By Southmead Development Trust
Arnside and Glencoyne Square Regeneration Project Working Group are delighted to share a Media Release from Bristol City Council below. The Council has been awarded three million pounds to help kick-start the local regeneration needs our residents identified in the Southmead Community Plan. This funding will enable the delivery of much needed new homes, improvements to green spaces, shopping, and community facilities. This is good news in the current climate where the future of Southmead Library and the Southmead Youth Centre is uncertain.
Bristol receives a £9.6 million infrastructure investment boost to support housing delivery:
A £9.686 million investment that will facilitate the delivery of more than 1,000 proposed new homes in Bristol has been announced today following successful government funding bids by Bristol City Council. It was announced yesterday (Thursday, 1 February) that the council had been successful in two bids for funding to unlock housing delivery in the Southmead and Lockleaze areas, under the government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund.
Funding of £6.686 million has been awarded to the Unlocking Lockleaze Development project and it is proposed that this will support investment in sustainable transport infrastructure improvements locally, which will support the delivery of more than 800 new homes in line with local community and council ambitions. A further £3 million will go to the proposed Arnside and Glencoyne Square Regeneration, which is supported by the Southmead Development Trust. It is proposed that this funding will support the delivery of up to 300 new homes as part of this project by helping to provide improvements to the shopping area, green spaces and drainage systems. Plans to bring forward both proposed schemes are to be considered for approval over the coming months.
Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol, said: “We have a huge local demand for homes so I am delighted that the government has recognised that need, with this funding allocation. It will help us to meet our ambitious targets to deliver 2000 new homes, including 800 affordable homes, per year by 2020. “There has long been a lack of housing diversity in the Lockleaze and Southmead areas and this funding will enable us to develop and bring forward regeneration plans that are desperately needed in these areas.”
It is proposed that the Unlocking Lockleaze Development project will include a variety of housing, including affordable, as well as improvements to local infrastructure and sustainable transport links. Modelling indicates that Bristol City Council owned sites in the Lockleaze Estate can accommodate around 800 new homes, including at least 239 affordable homes. Planning Applications for the first 350 new homes in Lockleaze are expected to be submitted this month.
The Arnside and Glencoyne Square Regeneration is set to bring forward proposed plans developed by the community and the Southmead Development Trust. Assessments have identified a need for development of Glencoyne Square and improvement of nearby green spaces, as well as new, affordable and diverse housing in and around Arnside. Specific plans and locations for both schemes will come forward in due course in accordance with planning legislation.
Southmead resident Deana Perry said, “I grew up in Southmead and Arnside and Glencoyne Square have not changed in the last sixty years. Improvements to the centre of our community and green space are long overdue, this is great news!”
The funding is a positive start to the aspirations of delivering new homes; it gives us the opportunity to prepare potential sites such as the redundant land at the back of the United Reformed Church, the Whitehall, as well as around Glencoyne Square. We will keep everyone updated as to how and when we can all get involved in making the key decisions about what homes we want and where. Please get in touch with me if you’d like to talk about this further – email: lindymorgan@southmead.org, or telephone 0117 950 3335.