ST. MODWEN HOMES APPLICATION FOR LAND OFF NETHERTON WOOD LANE
Nailsea Action Group (N.A.G.) has already submitted a full response to this application in December 2023. NAG vehemently rejects this application. The points made and the rationale for objection in our original submission still stands. Changes to the outline plan does not take away the overriding issue that too many homes in Nailsea overloads services such as trains, doctors etc and thereby deteriorates living and working conditions of current and future residents.
At this stage, all speculative developments not in the latest version of the local Plan should be rejected by NSC. This includes the St Modwen Homes application for land off Netherton Wood Lane in Nailsea. (For completeness reasons, the LVA application for North Nailsea and the Gleeson’s application for the strategic gap between Nailsea and Backwell, also fall into this category).
Conditions have changed since the first release of the Outline plan by St Modwen Homes in November 2023. NSC are in the process of generating a new Local Plan, to be released this summer. The previous consultation document, released late last year, had removed Nailsea as a strategic building location, and this strategy still remains. One of the major reasons given for this is that NSC do not have the budget to improve the transport links to the A370, or indeed, any other major transport link improvement in the next 15 years. As it stands, the transport links are overstretched, even with the current population. Every roadway leading into Nailsea has narrow roads with many pinch points, and this has not been improved since 1926. This situation is well understood by NSC. In the latest proposed local plan, there is already a planned increase in both Backwell (700 + Homes) and Nailsea (1100+ homes, the exact number will be known when the latest LP is released for consultation in the summer). The addition of 200 new homes in this location will exacerbate an already dire travel situation, particularly to the main working destination, Bristol. Public transport from this site off Netherton Wood lane is also very unreliable. It cannot be used with confidence by residents working in surrounding towns, who have to meet specific arrival time constraints. The transport infrastructure, such as constricting the A370 to a single lane carriageway, recently put into effect by NSC, have (anecdotally) made the situation worse for the working population. This is recognised by NSC, who have put the Bus Service Improvement Programme (BSIP) on hold in the short term, and plan to stretch the programme over a much longer period than the 2 years originally envisaged.
In his response to the amended application, NAG member Mr David Gray highlights reasons why the application is not conformant with the Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) regulations and he asks for a condition to be added to any approval that the applicant submits BNG documents that conform to the regulations. NAG supports Mr Gray’s request for such a condition
The overriding issue is now not the addition of new homes in Nailsea, but the ability of existing and future residents to be able to live without overstretched infrastructure restrictions. NAG has already documented many objections to the application, the following is a brief summary of some:
1. Difficult travel from the site to Nailsea town centre, other towns and Bristol (as stated above)
2. The single access point, which will also be close to access points used by residents of the three other new developments, will overload the nearby roads
3. This site does not feature in the NSC Local Plan
4. Nailsea Town Council does not support this application
5. The Biodiversity gain rationale seems very suspect. NSC Natural Environment Service Area still has a ‘holding objection’ to this application
6. We note that no response has been made to the Archeological requirements
7. Three very significant developments are already underway in close proximity of this site. This puts additional pressures on the west and southwest Nailsea residents for all matters such as schools, doctors and other essential services
This application attempts to bypass the strategic planning conditions for Nailsea which NSC is endeavouring to generate in its local plan. On this basis this application should be rejected.