The latest: EPIC planning application and the West of England's Nature Recovery Strategy

EPIC’s consultants are doubling down on their efforts to secure planning approval for EPIC’s ‘forever home’ on high quality Green Belt land in Long Ashton, citing significant economic benefits to our area, should the application be approved.

Update, January 8th:

1. Long Ashton resident protest meeting: Saturday 11th Jan, 4pm, LA Village Hall

We're coming together to share concerns and review the application, which has recently been 'suggested' for approval by North Somerset's planning officer. (Read their report here, page 89 onwards). Details of the meeting are here.

2. Final NS planning committee meeting: Wednesday 15th Jan, 2:30pm Weston Town Hall

PLEASE ATTEND IF YOU CAN! Significant public attendance to these decision meetings has been shown to still influence the result.

3. Email the planning committee before Tuesday 14th

A crucial thing you can do (especially if you cannot attend on the 15th) is to email your concerns to the planning committee. Here’s some suggested points to cover, alongside the relevant email addresses. We encourage you to focus on the economic benefits being overstated.

An iconic view of Long Ashton church, loved by many over the years that will be completely obscured by EPICs buildings - if their Planning Application is approved.

Update, December 2024:

Decision from Long Ashton Parish Council deferred until January/February 2025

"North Somerset Council have been working towards presenting the Epic application to the December P&R meeting. However, they have recently been made aware that the Government is intending to publish a revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) before Christmas. Given this, North Somerset Council has been concluded that it would be prudent to review the revised NPPF before finalising a recommendation."

Since this decision will profoundly affect the future of both Long Ashton and South Bristol, it will be a meeting that’s important not to miss. It’s no coincidence that, at the same time, ITV reported Bristol Airport Ltd is considering further expansion to exceed the existing limit of 12 million passengers a year. A public consultation is imminent, with a detailed planning application due early next year. Bristol Airport Ltd hopes to have close ties with EPIC whose huge auditorium and training centre will host regular meetings with people travelling from Europe, the Middle East and the USA.

The list of online objections to EPIC’s revised application grew day by day, with serious concerns voiced by Historic England, Active Travel England, Parish Councils’ Airport Association, Campaign to Protect Rural England, Bristol City Council and an overwhelming number of residents from Long Ashton, South Bristol, neighbouring parishes and further afield. Even so, it's not clear if all members of North Somerset Council’s Planning & Regulatory Committee are recognising these legitimate and informed concerns.

With nearly 700 objections to the application registered, the LANCE Trust believes it's the ideal time to remind the members of the Committee how much residents care about the future of their local environment, particularly as we can all see the adverse impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss causing devastation to the global environment. 

View of the Long Ashton ridge from the proposed auditorium on the EPIC site. Looks as if some of those living Long Ashton will have a good view of the campus.

West of England's Nature Recovery Strategy

This week, The West of England Combined Authority released its Local Nature Recovery Strategy and Toolkit, after lengthy consultation, collaboration and development.

"The strategy sets local priorities for nature recovery and maps ‘focus areas’ where action to help nature will have the biggest impact, which will help to better target funding and resources for nature recovery. The toolkit has been designed to help deliver these priorities."

As part of the toolkit, there is a guide intended to be used by planners, ecologists and developers. The guide explains how to use the Local Nature Recovery Toolkit map to see whether a location is in a focus area for nature recovery and, if so, bring up a table of recommended measures.

The measures for the EPIC site are as follows:

"The low-lying area prone to flooding between the A370, Bristol to Taunton Railway Line and Ashton Vale provides an excellent opportunity to work with nature to create an accessible area of wetland close to Bristol, which could be a haven for both wildlife and people. This could involve reconnection of brooks to the floodplain. Any development in this area should consider opportunities for wetland habitat creation, and ensure that the brooks' value as wildlife corridors is maintained and enhanced."

We do not believe the EPIC development will fulfil any of these measures. In fact, the development would drain the wetland environment and fragment any existing wildlife corridors. Their proposed planting plan includes artificial lighting and surfaces which mean any green spaces within their development are barely contributing to nature.

Unbelievably, the EPIC site is within an area that is labelled as a 'Focus area for nature recovery.'

What you can do

To help take a final action, here’s some ideas for a letter/email to the Planning Committee, alongside the relevant email addresses.

Finally, if you'd like to review a summary of the whole application and the opinions around it, this podcast episode has been specially generated.

With a view like this, no wonder EPIC wants this site.