Here’s where 100 new Gypsy and Traveller pitches will be created in South Gloucestershire over next 15 years

The locations of 100 new Gypsy and Traveller pitches and 15 plots for Travelling Showpeople across South Gloucestershire have been revealed. The council’s newly updated Local Plan – a planning blueprint for homes and jobs in the district over the next 15 years – includes expanding or intensifying dozens of existing sites and creating 14 new ones to address a chronic shortage of places for the communities to live, which stretches back many years.

In September 2022, a government planning inspector criticisedSouth Gloucestershire Council for “a history of policy failure” by not providing anywhere near enough land for Gypsies and Travellers. Way back in 2006, the secretary of state issued a direction to the council to tackle the problem, but it has been essentially kicking the can down the road since then.

Now, 82 locations have been identified for pitches, including current and new ones. Two major new policies in the Local Plan, which will be approved by cabinet on Monday, February 3, voted on at full council later next month and then put out to consultation for six weeks before going off to the Planning Inspectorate for public examination in 2026, will safeguard the sites for this specific use, including many that will have their existing greenbelt status removed so they cannot be used for any other purpose.

The document said: “The identified need for pitches in South Gloucestershire is 119 new pitches for Gypsies/Travellers in the period 2022-2042.” It said this comprised 76 private pitches and 43 for social need.

The Plan said: “Existing, authorised sites will be safeguarded, and this will apply to public and private Gypsy/Traveller [and Travelling Showpeople] provision.” It said national planning policy set out that greenbelt boundaries should be altered only in exceptional circumstances but that this applied here because of the desperate need for plots.

Seven existing Gypsy/Traveller sites will be “intensified”, with more caravans on the same amount of land to accommodate family growth, providing 31 new private pitches, while three others will be expanded to give an extra 11 private pitches. Five new sites will be allocated for 21 private pitches, giving a total of 63 new ones, 13 short of the district’s assessed need, which the document says can be delivered through future individual planning applications or any new sites that come forward in the next stages of the Local Plan process.

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The proposed new policy said: “The council undertook a review of its land holdings, with a view to identifying sites for new social provision and, in doing so, has demonstrated significant leadership. The outcome of this process is that eight sites are proposed for allocation to meet social needs in the short term, through providing 37 new pitches.

“As part of this, through the Local Plan, additional provision (six new pitches) is proposed on the land on and surrounding the council’s existing Northwood Park site, subject to the resolution of existing issues on site in the short term. The provision of additional pitches will be realised through a redesign of the site (incorporating land adjacent) to provide for upgraded living accommodation and amenity space for residents.”

It said 59 new plots were needed for Travelling Showpeople, who run funfairs and mobile catering vans, from 2022-42. The Plan said the council had found one new site, currently in the greenbelt, which could provide 15 plots and that this would be allocated and protected, leaving a shortfall of 44 plots.

It said: “With a view to meeting this need, the council will proactively seek to engage with the community to understand whether there is land in individuals’ ownership where potential exists for new sites to be delivered, with a view to these being brought forward through the development management process, or potentially through considering the suitability of any new sites submitted through future stages of the Local Plan process or through a review of the Local Plan.”

Here are all the sites for Gypsies, Travellers and Showpeople, with the number of pitches or plots.

* indicates current greenbelt locations.

Existing safeguarded sites for Gypsies and Travellers

Appletrees, New Street, Charfield

Bank Road, Pilning*

Berwick Park, Berwick Lane, Easter Compton*

Bridge View, Westerleigh Road, Westerleigh*

Burton Road, Tormarton (2 sites)

Bury Hill, Hambrook*

Caravan near Aust Services, Sandy Lane, Aust*

Cottage View, Gloucester Road, Almondsbury*

Elm Farm, Westerleigh Road, Westerleigh*

Frampton Park (Cog Mill), Bristol Road, Frampton Cotterell*

Green Orchards, Berwick Lane, Easter Compton*

Greengate Yard, Shortwood Hill, Pucklechurch*

Henfield Paddock, Henfield Road, Coalpit Heath*

Highwood Park, Highwood Road, Patchway (Council-owned)

Hill View, Badminton Road, Nibley*

Land adjacent to Tormarton Road and Rushmead Lane

Land at Giddy End, High Lane, Winterbourne*

Land at Henfield Road, Coalpit Heath*

Land at Marsh Common Road*

Land at Northwick Road, Pilning*

Land north of Lime Kiln Court*

Land South Of The Northwick Road And Bank Road Junction, Pilning*

Meadow View, Bristol Rd, Frampton Cotterell*

Meadow View, Shortwood Road, Pucklechurch*

Moor Paddock, Westerleigh Road*

Northwood Park, Old Gloucester Road, Winterbourne* (Council-owned)

Orchard Farm, Pomphrey Hill, Mangotsfield*

Parkfield Road, Pucklechurch (2 sites)*

Shannon Parks, Tanhouse Lane, Yate

Shortwood Road, Pucklechurch*

Shortwood Yard, Shortwood Hill, Pucklechurch*

Siston Lane (2 sites), Pucklchurch*

Stone Acre, Norley Lane, Tormarton

Swan Lane, Winterbourne (3 sites)*

The Conifers, Oldbury Lane

The Meadows, Parkfield, Pucklechurch*

The Plaza, Northwick Road, Pilning*

Tytherington Road Nursery, Tytherington Road

Westerleigh Road, Mangotsfield

Willows, Latteridge Road, Iron Acton*

1 Dibden Lane, Emersons Green

56 Ram Hill, Coalpit Heath*

Sites for intensification for Gypsies and Travellers

Berwick Park, Berwick Lane – 2

Henfield Paddock, Henfield – 3

Hill View, Badminton Road, Nibley – 4

Frampton Park, Bristol Road – 8

Land North of Lime Kiln Court, Tytherington – 4

Moor Paddock, Westerleigh Road, Pucklechurch – 2

The Willows, Latteridge Road – 8

Sites for expansion for Gypsies and Travellers

Green Orchards, Berwick Lane – 4

The Conifers, Oldbury Lane – 5

The Meadows, Parkfield – 2

New sites to meet identified social need for Gypsies and Travellers

Camp Farm, Elberton – 4

Doynton Lane, Doynton – 2

Froglands Cross, Old Gloucester Road – 3

Land at Peg Lane, Pucklechurch – 8

Rectory Lane, Cromhall – 8

The Firs, Swan Lane – 3

Tormarton Road, Marshfield – 2

Land adjacent to Northwood Park – 6

New sites to meet identified private need for Gypsies and Travellers

Land at Beech House, Iron Acton – 1

Land at Church Lane, Rangeworthy – 6

Land at Commonmead Lane, Old Sodbury – 6

Land at Henfield Road – 4

Land opposite Green Orchards, Berwick Lane – 4

Existing safeguarded sites for Travelling Showpeople

Acres Fair, North Road, Yate

Beanwood Park, Wapley

Engine Common Lane, Yate

Fairlands, Earthcott Green, Almondsbury

Homefield, Hall End Lane, Wickwar

Land at Cotswold Road, Chipping Sodbury

Land at Park Lane, Frampton Cotterell

Land West of Pound Mill Business Centre

Oakleigh Green Farm Lane

The Burgage, Chipping Sodbury

The Firs, The Causeway, Coalpit Heath

The Maples, Maple Ridge Lane, Yate

The Orchards, Bristol Road, Cromhall

The Willows, Frog Lane, Coalpit Heath

The Willows, Hall End Lane, Wickwar

Willowcrest, North Road, Yate

New site for Travelling Showpeople

Land at Leigh Farm, Pucklechurch – 15