The West of England

• Local plans
• Bristol Development Framework

The West of England region includes the local authorities of Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol City, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. The four authorities share a structure plan and a transport plan, working together on planning issues through the West of England Partnership.

Joint replacement structure plan

The joint replacement structure plan 1996-2011 (pdf, 1.0 MB) (adopted 2002) includes a strategic policy framework for land use and transport planning decisions in the West of England. Structure plans provide the link in the planning system between government policy statements and local plans. Together, structure and local plans make up the development plan, which is the main consideration when deciding on planning applications.

Following changes to the development plan system in 2004, various policies of this document were saved. The saved policies (pdf, 73 KB) listed must be read together with the joint replacement structure plan.

Joint local transport plan (JLTP)

The joint local transport plan 3 published in March 2010, sets out the transport strategy for Bristol, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset. It is also the means by which the four councils bid for government funding for transport improvements.

It includes detailed plans and targets for transport over the period 2011 to 2026. Progress towards these targets will be reported every July by annual progress reports (APRs).