Help us save
South Stoke plateau
Proposed new development will destroy this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, remove a vital green landscape & create increased traffic chaos.
BREAKING: Weds Apr 10th - B&NES planning committee have refused the application. Plans to build 290 more houses on South Stoke Plateau have been turned down.
A widely unpopular & flawed development
A planning application has been submitted to build 290 new houses on the South Stoke Plateau. This comes on top of the 171 that are already being built there. This area simply will not accommodate such a massive increase in additional houses.
This is agricultural land that used to be within the green belt and is subject to strict planning laws. We believe these laws must be followed.
Objections to this application have been made by: Cotswold National Landscape, Bath Preservation Trust, Avon Gardens Trust, Campaign to Protect Rural England, all local Parish Councils, B&NES ward councillors, Wera Hobhouse MP for Bath & over 1,500 members of the community.
We believe that the council should view this application for the plateau as a litmus test for future proposed developments around which are either in, or next to, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and/or the designated World Heritage Site.
We believe the Planning Department should conduct such applications with greater objectivity. The potential damage of permitting such unworthy developments is incalculable.
We recognise that new and particularly affordable houses need to be built - but they must be built in the right place and be sustainable. This proposed development is in the wrong place - not only destroying vital green spaces but will be car dependent and cause total traffic chaos.
The argument that the need for new houses means that all developments should be approved regardless of major flaws is clearly nonsensical. Applications for new developments must be judged on their own individual merits and only located in areas that can clearly support them.
This isn't 'nimbyism'
A major challenge for B&NES
B&NES planning committee - deferred decision
The B&NES planning committee considered the application at a meeting on 15th November 2023. It received a report from the B&NES planning officer and submissions from objecting parties - including SOBA. The planning officer recommended "to permit", however the committee were not satisfied on a number of key points and deferred a decision requesting further information from the applicant.
The areas of concern were: impact of traffic, impact on the Wansdyke Ancient Monument, impact on trees, and details relating to the "exceptional circumstances" required to allow development on land in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Why we oppose this development
Traffic chaos - total gridlock
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
As planned, the development will be heavily car dependent and with access via the Odd Down Park & Ride roundabout, threatens to bring total gridlock to the already chronically congested roads in the area. The A367 approach to this roundabout is already a notorious bottleneck and it's not unusual to see traffic queuing all the way back to Peasedown.
The application states that the additional houses and associated traffic generated would result in a maximum wait time at this junction of 15 seconds (!). Ask anyone familiar with this commute and they will tell you that this claim is nonsense and self-evidently not credible. Our own traffic survey found current wait times at the junction up to 12 minutes.
And remember that these are current wait times - the additional vehicles delivered by the development would make the current chaos far worse.
Should this development be permitted, there will be a total of 461 new households. How much traffic & congestion do we think they will create by school runs and commutes, all entering the road network at a single point?
Severe congestion and tailbacks are a problem not only for traffic at Bath city junctions, but also for surrounding villages which are already suffering with drivers using country lanes not designed for modern rush hour traffic as rat runs.
It would be irresponsible and wholly unacceptable for B&NES to permit this development in the light of such overwhelming evidence of the harm it would cause. The area is simply not able to accommodate this many new homes and the resulting increased traffic.
The plateau is in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and is next to Green Belt land. As such it is subject to strict rules that condition any proposed development. These rules exist to protect the landscape and any application should meet them. We believe the application fails to do this and should therefore be refused.
National planning rules state that housing developments proposed in AONB should be refused other than in "exceptional circumstances". The exceptional circumstances do not exist that would justify this over development.
When the land was taken out of Green Belt, it meant that B&NES would receive applications for development. Importantly, the Planning Inspector stated that the total number of houses that could be built on the Plateau should be "around 300". The proposed development of 290 new houses, added to the 171 already under construction is a total of 461 - way more than the Inspector's projected number.
As of 2024, B&NES are also ahead of their housing delivery targets, confirming that there are no "exceptional circumstances" that justify such excessive development.
Devastating ecological damage & impact on wildlife
Threatens Wansdyke Scheduled Ancient Monument
A recently published State of Nature Report reveals plummeting British wildlife with 1 in 6 species at risk of extinction. As a result, the UK is now one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth.
Instead of developing precious green spaces, we should be protecting them. Homebuilding should be prioritised on brownfield sites, of which there are many in Bath; capacity for 2,579 potential dwellings have been identified by B&NES Planning Department on their latest register.
We all need our green spaces not only for our own good health but also to protect wildlife, birds and insects and to maintain biodiversity. Landowners and developers must put need before greed.
The development threatens the stability of the Scheduled Ancient Wansdyke Monument which is currently 'at risk'. The Wansdyke is an ancient bank and ditch earthwork that runs for around 20km in an east–west direction, cutting through the landscape of Bath.
The application proposes an unlit foot and cycle path crossing over the Wansdyke which could cause major erosion of the monument. Any such path requires consent from Historic England, which has not yet been granted and remains uncertain. Any alternative path has not been identified and could compromise the Green Belt.
"permission should be refused for major developments in these designated areas except in exceptional circumstances and where it can be demonstrated they are in the public interest"