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. »

Share this article:

Discussion is open - be the first to comment - click here to respond.

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 »

Share this article:

Discussion is open - 1 comment (view) - click here to respond.

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" »

Share this article:

Discussion is open - be the first to comment - click here to respond.

Local councillors concerned about the impact of a two-year programme of work to replace the railway bridge on Gipsy Patch Lane have called for a residents’ liaison group to be set up as soon as January 2019, despite Network Rail having yet to appoint a contractor for the project.

A packed public meeting held in Little Stoke Community Hall on 19th November, attended by around 100 local residents, heard two officers from South Gloucestershire Council present an overview of the planned work, which they said would require an anticipated eight-month full closure of the road in the vicinity the bridge during 2020.

Wider works east and west of the bridge, to create new bus lanes for the Cribbs Patchway MetroBus Extension scheme (CPME), will require road closures in one direction only, or the use temporary traffic lights.

To minimise disruption, a site compound will be created on a parcel of land within the Horizon 38 development (former Rolls-Royce East Works site).

The replacement bridge will be pre-cast here and manoeuvred into position during a 12-day closure of the railway currently planned for Easter 2020. The bridge replacement and directly associated highway work is being undertaken by Network Rail (NR). The procurement process for a contractor is ongoing by Network Rail, with a contractor expected to be confirmed in early 2019. The other (highway) works, away from the bridge, will be done in-house by SGC’s Streetcare division, with possible sub-contracting of small elements.

Officers stated that while there is likely to be traffic disruption during 2019, the greatest disruption for road users is likely to be in 2020 and 2021. Vehicle diversion routes will be planned in advance and well signed and advertised. This will include “diverting as much through traffic as possible away from the area”.

It is anticipated that a shuttle bus will be provided to mitigate the impact on non-motorised users and it was stated that the possibility of providing a pedestrian and cycle link via the railway bridge linking Little Stoke Park with the Rolls-Royce site is being investigated.

More: Concerns over parking and increased traffic on diversion routes »

Share this article:

Discussion is open - be the first to comment - click here to respond.