TCPA Study Tour 2026

We recently took part in the annual Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) New Communities Group study tour 2026.

The tour covered the proposed New Town of Brabazon, Bristol, alongside large urban extensions around Bristol and Bath. It was organised in collaboration with South Gloucestershire Council, Bath and North East Somerset Council and Women in Planning South West.

Photos: 1 - 3 Brabazon, Bristol, 4-5 Cribbs Triangle, Bristol, 6-8 Ensleigh, Bath, 9 Bath Waterfront, Bath,10-12 Mulberry Park, Bath

We visited Brabazon, a 6,500-home development by YTL on the former Filton Airfield in North Bristol, also known as the birthplace of Concorde and supersonic travel. The scheme is being promoted as a future hub for culture, creativity, industry and invention, and has been proposed by Government as a prospective New Town. Phase 1, comprising 450 homes, has been completed. Planned and supporting infrastructure includes a new North Filton train station, due to open once 3,675 homes have been delivered, a multi-purpose arena for Bristol and three new schools. The transformation of the listed Spitfire Hangar formed part of the early phases, creating a new social and community hub with a thriving bakery. The open spaces are managed by a YTL management company.

The future high-density town centre is balanced by the new Brabazon Park, with compact townhouses and apartment blocks drawing on the site’s aircraft industry heritage. The townhouses use car port spaces beneath homes, with terraces and public realm above, to support higher densities and reduce car dominance on the streets. The car ports are intentionally enclosed on only one side, apparently to discourage residents from using them for storage rather than parking, although some residents have already added a second garage door.

Student housing blocks are placed strategically close to the new train station. 
Considerable attention has been given to public realm and landscaping. The scheme is still at an early stage, with only the first phase on the ground.

Cribbs Triangle, operated by Wise Living, is a Build to Rent (BTR) 97- unit scheme anchored by a small commercial development in the form of a Lidl supermarket. The central green attenuation feature, with two existing veteran trees as its centrepiece, currently appears as a rather inaccessible wild meadow. While this may provide a useful green buffer, its role as the main central open space was less convincing; it could become a pleasant area for children to play once the grass is cut.

The townhouses are complemented by a couple of small blocks of flats, in corresponding buff brick with green brick accents.  The car park areas are traditionally difficult to design – the flats central area for car parking was ‘framed’ by a wooded pergola, giving it a softer feel. 

Berwick Green was a 244-home scheme delivered by two developers, with challenging topography, and a motorway nearby. 

Ensleigh, new community of 247 homes and later living block to the north of Bath, included a central green, a local centre with a shop and a post office, and a primary school, that due to lack of school places demand – was later repurposed to a SEND provision and reintegration services.  Heritage references in low stone walls, Bath stone colours, open spaces with natural material play equipment, carefully chosen landscaping – create a pleasant sense of place of this neighbourhood. 

Bath Riverside developments demonstrated higher density residential regeneration of previously commercial sites.  We observed open spaces funded by the residents of the development, nevertheless open for all to enjoy and look after.  Key roads’ traffic is managed by selective access for cycling, buses and taxis by implementing bus gates. Signage and wayfinding is sensitive to the local context, often found ‘etched’ onto the façade walls, in a gentle nod to Bath’s historic buildings.  Car parking, while present, is often located on one side of the street only, and softened by intercepted planted trees. 

Mulberry Park is a development within the village of Combe Down on the southern fringes of Bath by Curo, a housing association and a house-builder. While early regeneration plans included demolition of 542 existing homes to be replaced with up to 700 new builds within the Foxhill estate, the plans were dropped in 2018 following a successful legal challenge by the Foxhill Residents Association, questioning the social impact of displacing residents and reduced number of social homes.

Following the cancellation of the extensive demolition plan, Curo proceeded to focus its large-scale development efforts primarily on the adjacent former Ministry of Defence site, now known as Mulberry Park. Its central avenue includes a community centre, cafe and school which open onto a public square. Quieter streets beyond the avenue are designed to create active playable spaces. Contemporary townhouses in a form of a crescent (reminiscent of the famous Bath landmark) enclose its central park feature, and are to be delivered as the final phase.

The community facility in Mulberry Way known as The Hub including a nursery and a primary school is the intended focus of the development, but it has been so successful that people from further afield come too.