Consultation begins on development vision near M32
Bristol City Council wants to see 1,000 homes built around the River Frome in St Judes
Bristolians are being asked to have their say on how part of the city could develop in the future.
Since 2019 Bristol City Council has been putting together a framework for how the Frome Gateway area could be regenerated.
The idea is land either side of the River Frome in St Judes, near to the M32 motorway, could be developed to create new homes and business space, whilst also making the river and surrounding park land more attractive.
"The draft Frome Gateway Regeneration Framework outlines a vision and set of principles to inform and coordinate development and regeneration proposals across the area to ensure it is fit for the future," Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees said.
"The vision is that, by 2035, the delivery of new and improved homes, workspaces, and community and public spaces will transform the Frome Gateway to better meet the needs of the local community and our city.
"This will see the area changing over time from a mostly industrial area to a healthy and sustainable residential-led neighbourhood with a greater mix of uses."
Specifically the framework outlines a vision to:
- Deliver around 1,000 new homes including affordable homes and those for larger families
- Provide a range of new work and employment space
- Open and restore the River Frome to become a thriving wildlife corridor and increase the amount of green space
- Provide safer streets for walking and cycling
- Support community and cultural organisations to grow their reach
- Adapt to the impacts of climate change
"Our city is 42 square miles with a rapidly growing population, which presents the challenge of how we sustainably develop Bristol while limiting the sprawl of the city," Mayor Rees said.
"If we don’t act now to regenerate areas that need it most, and make use of brownfield sites to build new communities that attract opportunity, those parts of our city will be in danger of being left behind.
"Regeneration must be used to create vibrant, successful places with higher density development to make use of the finite land available, balancing the need for homes, workspaces, green spaces and infrastructure while directing investment to existing areas most in need.
"Frome Gateway is one of these areas of our city, which is in need of investment so that it can better meet the needs of the local community and our city."
The Frome Gateway area includes the land either side of the River Frome in St Jude’s, Lawrence Hill.
It is east of Bristol City Centre and is bordered by Newfoundland Way/M32 to the west, Pennywell Road to the east, Houlton Street/Wade Street to the south and to the north by Easton Way.
You can take part in the consultation, which will close on Monday 4 December, via the Frome Gateway website.
Paper copies are available at Junction 3 Library, Trinity Arts Centre, St Pauls Learning Centre, St Pauls Community Sport Academy, while you can request an easy read or posted paper copy of the survey by contacting the City Council via email at info@fromegateway.co.uk or by calling 0117 922 4409.
It comes as nationally a white paper on how to solve the housing crisis has been published by a group of organisations from across the private sector, including Brickflow, Knight Frank and PwC.
The group is highly critical of central government for not having published such a document itself.
You can read more about that report and see the government's response, via this link.