Plan to build on green belt 'mad', says campaigner

Proposed plans to build new homes on an area of green belt are "absolutely mad", says a campaigner.

Protest meetings have been held in Saltford after Bath and North East Somerset (BANES) Council identified land on the edge of the village, which sits between Bath and Bristol, for potential housing.

Richard Skinner, who has helped organise two protest meetings, said: "I think this is absolutely mad to convert this area here, this green belt, into grey belt so it's then easy to put houses on it. It's crazy."

The council's cabinet member for housing, Matt McCabe, said he was "very sympathetic to people" worried about "the land surrounding their communities potentially disappearing".

McCabe said he was "acutely aware of the demand for housing", especially social housing.

It comes as the government raised the housing target in BANES from 14,000 to 27,000 new homes by 2043, a move which the council said would inevitably mean building on green fields around existing urban areas.

As part of a drive for growth, ministers are aiming for 1.5 million new homes across the UK by 2029.

Speaking at the Labour conference in the Autumn, housing secretary Steve Reed said: "We're marching forward, backing the builders, stopping the blockers, we're going to build baby build."

When he heard of the local housing targets, McCabe said: "Jaws just dropped."

"I'm asking them 'is this for real, how on earth does this happen?'," he added.

The councillor said there were a number of challenges limiting new development in the area, including Bath being a World Heritage city nestled between hills and the fact North East Somerset includes areas of protected countryside in the Cotswolds and Mendips.

As a result, McCabe said the council's local plan, which sets out how BANES will develop in future years, will focus on expanding existing urban areas such as Saltford and Keynsham, which sit on the A4 between Bath and Bristol.

Both areas could see a combined 6,000 new homes.

BANES councillor Chris Warren, who sits as an independent and represents the Saltford ward, said: "Everything which is being proposed for where we live will cause absolute chaos."

On where new housing should go, Warren said: "It's not for me to say where I feel, as a ward councillor for Saltford, where housing should go elsewhere."

The council will finalise its local plan in the summer, with the final decision made by a planning inspector in 2027.

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