Date published: 2025-07-10 | Category: Bath, Delivering for local residents, Housing, Improving people's lives, Planning
Bath & North East Somerset Council’s flagship scheme to provide much-needed accommodation for adults with learning disabilities, picked up an award at a national awards ceremony that showcases outstanding work in the field of planning and placemaking.
The plans to build 16 units of community housing on land to the rear of 89-123 Englishcombe Lane in Bath won Planning Permission of the Year (Outside London) at The Planning Awards ceremony earlier this month.
The design-team Arcadis, who have been working with Bath & North East Somerset Council to develop the site, submitted the entry.
Judges praised the plans for being ‘a model example of how to design a supported living environment for adults with autism and/or learning difficulties that integrates them, their carers and families with the wider community, and with nature to provide a safe and tranquil environment and sensory experience tailored to their needs’.
The plans, were approved by Bath & North East Somerset Council planning committee on 25 September 2024, subject to conditions which limit and control the way in which the planning permission must be implemented.
Councillor Alison Born, Cabinet Member for Adult Services, said: “I would like to thank Arcadis for all their hard work in getting this flagship scheme to the development stage. This award recognises how successfully the Englishcombe Lane plans balance the need for community housing with protecting the ecology of the site and incorporating the flood and drainage considerations. The landscape-led, sustainable development will offer much-needed accommodation for people with a learning disability and / or autism, allowing them to live as independently as possible and will be owned and managed with care provided by the council, avoiding the need for out-of-area placements.”
The design team are currently drawing up detailed plans to manage the construction activity and the planning authority will need to approve the conditions before construction can begin.
Aydin Zorlutuna, UK Director for Landscape, Masterplanning and Urbanism at Arcadis, said: “From the outset we knew that this project was special. B&NES had a clear and intelligent vision for this under-represented aspect of social housing. The modest scale of the site belies the complexity of the design challenges and the planning application, which we overcame with a focussed planning strategy and a landscape-led approach. It has been a pleasure to work so closely together with B&ANES to help them achieve consent for what was described at the planning committee as an ‘exemplary planning application.”
The Englishcombe Lane scheme is part of the council’s B&NES Homes programme which is developing supported and social housing across the area. Other projects include Argyle Works at Lower Bristol Road, Bath where work has just been completed.
Residents can find out more about the Englishcombe Lane project and the council’s B&NES Homes programme on the website.
ENDS