The West of England Combined Authority (WECA) and its constituent councils are working together, along with North Somerset Council, to address the region’s strategic housing, planning and infrastructure needs.
Spatial Development Strategy (SDS)
We need a large-scale plan to make sure future development in the region provides the right kind of jobs, homes and transport links, in the right places. The Spatial Development Strategy will set out the vision for how people will live, work and play in the West of England over the next 20 years and will help us deliver our commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. The key objective of the SDS is for clean, inclusive recovery and growth for the region. It will influence where the homes and jobs in each local area will go and will be important in shaping future decisions on development and creating sustainable places.
The strategy will cover the area of the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) area, which includes Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire councils. Please click here to find out more.
Homes
We need more homes of all types in the West of England – good quality homes that people can afford, whether they are renting or buying – built in the right places for residents to access employment opportunities to ensure sustainable economic growth. And we need them delivered at a much faster rate.
WECA has a specific role and remit to:
- Co-invest in new homes
- Help unblock any barriers which are slowing housing delivery
- Planning and
- prioritising investment in infrastructure
- Establishing a strong partnership to support key large housing sites.
Working with our councils, we need to make sure we’re building communities, not just houses. We need great transport links, schools, and broadband. We have outlined our ambitions for homes in the West of England in the new Housing Delivery Strategy.
Placemaking Charter
WECA and the four West of England councils are developing a Placemaking Charter which will set out a shared ambition for the quality of development in the West of England, and communicate priorities and expectations to support clean, inclusive growth, responding to the climate emergency.
It will provide a framework for communities, developers and authorities to set, evaluate and share design approaches to placemaking that are future ready, connected and biodiverse.
The principles of the charter will be promoted through the Housing Delivery Strategy to ensure that new homes and places deliver lasting benefits for communities and contribute to achieving clean and inclusive growth.