Harbourside plans move on despite 'lack of detail'

Council chiefs have signed-off plans to move to the next stage of redeveloping Bristol's harbourside, despite criticism over a lack of detail.

The Western Harbour project will see homes and a new road layout created around the Cumberland Basin.

But residents and councillors said it was hard to take part in recent consultations, as they have not been given key details about the scheme.

Bristol City Council said it had "consulted extensively".

The council's 16-page 'vision document' for the project included five pages of poetry but did not include details on how the road layout would change, or how many homes would be built and where.

Councillor Tony Dyer, who represents Southville, said: "Until there's certainty about the proposed road layout, it's difficult for residents to fully engage with the Western Harbour proposal.

"Replacing the Cumberland Basin road system will clearly have a major impact on our ward."

Resident Mary Wildman said that people in the area were eager to have more information.

"I am confused about precisely what we're being asked to engage with and feel that I have insufficient information to enable me to do so," she added.

Deputy mayor Craig Cheney said the details of the road layout and housing numbers would be "considered in more detail through the master-planning process still to come".

"The new vision for the Western Harbour can help guide and shape the masterplan later in the year, setting out where the new jobs, homes and infrastructure the city needs could go," he added.

Construction is not expected to begin until 2026 and could take a further six years to be completed, according to The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

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