Introduction
The following list sets out the key priorities for Whitchurch Village. These priorities will inform a vision for the village that will also cover and reflect areas that are proposed for development in the Draft Local Plan. Many of the priorities can be addressed by new development, and site options have been selected in response to the key issues, priorities and objectives. However, there are some priorities that won’t be addressed through new development but will be addressed through other policies in the Local Plan or initiatives undertaken by the council or by other stakeholders.
- Maximise the delivery of affordable housing responding to local social and economic needs, and local demographics, including provision of homes fit for downsizing and single people.
- Provision of small-scale local employment space in order to provide the opportunity for local residents to be able to access and thrive in good work.
- Retain green buffer between Bristol and Whitchurch Village, in order to ensure that the two do not merge
- Preserve and enhance the settlement’s village identity
- Provision of new local facilities such as a village shop, community facilities and spaces to increase social interaction and encourage local living.
- Protect heritage assets and their settings.
- Protect areas of landscape sensitivity.
- Maximise ecological mitigation and Biodiversity Net Gain.
- Create a safe and attractive walking route between the village centre and the existing playground located to the south of the village.
- Enhance connectivity and access to the surrounding countryside including to Maes Knoll through better provision of active travel routes.
- Encourage the use of sustainable travel choices and reduce reliance on car use.
Some of the key issues in Whitchurch Village relate to transport and highways, as listed above. A number of transport opportunities and potential interventions have been identified for Whitchurch Village. These interventions will need more detailed consideration whilst working up the Draft Local Plan, including mechanisms for funding them.
- Improving the connectivity for active travel, reducing the severance of the A37 corridor.
- Improving access routes for pedestrians to facilities including the South Bristol hospital and Leisure Centre, to reduce the need to travel further afield.
- Improving public spaces and routes, including crossing facilities, to encourage people to use active modes of travel, including:
- Building on the success of the existing Liveable Neighbourhood scheme at Queen Charlton Lane to create greener, safer spaces for people, and;
- New signalised pedestrian and cycle crossings on the busiest routes to improve safety of those using active travel modes.
- Identifying minor rural roads to be designated as Quiet Lanes to provide safer routes for active travel, away from speeding traffic.
- Extension of short-term e-scooter and e-bike rental within Whitchurch Village.
- Provision of a mobility hub in Whitchurch Village on the A37, providing a host of transport options in one place, allowing people to change modes easily between shared transport such as car clubs and e-scooters, public transport and active travel modes.
- Bus priority measures could be considered and provided along the A37 corridor.
- There is a need for Whitchurch Village to have good access to the facilities and services in Keynsham, such as Broadlands Academy. A new bus service between Keynsham and Whitchurch Village would fill a gap in the existing provision.
- Demand Responsive transport (DRT) can complement fixed route public transport on the main corridors by providing connections into these existing services. WESTLink South zone currently runs through the middle of Whitchurch Village. DRT could be used to connect to the proposed mobility hub within Whitchurch Village, where passengers can gain access to a connecting bus or rail service to complete their journey.
The emerging strategy set out below relates to the wider Bristol to Bath corridor, incorporating Whitchurch and other places. The strategy has been set out for this wider area because of the close functional and physical relationships between different places, that is they do not sit in isolation from nearby places.
The strategy for the Bristol to Bath Corridor seeks to deliver sustainable growth that capitalises on the strategic location between Bath and Bristol to take advantage of existing, and significantly enhance improvements to, sustainable transport links in the area.
Economic growth will build on the area’s strengths and links to Bristol and Bath, with a proportionate level of complementary employment at Whitchurch. Additional residential and employment growth will support the role and function of Whitchurch village centre.
Additional housing will meet the needs of existing and future residents, including the delivery of affordable housing, which will be facilitated by the ‘golden rules’ where this takes place on land released from the Green Belt. The plan will retain the identity of Whitchurch by avoiding coalescence with Bristol and integrating new development with strategic green infrastructure corridors that improve access to nature and enhance biodiversity. Development at Whitchurch will retain the village’s separate identity to Bristol and will ensure planned growth delivers improved services and infrastructure for the village and addresses the severance caused by the A37, whilst respecting the setting of Maes Knoll.