North Somerset Additional Sites Consultation

Read Portishead Town Councils response to the Local Plan Additional Sites Consultation. Follow the link below.

Follow the link below to watch the live webinar which took place on Tuesday 4 March 2025.

Below is a summary of points which were raised during the live webinar.

1. All the land around Weston Big Wood is high environmental value Greenbelt and should be protected as per Central Government planning policies.

2. Weston Big Wood is an ancient woodland since the ice age, a SSSI (Site of Special scientific interest) and contains rare flora and fauna. Being a SSSI affords it protection from development as part of National Planning Policy.

3. These protections need to be extended beyond the Wood itself as the wood needs a substantial buffer to survive and regenerate. Wildlife needs a buffer and a wildlife corridor in and out of the wood to survive.

4. Ecology studies over the last 40 years prove that the biodiversity in the woodland and surrounding area has been significantly reduced and that the woodland continues to be degraded.

5. Weston Big Wood is an integral part of the Gordano Vally nature reserve stretching from the Severn estuary, through Portbury Wharf Nature reserve, along the Gordano Valley to the Somerset levels and Mendips. which is of national strategic environmental importance. Degrading it further and eventually destroying it by more development will remove a key part of the Gordano Valley environment and impact negatively on the wildlife, flora and ecology of the whole Gordano Valley.

6. The Governments National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) states that development must "minimise impacts and provide net gains for biodiversity"
   - The area around Weston Big Wood is an area where bio-diversity net gains could be invested to reverse the environmental degradation of the last 40 years. This would mean developers paying to improve the environment around Weston Big Wood from development elsewhere where they are unable to find places to achieve their 10% bio diversity net gain obligation.

7. The North Somerset Council Green Infrastructure strategy aims to connect woodland fragments of which there are many along the Gordano valley, not further degrade and destroy them.

8. Flooding is already a severe problem on the South Side of Weston Big Wood along Clevedon Road and Bristol Road. The south side is adjacent to the flood plain and any development around Weston Big Wood will only exacerbate the flooding problem.

9. The fact that this is designated green belt and has previously been refused planning consent by the Secretary of State in the late 1980s. Development here will result in irreplaceable wildlife loss / loss of biodiversity (including bat colonies and other rare flora and fauna).

The link below will direct you to consultation and the specific page for Portishead.