South West Bristol Urban Extension Scrapped

The Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) on which the proposal to build 9500 homes on the Green Belt in Ashton Vale was based was revoked by the new Secretary of State on 6 July 2010.

North Somerset council South West Bristol urban extension page (opens in new window)

Urban Sprawl

The South West Bristol Urban Extension would have resulted in the destruction of 1,000 acres of countryside with a network of rural footpaths (magenta) running through them:

Urban sprawl like this is unsustainable. There was no proposal to limit the sprawl, so after this destruction another 1,000 acres would be be destroyed, and then another.

Demand for new homes

Through responsible use of birth control, the indigenous British population achieved stability, that is no net growth, by the 1980s. We should now be enjoying an environment where urban sprawl has ceased and we renovate and rebuild existing developed areas to a high architectural and environmentally friendly standard. Tragically, as the result of the last Labour government allowing net immigration, the excess of immigrants over emigrants, to rise to around 400,000 per year, we now have massive demand for housing and resulting destruction of the countryside. Typically immigrants move into central urban areas and white people move out into the new suburbs. The result is social disharmony in urban areas and destruction of the countryside

Labour tried to a attribute increased demand for housing to more people living alone and more old people, but that demand should be met by building flats in town centres, the appropriate accommodation for single people which does not result in commuting.

Population growth through net immigration is of no benefit. Anyone who believe it is should be asked what target population they are aiming for - 80m, 100m, more - and why a policy of zero net immigration will be right then when it is wrong now. You will find they have no answers.

If population growth through immigration was of benefit, the resulting housing demand should be met by building flats in central urban areas, not by urban sprawl.

Many people seem to believe that population growth will halt by itself by some means such as economic forces, but you have only to look at the 20 mile sprawl of London to see that it will not. Unless we act to stop urban sprawl, Bristol and all urban areas will spread to a similar size.

www.failand.org.uk