{"id":576572,"date":"2025-11-17T17:21:25","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T17:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/576572\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T17:21:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T17:21:25","slug":"plans-for-nearly-600-new-homes-north-of-bristol-get-go-ahead-despite-modern-look-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/576572\/","title":{"rendered":"Plans for nearly 600 new homes north of Bristol get go-ahead despite \u2018modern\u2019 look concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Disparaging comparisons were made between the housing estate and Harry Stoke\"HowHow the homes planned for north-west Thornbury will look(Image: Vistry)<\/p>\n

A planned housing estate north-west of Thornbury<\/a> has sparked a row over the appearance of new houses which will look \u201cmodern\u201d. Local councillors called for a rethink in their design, as the new homes will not \u201clook anything like farmsteads\u201d despite being located in a rural area.<\/p>\n

Up to 595 homes will be built on farmland off Oldbury Lane. South Gloucestershire<\/a> Council has granted permission for how the first phase of this estate will look and be laid out. The upcoming development will be adjacent to the newly built Park Farm housing estate, on the edge of town.<\/p>\n

Vistry and Sovereign already received outline permission for the development two years ago. But \u201creserved matters\u201d, such as the appearance and layout, formed this second application for the first phase of the estate including 179 homes. The rest of the homes will be in later phases.<\/p>\n

Councillors on the strategic sites delivery committee voted to approve the housing development on Thursday, November 13, by five votes in favour and two against. But they heard concerns over how the new homes would look like Harry Stoke, a suburb on the north outskirts of Bristol.<\/p>\n

\"HowHow the homes planned for north-west Thornbury will be laid out(Image: Vistry)<\/p>\n

Liberal Democrat Councillor Jayne Stansfield, representing Thornbury<\/a>, said: \u201cThe red brick is not in keeping with the local area and neither is the design of the houses. They\u2019re a modern, urban design which is out of keeping with the rural setting of the rest of this development.<\/p>\n

\u201cThornbury has a lot of rendered properties. My own house is rendered, the houses built opposite me are rendered. That\u2019s all in-keeping with Thornbury and as ward councillors we\u2019re happy with that sort of appearance on the houses.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf paler bricks can mimic render and are better for not getting dirty, why is it not possible to put those paler bricks in, in this phase so that it fits in and feels part of this rural environment. Quite frankly, some of the fronts of those buildings definitely look like Harry Stoke and they look urban and they do not look anything like farmsteads.\u201d<\/p>\n

Labour<\/a> Cllr Michael Bell added: \u201cIf we pass it today, we\u2019ll go along with the brickworks shown on the screen, and we can\u2019t change that at this stage. I\u2019ll vote against. I don\u2019t like the brickworks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Concerns also included extra cars on the road, the loss of prime farmland, flooding, and a footpath \u201cto nowhere\u201d. A bus gate is also planned in the housing estate, which will prevent drivers from travelling through with the threat of a fine, while allowing buses to pass. However there are no timetabled bus routes planned at this stage which would use the bus gate.<\/p>\n

The planned housing estate includes allotments, recreational space and a gym trail. A primary school is also planned in later phases, as well as a small shopping centre. Outline permission was granted by the government\u2019s Planning Inspectorate, after the council failed to make a decision in time. There was local opposition to the housing estate.<\/p>\n

Bridget Westcott, a planning agent representing the developer, said: \u201cBuilding materials and frontage treatments have been refined in line with [council] officer advice, ensuring compliance with design policies and delivering a strong sense of place. This application delivers much-needed housing, significant affordable provision, and new community infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Disparaging comparisons were made between the housing estate and Harry StokeHow the homes planned for north-west Thornbury will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":576573,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,748,393,4884,528,11518,12717,285,10302,10301,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-576572","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-labour-party","13":"tag-liberal-democrats","14":"tag-planning","15":"tag-politics","16":"tag-south-gloucestershire-council","17":"tag-thornbury","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115566196266518614","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=576572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/576573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=576572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=576572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}