New student flats have been approved by city planners off Stokes Croft which could “clean up Crack Alley”. The notorious side street has suffered from drug dealing for years but developers say having students looking out their windows could ward off dealers in future.
Crescent Property Developments now has planning permission to build 59 student bedrooms, as well as nine regular apartments and two workshops, on Hepburn Road. The narrow western end of the road featured in the BBC series Drugsland in 2017, due to high levels of crime, in an episode called 'Crack Alley'.
Planning officers at Bristol City Council recommended the scheme was refused, due to its “oppressive” and “generic design”, as well as the planned demolition of Croft Dale, a two-storey Georgian house with seven bedrooms which is locally listed.
