The West of England Sub Region has the highest population density in the South West, with 20 percent of the region’s population.  Whilst natural landscapes and coastline surround the main population centres, a key, ongoing challenge in the Sub Region is to connect people with the wider network of GI close to where they live.

Ensuring adequate consideration of quality of life and local environment for both existing and proposed housing developments has been at the forefront of the preparation of the Government’s Housing Green Paper, for example:

“The provision of more green spaces is a key component of plans developed in our Growth Areas and the New Growth Points programme focusing on:

• The rural/urban fringe – to improve the interface between the urban and rural environments by providing improved access for people and wildlife;
• Habitat creation – to restore areas of the countryside back to a more natural state, providing people with more opportunities to experience and interact with their environment first hand;
• Habitat protection – to provide rare and sensitive habitat with the increased protection through buffering and habitat enhancement works, securing their biodiversity value for the future; and
• Integration of green space within urban development."

Source: "More Affordable, More Sustainable" – Housing Green Paper issued for consultation by the Department for Communities and Local Government in July 2007

In addition to the focus on quality of life exerted by Central Government, there is considerable public anxiety within the Sub Region about the levels of growth in housing and jobs now being proposed in the draft South West Regional Spatial Strategy (SWRSS) and in Vision 2026.  This stems from lack of public confidence that the next phase of development in the area will be any better than that during the 1980s and 1990s, which has left the Sub Region with a substantial deficit in public infrastructure (particularly transport) and a perceived loss of environmental quality.

Co-ordinated conservation, enhancement and creation of GI networks, ensuring that the natural and built environments can co-exist, will be fundamental to delivering sustainable communities now and in the future in the West of England Sub Region.