Work on demolishing one of Bristol’s most infamous eyesore buildings could start imminently after council planners finally gave the go-ahead. The owner of the former Grosvenor Hotel has been given permission to demolish the building, which was badly damaged by a devastating fire on October 18 last year.
Nimish Popat was ordered by magistrates to make the building safe back in November, after the council took him to court, but nothing seems to have happened there in the five months since. The building opposite Temple Meads station has been empty and derelict for at least 25 years, but efforts to restore it, redevelop it or to compulsory purchase it have been frustrated.
Mr Popat and his company Earlcloud submitted an application to see if they needed permission to demolish the building, which was submitted to City Hall on December 8. It has taken Bristol City Council’s planning team more than four months to decide that Earlcloud did need permission to, and subsequently that he could, demolish the building.
Read next: Court order for Grosvenor Hotel owner as fire-hit building 'at risk of collapse'
Council planners said the former Grosvenor Hotel was not listed or in any kind of heritage area, so could be torn down. The report by council planners said the building could be demolished because it was now so badly damaged by the fire.
“There is no evidence that the buildings on this site have been rendered unsafe by the action or inaction of anyone having an interest in this site. It is noted that the building is in a perilous state, and is currently considered to be unsafe. However, this situation has specifically arisen as a result of recent fire, and there is no evidence before the LPA that this is as a result of any actions or inaction of any person with an interest in the land,” the report said.
Bristol City Council has plans to incorporate the area into the wider Temple Quarter regeneration scheme. The future of the site has long been the subject of plans and discussions. Bristol City Council has been trying to implement a Compulsory Purchase Order for many years, with plans for a new development of offices and cafes on the site to create a public square with the council’s own 100 Temple Street offices opposite unveiled in 2019.
With no deal struck with the owner Earlcloud, for years, the future of the building now appears to be more about the future of the site itself.
Read next:
- Before the fire - inside the 'really weird' Grosvenor Hotel
- As it happened - the Grosvenor Hotel fire
- Fugitive Bristol businessman banned and on the run
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