Plans to knock down an empty old calendar warehouse and build up to 88 new flats at the end of a terraced street are expected to be submitted to council planners in the New Year.
National property business Godwin Developments, working with Bristol-based Ferrer Projects, has been meeting with local residents living around the site of the old Calendars & Diaries of Bristol Ltd headquarters in Bedminster, to talk about plans to build flats up to seven storeys high at the end of Hope Road.
The site is behind the big Airpoint building on West Street in Bedminster, and next to the railway line, and is a small part of what is a rapidly-decreasing amount of employment land in BS3 that is quickly making way for flats and student accommodation.
Local residents took part in a public consultation on the plans, and expressed concerns over the disruption caused by doing the work, whether the people moving into the flats would overlook the two-up-two-down terraced homes next door, and worries about parking.
Godwin Developments said their plans for the Hope Road site would be a ‘predominantly car-free scheme’, but Hope Road is at the end of what effectively a cul-de-sac of Victorian terraced streets between West Street and the railway line that already experiences issues from parking, and was one of the areas highlighted recently by Avon Fire Brigade as a place they are concerned about getting their engines to in the event of a fire.
On the other side of the site, next to Lidl, is the former Selco builders’ merchants – which is expected to receive planning permission for a similar development of 219 flats to a different developer.
A spokesperson for Godwin Developments said the Hope Road site was the perfect location for new homes – on a industrial warehouse site that has been empty for several years.
“The site, subject to these proposals, is located near the A38 West Street in Bedminster,” he said. “It contains a two-storey warehouse that has been derelict for several years and therefore represents a perfect opportunity for redevelopment into a residential block.
“It is surrounded by residential properties on Argus Road, Hope Road and Skypark Road, with a disused Selco store to the North East.
“Benefitting from excellent public transport connections, the location is within walking distance of key bus routes and rail stations – Bedminster, Parson Street and Bristol Temple Meads – and in close proximity to shops and local amenities on East Street and West Street.
“Godwin and Ferrer Projects proposals have been prepared to correspond with the surrounding residential uses while also maximising the number of homes that could be created to support the substantial need in Bristol while also repurposing a brownfield site,” he added.
A planning application is expected to be submitted in the coming weeks, with a decision by council planners or councillors at some point during 2025.