COUNCILLORS have refused permission for plans to build 100 new houses on the outskirts of Pucklechurch.
Developers IM Land applied to South Gloucestershire Council for permission to build the homes at Marsh Farm, on a field at the corner of Feltham Road and Abson Road.
The site is currently protected as Green Belt land.
The developers and council planning officers said the site fell under the designation of “grey belt”, and should be built on
But members of the council’s strategic sites delivery committee voted against the planning permission at a meeting in May, citing concerns about the effect of the development on “glorious” views from the village.
Because officers had recommended approval for the plans, the application will now be referred to the council’s spatial planning committee, which can either overrule the decision or back it.
Michael Knott, representing the developers, told councillors: “The development would meet the golden rules for grey belt.
“The development would provide 50% of new homes as affordable, with new and improved public open space and sports provision, and with necessary improvements to infrastructure in the area.”
As well as new homes, the developers said they would build a village green, allotments, a community orchard and a children’s play area.
They are proposing to pay money towards improving local roads, supporting outdoor sports and the village hall.
But residents raised concerns that the new houses would pave the way for much more development to the east of Pucklechurch.
Rosalind Abbott said: “What is to stop developers going on to the next field to the east, or the south, and all the way to Dyrham or Hinton or up to the A46?
“There will be an increase in traffic, which is bad enough already. One hundred houses could quite easily mean 200 more cars.”
The farm was owned by Avon County Council and then sold in 1995, because the land was then in the Green Belt, and was protected from development.
However the government has recently weakened these protections, calling some land on the edge of towns and villages ‘grey belt’.
The site is not included in the council’s draft Local Plan of places it considers to be suitable for development between now and 2041, which is currently undergoing a public examination by a government inspector, although a neighbouring site off Abson Road, for up to 60 homes, is in the plan.
Councillor Marilyn Palmer, whose Boyd Valley ward includes Pucklechurch, told the meeting enough sites were already earmarked in South Gloucestershire to meet the district’s targets.
She said the farms east of Pucklechurch play an important role in protecting the village’s rural character, and cows were still grazing on the fields in the development site.
Cllr Palmer said: “If Marsh Farm is assessed as so-called grey belt land, then so is all of the farmland between Pucklechurch and Dyrham and Hinton.
“If the settlement boundary is breached, it will open the door to a raft of applications on adjoining farmland, and the glorious view will be lost forever.”
Concerns were also raised about a lack of public transport in the village, and road safety along the busy Feltham Road.
There is no direct service into Bristol, and cabinet councillor Chris Willmore told the meeting funding for the 525 bus service to Yate and Emersons Green wasn’t guaranteed beyond July.
By Alex Seabrook, Local Democracy Reporting Service
