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Many residents will be aware that the Town Council is preparing a Neighbourhood Plan for Radstock. All town and parish Councils have the opportunity to prepare such a plan which should express the priorities of resident. They are a valuable planning tool because when adopted, have the full weight of the planning system. The Plan is being prepared by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable team of volunteers who form the Neighbourhood Planning Group.

The team has representatives from across the town and meets monthly to progress the plan. As a retired planner from B&NES I have been on the Neighbourhood Planning Group for about 6 months, and I have been very impressed with the zeal, knowledge and dedication of the team.

Having undertaken a survey of local residents’ priorities in 2023, the Team is now making good progress in preparing the Plan with a target of having a draft plan ready by early next year to share with the Radstock community for comment. Reflecting the results of the community survey, the Plan focuses on 5 goals, that;

1. There are enough homes to meet local needs.

2. Infrastructure and services promote connectivity and support the area as a positive place to live and work

3. There are sufficient community spaces for activities and events.

4. Heritage and the environment are celebrated, protected, and enhanced.

5. Businesses are enabled to grow and provide local sustainable employment.

The team’s current focus is on housing and whilst the community survey showed that most people see the benefit of some new housing in the town, especially to meet the needs of young people and those who want to downsize, there is a concern about the quality and location of new housing.

In response, one of the key areas of work underway is to identify and clearly set out the distinctive character and building styles of Radstock. The Team has therefore been surveying the different parts of Radstock to produce an illustrated Deign Code which will be a key consideration in determining planning applications. This will help to ensure that developers understand and properly reflect Radstock’s distinctive character and heritage in their schemes. 

Other areas of work are to ensure that new housing is properly supported by infrastructure and is well related to amenities and facilities, particularly by foot or cycle where possible. To facilitate this, the team is maintaining a list of local facilities such as schools, shops, health facilities, pubs, community halls, parks, churches and restaurants/cafes. This will help to clarify any gaps in provision and will inform the determination of planning applications for new housing and the provision that developers will need to make.

The Plan will also seek to ensure that new housing is of a high quality, well designed, has sufficient space and meets the most up-to-date sustainable construction standards, particularly in energy efficiency. Parking provision should be appropriate to the location and new housing proposals should well-related in scale to the rest of the town. Priority should be given to the use of brownfield sites before greenfield sites although the evidence shows that there are very limited brownfield site opportunities in the town.

Simon de Beer