The first big housing development in the regeneration of the area around Temple Meads station looks set to be turned down by council planners who say it is ‘not considered a good quality scheme’.
Developers Donard have already demolished the former BART Spices factory on the banks of the River Avon near Temple Meads, but their plans for tower blocks of 221 flats on the now empty site have been recommended for refusal by planning officers.
The developers have now cried foul, accusing planning officers of inconsistencies and treating them differently to a number of other similar developments that have already been given planning permission.
Read more: ‘Details needed’ on height of 1,500 new homes in front of famous view of Totterdown
The application to build 221 flats on a large site on the corner of York Road and St Luke’s Road in Bedminster is due to go before councillors next Wednesday, August 24.
All the homes would be ‘build to rent’, and while the council is regarding the offer of 30 per cent of the 221 flats as ‘affordable’, Donard said 148 of them, some 60 per cent, would be. But it is the scale of the development and the building of two 11-storey tower blocks in front of the famous Totterdown escarpment, with its row of colourful houses, that has proved the most controversial aspect of the plan.
And it appears the council planners are regarding the developer’s proposals as jumping the gun on the regeneration of the area between the Totterdown escarpment and the railway line. The council has only recently adopted its own ‘development brief’ for the entire area between the Bath Road Bridge and St Luke’s Road, albeit with doubt about how tall the buildings that will be allowed in that area, in the face of a vociferous campaign to ‘save the Totterdown view’. But the developers say their plans conform to that 'brief' and should be permitted.
In a report to the planning committee, council planning officers say even though they have worked with the developers on refining their scheme for the past year, it’s still not good enough for them. When it was first unveiled by Bristol Live in November 2021, the developers said they wanted to build 244 flats, but that has since been reduced to 221.
“This site is the first in the area to come forward for a decision,” said the planning officer’s report. “Officers are aware of a number of other sites currently being proposed for development in the area, and there is also a Regeneration Framework being prepared for the Whitehouse Street area to the west.
“Firstly, the strength of opposition locally to this application is significant, with over 300 objections having been submitted to the Council individually, in response to consultation on the application. There has also been a petition with over 4,000 signatures objecting to the addition of height in the Mead Street area in general.
“Officers have been working on this proposal with the applicant for over a year and during the process have raised a number of concerns relating to the overall design of the scheme. Revisions have been made to the application however, as set out in this report, it is not considered that a good quality scheme is proposed that would successfully deliver on the overall aspirations for the area. In addition, it is not considered that the quality of the scheme itself justifies the high density, level of harm that would arise, and the weight required to be placed on emerging policy for it to be supported,” they added.
The developers have been left stunned by the recommendation for refusal, saying they are surprised that Bristol City Council would turn down a proposal to build 221 flats which would all be managed by a social housing provider. “We profoundly disagree with officers,” said a spokesperson for Donard. “We’re a private developer, but we’re proposing to deliver two-thirds affordable homes on this brownfield site.
“On August 2 Bristol City Council cabinet approved the Mead Street Development Brief. Our site forms part of that Mead Street Regeneration Area and fully complies with that brief.
“All the homes would meet national space standards, all would have their own private balconies, all would be really lovely and energy-efficient homes, with 23 three-bedroom family homes included.
“The amount of green space within the scheme is the equivalent to five-and-a-half tennis courts. We’re proposing to plant 44 new trees, with a biodiversity net gain of 96.4 per cent. There’s a new, landscaped walkway through the site, which is 19 metres wide, with commercial spaces to create employment opportunities.
“We’re investing heavily in sustainable transport too, with very low parking levels and 344 secure bike storage spaces. And we’re plugging into the Bristol Heat Network. To address points raised by design officers, we’ve cut the scheme back from 244 to 221 homes. We’ve reduced the height of the block closest to the nearest neighbours. We’ve also changed the dormer to a flat roof, to create more resident open space, but also further open up views.
“Although ward councillors support the application – and 92 per cent of respondents to our community consultation agreed more affordable homes are needed - there have been many objections. Many of these relate to one concern: the impact on views to and from Totterdown homes which sits approximately 200 metres away from the site.
“However, we’ve been really careful in how we’ve designed the scheme, so there are views through and over some of the buildings. Even a development of a few storeys would still change those views. Looking towards the city you can see the 12-storey Yeaman’s House building, so taller buildings are already part of this skyline.
“Officers say the application should be refused largely because it would impact on the neighbouring conservation area. But we reduced the nearest building to just six storeys (plus ground) on St Lukes Road. The closest existing buildings are 4-storey 1980s flats. Our six storey building is a good 60 metres from the conservation area,” they added.
And Donard are most frustrated that other schemes in the area - notably plans for a 17-storey block of flats on the other side of Temple Meads at Silverthorne Lane, and a number of blocks of flats and student accommodation up to 17 storeys a mile down the railway line in Bedminster - have already been approved.
“If you compare that with other schemes that have been approved, our development would have far less impact. For example, Silverthorne Lane was recommended for approval by officers and approved by committee members. Our scheme is almost exactly the same height as part of the Silverthorne Lane scheme. But that scheme is actually in a conservation area, right next to a listed building and very close to one of Bristol’s most important heritage buildings – the Grade I Listed Tower at Temple Meads.
“We’re not even in a conservation area, so why are we being treated differently? This inconsistency doesn’t help anyone – it’s a real obstacle to delivering affordable homes. If Bristol is serious about addressing the housing crisis it needs to be saying yes to all applications that deliver much-needed affordable homes,” they added.
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