Progress on Glencoyne & Our Chance to Comment

The plan to build new homes on Glencoyne Square is making good progress.  This pioneering project, to build apartments in our community of mostly three-bedroom houses, began when residents said that not having smaller properties available meant that older residents looking to downsize, or younger residents wanting to start out, would need to leave the area.

The reason the project is pioneering, and one of the first of its kind in the country, is because it has been led by residents – not a profit-making housing company.  After the Southmead Community Plan in 2015, a resident action group took on the task to make smaller homes a reality.  They have since worked tirelessly to make this happen, with the support of the Southmead Development Trust and its Board of Trustees made up of Southmead residents.  The scheme has been highly praised for its resident led approach and has won awards for its methods.

Plans for Glencoyne were approved in 2020, then in 2022 some changes to the plan were needed.  This was because the NHS and the Council were not able to relocate Southmead and Henbury Health Centre to the ground floor space as previously hoped, and because the number of apartments needed to increase for a community housing association to make it viable to run; another level was added to create 67 more units (187 homes in total).

This updated plan received 15 comments via the Council portal – 12 in support of the plan, 2 objecting, and 1 neutral with a question about tree shading.

Following these changes, the Council Planners have requested some further tweaks to the design of the new housing.  These latest, final changes are now up on the Council website for comment.  The plan will now be reviewed by the Council planners this month and is available for us all to view and make comments via the planning portal HERE. The latest amendments largely relate to changes to the design of the courtyards in the middle of each block and the heating systems.  Below you can see the latest plans for the courtyards, with changes explained beneath.

 

Car parking spaces have been removed from the central courtyards:

Following feedback from Bristol City Council, parking spaces have now been reduced from 97 to 73 and include two loading bays, two future car club spaces, and four spaces for Blue Badge holders. The courtyards will now be car-free, safer outside spaces for residents to use.

Discouraging car use within the development will help improve air quality and lessen the pressure on local roads.  As transport links are so close by, as well as shops, schools, and health amenities, it will not be a necessity to have a car when living at Glencoyne.  We will also be providing ample cycle spaces in a lockable store within the courtyard areas to encourage cycle use by residents where possible.

There will be a biodiversity gain:

The development needs to make a biodiversity net gain, which means that more habitat for wildlife must be created.  The removal of parking bays in the courtyards will allow more space for green planting.  In addition, the roofs of the cycle shelters will be planted areas and visible from all homes.

There are 32 trees currently on Glencoyne Square, 12 will be removed.  After the development there will be 68.

Heat pumps have been relocated:

Heat pumps were located on balconies in the original plan, but now have been relocated to the roofs to create more individual balcony space, make the balconies safer and more attractive, and reduce noise issues.  This changes how the roof will look from above.

Substations have been positioned:

Two new substations are now required, due to the move to low carbon-based electric heating systems and electric vehicle charging needs .  There will be one in each courtyard, rather than in the main park area, which may have reduced its overall quality.

Remember comments can be made about these changes via the Planning portal HERE.  Please search for Reference 22/03309/F

Last week we received the great news that we have the money to go ahead with the reconfigured community space on the ground floor of the development.  This means that in the space originally planned for the relocation of Henbury and Southmead Health Centre, there will now be a health and wellbeing hub, community enterprise space, and an enhanced Bristol City Council library which will share the space with an employment, training, and advice hub. It will be managed by Southmead Development Trust which already runs busy community spaces in Southmead – the Greenway Centre and The Ranch (Southmead Adventure Playground).  Read more HERE

If you would like to find out more about the Glencoyne project on our website click HERE

To contact the team email: info@southmead.org, or tel: 0117 950 3335