Population growth / Wiltshire. Do we need the extra uplift? How will we cope?

[whole diary]

[grahame]

I support properly planned and manage growth of our town and county, with facilities and quality of life provision made for everyone, and allowing new and existing residents to take advantage of the economy of size - be that with a vibrant health and entertainment hub based at the campus and the Assembly hall all year, and at KGV too when weather allows.   Be that with good transport options around the town and across the regions. Be that with medical and dental and school provision. Be that with a vibrant town centre with excellent social and personal services.

The Local Plan and Neighbourhood Plan go some way to addressing the exta provision for a further 2000 homes (5000 new residents) over the next 14 years.  Upping that to 3600 new homes (9000 new residents) as  the new government wants needs careful planning if we do that, and there's a serious question to be asked about where people will be employed and how they will get to their employment.

From my blog at https://grahamellis.uk/blog1401.html

1. Kensington and Chelsea
2. Wiltshire
3. Richmond (Surrey)
4. Dorset
5. Somerset
What have they in common - in fact what ranking is this? It's a housing affordabiity index in larger local authorities, looking at where house prices are high compared to wages. We are short of housing in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom), so these are the places that the government has ramped up house building numbers the most.

I go on in that blog to look at how this list of places has come about, and other factors that make it into a very crude deciding measure indeed.   And I go on to look at the various issues it raises along the "can we cope" line and "how do we cope".

[grahame]

If things had been different 60 years ago ... we could have half hourly electric services such as

Calne
Stanley Bridge
Chippenham *
West Chippenham (Thingley)
Corsham
Mill Lane (Box)
Bathampton
Bath Spa *
Oldfield Park
Saltford
Keynsham
St Annes Park
Bristol Temple Meads *
Bedminster
Parson Street
Long Ashton
Flax Bourton
Nailsea and Backwell
Yatton *
Clevedon

and

Devizes
Sells Green
Seend
Bowerhill and Semington
Holt *
Staverton *
Bradford-on-Avon
Avoncliff
Freshford
Limpley Stoke
Bathampton
Stations as above giving s 15 minute service to
Parson Street
Ashton Gate
Clifton Bridge
Ham Green
Pill
Portbury
Portishead

* - interchange point / connections to other services

On top of already large housebuilding targets for Wiltshire, the government is adding an 80% uplift. In some ways that's logical as house prices here are high compared to average wages in the county, but that fails to take into account outward community for work.  And our road network is already stuffed.   Putting people onto buses and trains makes sense, but they need to be provided in advance of population growth, with good local network access points and a frequency of service that's not far short of "turn up and go".

See my thoughts on the growth expected of us at https://grahamellis.uk/blog1401.html ... the suggestion about looks radical but I do wonder if now might be the time to be radical?  Radical things have been done in the past - should they be done now, or are we too cowardly and risk averse?

Metroland - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro-land
Northern Heights - https://trainstobeyond.com/northern-heights/
Jazz Service - https://www.lner.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=941

[Mark A]

A bit of a read on housing vs transport developments here:

https://www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/New-Towns-and-Urban-Extensions_2024.pdf

Mark