Councillors have approved a major housing blueprint for Bristol with plans for nearly 35,000 new homes by 2040.
The draft Local Plan will go out to public consultation this month with a range of policies to guide how and where property developers build new housing in the city.
New housing developments will be mostly on brownfield urban sites, rather than countryside areas. Lockleaze is the largest site allocation in the north, with about 1,200 more homes planned. Specific sites across the city have been allocated for smaller developments, which the authority hopes will result in buildders submitting planning applications and securing the land. Some are vacant but others are in use by businesses.
Councillors sought to find a balance between finding enough land to build enough homes that Bristol needs, while also protecting the local environment.
A cross-party working group took four years to draft the plan, which was voted on during a full council meeting on October 31. After a six-week public consultation, the plan will be sent to government planning inspectors to check its evidence.
During the council meeting, Bristol mayor Marvin Rees said: “We got 42 square miles, we’re not getting any more land, we’re 472,000 people and one of the fastest growing cities outside London. Our population is predicted to be 550,000 by 2050. There are over 20,000 households on our waiting list and 1,300 households in temporary accommodation.
“This Local Plan offers us a blueprint for the city’s future. It will be used to guide decisions on planning applications. At the heart of the plan is the drive to deliver 34,650 new homes by 2040. It’s been an incredibly challenging piece of work.”