DRAFT North Somerset Sustainable Community Strategy 08 - 26.pdf

About North Somerset - strengths and challengesNorth Somerset is situated at the gateway to the South West, in the heartof the ‘West of England’. To the west, it is bordered by the BristolChannel, to the north by Bristol, and to the east and south by the MendipHills and the County of Somerset. North Somerset is a place of manycontrasts covering an area of 144.7 sq miles with approximately 27 milesof coastline made up of cliffs and sandy beaches. Inland, NorthSomerset enjoys beautiful countryside with wooded hills, open moorland,wetlands, rhynes, reed beds and rich pastureland. Its’ strategiccommunications include the M5 motorway, an inter-city rail link, a majorsea port, and an international airport.Our communitiesOur area is diverse, with coastal, urban and market towns, and ruralvillages. Though two thirds of the area is considered rural, our populationmainly resides in the coastal towns of Weston super Mare (40%),Clevedon, and Portishead and the market town of Nailsea (30%); ourrural population is 30% 3 .In rural areas, it can often be hard to identify and evidence local needsand issues due to remoteness and the dispersed nature of somecommunities. Parish plans are increasingly being undertaken to establishlocal need. Across North Somerset 21 parish plans are either complete orunderway. Evidence from parish plans helps our understanding of thesecommunities, and identifies action needed to sustain and improve theirquality of life.We anticipate an overall rise in the North Somerset population from201,400 in 2006, to 246,100 by 2026 4 . Currently we have higher thannational average numbers of older people here (23% as opposed to 18%nationally) 5 . We expect further growth in this age group with an increaseof 19% in those over 75 by 2015, and with people over retirement agemaking up 30% of our population by 2025 6 .Though North Somerset has a relatively small Black and Minority Ethnicpopulation compared to the national average 7 , the area is becomingmore culturally diverse, for example through economic migrant workerscoming to live in the area. We currently have an estimated 58 firstlanguages spoken here 8 . The 2001 Census showed North Somerset to bea multi-faith area.The overall population of the district is set to expand as new communitiesare developed in North Somerset in response to the Draft South WestRegional Spatial Strategy. This outlines plans for 26,000 new homes to bebuilt here by 2026. At least 30% of these homes should be affordablehousing. Most of this development will be to the south west of Bristol andin an urban extension to Weston-super-Mare. The new housingdevelopment is expected to bring growth in our population of young10