Brislington Meadows proposal sees refusal again

A much-deliberated reserved matters proposal for 260 homes at Brislington Meadows in Bristol has now seen refusal again at the Bristol City Council Planning Committee B meeting on Wednesday.

Despite revisions to its biodiversity strategy, the site still bears issues, notably as developers Keepmoat are unable to achieve the required 10 per cent biodiversity net gain on the site, with a still unclarified off-site provision now being necessary to meet BNG levels.

Planning committee meeting

Vice-Chair Cllr Guy Poultney brought forward a motion to refuse the application, he explained the reasoning as primarily concerned with the topography issues and gradients of the road, which have been previously described as problematic for accessibility requirements.

Additionally, Cllr Poultney mentioned that the site itself was ‘extremely challenging’, stating that there was: “A tension here between gradient and accessibility that has proved insurmountable”, and that it was: “A problem that can’t be fixed, without worsening one of the other impacts”.

Cllr Poultney went on to explain: “The design issue is already barely acceptable, but if you fix the topography problem to make it more inclusive, you get a worse design.”

There was much deliberation between Cllr Poultney and the Chair, Cllr Donald Alexander, where Cllr Alexander repeatedly sought Cllr Poultney to clarify the specific grounds for the motion for refusal, as he still found the motion unclear before voting. The motion was then seconded by Cllr George Calascione and voted on.

The vote

Cllrs Eddy, Classick, and Alexander voted against.

Cllrs Makawi, Jemphrey, Calascione, Poultney, Durston, and Breckels voted for.

The motion for refusal was then passed with six votes to three.