Jubilee way plan to divert it thrown out

In a second victory over developer's plans for Ladden Gardens, Councillors have thrown out plans that would have diverted the Jubilee Way  into the main estate road, rather than retaining its direct link from Brimsham park out to the countryside.

The Jubilee way is a 27 mile national trail from Aust to the Cotswold, created in 1985 for the Ramblers Jubilee.  Through 43 years of development the Trail has never had to be diverted, developers have always accommodated the trail.... until now.

Right from the masterplan for the development, the line of the Jubilee way had been protected. Developers were told they had to come up with plans that preserved this route.

The developers did protect the LINE of it, but came up with a plan where it would have been sandwiched between walls, and be horrid. Yate Town Councillors objected and said it needed to be kept on the historic line, but properly landscaped, so people could see across to Yate Rocks as they left the park.  But some urban design specialists at the council decided it would be far better to divert it to along a hedgerow and then along the main road of the new estate, losing that direct link.

Locals objected. We wanted it properly landscaped on its original path - in line with the master plan. . At a Strategic Planning Committee on 19th, Mike Drew was able to persuade Labour and Lib Dem Councillors there to back the residents.  And with the Tories 2 councillors short, that meant Mike won......

But no sooner had the councillors dared to back local residents over officers than the officers announced they would be taking it to a Spatial Planning Committee, with a bigger Tory majority, designed to overrule  Strategic Planning Committees who dare to reject officer recommendations.