Third council rejects west of England housing plans
Getty ImagesA third council has pulled out of a joint regional plan for housing and growth in the west of England.
Bath and North East Somerset Council voted unanimously to withdraw from the Joint Spatial Plan (JSP).
The scheme was heavily criticised by government planning inspectors last year.
North Somerset and South Gloucestershire councils have already abandoned it, leaving just Bristol City Council to make a decision.
The four local authorities had worked together to create the JSP, which set out the long-term housing and infrastructure needs of the region to 2036.
A dozen sites surrounding Bristol had been identified for a total of 105,000 new homes in so-called "garden villages".
Residents near the proposed sites had started campaign groups against the project.
Government planning inspectors said it was unlikely they would find it "legally sound" because they could not be certain the sites had been determined on a "robust, consistent and objective" basis.
A Bath and North East Somerset Council spokesperson said: "We remain committed to working with our three neighbouring west of England councils and the West of England Combined Authority on the best way forward."