A NEW park and ride on the Avon Ring Road has been given the go ahead by South Gloucestershire Council. The 264-space facility will be accessed off the Rosary Roundabout opposite Sainsbury’s Emersons Green store. It is being built as part of the new Emersons Green East development, which has permission for over 2,500 new homes, two primary schools and land for a new secondary school.

The council gave the go ahead for the park and ride after developers Heron Land agreed to pay for it. In a joint statement, ward councillors Colin Hunt, Dave Kearns and James Hunt (Con, Emersons Green) welcomed the park and ride.

They said: "It’s good news that after many years of campaigning we have finally reached the stage where planning permission has been granted.

"The idea of this park and ride is to attract commuters travelling along the ring road towards to the M32 so we can reduce traffic congestion further along the A4174 and improve people’s journey times.

"We now have to keep up the pressure on the developers to get on and build it as quickly as possible and not delay development as has happened elsewhere in South Gloucestershire – there are no more excuses."

The park and ride – which forms part of a wider £102million North Fringe to Hengrove rapid transit scheme - has to be built by the time the 400th new home is completed.