A proposed development to transform a derelict railway tunnel in Bristol into an office and commercial space has been denied due to the environmental impact on local habitats. The plans, for the Eastgate Road railway tunnel, would have seen All Trade Property Services open a store within the tunnel.
The railway tunnel, in Eastville, formed part of the Clifton Extension Railway which ran from Avonmouth to Narroways Hill, joining the Great Western Railway at Stapleton Road. The railway was closed at various points during the 1960s, finishing with the demolition of the thirteen arch viaduct, which ran parallel to Muller Road, in 1968.
Nowadays, the tunnel is overshadowed by advertising and overgrowth at the south entrance, located just outside the Eastgate Retail Park, and the north side is located behind residential housing on Ingmore Road. The tunnel is boarded up in order to help secure the site and to prevent unlawful activity.
According to the planning application: “[The] tunnel is used variously by homeless, drug users, low level criminals and alcoholics resulting in anti-social behaviour, criminal activity and drug and sex litter.”
An application was submitted to Bristol City Council in May 2023 to transform the railway tunnel, which had become a hub for anti-social behaviour and criminal activity, into a commercial space. However, it took nearly a year and a half for planning permission to be refused, on October 24, citing environmental impacts.
The decision noted three reasons for the application to be denied including the impact on habitats in the local area. The tunnel is located within a designated ‘Important Open Space’ and due to a lack of assessment, “an appropriate level of mitigation is unable to be secured” and is likely to have a “harmful impact” on the local area.
The decision also said: “The development would result in the loss of a tree [located above the tunnel] which is unjustified, and for which no suitable replacement has been put forward as mitigation. The application therefore fails to recognise the role this tree has in providing landscape and visual amenity quality.
“In the absence of information identifying potential sources of contamination and proposed measures for ventilation or other mitigation, it is likely that the proposed development would result in harm to amenity, the health and wellbeing of occupiers, and damage to wildlife.”
During the consultation period for the development, which would have created off-street parking and a new roller shutter door installed on the Ingmire Road side, 40 objections by neighbours were received. There were no letters of support according to the delegated report.
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