Fifth Capital have submitted their planning application for the Carriageworks and Westmoreland House.
All the documents are on the Council’s website
To save you time you can also download all the documents (as of 12 December) in one handy pack: Download 147Mb in a zip file. Note that while a planning application is being considered the documents get added to and amended so you should check with the Council website for the latest versions.
The essence of the application
Fifth Capital are applying for permission to demolish Westmorland House and 4 Ashley Road. They will then refurbish / convert the Carriageworks and develop new buildings on the rest of the site. Their development proposals comprise:
- RESIDENTIAL
- 59 x 1 bed flats, of which 1 = intermediate housing*
- 35 x 2 bed flats, of which 6 = intermediate housing*
- 18 x 3 bed flats with balconies, of which 1 = intermediate housing*
- 9 x 3 bed houses with gardens
- Total: 118 residential units. Density = 231 units/ha
- There is an assumption that 95 children will live in the scheme.
- COMMERCIAL
- Maximum 5 x commercial / community units totalling 659sqm along Stokes Croft and Ashley Road frontage.
- No commercial / community units inside the site.
- The units will be “able to accommodate a broad range of uses and activities” and “will be carefully managed to ensure a mix of independent businesses and other organisations… (The) incorporation of retail chains or supermarkets has been ruled out.”
- PARKING
- 6 x disabled car parking spaces
- 1 x car club space
- No other parking provision
- 196 x bicycle spaces (inc 6 for staff and visitors to commercial units)
- BUILDING HEIGHT
- On Stokes Croft Westmoreland House will be replaced with a five storey building (inc. mansard roof).
- Carriageworks – same height but with additonal storey in mansard roof
- Ashley Road – new five storey block (inc. mansard roof)
- Central apartment block – six storeys high (inc. mansard roof)
- Terraced houses – three storey and pitched roof
- Perimeter apartment building – four storey (inc. mansard roof)
- OPEN SPACES
- One space accessed from Stokes Croft through the Carriageworks. “A courtyard garden” open to the public “during commercial hours”. Otherwise only accessible to residents.
- One space to the rear of the site for residents with small play area and “allotment garden”. Accessible to the public during daylight hours.
- ACCESS
- Route through the site from Ashley Road to Stokes Croft for public use but there will be gates at the public access points which will be closed during hours of darkness / outside commercial hours (whichever is the shorter).
* Intermediate housing = housing provided to eligible households at prices and rents above those of social rent, but below market price sor rents. The housing can include shared equity, other low cost homes for sale and intermediate rents.
What happens next?
Consultation letters will be going out over Christmas. The planning application will be considered by the City Council’s planning committee in April. Comments can be submitted up until the day of the committee but, to help the planners, ideally they need to be submitted by the end of January.
Our initial thoughts
It will take some time to read through and assess the application. But our initial thoughts are that there is insufficient affordable housing, that there is insufficient ground floor commercial and community space, that the through-route is inadequate and that the design of many of the blocks bear no relation to the surrounding area and Bristol.
Community Meeting
We will hold a community meeting on Wednesday 14th January, 6:30pm at the Salvation Army (not Hamilton House as earlier posted) to discuss the application. Fifth Capital have agreed to the principle of coming to a community meeting but we haven’t yet confirmed the date with them.
Help for you to compile your response to the application
Rather than get lots of people to send the same comments to the planners we’d like everyone to send their own thoughts. We understand that this can be a bit daunting and time consuming so, to help you on your way, we’ll be holding write-ins at Cafe Kino, every Thursday in January (8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th) from 7-8pm. Come along, have a drink, have a chat, put pen to paper (or finger to keypad).