Plans to build new homes and apartments on the site of a derelict florists in northwest Bristol have been axed due to a lack of action. The plans would have seen 14 houses and six apartments built on the site of the former Nurserymen Florists in Shirehampton.
The site at 8-10 Station Road contains the derelict building and greenhouses which have been left to rot. It has long been earmarked for demolition.
Originally, planning documents were submitted for these plans in December 2022, with the final documents eventually being submitted in January 2024. After a comment from the arboricultural officer was received in May 2024, there appeared to be no action taken.
As is procedure with planning applications, Bristol City Council would have needed to determine the application via a consultation and then a recommendation or committee decision. In this case, the council failed to determine the application.
The applicants were able to lodge an appeal to obtain planning permission due to the council’s lack of a decision, but more than six months after being able to do so, no appeal was created. As a result, the council has disposed of the application, meaning the plans for new homes have been withdrawn.
Crucially, because the application has been disposed of, there is no right to an appeal, meaning if there was to be new attempts to develop the former florists, there would need to be a new planning application submitted.
There would have been 14 new homes and six apartments built on the site alongside new trees planted. The homes would have been predominantly two and three storeys.
The site has been subject to various plans to build housing of some kind, the first plan in 2018 was for 34 apartments for the elderly to be built, which was refused for nine reasons. In 2021, plans for 18 houses and three apartments were brought to the council, which eventually was dismissed on appeal.
Last year, a further plan to include a care home on the site was also refused on appeal. The effects of the development of neighbours was cited as one of the main issues for the refusal.
The disposal of the plans comes less than two weeks after Bristol Live reviewed the bench that was installed in front of the derelict building. The review said that the online ridicule the bench received was duly deserved.