Housing planned in Pill as part of council’s local plan
The viaduct over the Green in Pill, carrying the former Portishead railway which is set to reopen(Image: Local Democracy Reporting Service)
Locals in a “small friendly village” in North Somerset fear that plans to build 1,000 homes in the countryside around it will turn it into a suburb of Bristol.
Pill is one of several villages in North Somerset’s greenbelt where huge amounts of new housing are proposed in the council’s local plan. In 2024, the government increased North Somerset Council’s 15-year housebuilding target from 15k homes to 24k and the council says it has to focus on the green belt as other land is at risk of flooding.
Now 2,324 people have signed a petition by Sustainable Pill and Distinct against the number of homes proposed for Pill – although only 815 of them had postcodes within North Somerset. The petition was presented to a full council meeting on February 24 by Pill’s local councillor Jenna Ho Marris (Green), who is also the council’s cabinet member for homes and health.
Ms Ho Marris said: “As a cabinet member, I did vote on this draft plan going through including these proposals but I acknowledge there is still a lot of doubt about whether central government is going to invest in the local infrastructure to support our local plan.”
The local plan is a hugely important document produced by the local council which sets out the area’s planning policies for the next 15 years and allocates areas for where new housing should go. After years of delays, North Somerset Council is set to submit its draft local plan to the planning inspector for government approval this month.
Reading out the text of the petition, Ms Ho Marris said: “The plan for Pill includes recommendations to build 1,000 houses on four areas of greenbelt land around the village. This would increase the number of homes by around 40%, threatening to turn our small friendly village into a fragmented suburb of Bristol and destroy acres of beautiful green space.
“It will also put huge pressure on existing infrastructure, particularly roads. There is definitely a need for more housing, particularly affordable housing, in North Somerset. However in our view the number proposed for Pill is completely out of proportion with the size of the village. We believe that the additional housing should be more fairly shared across North Somerset.”
Ms Ho Marris added: “Recently at a local neighbourhood health event, GPs in the area told me that they are incredibly worried about an extra 1,000 homes in their area.” She said she had spoken to the area’s integrated care board who said there were no plans to increase GP capacity.
The council’s cabinet member for planning and environment Annemieke Waite (Winford, Green) said the petition would be taken into account. She said: “I have been in touch with the planning team about this already and they are considering the content, understand very clearly the local concerns, and that this will be passed to the appointed planning inspection in due course.”
The village recently saw off a threat to close its library, after keeping the council-run library open by making more cuts elsewhere was the most supported option in a public consultation. It is also set to see its train station reopened soon as part of the ongoing restoration of the Portishead Railway.