Backwell ‘loaf’ housing allocation protest
Backwell locals have urged North Somerset Council to 'use your loaf' and not allocate farmland for housing in its new local plan
A village is urging North Somerset Council to “use your loaf” and not build over its grade one farmland.
Backwell is a village of about 2,000 homes and developers already have planning permission to build another 800 — a scale of building locals have dubbed “absolutely bananas.” Now North Somerset Council’s new local plan could allocate huge swathes of farmland east of the village for almost a thousand more houses.
The local plan — which is out for consultation until Friday — needs to allocate enough land for new housing to show it can hit its 15-year housing target. But about 60 Backwellians braved the elements and carried loaves of bread at a protest on Saturday against allocating the land to the east of Backwell for around 889 homes, warning that the council was ignoring food security.
Backwell local Lorraine Hopkinson said: “We were calling for North Somerset Council and government to ‘use your loaf’ and consider food security before continuing to put forward our precious grade 1 agricultural greenbelt land which is currently used for food, crops and grazing on Backwell East.
“Only 7% of this high-yield land is left in the whole of North Somerset and yet it’s being put forward for another 1,000 houses. That’s in addition to the 800 houses (40% increase!) that already have planning permission for Backwell.”
Planning permission has been granted for a major westwards expansion of 515 homes at Grove Farm. Meanwhile building work is already underway on 90 homes on part of Farleigh Fields, the village’s “green lung” which locals fought against developers to protect for 40 years, and another 125 have planning permission on another part of the fields. Mandatory housing targets set by the government, which North Somerset Council is behind on, mean the council currently has less power to turn down housing developments.
Ms Hopkinson added: “It’s also worth noting that the 800 are largely on grade 2 agricultural land at Grove Farm and Farleigh Fields, only 10% grade 2 land left in North Somerset. All of this comes after an all party parliamentary report a few weeks ago, saying we are on the ‘tipping point’ in terms of our food security and loss of agricultural land.”
She said: “Why NSC are still including this precious land in their local plan? It should be removed.”
The local plan sets out the planning policies which will be in force and where developments should be built from 2026 until 2041. After the government increased the council’s housebuilding target last year, the local plan proposing 24,495 new homes and around 72 hectares of land for employment, along with key supporting infrastructure.
Housing growth is mostly focussed on Weston-super-Mare and the new village of Wolvershill to be built north of Banwell, but after the government increased the housing target three new “strategic growth areas” were added to the plan: Nailsea and Backwell, around Pill and Easton-in-Gordano, and “Woodspring” to the south west of Bristol.
Announcing the consultation on the plans in October, council cabinet member for planning and environment Annemieke Waite (Winford, Green) said: “It’s vitally important everyone has their say as this Local Plan will affect North Somerset for generations to come. We want to deliver new homes, especially the affordable housing that so many local families need, but we are deeply concerned about the scale of development central government is forcing upon us.
“Residents deserve more than just housing estates. They also need the vital infrastructure to support communities such as schools, roads and GP surgeries. We’re continuing to challenge developers and the government to step up and deliver the transport links, healthcare, education and jobs that must go hand in hand with new homes.
“This plan is about shaping a greener, fairer future for North Somerset. We’re balancing the need for homes and jobs with tackling climate change and safeguarding our natural spaces for generations to come. We know many communities will be worried about what this means for their area. We share those concerns. That’s why we want everyone to take part in this consultation – to make sure local voices are heard loud and clear.”
The consultation on the plans runs until 5pm on Friday December 12. You can respond to the consultation here: https://n-somerset.gov.uk/my-services/planning-building-control/planning-policy/our-local-plan/local-plan-2041/pre-submission-plan-2041-reg-19-autumn-2025-consultation