On Friday September 20th our community submitted the planning application for Phase One of the Southmead Regeneration project.
How does a community go from filling out surveys to leading one of the biggest community-led housing projects in the UK?
Five years ago a group of residents came together with a vision to create a Community Plan – a vision for a better Southmead – to tackle the things that are important to our residents. After many months of door-knocking and conversations with over 900 households, the Southmead Community Plan was created.
The Southmead Regeneration Project emerged directly from this plan to take a vision to transform the centre of Southmead, and make it a reality – led by our residents every step of the way
What will Southmead Regeneration mean for us?
- 120 apartments, 85% of which will be affordable, to tackle the critical need for housing in Southmead
- A new library, which will be able to have longer opening hours due to sharing facilities such as a reception
- A new purpose-built health centre, which will move from an old building that is unfit for use
- High quality open space with lots of seating, more trees, and community space
- An income from owning some of the homes, which will go back into things that are important to the community such as youth work
The scheme will be built on Glencoyne Square – an area identified by the community as underused, neglected and unsafe. Over half of the green space will remain and will be safer, better quality and more welcoming.
The plans on the application have been influenced by people here in Southmead, from the layout of the buildings, to the shape of the roofs and the colours of the bricks!
Take the time to look through the application – it is available on the Bristol City Council website at: www.bristol.gov.uk/planning (reference no 19/04705/F) and please leave a comment.
If you have questions, or you would like to find out more, come along to a pop up event in October where you can speak with one of the team from Southmead Development Trust:
We are very proud of this milestone moment in the project – and all the hard work and time of residents and volunteers to get us here – well done everyone!
To find out more about Southmead Regeneration, click here: www.southmead.org/regeneration
To see more images of the proposed scheme, click here: www.southmead.org/images
