Councillors have unanimously endorsed an ambitious vision which sets to revitalise Portishead town centre.
North Somerset and Portishead Town councils have both backed the Wyndham Way Opportunity Area Scoping Study this month. The report outlines a vision for the area around Wyndham Way as a ‘well-connected, healthy and green place to live, work and visit’.
North Somerset Council will now begin working with Portishead Town Council, landowners, residents and businesses to create a development framework for the area. The framework, a planning document, will be used to help find individual planning applications and guide future development and associated infrastructure in the area.
Paul Gardner, chairman of Portishead Town Council, said: “This is a pivotal opportunity to develop a place for Portishead, capturing the town’s unique character and embracing the opportunities for living and working in a better way.
“This first stage has benefitted from the collective insight of people who live and work in Portishead. The next stage will continue to bring as many voices into the conversation as possible.”
The study is influenced by feedback from the community and is a culmination of the first stage of the project, which explores opportunities and challenges facing Portishead and sets out a way to shape the town’s long-term sustainable future.
A steering group of local businesses, Portishead and North Somerset councils and Aberdeen Standard Investments was established to explore how the area, between the high street, marina and the proposed MetroWest railway station, could best be improved.
Executive member for planning and transport at North Somerset Council, Cllr James Tonkin, said: “More than 180 comments have been made on the project website which has helped the steering group create a vision for the area that reflects what the people of Portishead want to see.”
The steering group endorsed the scoping study at a meeting on February 25. The report was then backed by North Somerset Council and Portishead Town Council this month.
Head of development at Aberdeen Standard Investments, John Brophy, adds that the new vision will take ‘many years’ to come to fruition, adding that an indicative programme suggests consultation and engagement on the development framework will begin this year.
The steering group will continue to listen to those who wish to be involved to help shape the development framework. To find out more about the study, log-on to wyndhamway.co.uk, email WWSA@social.co.uk, or phone 03301 070535.
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