New Yate homes decision delay over noise complaint fears

A decision on plans for 145 new homes has been delayed over noise complaint fears.

Councillors fear noise complaints from new residents in Ladden Garden Village, South Gloucestershire, could restrict and "undermine" the future of nearby Yate Outdoor Sports Complex.

The charity run complex already has the right to play live music until 23:00.

Councillors deferred the decision so they could discuss potentially erecting an acoustic fence with developers.

The proposals by Barratt Homes contain the final homes to be built as part of the North Yate New Neighbourhood, which was granted outline planning permission in 2015.

In a planning committee meeting on 6 July, Yate Town Council and six residents objected to the plans, while ward councillors said a high fence was needed to act as an acoustic barrier between the development and the sports club.

However, the council's planning and legal officers told the strategic sites delivery committee that the plans were acceptable and should be approved.

They said a condition requiring additional sections of fence to block noise was not a reasonable request because measures would already be put in place to protect householders from noise, and the visual impact of an extra barrier had not been assessed.

Cllr Chris Willmore said "We remain deeply concerned that the noise attenuation [reduction] measures are not adequate" and asked for a "full acoustic barrier along the site boundary to YOSC" to be imposed.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, senior planning officer Eileen Medlin said that homes were always planned to be next to the sports centre and the closest properties would have side gables with no windows facing the site, so the buildings themselves would form a noise barrier.

Cllr Adrian Rush said "you cannot inhibit YOSC, it's a regional facility" and "no matter how much the developer puts warnings in on these houses there are going to be complaints."

"It's not necessarily the residents we're talking about here, we have to protect YOSC, and unless the sound is deadened, it just restricts YOSC, and unless YOSC thrives we are in trouble in this district," he added.

Councillors unanimously agreed to a suggestion by major sites manager Eileen Paterson to defer the decision so officers could discuss the potential fence with Barratt Homes.

Follow BBC West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [email protected]