The changing face of the West and what new housing means for the region

There are a number of new housing developments either planned or being built across the West of England.

Many of them will change the face of towns and cities here amid government targets to build more than a million homes before 2029.

Here, we look at where the biggest ones are being built and which of those still planned are causing the most controversy.

Salisbury has seen significant development in recent years, with hundreds of homes at St Peter’s Place in the north of the city, plans to expand a 600-home development in Wilton, and hundreds more at Harnham and Old Sarum.

Liberal Democrat city councillor Victoria Charleston said: "I'm in favour of house building. Families need places to live.

"We're heading towards 1,000 new houses just around the city itself. It is an extraordinary amount we are taking on."

However, she said there was often a delay between the building of homes and developers providing the necessary infrastructure, such as medical facilities.

"We are building houses on the edge of the city that don't include the infrastructure to create communities," said Charleston.

As an example on St Peter's Place, the first shop on the estate is due to open in two weeks' time, 10 years after building began.

"It means people are having to get on already busy roads more to get on with normal life," she said.

Decisions about how many new homes should be built in Wiltshire, and where, is currently up for discussion.

Each local authority makes a Local Plan which sets out a roadmap for development in the years to come.

It also acts as a framework for any developers who are keen to apply to build in an area.

Wiltshire's latest draft Local Plan was rejected by the government and the council is now at the start of a two-and-a-half-year period where a new one is being worked up.

While it is happening, Independent councillor for Melksham Without Parish Council, David Pafford, said rural communities were vulnerable.

"We've lost a lot of control over development in the area," he said.

"Two developments totalling some 370 houses went through against the wishes of the local community mainly because there was no overall strategy from Wiltshire Council," he said.

He accepted more homes were needed but said local people should have more of a say.

"Developers are falling over themselves to put in planning applications in Melksham, they think they've got a free ride," he said.

"It means we're sitting ducks."

Wiltshire Council has been approached for comment.

Meanwhile, Swindon Borough Council has just started a public consultation on its latest Local Plan.

Council leader Gary Sumner said: "I would encourage residents, businesses, community groups and partners to get involved and help us ensure the plan is ambitious, realistic and deliverable."

In Somerset, a number of large housing developments are in the pipeline with many recently getting planning approval.

One of the biggest under construction is at Orchard Grove, on the southwestern side of Taunton, where about 2,000 homes are being built.

But developer Taylor Wimpey has ambitions to create a much larger settlement of 7,000 homes, called Taunton Garden Village, south of Taunton near the Blackdown Hills.

Environmental groups are fighting for the land to be protected.

Somerset Council had asked developers to propose ideas for new housing projects as part of its Local Plan before some go to public consultation next year.

A spokesperson for Taylor Wimpey said the proposal would "create a self-sustaining community" and it would work with local stakeholders on the plans.

Rebecca Pow, former Conservative MP for Taunton and one of those campaigning against the development, said the plans were "astonishing" and she wanted to see the area protected.

"These are our most precious rural areas and they really make up what we see as Somerset," she said.

Mike Rigby, lead member for economic development planning and assets at Somerset Council, told the BBC in July the authority had received about 1,600 suggestions of areas for potential redevelopment as part of its call for sites.

He said the process was in the "very early stage" and the council would work to narrow down the proposals ahead of a public consultation next September.

Meanwhile, last month Somerset Council approved a major application for 750 homes between Bower Lane and the M5 in Bridgwater.

But there could be a public inquiry after concerns were raised over NHS provision and the number of affordable homes.

In April, a planning inspector gave the green light to 1,700 homes for a new settlement called Selwood Garden Village on the edge of Frome.

And last month, Somerset Council agreed to sell a 12-acre site in the centre of Frome, called Saxonvale, which could be one of the largest regeneration sites in the country.

In Bristol and on its borders to the north and east, housebuilding is being boosted by multi-millions of pounds in funding secured by the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority (Weca) and driven by a lack of affordability of current housing stock.

One of the most talked-about developments is Brabazon which is being built - complete with a future music arena and railway station - on the former Filton Airfield.

Some 6,500 homes will be on the site and it is so big it may even earn the title "new town" - as it was listed as a potential one by the government of previous prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer.

Beyond Bristol to the north, there has been strong opposition to a plan for 28,000 homes to be built by 2040 in South Gloucestershire, many on green spaces.

The target was agreed by South Gloucestershire Council but the local authority's cabinet member for planning Chris Willmore said the decision had left her in tears.

"You can't face losing green fields that people love without it being upsetting," she said.

And in Bath and North East Somerset, including the historic city of Bath itself - a Unesco World Heritage Site - a public consultation has just ended on a Local Plan that should see almost 28,000 homes built by 2042.

Councillor Matt McCabe, cabinet member for housing, said: "Agreeing a sound Local Plan is the best way to shape our own future.

"This consultation is the final piece of the jigsaw."

Those details will now go to the government's Planning Inspectorate for independent examination before any spades go into the ground.

Gloucestershire could see a significant number of new villages - including more than 4,100 homes on the edge of Cheltenham.

The Elms Park development between Cheltenham, Bishops Cleeve and Uckington would create a substantial new community on the town's north-west edge.

An outline planning application was submitted in September for 4,115 homes, employment land, schools and transport upgrades.

Elsewhere, Ashchurch near Tewkesbury could see more than 3,000 new homes in a garden village on its north side.

A new company is being set up in autumn 2026 to deliver the project which would see thousands of homes built alongside new schools, employment land, community facilities and major transport improvements.

Meanwhile, near Redmarley, a 3,500 "garden village style development" known as Glynchbrook, had been proposed to much public opposition.

The land was earmarked under the Forest of Dean District Council's draft Local Plan but there were concerns over the scale, lack of infrastructure and impact on views around the Malvern Hills.

Plans have been put on hold after the council withdrew the Local Plan in June.

Council leader Adrian Birch, speaking about the development at a recent meeting, said the authority had already written to the government to challenge the housing target it had been set.

"We therefore need to put forward a Local Plan that gives greater control over where and how new development happens," he said.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has promised "the biggest council house-building programme since the post-war period".

Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said: "The prime minister wants us to make sure we're building council houses. He's made that absolutely, fundamentally clear."

The government set itself a target of 1.5 million new homes before the next election, due before 2029.

Rayner said that target was unlikely to be met.

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