B&NES plan for 12,700 homes clears another hurdle

A public hearing into Bath’s planning blue print is to continue in late November after Planning Inspector Simon Emerson decided to proceed with Bath and North East Somerset Council’s Core Strategy.

Mr Emerson has been assessing whether the draft core strategy is legally sound and there had been concerns that the plan did not take into account the housing needs of other areas such as Bristol.

The Core Strategy, which earmarks sites for 12,700 homes over the next 15 years, includes Green Belt at Weston and South Stoke.

Councillor Tim Ball (Lib-Dem, Twerton), Cabinet member for homes and planning, said: “The Core Strategy focuses development on brownfield sites as far as possible and seeks to limit the use of Green Belt land to achieve our homes target to support local need.”

The South of Bath Alliance supports the focus on brownfield sites, but we believe the Green Belt should be non-negotiable and Bath should be treated as a special case.