Latest proposals for Sulis Down site could see 200 homes being built

Plans to build hundreds of homes on the southern edge of Bath are back, two years after the council blocked a previous scheme.

Work is already ongoing on an earlier phase of the development

The Hignett Family Trust has submitted a new planning application to Bath & North East Somerset Council to build 200 homes on fields in Combe Down, known as the South Stoke Plateau.

It is the latest attempt by developers to get permission for the Sulis Down development.

In April 2024, the council’s planning committee turned down the plans to build 290 homes on the fields. Councillors said the plan had some benefits, such as being 40% affordable homes, but they had concerns about traffic and a lack of community facilities.

Now, applicants the Hignett Family Trust and Welbeck Land are proposing building a “community hall” as part of a revised planning application.

The plans also include a “village green”, playground, and allotments. The applicants are still proposing that 40% of the homes will be affordable housing.

The planning application states: “The vision for Sulis Down is to create a beautiful new addition to the City of Bath, bringing forward a very high quality, sustainable, landscape-led proposal where landscape, ecology, architecture and materials combine with beautifully-designed public spaces and streets.”

A protest was held in April 2024 | Photo © Bath Echo

The original plans triggered a huge backlash. Over 1,200 people lodged objections to the plans on the council’s online planning portal, and over a hundred people turned up to protest outside the planning committee when it considered the plans in 2024.

Councillors voted 7-1 to refuse planning permission.

The Hignett Family Trust called the decision “chaotic” and “unreasonable” and appealed to the government’s planning inspectorate to overturn it. The planning inspectorate said that councillors were right to refuse planning permission and dismissed the appeal.

The land proposed for development | Image © Welbeck Land / Hignett Family Trust

The planning inspector warned: “There would be an adverse effect on the special qualities of the [Cotswolds National Landscape] in terms of views of the escarpment and high wolds landscape as well as dark skies.”

The developers say they have reduced the heights of the houses in response.

You can view and comment on the plans here.

John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter