South Gloucestershire Council

Published: 16/10/2015

In November, we are due to consult on two major planning documents and we are encouraging people to get involved and have their say in shaping their communities.

The first to launch on November 9 is the Joint Spatial Plan (JSP). The JSP sets out an ambitious twenty year vision for the housing and employment growth in the West of England. Through continued collaboration, the four authorities across the West of England (South Gloucestershire, Bristol, North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset), aim to deliver a plan which sets out the most appropriate location and mix of housing, and land for employment, and which identifies the transport and other infrastructure needed across the region as a whole.

The other plan which we will be consulting on, later in November, is South Gloucestershire’s Policies, Sites and Places (PSP) plan. Councillors on the Policy & Resources Committee agreed on Friday 9 October to update the timetable for completing the PSP before it undergoes an examination in public by an independent Planning Inspector.

Our PSP plan sets out new planning policies for South Gloucestershire up to 2027, looking at how we will manage new development and growth in the area, as well as allocating and safeguarding land for various types of development, whilst the JSP is being brought forward to provide the longer-term vision.

Following the outcome of a planning appeal into a residential scheme in Charfield this summer, the council cannot demonstrate a five year supply of housing land. To ensure development in South Gloucestershire remains plan-led we now need to identify additional housing sites and consult further on these before submitting the final plan to the inspector.

It is important to stress that all of the comments we received on the PSP plan during the summer will still be taken into consideration and put to the Inspector as part of the examination next year.

Cllr Brian Allinson, Chair of Planning, Transportation and Strategic Environment Committee, said: “Planning is governed by a number of plans and policies and it is important that our Local Plan is compatible with the longer term, region-wide and strategic approaches. The Policies, Sites and Places Plan purely covers South Gloucestershire and will set the planning rules and allocate sites that will govern local development. In turn, it will feed into the wider Joint Spatial Plan, which will guide councils across the West of England to provide the space for growth in a way that makes sense across authority boundaries.”

Further details on the draft PSP plan is available on our website at www.southglos.gov.uk/policiessitesandplaces and all our consultations are published online at www.southglos.gov.uk/consultation

Further reminders about these important consultations will be issued in November.