Plans for an 18-storey tower block with up to 400 student beds in St Philip’s have been unveiled. Developers are asking Bristol City Council’s planning department whether they need to carry out an environmental impact assessment (EIA) ahead of submitting a formal application.
The existing warehouse at Avon Crane & Commercial Repairs in Wincombe Trading Estate, Albert Road, would be demolished. Applicants Student Urban Living Bristol (One) argue an EIA is not required because there would be no significant environmental effects in the industrial area, which is part of the Temple Quarter regeneration zone.
In a letter to the council, planning agents said the proposals included 1,200sqm of flexible office space on the ground and first floors, with the purpose-built student accommodation on levels one to 18. There would also be a new 15-metre landscaped bund fronting the river to act as a flood defence.
The block would be near the University of Bristol’s Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus, opening next year. Planning agents said: “In order to determine whether it qualifies as EIA development, an assessment as to whether the proposed development would have the potential to give rise to significant effects on the environment is necessary.
“The proposed development is not considered to have a significant impact on any of the criteria. Taking this in combination with the location of the development within a highly sustainable location earmarked for regeneration, it is not anticipated that the characteristics of any potential impacts are so significant as to require an EIA.
“It is considered that the characteristics of the proposed development are entirely suitable for the site’s location.”
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