Time running out to have your say on housing plans!

Don't forget, you only have until the end of Monday 19th December to have your say on plans to build thousands of homes in our area (See our previous post here)

The West of England Joint Spatial Plan (JSP, or in plain English "What might be built where"!) proposes:

• 2,600 around Yate and Chipping Sodbury
• 1,500 new homes at Coalpit Heath
• 1,000 homes at Charfield 
• 600 homes at Thornbury 
• 2,200 homes at a new garden village at Buckover near Thornbury

Although the final plan will only talk about broad locations, as part of the supporting evidence the West of England has produced a series of "dashboard" maps showing where they think the development could be accommodated at each location.You can view those maps here (Yate and Chipping Sodbury are on page 27)

Local councillors Claire Young, Ruth Davis
and Mike Drew at the recent drop-in

We know it's a very busy time of the year but it's vital that as many local people as possible have their say on these plans. To do that, go to the JSP consultation home page. From there, you have two options. You can view an interactive version of the document, where you can make your comments  as you go along. Alternatively, you can download a PDF of the whole document and fill in the online survey. 

You don't have to answer all the questions. If you think there are reasons why the houses could not be built at a particular location, you can put those in answer to question 5. For example, people in Coalpit Heath are concerned about the old mines under the fields. If you think the West of England is taking the wrong approach to deciding where all the new houses should go, you can explain why in answer to question 6. This would also be the place to suggest an alternative strategy.

At the same time, the West of England is also consulting on a Joint Transport Study (JTS). This proposes transport improvements for the different parts of the West of England (or again in plain English, "How on earth are people going to get round when all the houses are built"). To view the plans and make your comments, go to the JTS consultation home page. Again, you can view an interactive version of the document or download a PDF and fill in the online survey.