DETAILED plans of the biggest housing estate to be built in Yate for more than a decade have gone on display.

Pictures and information about Elswick Park, a major development of houses and apartments on former Royal Navy land at the Sea Stores site on Kennedy Way, are now on view at Yate Town Council’s offices in Poole Court.

Mayor Cllr Ian Blair said the council hoped members of the public would make their comments known about the application, which was formally submitted to South Gloucestershire Council last week.

He said: "We are keen for the development to take place as soon as it can but we want to iron out any little wrinkles with the plans.

"The building trade is fairly stagnant at the moment so from that point of view it will be a good thing.

"There will be an element of affordable housing which will give people in Yate who could not otherwise afford it access to the housing market."

He said a few concerns had been raised about the proximity of new terraced homes to existing houses in neighbouring streets.

"In one corner they are calling Islington Square there are ranks of terraced housing, two-and-a-half storeys high, which back straight onto houses in Shackleton Avenue and Cabot Close," he said. "That is called ‘massing’ where existing homeowners will have a terrace at the bottom of their garden with no gaps they can see through.

"There are some concerns about the effect this will have on existing houses and whether that is acceptable.

"We just want to make sure the development is the best it can be."

Elswick Park, named after a Royal Navy ship involved in the D-Day landings, will consist of 228 two, three, four and five-bedroom houses and one and two-bedroom apartments.

It will be split into several separate cul-de-sacs all with one main access road which will be created off Kennedy Way.

There will be an emergency access route off Shackleton Avenue, for ambulance and fire engines only, and the council is working with developers Taylor Wimpey to ensure that the road is not abused.

The town council is meeting to discuss the plans on Monday, August 17 (7.30pm) at Poole Court. A display of the plans will be on view until then. South Gloucestershire Council will consider the application at a later date.