Planners back major Bristol proposals despite opposition

Plans for a major residential development in Bristol have been backed despite being recommended for refusal after coming up against strong opposition.The proposals concern the site of a former Bart Ingredients industrial building on the corner of York Road and St Lukes Road, which has now been cleared.Lined up are a trio of blocks – two of which will rise to 11 storeys and one to seven – comprising 221 apartments above commercial space on the ground floor.The applicant – Donard (Bristol) Ltd – submitted amendments in July 2022 which saw the number of units lowered from 244 to 221, with one of the blocks also dropping by a storey.All 221 of the apartments will be provided as Build to Rent (BTR), with 66 being earmarked as for Affordable Private Rent (APR).In a report drawn up ahead of Bristol City Council’s Development Committee meeting, it was noted that the strength of opposition locally “is significant”, with more than 300 objections having been submitted to the authority individually, in response to consultation on the application.There has also been a petition with more than 4,000 signatures objecting to the addition of height in the Mead Street area in general.Planning officers have been working on the proposal with the applicant for more than 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,” said the report. “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.”It added that while the application would make a “significant contribution” towards the city’s housing delivery targets, the harm that would arise from granting planning permission is considered to “significantly and demonstrably outweigh this benefit”.However, the committee has now moved to back the application, going against the officer’s recommendation.