A BLUEPRINT for planning new homes and business development in South Gloucestershire has been updated – and includes provision for 150 homes at Yate’s former tumble dryer factory.
Beko Europe closed its plant at the end of December, with the loss of 142 jobs, ending more than a century of manufacturing there.
The factory site was bought from Whirlpool by South Gloucestershire Council in 2021 for just under £10 million, and leased back to the manufacturer, whose European operation merged with Beko earlier last year.
When the closure decision was announced, a council spokesperson said the authority was keen to ensure the land would be used “for the benefit of the whole community, reflective of the site’s history and having regard to the aims and objectives of the Yate Masterplan”, published in 2023.
The future of the site was described as “of strategic importance for the town of Yate and South Gloucestershire”.
The latest version of the plan also says that another 200 homes can be accommodated in Yate Town Centre, with space for another 140 at Ladden Garden Village and 162 to the north of the new estate, and 10 at Cranleigh Court.
Further afield, it proposes 130 homes can be accommodated off Engine Common Lane, 20 at Holly Hill Farm, Iron Acton, 78 on land around North Road, and 12 on a field south of Engine Common Lane, Iron Acton.
The updated version of the new Local Plan has been sent to the next meeting of the authority’s cabinet, which takes place in early February, and will also be discussed by a full meeting of the council before a final stage of public consultation, which is due to begin at the end of February.
All local authorities are required to have an up-to-date Local Plan and, over the past few years, the council has been working on a plan to guide development and shape planning decisions between now and 2040.
The government announced in December that the council would need to find space for nearly 6,000 extra homes, on top of sites in its latest Local Plan, to meet new mandatory government targets.
South Gloucestershire’s updated Local Plan allocates sites for 22,573 new homes, a small increase on previous draft versions that have undergone various rounds of consultation over the past few years.
But campaigners from TRAPP’D – Thornbury Residents Against Poorly Planned Development – say the council will actually need to find 25,528 homes to hit the government target, with the extra 2,955 needing to be found within two years of the plan passing its examination stage.
Council cabinet member for planning Chris Willmore said: “The changes made to the planning system by the new Government have undoubtedly presented us with challenges, in terms of the mandatory housing targets and the opening up to potential development of Green Belt land.
“The proposals in this draft Plan positively respond to those challenges, however, and will allow us to retain control of our planning system and make improvements to our local area over the next 15 years.”