Plans for an “ugly” five-storey block of 44 flats and two houses in Southville are set to be approved despite the developer including zero affordable homes. Bristol City Council’s cabinet member for housing says the proposals, which involve demolishing Castlemead House offices and neighbouring terraced properties used as bedsits near Asda, are “obviously not good enough”.
But the decision for the site, on the corner of Coronation Road and St Johns Road, will be made by a cross-party planning committee on Wednesday, April 27, which is being recommended by officers to grant permission. A report to councillors says that when the scheme was first submitted, applicant Land and Buildings Ltd and agent Pegasus Group intended to provide 20 per cent affordable homes – less than the 30 per cent council policy requires but acceptable under rules aimed at speeding up developments.
But it says this fast-track procedure expired in the local area in March last year and the applicant has “subsequently claimed that, to remain viable in planning terms, the proposed scheme is unable to provide any affordable housing”, blaming the land’s high value and build cost inflation of 10 per cent. Officers have checked the figures provided in a viability report and have come to the same conclusion, the development control committee papers say.
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They are recommending approval with no requirement to provide affordable housing if building starts within 18 months, otherwise a new viability review will be required. The report says a previous application in 2019 for a six-storey building was refused but that most of the reasons have been overcome.
“There remains a lack of evidence through a marketing exercise that the site is not viable for employment purposes,” it says. "It is however outside of areas where warehousing and industry are specifically protected by adopted policy and it is acknowledged that there are a number of new office developments elsewhere in the city, which have available space.”
The report says the plans should not be refused on the loss-of-employment grounds alone because there is a city shortfall in a five-year supply of housing land, and that the occupiers need to relocate from the “outdated” offices anyway. It says: “This is a well-designed proposal for a prominent corner and will preserve the appearance of this part of the Bedminster Conservation Area.
“The financial viability assessment which was submitted has been appraised and it is found that it has satisfactorily demonstrated that the site cannot financially support any affordable housing.” The proposal is for a C-shaped building which will be nearer St Johns Lane than the existing four-storey offices and includes a new layby.
There will be a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and two duplex properties. Seven objections have been submitted, including from BS3 Planning Group which branded the design an “ugly block structure” that was still too high.
Replying to a tweet raising the issue of the lack of affordable housing, Labour cabinet member for housing Cllr Tom Renhard, who is not on the planning committee, wrote: “Thanks for alerting me and obviously not good enough – will be interesting to see what happens at Development Control Committee where elected councillors proportionate to their representation on the Council will be making the decision.”
