Progressing the Plans for Arnside and Glencoyne

If you have spent time on Arnside over the last few years, you have probably noticed that things have already started to change. New planting, landscaping, and seating have made the area more welcoming. Children from Little Mead Primary School helped to redesign the popular Embleton Road Playground. These improvements are the first visible steps in a much bigger, long-term vision for the heart of Southmead.

The Arnside Masterplan was developed by Bristol City Council, Southmead Development Trust, and Southmead residents. Together, we created a shared vision to bring more affordable homes to the area, improve the shopping area, strengthen community facilities, and create greener, healthier public spaces.

Thanks to investment from Bristol City Council, Homes England, Power to Change, and many other partners, we are now moving into the next phase, with several major projects progressing over the coming years.

New homes and community facilities

The largest of these projects is Glencoyne Square – one of the UK’s biggest community-led housing developments. The plans include 177 new affordable homes, a new public library, community gym, flexible spaces for local businesses and community organisations, and a new pedestrian street linking Arnside Road.

This project has been shaped by residents over many years and aims to create a vibrant new centre for Southmead – combining homes, services, businesses, and community life in one place. Work is now progressing towards construction.

Just off Glencoyne Sqware, Bristol City Council is preparing to begin work on 23 new council homes on the former White Hall site on Embleton Road. For many residents, White Hall holds special memories as a place that hosted youth clubs, community events, and local organisations for decades. Although the building eventually became unsafe and could no longer be used, the site now provides an opportunity to deliver much-needed social housing for our community.

The new development will include a mix of one, two, and three-bedroom homes designed to be energy efficient and accessible. It will be surrounded by high-quality landscaping, new trees, and improved pedestrian routes. It follows the successful transformation of the Embleton Road Playground, which was redesigned with ideas from pupils at Little Mead Primary School. Construction is expected to begin this summer, with the first residents moving into their new homes in 2028.

Across the road, Brunelcare is also planning exciting improvements for Lilac Close. The proposals will replace five ageing bungalows with 20 modern, accessible flats for people aged over 55, all available for social rent. Each new home will have its own private balcony or terrace, while the existing flats on the site will benefit from energy-efficiency improvements.

The whole site will also be improved with planting, accessible pathways, seating areas and raised planting beds.  This will create welcoming outdoor spaces where residents can enjoy gardening, meet neighbours, and continue living independently within their own community.

Keeping everyone involved

While new buildings are important, successful neighbourhoods are created by the people who live there. That is why our community team are spending more time out and about on Arnside to listen to residents and local businesses to make sure it is easy for everyone to stay involved.

You will now find workers from Southmead Development Trust on Arnside every Wednesday at our pop-up stand. Whether you have a question, an idea for your community, want to find out about local activities, or simply fancy a chat – we would love to meet you.

In June we also held our first Arnside Stakeholder Meeting, bringing together residents, businesses, community organisations, councillors, and local partners to discuss community safety, support for local businesses, and the exciting developments taking place across the area. The response was so positive that we will be holding another meeting in the autumn, and everyone is welcome.

As these projects move forward, it is more important than ever that residents continue to shape the future of Arnside.

Take Part

• There are lots of ways to have your say and keep up to date. You can:
• Visit our Arnside pop-up stall every Wednesday and chat with the team
• Come along to an Arnside Stakeholder Meeting
• Join our news mailing list to receive regular updates about what is happening across Southmead directly to your email inbox
• Attend our upcoming Let’s Talk About Housing event where we will be discussing the types of homes Southmead needs, affordable housing, and whether a local lettings policy should give priority to people with a connection to the area. Do look out for the date for this community gathering to make sure you have your say and find out more – we will share details via our weekly pop-up stall on Arnisde and our news mailing list as soon as possible.

Visit our dedicated page for more development info >here

If you are already a subscriber to our news mailing list we will also share the date with you via your email inbox.