‘We need to start planning now for a new town in north Bristol’

The Labour Party, which barring a political earthquake looks increasingly likely to form the next UK government, is calling for a family of new towns adjacent to existing centres of population.

This is their big policy solution to finding the much-needed new homes, and they want us to build fast.

While in truth there will be many and varied solutions, the concept is a good one that could help to save the destruction of our cities – Bristol being a notable example – by avaricious developers who are taking advantage of the housing crisis by building bland housing estates or tall blocks, more in a race to make money than make decent homes and thriving communities.

The planning system, which is under resourced and reluctant to plan, seems unable to resist the torrent of poor schemes it is presented with in spite of all the warm words about the importance of good design in creating communities.

We are building huge problems for the future.

Construction continues of the new Brabazon neighbourhood on the former Filton Airfield – image: YTL Developments

So let’s look now at what our metro mayor and the West of England Combined Authority could offer a new government, rather than waiting for something inappropriate to be thrust upon us and rushed through without proper consideration.

Let’s take this as an opportunity to clear up the mess that has grown with so little thought to the north of Bristol and try to make sense of it by planning it as a proper place with a full range of local facilities and good public and active transport, to make a series of low car-use 15-minute neighbourhoods.

This requires political guts and imagination but is necessary if we are to make a Greater Bristol that we can be proud of.

This ‘Brunel’ new town (we can argue about an appropriate name!) should be designed by urbanists and architects, learning from the very best of densely populated European cities to create beautiful streets and public spaces in contrast with the straggling car-dependent layouts and left over spaces that currently characterise this disparate area.

The area does start with some distinct advantages, some of which exist for the wrong reasons.

Firstly it has Parkway station, giving great rail access to London and Cardiff, and will hopefully in the future have good connections to Birmingham and the north.

It contains the South West’s largest university, together with retail and business parks and manufacturing, and it has its own major visitor attractions, notably Aerospace Bristol and Bristol Zoo Project. It might even one day have an arena.

Some of this will require demolition and rebuilding but the challenge will be as to how we can make the most of the mess we have inherited from a hotchpotch of development bounded by the M4 and M5.

While it requires good building reuse and new design it will be knitted together by great landscape – an urban forest.

This must be designed as a healthy place for children and the elderly, a playable place with clean air and a low carbon footprint.

The quantity of tarmac roads and car parks should be drastically reduced and walking and cycling routes should be given preference.

It is not going to be easy to decide on the location of the Labour Government’s new towns, but in Greater Bristol we have the opportunity to show the way with little risk of making more of a mess than we have already made.

We now have a great opportunity to add to our special ‘city of villages’ with a significant ‘eco-town’ that could house up to 100,000 new citizens and has all the advantages of living in a city with easy access to all facilities.

Let’s gather all the talents and start planning now!

This is an opinion piece by George Ferguson, who was mayor of Bristol from 2012 to 2016 and is also the former president of the Royal Institute of British Architects

Main photo: Turismo de Salamanca

Read next:

• Proposals for 33-storey tower in Castle Park are ‘assault on Bristol’
• Homes on former airfield will be South West’s ‘most exciting new city district’
• The future of Bristol Parkway could be without cars

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