PEOPLE have until June 16 to comment on plans for 149 homes off Hencliffe Way in Hanham.
The proposals were unveiled in February by developers Redrow Homes and Ashfield Land and a formal outline planning application was submitted to South Gloucestershire Council last month.
The developers say the site is “a sustainable location for a new residential development to deliver much-needed market and affordable homes for the local community”.
But many people in the area oppose the scheme, which they fear would open the gates to further housebuilding in the countryside.
They are backed by Kingswood MP Chris Skidmore, who says the site is a vital “green lung” between the cities iof Bristol and Bath.
Residents are also concerned that the development would put huge pressure on local roads and services, particularly health and education.
The proposed development would include one-bedroomed to four-bedroomed homes. Sixty of them would be affordable, with a mix of first homes and social rented housing, and up to 15 would be self-build/custom built.
Access to the site would be from Hencliffe Way, where one house, which is understood to have been bought by the developers, being demolished to facilitate this. Emergency access would be from Castle Farm Road.
The developers say a lot of the site would be public open space, including a play area, picnic area and footpaths.
More than 100 residents posted objections to the scheme in the first two weeks after it was made public.
Many of them said that schools and the doctors’ surgery in Hanham were already overloaded and this would be made worse following a development already approved for more than 200 homes on the brownfield Kleeneze site.
“There comes a point when you need to stop building houses and start upgrading infrastructure to support people. I believe we have already reached that point,” one objector said.
Others were worried about the impact on traffic of up to 300 more cars. They said there were already long queues on Memorial Road and Whittucks Road at peak times, and many local roads were already in bad condition.
Opponents said the site was a wildlife haven, with badgers, buzzards, bats and deer often seen there.
One resident said: “It is imperative that South Gloucestershire Council fully explores and exhausts all other reasonable options for development before considering encroachment upon the Green Belt. The protection and preservation of our Green Belt land, as well as the provision of adequate educational resources, must take precedence over short-term housing demands.”
The scheme is expected to go before a South Gloucestershire Council planning committee later in the summer.
Meanwhile, Hanham Abbots Parish Council, which opposes development in the green belt, has invited residents to a meeting at Longwell Green Primary School on June 6 at 6.15pm to air their views about the proposals.
A petition on the change.org website from Hanham Say No to Redrow had 1,257 signatures as the Voice went to print.
The plans can be found on the planning section of the council website with the reference P23/01330/O