Green Belt sites in Weston included in Core Strategy

Last year myself and the Weston Lib Dems organised a public meeting around the issue of housing. It was extremely well attended, with around 150 people who came to Weston All Saints Primary School to hear local Liberal Democrat MP and Housing Minister, The Rt. Honourable Don Foster, Leader of B&NES (Bath and North East Somerset) Council, Cllr. Paul Crossley and Cabinet Member for Homes & Planning, Cllr. Tim Ball. I had the honour of chairing proceedings. There was a very lively debate and many local residents took the opportunity to put questions directly to the panel. Cllr. Ball confirmed that central to B&NES’ Core Strategy is their ‘Brownfield First’ policy that ensures the Council considers former industrial sites across B&NES before any sites on greenbelt land. The consultation on the Core Strategy has now concluded and your local Liberal Democrats with their colleagues on the Council are urging the Planning Inspector, to reduce the number of dwellings to be built in the Core Strategy from 13,000 by the end of 2029 to under 9,000. Weston Lib Dems have also made clear our concerns about the impact an extra 300 dwellings would have on the infrastructure and sustainability of our village. In response to Weston Lib Dem concerns, Cllr. Tim Ball said: “The Liberal Democrat Administration of Bath & North East Somerset Council will always opt for sustainable development that puts communities first. It’s unfortunate that we are in this position due to the Conservatives putting politics before the interests of the people and voting against our original Core Strategy proposal that did NOT include any greenbelt sites in Weston. The meeting last year and the ongoing dialogue between the Cabinet and Weston Liberal Democrats have more than made us aware of how strongly the people of Weston feel about this issue. None of us wants to see further development on greenbelt land however we have a duty to meet the need for housing across the whole district. You can rest assured that we will explore all other avenues before a blade of greenbelt grass is built on.”

Personally, I am pleased that my colleagues on B&NES Council put their responsibilities before petty, reckless & irresponsible political point scoring. If we hadn’t acted swiftly to include greenbelt sites in our Core Strategy that development could have been taken completely out of the hands of local people and we would have been at the mercy of greedy developers. I am confident that Cllr. Tim Ball and the B&NES Council Lib Dem Administration are listening to us and our concerns continue to fuel the representations they make to the Planning Inspector. We will continue to make the case on behalf of local people and await the findings of the Planning Inspector with interest.

The Core Strategy examinations are currently on going and we hope to have a conclusion by the end of April. Myself and my fellow Weston Lib Dems will ensure that members of the public continue to be informed about any of the decisions made.