Land north of the A370 (Farleigh Road), Backwell

The feedback from our public consultation helped us to formulate proposals for the mixed-use area of up to two hectares, adjacent to the A370 on the eastern side of the new access junction.

An indicative 3D view showing how the proposed mixed-use area could look

 

Although this is intended to be flexible and could serve a number of purposes, we envisage that the area would include the following:

 

A community venue

A number of consultation respondents suggested that new indoor community space was needed in Backwell, noting that the village currently lacks space for youth clubs and other activities. With this in mind, we envisage that a new community venue could be included in the mixed-use area, providing flexible spaces for community use such as a hireable multi-purpose hall and a remote / co-working hub. We also envisage that this venue could have a hard-surfaced outdoor area suitable for outdoor gatherings.

 

Retail floorspace

Some respondents indicated that Backwell could do with another local store or mini supermarket. We are therefore including provision for retail floorspace within the mixed-use area of sufficient size to provide a facility of this kind. However, we are not proposing retail floorspace sufficient to provide a full-scale supermarket, as we consider that would have a negative impact on the existing stores in Backwell.

 

Business floorspace

Some respondents suggested that employment uses should be provided on-site if the development went ahead. We agree that the site would be a good location for small-scale business floorspace and have included provision for this in the mixed-use area.

 

A care home

Some respondents indicated that dedicated homes for older people should be provided as part of the development if it went ahead. To this end, we envisage that the mixed-use area would include a care home, placing housing for older people in a convenient location close to other on-site facilities as well as public transport links.

 

A children’s nursery

Some respondents suggested that Backwell needs additional space for a children’s nursery, and we have made provision for this within the mixed-use area.

 

A primary school is not proposed as part of this application; however, land for a primary school has been identified as part of the emerging proposals for the other part of the Land east of Backwell allocation. In addition, the draft Local Plan identifies further infrastructure improvements that all proposed allocations in the Nailsea and Backwell area will be expected to support, including improvements to bus priority, service frequency and interchange infrastructure on the A370, and access improvements for Nailsea and Backwell Station. These further improvements will be discussed with North Somerset Council now that the planning application has been submitted.