‘Transport hubs will be provided at the heart of the scheme’
Plans for a new town called Woodspring, to be built between south west Bristol and the Barrow Gurney reservoirs, either side of the A38.
The plans show the A38 would be diverted south of its current route to a junction with a new road – marked in blue – that would provide bus-only access to the South Bristol Link Road.(Image: Taylor Wimpey)
The main A38 road between Bristol and Bristol Airport would be re-routed and a new road created for buses to link to the ring road if a plan for a new town on the southern edge of the city gets the go-ahead.
Bristol Live first revealed that developers Taylor Wimpey were about to start the process of getting planning permission for a new town, that’s already been named Woodspring, last week. New details emerged this week at a drop-in consultation event in the heart of what would be a town of around 3,000 new homes.
Local residents living around the land earmarked for the new town packed the space at Woodspring Golf Club – a club which will be built on with around half the new homes over the next few years – at Tuesday’s event.
There was a steady stream of what ultimately amounted to hundreds of people viewing Taylor Wimpey’s Masterplan for 3,000 houses, a new secondary school, two new primary schools, a new town centre with doctors, shops and cafes, on either side of the A38 road, south of the Colliters Way South Bristol Link Road.
The Masterplan detailed how a key part of the plans involve connecting the new town with the rest of Bristol.
Maps showed how the A38 running down the hill towards Bristol would be redirected east just after the Winford Arms, to a new junction to the south east of what is currently the Hill Livery Yard.
That junction would see the main road split, with regular traffic turning north back onto the present course of the A38 opposite Colliters Brook Farm, while a new road would continue north east to a new junction with the A4174 ring road.
That new road would provide access to hundreds of new homes and new schools on the eastern side of the A38, but would also include a bus gate, and be the main public transport route for, initially, an extension to the Metrobus network, but ultimately for some kind of mass rapid transit system between Bristol Airport and Bristol city centre.
The plan maps show the thousands of homes in the new town would be separated by green spaces and ‘active travel corridors’ – which would allow people to walk and cycle around the new town.
“Ensuring people can move within and beyond this new community using public transport, cycling and walking is key to our strategy,” said a spokesperson for the developers, Taylor Wimpey.
The plans for the new town of Woodspring, south of Bristol were unveiled at a consultation event at Woodspring Golf Club – pictured – which would be redeveloped.(Image: Bristol Post)
“This includes a comprehensive network of pedestrian and cycling routes throughout the site, connecting into the existing network of active travel routes.
“We have designed safe routes to school in our masterplan, with links to existing Public Rights of Way, and are proposing a new north-south active travel green corridor along Yanley Lane, which will no longer be a through route for vehicles, while retaining access for existing residents to their homes.
“Transport hubs will be provided at the heart of the scheme and within the local centres to the north and south of the A38. These would see bus stops converge with cycle parking, e-bike & e-scooter pick-up. All residents and visitors would be within 400m of a bus stop and e-bike/e-scooter docks.
“We are proposing to invest in new and existing bus services and routes which will serve the development and wider area. The details of the routes will be discussed with the council’s highways officers and local bus operators,” he added.
The plans for the new town of Woodspring, south of Bristol.(Image: Bristol Post)
“Three vehicle access points are proposed on the A38 each with traffic lights. A route through the site linking the A38 and A4174 would not be for through-traffic, other than buses. This route would include segregated footways and cycleways, separated from vehicles by green verges. This route could also be used for a potential Mass Rapid Transit system.
“We are proposing to reduce the speed along the A38 broadly along a section from southwest of Lime Kiln Roundabout to Dundry Lane partly down to 40mph and partly reduced to 30mph,” he added.
North Somerset Council is in the process of including the golf course and the fields either side of the A38 between Dundry and the South Bristol Link Road in its new Local Plan, which would effectively give the go-ahead in principle to development there, with the details of how the new town will be planned out to be decided by the area’s local council planners.