Bristol City Council prepared a "communications plan" for a former office block in South Bristol following "worrying" press coverage. This included preparing a leaflet for potential tenants about why they should choose Imperial Apartments.
This information has come to light as a review into Imperial Apartments is due to be published imminently, BristolLive understands. Back in mid-February, Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees announced the council was to pause housing families with children at the controversial complex as he admitted there are "some challenges" at the site.
In recent months, BristolLive has reported on many concerns from residents at the former Parkview office complex in Hengrove - now known as Imperial Apartments. Earlier this year, Karin Smyth, the Bristol South MP, asked the council to stop housing families with children at the development, with the Lib Dems then joining the call and one councillor urging the council "to take responsibility".
READ MORE: More than 100 children living at converted south Bristol office block
Documents obtained by BristolLive via a Freedom of Information request show that a communications plan was prepared ahead of announcing a review into Imperial Apartments. Records of a weekly operations meeting between the council and the developer Caridon on February 15, 2022, stated: "To update on progress for creating something on why clients should choose IA. – This has been completed, were awaiting approval from senior management and comms team as needs to be part of overall BCC comms strategy for I.A.”
A meeting the previous month had indicated that "something" was a leaflet. In an undated meeting, it was stated that they were "worried about the press".
Records state: "Worried about the press, worried about the impact this will have, disappointing. Already had an impact with some children visiting."
The documents released also include an email chain from February 11, 2022, with the subject 'Imperial Apartments - Communications Plan'. The email chain states that Cllr [Tom] Renhard, the council's cabinet member for housing delivery and homes, had suggested holding a weekly meeting to create and review a communications plan for Imperial Apartments.
To which a person from the external communications department replied: “Would it be worth adding a standing item to his CMB (Cabinet Member Briefing) for the next month instead of creating a new meeting? I’m happy to jump in for a short section to give the latest on media coverage and comms approach if required.”
Do you live at Imperial Apartments? What do you think about living there? Our reporter Estel would love to hear from you. You can contact her directly on estel.farellroig@reachplc.com
The person from housing and landlord services then replied that they would be “very happy” with that approach. But Paul Sylvester - the city’s head of housing options - said: “Cllr Renhard asked for separate meetings as CMBs are getting booked up/busy. We do, however, have a homelessness update agenda item on Monday 10:30 so we can squeeze in a update on IA then. If you’re able to join for that item that would be great.”
The Mayor’s Office then said they would like to discuss this on CMB, to which it is reiterated Cllr Renhard would like a meeting outside CMB as “it’s already 2 hours long and full until mid March so I have to prioritise those items that need a decision first". To which the Mayor’s office replied: “Understood, I’ll find some time…”
Back in August 2020, Bristol City Council revealed it was planning on housing people in the converted office block in South Bristol. Initially, the council agreed to take on 216 properties at Imperial Apartments and, at the time, housing chiefs at Bristol City Council admitted they had concerns about teaming up with a developer accused of creating “human warehousing” - but said they were "determined to make this development a success and thriving community in which to live".
The complex was being redeveloped by Caridon, a company which was the subject of a Newsnight investigation as residents in one of their developments in London complained to the journalists about overcrowding and the mix of people, speaking about violence and substance misuse.
Caridon turned it into homes without the need for planning consent under permitted development rights, which meant the usual regulations stipulating minimum sizes did not apply. According to the floor plans submitted to Bristol City Council, studios at the development start at 18m2 - which is smaller than the average 29m2 shipping container - while the two bedroom flats at the site start at 38m2 and go up to 76m2.
The law was then changed and it now requires new homes built under permitted development rights to be over 37m2, with two-bedrooms units being a minimum of 61m2. In March 2021, the council then agreed to make more units at the site and, out of 465 units of private rented accommodation at Imperial Apartments, Bristol City Council now rents out 316 of them - more than two-thirds of the total.
More than a hundred children are living at Imperial Apartments. With 108 children there in total now, this would mean that up to a third of those have children living in them.
