Comment
West of England Combined Authority Spatial Development Strategy: Evidence for Bristol’s urban capacity
The West of England Combined Authority (WECA) has published a suite of evidence documents for its new Spatial Development Strategy[1]. Director, Andrew Ross considers how this evidence will need to be used to inform policy decisions arising from the competing demands on land for homes and jobs in the city, and realising Bristol’s urban capacity.
The evidence, which was commissioned by the WECA, will inform the emerging Spatial Development Strategy (SDS) and serves to highlight some of the key challenges which will need to be accounted for as this process is progressed over the next 12-18 months.
Housing demand and supply
Urban capacity for housing within Bristol is and will continue to be in sharp focus over coming years given the ongoing strong demand from developers and occupiers looking for homes to both rent and buy, and the need to expand and diversify affordable housing provision within the city. This topic will also be of critical importance for the SDS and associated Local Plans, both for Bristol City and the other adjoining Local Authorities. Bristol’s ongoing housing crisis was a key topic during the annual Bristol Housing Festival held earlier this month. Read more about the festival here.
The published evidence[2] supports the SDS process by highlighting the scale of housing need which Bristol is expected to plan for[3] – at some 64,000 new homes over the 20 year period to 2040. This is an average annual rate of 3,200, double the average rate of new homes previously delivered over the ten year period between 2010 and 2020.
There are substantial and important opportunities for urban regeneration and densification in the city, reflecting urban living aspirations and the need to repurpose and reimagine some urban sites and centres. However, some of this capacity may not be found, in which case co-operation with Bristol’s neighbours and partners in the West of England will be essential.
An inevitable strand of assessment and debate over the next 12-18 months as the SDS and other Local Plans are progressed will be around urban capacity and the scale of housing that can and should be met within the city’s administrative boundary, as well as how this will be achieved in a sustainable way consistent with Bristol City Council’s approach to align new policy and city development with the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals[4] (as expressed in the Bristol One City Plan[5] - an expression of how “city partners will work together to create a fair, healthy, and sustainable city”).
This process will require close consideration of available capacity for new housing development within Bristol, and alongside this, the role to be played by the city and choices around land use for the provision of jobs and economic development, together with the social and green infrastructure necessary for successful placemaking (reflecting the council’s priorities in these areas, including the declared ecological emergency’).
Employment land and economic development
Part of the evidence base which has been published comprises over 200 pages[6] dedicated to Employment Land needs (the West of England Employment Spatial Needs Assessment – “ELSNA”). It has always been the case that planning for business and employment requires flexibility given the need for businesses to be agile and to account for competition between places for jobs and investments. To some extent the need for this flexibility and agility has been brought into sharper focus by the pandemic with some rapid shifts in relative demand in different sectors and locations, and the rise of flexible working models changing further how development might best accommodate requirements for homes and jobs.
This fact is borne out of the published quantitative and qualitative SDS evidence which will require a careful and skilful policy making response. A key finding of the ELSNA is that “Bristol as a Unitary Authority is subject to the greatest shortage of employment land, with deficits in future supply evident in all core sectors”. On this basis (and amongst other things) the main policy recommendations arising are:
- protection of existing employment stock;
- identification of additional land supply;
- maximising the use of existing stock; and
- promoting flexible employment land policies.
Particular policy and plan making challenges are likely to arise on this basis, given the substantial pressure to increase housing delivery within the city by identifying and allocating additional land for housing development, whilst also ensuring that business and employment land provision is to be met, including the key sectors identified by the ELSNA, such as R+D and urban logistics.
Previous plan making activity by Bristol City Council in 2019 identified a number of key Growth and Regeneration Areas, with potential redevelopment of significant areas of land currently protected only for employment uses (PIWAs). These areas are expected to yield significant amounts of new housing for the city and specific dwelling numbers were suggested in draft documents. Whilst mixed-use employment provision was also expected, no specific job or floor space numbers were suggested. A specific recommendation of the WECA ELSNA is that these policy requirements should be included, so that there can be clarity about the impact of these developments on employment land supply as well as capacity for new homes – which may be reduced as a result. There will also be important technical and design considerations to ensure successful mixed-use development in these areas can be delivered, yielding high quality spaces for living and working alongside one another.
Future plan making for West of England
Many stakeholders (including the adjoining Local Authorities) will be taking a keen interest in how Bristol’s urban capacity and the different land uses, which can be expected within key Growth and Regeneration Areas, will be identified and evidenced in the next stages of plan making.
Bringing up to date strategic polices for homes, jobs and strategic infrastructure in the West of England is overdue[7] and essential in order to positively plan for successful growth and regeneration. The publication of evidence to support this important process represents positive progress, although there remains much technical and political input required in order to successfully bring forward the sound new policy which is essential for the area to thrive.
For more information on Bristol’s Spatial Development Strategy and urban capacity, please contact Andrew Ross.
26 October 2021
[1] https://www.westofengland-ca.gov.uk/what-we-do/planning-housing/spatial-development-strategy/
[2] https://www.westofengland-ca.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/LHNA_Final_Report_Sept_20211.pdf
[3] As directed by the nationally derived Standard Method for identifying housing need.
[5] https://www.bristolonecity.com/about-the-one-city-plan/
[6] https://www.westofengland-ca.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ELSNA_Final_Report_June_20211.pdf
[7] Given the previously failed Joint Spatial Plan process.