A DEVELOPER has been given permission to build 140 homes on land in the heart of Mangotsfield.
Taylor Wimpey first applied for permission to build on a field between Cossham Street and Rodway Hill Road 17 years ago. Those plans were rejected by South Gloucestershire Council after a huge campaign by residents.
But with the site about to be moved out of the Green Belt under the council’s new Local Plan, in July a council planning committee granted permission for the company to build on it.
The approval came despite objections from residents and councillors about the hundreds of extra vehicles that would end up using the already-congested Cossham Street, where the only road access to the development is planned.
Taylor Wimpey says it expects to start building next summer.
unds of Mangotsfield United Football Club, Cleve Rugby Club and Mangotsfield School, was the subject of an application for 180 new homes in 2009.
That plan was rejected the following year on the grounds that it was Green Belt land, protected from development.
Taylor Wimpey kept the site in its ‘land bank’ of potential housing sites, and in 2024 it announced new plans for 150 homes.
The same year, the government introduced higher housing targets for councils, along with the concept of ‘grey belt’ land – sites in Green Belt areas that don’t strongly contribute to protecting the countryside, and can be built on.
The council has now earmarked the site for homes in its draft Local Plan, a development blueprint currently being examined by planning inspectors.
Taylor Wimpey revised its plans in March, cutting the total number of homes to 140, half of which would be ‘affordable housing’ for social rent or shared ownership.
The company says there has also been “significant evolution” in the design, to reflect the local character of buildings and adjust landscaping and public open space provision.
But the most common objection raised by the 60 residents who wrote to oppose the plans, as well as councillors who spoke at the strategic sites delivery committee meeting in July, was the single vehicle entrance and exit on Cossham Street, which has not been changed.
The effect on local services such as health and education provision was also highlighted.
‘Fundamental flaw’
Although the field is in Mangotsfield, it is part of the council’s Emersons Green ward.
Conservative ward councillor Rachael Hunt said: “The fundamental flaw here is transport.
“Cossham Street is narrow and already choked with bottlenecks at peak time. Additional cars will heighten the concerns on this road.
“If this plan goes ahead, it will inevitably lead to heated arguments with existing residents.
“This is a classic case of putting houses where the infrastructure does not exist.”
Labour ward councillor Katrina Al-Hassan said: “The site has been empty and fenced off for so long, and in theory I don’t have a problem with housing being built here.
“However, we need to listen to residents’ concerns, particularly in regards to traffic and the strain on existing infrastructure.
“Emersons Green Medical Centre is still closed and you would be more likely to find gold at the end of a rainbow than to get an NHS dentist appointment.”
Committee member Michael Bell, who represents the Staple Hill & Mangotsfield ward, told the meeting: “It’s not a public field, it’s a private field, but 140 homes is overdevelopment – it’s a bit crowded.”
Emersons Green Council Town Council and Staple Hill & Mangotsfield Parish Council also raised concerns about traffic safety and local infrastructure.
The committee granted planning permission by seven votes to two, after council officers recommended the application for approval.
Mike Drew (Lib Dem, Yate North) said the plan would “almost certainly get approved” if taken to an appeal by the developer, adding: “I don’t like the access road but highways say this is acceptable.”
Matthew Riddle (Con, Severn Vale) said he was “very reluctantly” voting in favour because the government had “watered down the protection of this site by making it a grey belt site”.
Taylor Wimpey strategic projects director Chris Dolling told councillors: “The site has already been identified to help meet South Gloucestershire’s housing need.
“That matters because a plan-led system depends on suitable sites coming forward rather than leaving housing need to be met from speculative and opportunistic site proposals elsewhere.”
The company said transport surveys predicted there would be “just over one car a minute entering or leaving the site at the busiest time of the morning and evening”.
Meeting report by Adam Postans, Local Democracy Reporting Service