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.

The West of England Joint Spatial Plan (JSP) proposes:

• 1,500 new homes at Coalpit Heath
• 2,600 around Yate and Chipping Sodbury
• 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 "dashboards" showing where they think the development could be accommodated at each location.You can view those here.

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. 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.

On Saturday a large crowd of people braved the rain to protest about the plans for 1,500 houses to be built in the Green Belt around Coalpit Heath. The VALID campaign was set up earlier this month after local councillor Claire Young brought together people who had told her they wanted to campaign on development plans in the area. They have been extremely busy in the short time since they started, delivering a leaflet to houses in Coalpit Heath to let people know how to have their say and getting media coverage. Email VALIDcampaign@gmail.com if you would like to get involved, help them deliver future leaflets or simply want to be kept updated.