Permission granted for Yate's £3.5m park-and-ride site

West of England Mayor Tim Bowles, Thornbury & Yate MP Luke Hall and South Gloucestershire Council leader Toby Savage with campaigners at the new park-and-ride site

A £3.5m park-and-ride site designed to improve transport links between Yate and Bristol has been granted planning permission.

The project is being paid for by the West of England Combined Authority (Weca) and now requires final sign-off by the government.

It will include 190 car park spaces. South Gloucestershire Council hopes it will be operating by March 2021.

Thornbury and Yate MP Luke Hall said it was "a major step forward."

South Gloucestershire Council planning officers approved the scheme under delegated authority.

The planning report said: "Officers have given considerable weight to the wider environmental benefits of the proposed development and have concluded that those benefits clearly outweigh the identified harm to the greenbelt."

'Sustainable transport'

Yate Town Council "strongly supported" the proposal but objected to some details, including the site being too small, according to the BBC's Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

Councillor Tristan Clark said: "In light of the climate emergency declaration passed by South Gloucestershire Council it is vital to promote sustainable modes of transport and to rapidly decarbonise the local economy.

"The only downside is the limited number of parking spaces that will be deliverable at this site."

West of England Mayor Tim Bowles said the scheme would encourage people to "step out of their cars".

Conservative MP Mr Hall said: "I welcome this major step forward in the campaign for a park-and-ride for Yate.

"Now that this has been referred to government, I will be pushing in my capacity as the local MP for the secretary of state to approve the plans quickly so work can finally begin."