House builder Crest Nicholson has been granted outline planning permission to build nearly 1,300 new homes on farm land between Stoke Gifford and the M32. The decision, which follows seven years of preparation and negotiation, was reached by South Gloucestershire Council’s (SGC’s) Development Control (West) Committee on Thursday 4th October, following a site inspection on 21st September.
The land to which the planning permission relates forms part of the East of Harry Stoke (EoHS) New Neighbourhood, specifically the area in Crest’s ownership or influence (shown with a red outline in the plan, right) south of the railway line.
The development will be accessed from two new junctions on the recently opened Stoke Gifford Transport Link (a.k.a. Stoke Gifford By-Pass). One will be a signalised junction approximately 130m north of the existing Oxleigh Way junction. The second will be a signalised crossroads a short distance south of the existing Hambrook Lane crossroads. There will also be access from Old Gloucester Road, at a point 80m north of the bridge over the M32.
The Hambrook Lane junction with the SGTL will be modified to be ‘left-in and left-out only’ on the west side. There will be no access for motor vehicles to or from the east side.
Andrew Dobson from Crest Nicholson commented:
“We are pleased that councillors supported our application to deliver 1,290 new homes in South Gloucestershire, helping the council to meet its five-year housing land supply on a site allocated for residential development.”
“This development will also deliver numerous benefits to the local community including providing opportunities for local shops, a community building as well as landscaping and open spaces for play areas and allotments.”
“The committee’s decision follows an extensive process of public consultation prior to the submission of the application and post-submission engagement with planning officers and statutory consultees.”
“We will continue to work closely with the local community on these proposals.”
Once the accompanying legal agreement has been signed and planning permission granted, Crest Nicholson will begin developing detailed proposals in order to submit ‘reserved matters’ applications, which will set out the finer detail of the scheme.
Subject to planning permission being granted, Crest Nicholson says it hopes to be on site by spring 2019, with the first homes being sold by the end of 2019.
There is a further ‘hybrid’ planning application (i.e. for a mixture of full and outline permission) for Crest Nicholson’s proposals relating to land under its ownership or influence north of the railway line. This will deliver up to an additional 327 homes, as well as land for a new primary school.
This application will be handled in accordance with SGC’s new system for processing planning applications, which came into force on 1st November.
An SGC spokesperson told the Journal:
“We anticipate that the ‘Crest north’ application (PT16/4928/O) will go to the new Strategic Sites Delivery Committee at the end of November. There is likely to be a site inspection beforehand and this will fall under the new system. This will also take place sometime in November, but a date has not been set as yet.”
Image: Crest Nicholson Masterplan (October 2018). [Click to enlarge. Hi-res version available here on issuu.com]
N.B. Annotations have been added by the Journal. Refer to the planning applications for definitive documents.
This article originally appeared in the November 2018 issue of the Stoke Gifford Journal news magazine (on page 12). The magazine is delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH, to over 5,000 homes in Stoke Gifford, Little Stoke and Harry Stoke. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.
