Date published: 2025-09-17 | Category: Giving people a bigger say, Local Plan
Bath & North East Somerset Council today unveiled its response to the Government’s new housing targets and the growth agenda for the next 20 years. Options include bringing housing, transport, business space, infrastructure and public spaces together to shape better places and create more jobs for the future.
A new Local Plan Options Report is set for public consultation. It outlines how places might change over the next 20 years to provide more of the right homes in the right places and enable economic growth. The report sets out how this growth could be planned for, to create sustainable communities, protect the district’s unique character and address the climate and ecological emergency.
Having consulted last year on our earlier ambitious target of 14,000 new homes over twenty years the council has reset its Local Plan Options Report after the Government almost doubled the target to 27,000 over eighteen years.
Across B&NES, the average house price is around twelve times the average workplace earnings and in Bath it is nineteen. The housing affordability crisis not only affects people’s quality of life; it directly impacts the local economy.
Councillor Matt McCabe, Cabinet Member for Built Environment Built Environment, Housing and Sustainable Development, said: “The challenge from Government is huge. Doubling our housing target is a massive hurdle.
“The main driver for the housing target is the overwhelming need for more affordable housing locally. At the recent B&NES Housing Summit, I heard from young residents facing homelessness despite being in work, and from those unable to access secure tenancies. The first step in agreeing a strategic plan through the Local Plan process is to test the options in a public consultation.
“We understand the concerns of our local communities - especially where past developments failed to deliver much-needed infrastructure. Options are being put forth in places with existing infrastructure or where potential future infrastructure can unlock new areas for housing. I welcome the options set out in the report going before cabinet.
“The decisions we make now will shape our communities for the next 20 years. If the report is approved, it is vital that we gather local evidence. Everyone should be able to share their views on the options before us in a public consultation as the first step in creating our Local Plan 2025 to 2043.”
Cabinet is being asked to approve the Local Plan Options report to go out for a six-week public consultation from October 3 to November 14.
When finally agreed, the statutory Local Plan will guide development and land use across Bath and North East Somerset until 2043, with adoption scheduled for summer 2027.
By having a Local Plan, the council can better facilitate planned high-quality development and infrastructure provision. It can protect what makes B&NES special, including its renowned built and natural environments, while guiding future sustainable growth. Without a Local Plan, speculative development will take place, in less sustainable areas and in an unplanned way, with inadequate infrastructure support.
Options include new homes and facilities in Keynsham and Saltford Village; growth in the Somer Valley supported by major transport improvements; mixed-use development in central Bath; reuse of brownfield and underused sites; and a more flexible approach to village growth where it supports services and sustainability.
The options put forward also raise the sensitive but important question of whether land to the west of Bath could be brought forward to deliver much-needed homes, support jobs and unlock investment. Any development here would need to demonstrate exceptional design quality, landscape sensitivity and clear public benefit. It would be subject to rigorous heritage and environmental assessment.
Councillor Kevin Guy, council leader, added: “Planning is a highly regulated system. The Local Plan Options consultation must test all ‘reasonable alternatives’ for potential development. The options include potential sites which may not be suitable. That’s why we need local knowledge as part of the consultation. We also want to challenge the idea that Bath cannot provide the housing that local people need. We want to prove that Bath can be an exemplar for sustainable development which enhances and protects our heritage. The Local Plan is an opportunity for ambitious, transformational change, but we need to work with partners and residents to manage the process.”
The council’s proposed updates to Planning Obligations guidance prioritises investment in GP surgeries, schools and transport improvements - ensuring that growth is matched with the facilities and services communities need.
If approved at cabinet the Local Plan Options public consultation will run from 3 October to 14 November. Residents will have a range of opportunities to share their views, for example at pop-up events in Bath, Keynsham, Midsomer Norton and rural areas. Targeted outreach to young people, renters and other underrepresented groups and community group briefings and conversations will also take place. Everyone can respond to the online consultation via https://bathnesplaces.co.uk.
Cabinet will also consider a separate report seeking approval for the development of a Movement Strategy aimed at improving travel choices and a consultation on the strategy to run from Tuesday 14 October to Friday 28 November.
The reports to cabinet can be found on the website and the meeting on September 25 can be viewed on the council’s YouTube channel.