The scheme for pub operator Gramps Inn will replace a ‘dated’ 1970s motel and a major car park with a neighbourhood of terraces, semi‑detached houses and flats arranged around a new community green. The approval followed nearly four years of negotiation with the local authority.

The practice says its design draws on the character of nearby 1930s vernacular housing and is influenced by the work of Arts and Crafts architect CFA Voysey, adding that it ‘reinterprets traditional motifs for modern living’.

A spokesperson for the Bristol-based firm said: ‘The chimney form to the terraces provides stack ventilation and daylight to the centre of the plan. On the semi‑detached homes, it provides a landing point for roof‑level accommodation.’

The scheme, next to the A38, retains a number of protected trees, which are kept within a new green and ‘safe, playable spaces for families’.

The extension to the existing pub will offer additional community‑focused facilities.

Colin Pemble of planning consultant Aspect 360 said: ‘The proposal complied with the presumption in favour of sustainable development [in the National Planning Policy Framework]. More significantly, since constructing new buildings is considered inappropriate in the green belt, it was essential to address the restrictive policy by demonstrating compliance with the exception criteria.

‘In this case, we relied upon the fact that partial or complete redevelopment of previously developed land is, in principle, permissible.’

The team demonstrated that the scheme would not ‘have a greater impact on the openness of the green belt than the existing development’, avoided ‘substantial harm to openness’ through the reuse of previously developed land, and contributed to the identified affordable housing need within the area.

A future time frame has yet to be set out.

Smith Maloney Hillier Architects’ approved scheme in Yanleigh, North Somerset – site plan

Project data

Location Yanleigh, North Somerset, BS13 8AG
Local authority North Somerset Council
Type of project Residential/hospitality
Client Gramps Inn
Architect Smith Maloney Hillier Architects
Landscape architect Smith Maloney Hillier/Amalgam Landscape
Planning consultant Aspect 360
Principal designer Smith Maloney Hillier
Lighting consultant Ecological Lighting
Main contractor To be confirmed
Funding Private
Tender date To be confirmed
Start on site date To be confirmed
Contract duration To be confirmed
Gross internal floor area:  2,228m² (homes) 87m² (Hospitality)
Annual CO2 emissions To be confirmed
Total cost To be confirmed
Planning application reference 22/P/2696/OUT