Masterplanning and place-shaping

We want to ensure that South Gloucestershire continues to be a great place to work, live, visit and enjoy in the future.

What a masterplan is

A masterplan is a way to plan the future of an area over the long term. It sets out the vision for an area, capturing a wholistic view of how it should evolve, and includes a roadmap for managing development and growth over that time.

Without a masterplan there is a risk of unsustainable growth in the wrong locations. Unsustainable growth is growth that puts too much pressure on the area’s infrastructure (road, rail, healthcare and education services) or the natural environment or both.

Having a masterplan helps balance the need to develop and improve the areas where we live and work with our responsibility to make sure nature and the environment and neighbouring areas are not negatively affected.

Masterplans are created in consultation with the people or groups who may be impacted by an area’s development.

What place-shaping means

Place shaping describes the approach we use when we work with communities to create a masterplan.

It recognises that the character of a place affects how people feel about it and in turn how successful it becomes. Successful places tend to be those that have their own distinct identity.

By taking a place shaping approach to planning, our planners try to make sure any major developments or regeneration projects reflect the unique identity of each neighbourhood and reinforce a positive sense of place.

What we are doing

We are developing strategic infrastructure-led masterplans which set out a vision for the future of an area up to 2050 and beyond.

We are working with local communities, businesses and other key stakeholders to:

• set out opportunities and priorities for regeneration and change
• establish a shared vision for an area
• maintain a distinctive and high-quality sense of place, network of streets, spaces and mixed-use development
• ensure a resilient low carbon, sustainable approach
• co-ordinate and integrate investment

We are committed to moving towards net zero carbon, creating a market for green infrastructure investment and enhancing the biodiversity in our area.

We are also seeking to achieve our ambition to close the equality gap, to deliver equality of opportunity for all of our residents, and to deliver value for money.

Our masterplans will define and guide any development and regeneration taking place across the area. Use the links on this page to find out more about the plans.

How this links to our new Local Plan

The work we are doing informs and provides evidence for the new South Gloucestershire Local Plan 2020.

This is at an early stage of preparation but will eventually set out a framework for the future development of South Gloucestershire.

It will explore the issues, options and approaches that could be taken to meet our needs for new housing, a thriving economy, community facilities and new infrastructure whilst putting in place measure to protect and enhance the environment.

It will eventually be used to make decisions on planning applications within South Gloucestershire.