Yate Masterplan

We have worked with the local community, businesses and investors on a masterplan to shape the future of Yate over the next 15 to 20 years and beyond.

About the masterplan

This masterplan builds on Yate’s existing character to make it an even more welcoming, healthy, sustainable, and prosperous place to live work and visit.

The approach puts people at the heart of the process and follows the “15-minute town” principles. This is where daily necessities, such as work, schools, shops, healthcare and parks are within a 15-minute reach on foot or bike from home.

The masterplan was developed over 2 years, working with partners including:

• Yate Town Council
• The Circadian Trust (responsible for the leisure centres)
• NHS
• South West Ambulance Service
• Avon Fire and Rescue
• Ellandi (currently manage the shopping centre)

We also engaged with stakeholders, community groups and the public at each stage of developing the masterplan.

A 12-week public consultation was held during summer 2021 for local people to share their views on a draft masterplan. This included ambitions for:

• change for the town centre
• the railway station
• the western gateway/industrial area
• Station Road

Responses to this consultation highlighted a number of priorities for people living, working and visiting the town which helped to shape the final version of the masterplan.

Key themes

The masterplan vision is based around six key themes:

Community

Putting people and community at the heart of the vision for the town:

• promoting a strong sense of identity, community and belonging for both young and old people
• ensuring that everyone has access to work, places to live, places to meet and access to nature
• enriching the calendar of community events to bring residents together
• introducing opportunities for arts and culture
• ensuring that everyone in the community can make their voices heard and contribute to the town

Movement

Improving physical, mental and environmental health:

• making it easier to move through town, including people with disabilities
• promoting more active ways of travelling, such as cycling and walking, to improve people’s health and wellbeing
• reducing CO2 emissions and improving the air quality
• making space for pedestrians and cyclists

Economy

Helping Yate to achieve sustainable growth:

• providing access to new skills and training within Yate
• creating new spaces in the town for the next generation of businesses
• promoting more environmentally sustainable ways of doing business, including reducing waste and using more local resources
• creating attractive places to live and work to attract the best talent
• improved accessibility and attractiveness of Yate rail station and bus station

Town centre

Increasing the variety of things for people to do:

• providing more services in one, easy to access location
• improving the range of things to do throughout the day and evening
• creating new places to live in the town centre
• creating safe, attractive places for people to meet and gather

Healthy, happy people

Improving people’s physical and mental wellbeing:

• creating new, accessible green spaces and improving access to existing spaces
• reducing the need to travel by car
• ensuring there are good quality places to socialise
• providing easy access to healthcare services for everyone, and close to homes
• enabling young people to achieve their needs and wants in Yate

Environment

Working with the natural environment:

• protecting and enhancing the local environment, including habitats for plants and animals
• connecting the town with green areas, such as the River Frome, the quarry site and Common
• improving the relationship between the town, the nearby countryside and the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Areas of focus

The final version of the masterplan focuses on four key areas, as well as a vision for movement and green and blue infrastructure:

Town centre

The vision for the future improvements of the town centre are:

• to transform and redevelop the town centre in a gradual phased approach
• build on its strengths and to retain, improve and strengthen the public services and retail offer
• to create high quality open space, public realm and a mix of uses including housing
• improvements to the bus station and sustainable transport facilities
• improving access to the River Frome and create new green spaces

Rail station

The vision for redeveloping the train station is to:

• become a mobility interchange with improved links to the town through a phased approach
• encourage sustainable movement
• improve amenities, public realm and services
• preserve its heritage features
• improve connection to and enhance blue and green infrastructure

Western Gateway (industrial area)

The vision for the Western Gateway (industrial area) is to work with existing businesses and workforce to:

• enable a gradual transformation into a low carbon, resilient and diverse “employment zone”
• create a more attractive work environment and high quality public realm
• enhance the green and blue infrastructure network (River Frome corridor and Frome Valley walkway)
• improve active travel modes and public transport opportunities
• create opportunities for mixed use, support start-ups and co-working spaces
• potentially relocate blue light services

Station Road

The vision for Station Road is to work together with local residents, businesses and communities to:

• reduce congestion and the number of HGV’s to improve road safety and air quality
• increase off road parking
• deliver a fully segregated and safe cycle route between Yate Park and Ride and the Town Centre
• improve the surface quality of pedestrian footways and crossings
• upgrade bus stop facilities
• develop opportunities for new businesses
• improve the quality of public realm to create a sense of pride for the community

Movement

The movement vision provides an opportunity for step change in the range of travel choices available to everyone who travels to, from and within the wider Yate area. This includes:

• better walking and cycling routes and facilities to make it more attractive for everyone
• redevelopment of the rail and bus station to improve connectivity and facilities
• new transport technologies to support a transition to a low carbon transport network, including electric charging, car clubs, bike-sharing or ride-sharing
• working with local communities to co-design and identify opportunities to reallocate road space for future sustainable travel
• improved safety of walking and cycling by providing better signposting and street lighting between residential areas and key destinations

Green and blue infrastructure

Green and blue infrastructure refers to :

• publicly accessible green space for example parks, playing fields and community gardens
• natural and semi-natural green space
• outdoor sports facilities
• private green space
• natural blue spaces within Yate, including the River Frome
• areas of wetland, water bodies and water courses

These spaces are valuable assets when part of a connected network that give a wide range of environmental and quality of life benefits for communities. They provide an opportunity in the masterplan to improve:

• biodiversity and connect habitats for nature
• movement of people via active travel routes
• air quality

Engagement and consultation

Residents, businesses, visitors, and key stakeholders gave their opinions on the draft masterplan vision and focus areas. The feedback helped to finalise the masterplan.

Next steps

Key short-term interventions and priorities can be found in the Yate Town Improvement Masterplan report.

We will engage with residents and businesses in Yate and update this page as projects happen.