As Crest Nicholson prepares to begin construction of a 763-home development in Harry Stoke (subject to final planning approval), a local history enthusiast is calling on the developer to preserve a historic water feature…

By Adrian Kerton

The ‘moat’ at Harry Stoke has always been regarded as an insignificant small pond, but now the surrounding scrub has been cleared, it can be seen to be a large, well engineered water feature, with an extensive dry stone wall. It is connected by an underground stone lined drain to the Stonelands pond, which is a breeding pond for the great crested newt, and as the two ponds are connected, it is probable that the moat is also a breeding pond.

So what is the purpose of the feature? A map of 1951 shows the designation as a ‘moat’, but the surrounding terrain suggests it never encompassed the early medieval settlement.

So what was it? We know that in 1304 John le White of Bristol sold a plot of land and a mill to Margaret Gifford, so was it the mill pond? Previous excavations haven’t shown the presence of a mill, but South Gloucestershire Council archaeologist Paul Driscoll has requested some exploratory trenches.

The other explanation is that the moat is a medieval fishpond.

“Like field-ponds, fishponds have not been seriously studied. Popular legend links them exclusively with monasteries and monastic properties, but in fact the fishpond was a useful adjunct to any village.” – B. K. Roberts, Medieval Fishponds, 1966

“Period fishponds are very representative of large scale animal husbandry during the medieval and post medieval period. As such they have considerable historic interest.” – Historic England (which lists more than 50 medieval fishponds as scheduled monuments)

More: Medieval fishponds are usually rectangular »

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Local councillors and residents say they still have major concerns over recent amendments to a detailed planning application to build 763 new homes on land east of Harry Stoke Road.

Housebuilder Crest Nicholson, which recently acquired the land, held an information session in Stoke Gifford on 5th February, at which visitors were told that further revised plans are due to be submitted soon.

Stoke Gifford Parish Council said it aimed to formulate a response to the application at its planning meeting on Tuesday 26th February, but as we went to press there were doubts as to whether the latest batch of updated plans would be made available in time.

A Crest Nicholson spokesperson said:

“We are pleased with the outcome of our information session with the local community and continue to work closely with Stoke Gifford Parish Council and South Gloucestershire Council. We are in the process of revising our plans to submit to the council and intend to attend the next parish council meeting on Tuesday 26th February.”

A South Gloucestershire Council spokesperson said:

“Our planning officers spoke with Crest Nicholson’s representatives on 21st February and were informed that a set of amended plans would be submitted early in the week commencing Monday 25th February. The plans will be publicised in the usual way and residents will have the opportunity to comment as part of the publicity process. The publicity period for amended plans is normally seven days.”

Concerned local residents in the area around Harry Stoke Road have formed an action group and set up a website at www.harrystoke.org and a Facebook page named ‘Harry Stoke Development Action Group’.

• Planning ref: PT17/5810/RM

More: Site location plan. New documents uploaded on 27th February. »

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Residents of Harry Stoke have expressed concern over revised plans for a proposed housing development that would see 763 homes constructed on land immediately east of Harry Stoke Road.

The greenfield site forms part of a wider area which was designated in South Gloucestershire Council’s Local Plan, adopted in 2006, for the construction of a total of 1,200 homes. Outline planning permission for the whole site was subsequently granted in 2007.

So far, only 166 of the 1,200 homes have been built, at Crest Nicholson’s Highbrook Park development further to the east. A third block of 263 homes, planned for the area immediately south of Highbrook Park, makes up the total allowed by the Local Plan.

A reserved matters (detailed) planning application for “763 dwellings, community building, nursery and retail units with parking, landscaping and associated works” on the land closest to Harry Stoke Road was submitted by Muben Investments in December 2017. However, the land has recently been acquired by Crest Nicholson, who submitted a swathe of revised plans in late November 2018. In a covering letter submitted with the new plans, Crest explains that the changes have been necessary to substitute its own housetypes. It concedes that there are many other plans that still need to be updated, but argues that these should not hold up determination of the planning application as they can be addressed through ‘pre-commencement conditions’.

Speaking at a meeting of Stoke Gifford Parish Council on 8th January, local residents expressed concern that the style of housing proposed along Harry Stoke Road had been “completely changed” and was out of keeping with the existing architecture in Harry Stoke hamlet.

Residents were also angered by the fact that the consultation period coincided with the festive break and expired before the parish council could properly consider it at a formal meeting.

One resident expressed the view that Crest were “trying it on”, while a councillor said the submission of new plans “completely trashed” the results of previous consultations.

More: Information session arranged for Tuesday 5th February »

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House builder Crest Nicholson has been granted planning permission to build a total of 327 new homes, along with a primary school and a nursery, on steeply sloping agricultural land immediately east of Great Stoke Way and the new Stoke Gifford Transport Link (SGTL).

The 22-hectare development, which lies north of the main railway line that runs through Bristol Parkway, will form part of the East of Harry Stoke New Neighbourhood, an area earmarked for 2,000 new homes in South Gloucestershire Council’s Core Strategy.

Full permission was granted for 150 of the homes and a site-wide earthworks strategy, with outline permission for the remaining 177 homes, the primary school and the nursery.

The approval comes follows the granting of outline planning permission, in November 2018, for 1,290 new homes on Crest’s related site to the south of the railway.

A number of smaller sites in other ownerships are expected to contribute the remainder of the new neighbourhood’s overall housing quota.

Access to the ‘Crest north’ site will be from a new arm off Parkway North Roundabout in the west, and via a new junction on Old Gloucester Road, 90m south of its junction with Winterbourne Road in the east. A pinch point will be introduced on the main spine road through the development to discourage through traffic.

Extensive earthworks are required to create a level plateau to enable development. These earthworks comprise levelling the site at its highest point and infilling areas on the lower slopes, with no intention to take material off site. This will involve the excavation and relocation of 250,000sqm of material, resulting in embankments with gradients as steep as 1:2 around the perimeter of the site.

More: Loss of 1,400m of hedgerows deemed "regrettable" »

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