PLANS for 2,600 extra homes in the Yate and Chipping Sodbury area have divided opinion.

The latest draft of the West of England Joint Spatial Plan (JSP) – a housing blueprint for the region up to 2036 – has earmarked Yate and Sodbury to take 2,600 of the 9,200 homes needed to meet government targets.

Exactly where all the new houses will go has not yet been decided, and the plans have been both criticised and welcomed.

Claire Young, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Thornbury and Yate, said: “These plans will come as a huge shock to many local people.

“The new homes we need are being concentrated in just a few communities to the north of Bristol. These places have already felt the pressure from large scale developments.”

Yate town councillor Chris Willmore said she was “horrified” by the proposal.

“These houses on top of the 500 houses that have recently been built in Yate, and the 2,600 homes coming to Brimsham Park, will see the town grow by 50 per cent,” she said.

“The only thing they have really suggested to help with transport infrastructure is a proposal for a new M4 junction, which will do nothing more than dump traffic at Nibley Road.

“The town needs a proper bypass that goes around rather than sending all the traffic to already congested areas.”

Chipping Sodbury councillor Rob Creer said: “My biggest concern is about any plans coming forward for the beautiful countryside east of St John’s Way and I will be campaigning to ensure that development does not happen there.”

But Chipping Sodbury town council vice-chairman Cllr Wendy Whittle argued that more new houses were needed.

“It is very important to build houses at the moment, especially affordable ones,” she said. “There are a lot of people who don’t want houses going up where we have green spaces, but we are making sure it is done tastefully.”

Among the other areas earmarked for extra housing in the JSP are Coalpit Heath with 1,500 additional homes, Charfield with 1,000, and Thornbury with 600 on top of existing plans for a 2,200-home garden village on its outskirts.

South Gloucestershire Council, one of four local authorities behind the JSP, defended the plan.

Cllr Colin Hunt, lead member for planning and transport, said: “We have two priorities when looking at this plan: to ensure that people will have enough homes and jobs, not just for now but for the future, and to protect as much of our green belt as possible.

“To achieve both, we have to fill the hole in our five-year land supply by meeting the calculated housing need figure.

“If we can’t do that, we can’t ensure there will be enough houses, and we can’t defend the green belt from speculative applications.

“Additionally we must ensure our transport infrastructure marries up with our housing plans, which is why for the first time ever we are carrying out a Joint Transport Study.”

The JSP and transport plan will go to public consultation from November 7 to December 19.