Chapel conversion Plans for 17 flats set for approval
NEW flats planned for Gloucester Road in Bishopston have sparked fears of increased parking problems in the area. Seventeen apartments are set to get the green light despite neighbours raising concerns about the lack of car parking spaces provided on the site.
Developers are applying for planning permission to convert a Methodist chapel, demolishing part of the building and constructing the new apartments. The chapel, on 102 Gloucester Road, lies next to Bishopston Library on the corner with Berkeley Road.
Bristol City Council’s development control B committee will vote on Wednesday on whether to grant permission for the scheme. Many residents have objected to the plans, but planning officers are recommending that councillors give their approval.
Writing to the council, one resident said: “This proposed development is too cramped and too big for the site. There is no parking provision on the basis that it’s next to a bus stop, but the poor state of public transport in the city makes it vanishingly unlikely that buyers won’t have cars – a lot of cars.
“Berkeley Road already suffers from over-parking, dangerous parking, speeding cars, angry commuters and high levels of pollution, particularly at the bottom end, due to shoppers, workers and leisure users using it as a free car park and its use as a commuter rat run, and one of the few streets in the area wide enough to take HGVs.”
Another resident added: “I am relieved the existing chapel is being retained and restored, as a prominent character building in a prominent location within the Gloucester Road Conservation Area. However, I object to the proposals to redevelop the remainder of the site on the grounds of over-development, poor-quality living conditions for the new dwellings and overlooking and loss of privacy for the existing flats over the new Bishopston Library.
“The newly-proposed flat block is both poorly-planned and far too deep, overbearing to 4A Berkeley Road and overlooking and overbearing to the library flats and their existing balconies. It is unreasonable to propose 17 new dwellings with no provision for resident parking or even car club vehicles.”
The chapel was previously occupied by the Nailsea Electrical Shop, which recently relocated to Hengrove. The ground floor would be kept for retail use. Separate plans for nine apartments on the same site were approved by the council in 2021.
Included in the new plans are just four car parking bays, comprising three for the ground-floor shop and one disabled bay for the apartments. But the surrounding area in Bishopston faces severe pressure on parking, with some residents campaigning for new controls to be brought in.
Architects said the site was in a “sustainable location”, which in planning terms means there’s plenty of opportunities for future residents to travel by foot, bicycle or public transport, without relying on private cars.
In planning documents, architects said: “The proposed works are for the partial demolition of the existing shop at ground floor level and the construction of a new building along with the refurbishment of the existing chapel creating 17 new apartments above and a refreshed retail space over two storeys. The site is in a sustainable location with numerous bus stops on Gloucester Road, and Redland and Montpelier train stations a 15 minute walk away.
“There are two public cycle hoops on the corner of Gloucester Road and Berkeley Road and their use would continue as customer parking.”