic by 50%
  • road charging in Bristol city centre
  • great public transport: create an unbroken network of bus lanes; guided buses as an affordable train-like system.
  • trams or light rail from the fringe towns into the city centre
• design traffic-free shopping streets.
• invest in an electrified high speed railway from South Wales and the South West to London, and on to mainland Europe
• stop expansion of Bristol airport: proposed huge increases in cheap fl ights cause noise, pollution, traffic, greenhouse gases and yet more loss of countryside.

If you care about your area, please help us stop this massive house building plan. There are several easy steps you can take:

• Write to the leader of your local Council. Tell him or her that you want the Council to object to the Regional Spatial Strategy and preserve the greenbelt. The names and addresses are below:-

          Bristol City:                           South Gloucestershire:     
          Cllr Barbara Janke                      Cllr Ruth Davis                    
          Bristol City Council Cabinet Leader     The Council Offices        
          The Council House                       Castle Street              
          College Green                           Thornbury                  
          BS1 5TR                                 BS35 1HF

          BANES:                                  North Somerset:                    
          Councillor Paul Crossley                Cllr Michael Roe           
          Bath & NE Somerset Council              North Somerset Council     
          Cabinet Leader                          Cabinet Leader             
          Guildhall                               Town Hall                  
          High Street                             Walliscote Grove Road      
          Bath                                    Weston-super-Mare          
          BA1 5AW                                 Somerset                   

• Write to the your MP to state your opposition. Get them to ask the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott to stop imposing house building on the regions. All MPs can be written to at:

         House of Commons
         London SW1A 0AA

• Join us in South Gloucestershire Friends of the Earth here.

Exec Summary (see full report here):

• The “Vision” of high growth appears to have been accepted and is being assumed in West of England Joint Study Area Report to the Regional Assembly
• This appears to be at odds with Pat Hockey's and Roger Daniel's statements at http:housing:save_our_greenbelt_press.html{Public meeting held} on 30th March 05
  • they claimed no decisions have been made
  • there is still lots of consultation
• We need to modify this and…
  • cast the greenbelt in stone (sic)
  • ensure no new road building
  • stop further airport expansion
  • build an electrified high speed railway from South Wales and South West to London and on to the channel tunnel.
  • stop the massive house building plans South of Bristol since employment is predicted in North Bristol and city centre. Therefore this will just create more long distance commuters!
  • build only high density apartments in the centre on brownfield sites where employment growth is predicted and public transport can work.
  • build an unbroken network of bus lanes (and a better bus operator!) to make public transport feasible.

See the write-up here

Report of Public consultation and a summary of responses to Directions for Change is available at the West of England partnership website.

• See a summary of responses here (321KB)

• Here is a sample letter to send to your MP. Do it today!
• If your are able to, here also is a petition you could print and collect signatures for.
  • Send it in to our coordinator Denise Thompson (see contacts page)

• Fill in the questionaire at the consultation website today!
• See a summary of why you should write in - even after the closing date of 14th Jan - here.
• Friends of the Earth Official Response
• See another critique of the document here
• Key websites:
  • consultation website
  • Greater Bristol Strategic Transport Study website
  • My Vision website

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