Protecting green spaces must be council's top priority

IN the coming months, South Gloucestershire Council will be taking important decisions about where to build large housing developments, how to support our local bus services, and how much to invest in our roads.

Our towns and villages have seen unprecedented levels of housing in the past few years. We know that South Gloucestershire simply does not have the infrastructure to accommodate thousands more houses. It has never been clearer.

Building on the Green Belt in Coalpit Heath would be a mistake.

It protects the character and identity of Coalpit Heath, prevents an urban sprawl until merging into Yate, protects our precious countryside and forces councils and developers to prioritise brownfield land. That’s why this new council should place protecting our Green Belt at the heart of its mission.

It should be firm with urban areas like Bristol and Bath that they need to take their fair share of housing, something that government ministers have clearly said should be the case.

Alongside residents, I have taken up the fight to protect our Green Belt time and again, as I did regarding the flawed Joint Spatial Plan that would put 1,500 houses in Coalpit Heath Green Belt. Armed with thousands of residents’ views from my survey,

I urged the government to take the unusual step of intervening to pause the plan to ensure we get a fair deal for our area.

I also recently received clear, written assurances from government ministers that areas such as Bristol should be taking an additional 35% of housing need, to stop further pressure being put on our GP services, our schools and our roads.

With a new council administration now in place, it is vital that the new leaders keep up this fight, and pledge to from overdevelopment.

South Gloucestershire is the best place in the country to live, work and raise a family. No wonder developers want to build here.

However, we cannot allow the Council to give the green light to developments which put our roads, GP services and schools