Homes England has appointed developer Keepmoat to construct a total of 260 new homes on the Brislington Meadows, in South Bristol
News Claire Elliott and Bristol Live readers 05:00, 16 Apr 2025
The Government has decided to proceed with one of Bristol's most contentious housing development proposals, after securing a new housebuilder for the project. Homes England, the Government's land and housing agency, has enlisted developer Keepmoat to build 260 new homes on Brislington Meadows in South Bristol. Bristol Live readers are horrified that a well used green area will be lost.
The agency expects construction to commence next year, but a detailed planning application must first be approved by Bristol City Council's planning committee. Brislington Meadows, an undeveloped area between Broomhill and Brislington that has become a wildlife sanctuary, is currently in a planning paradox.
It's designated as a green open space in the draft Local Plan, which should not be built upon, yet it also has outline planning permission for 260 homes. Homes England was initially denied permission to build on the land, but they appealed to the Government's Planning Inspectorate and were granted outline permission to construct the homes in principle.
A statement from Homes England read: "[Keepmoat] will now prepare a Reserved Matters planning application, which will include public consultation later in the year. It is currently anticipated that work will start on-site in 2026," they added.
Keepmoat now faces the challenge of assembling a 'Reserved Matters' planning application to a council that is attempting to designate the land as an area unsuitable for construction. However, given the Government Planning Inspectorate's appeal decision in favour of the homes, it remains uncertain whether council planners will obstruct the project again.
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Commenter Junius says: “In my opinion, this debacle was entirely down to Marvin Rees. Homes England purchased the Brislington meadow site in 2020 for £15 million after the Rees administration had rubber stamped the development plan passed by Gorge Ferguson's administration. Just before the 2021 mayoral election Rees performed a volte-face, blocking the use of the land for housing development. This left Homes England as the land owner but unable to carry out what had been agreed. It had no option but to seek review of Rees's perverse decision and the contradictory position it left BCC in.”
Localwalkerofbm writes: “This situation has been dragging on and on, leaving us on edge as to when the meadows will suddenly be closed. I think some people have accepted it will eventually be built on whilst others still fight for it to be saved. The planning design of what will be built is awful, how can they choose to have one entrance when it could be split into at least two, maybe three entrances to give relief to Broomhill Toad? Surely they could also actually build in between the hedgerows to at least save those. I think the meadows should have been kept and improved alongside Victory Park for the community to use, plenty of derelict industrial units on the industrial site next to it, knock those down and build houses!”
Liz Lewis states: “Went walking with my children and the dog there, we had picnics with other Mums and children, it's been a playground of many local children. We would walk down through the meadows for the children to see the horses, pick blackberries, and on through to Victory Park. Always saw lots of different birds, it's been a very special place - can't wait to see the chaos of accommodating all the construction traffic and subsequent traffic on an already very busy throughway to the Feeder and to the junctions of the A4, which are already at a standstill much of the time.”
Justin Lloyd Ashman asks: “We have got far too many empty new houses already, where is everyone coming from and who can afford them?”
Malcolm Field thinks: “The euphoria of getting our bus back has now passed and we resume the long running malfunction of local government, U turns and deafening silence. What is that area more suited to, nature or unaffordable housing?”
Darren George states: “This would be a good thing if it was meant for locals?”
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Anna Midwinter replies: “If all asylum seekers stopped arriving tomorrow and it was zero for the next year, immigration would reduce by less than 5% - not really significant in terms of housing. People are being deliberately and maliciously misdirected into believing that the primary cause of housing shortages is the number of asylum seekers when that's clearly and evidently not the case."
Neily D-n adds: “I respect house building by all means and agree, but not on green spaces.”
How do you feel about this proposal on Brislington Meadows, should it be halted or will it help solve the housing crisis? Have your say in our comments section.
