Fate of flats plan lies in hands of planning inspector
THE Government will decide whether part of Hamilton House in Stokes Croft can be turned into 45 flats.
Developers want to turn two of the three buildings that make up the 1970s office block into 25 onebed and 20 two-bed apartments.
Under the plans, the other six storey building in the trio, Block A, which contains The Canteen, would remain unchanged.
But Blocks B and C, which have traditionally been work spaces for artists, would have planning permission to be turned into homes.
Tenants have been protesting the loss of workshop space - particularly in an area of the city famed for its art - and have called it another step toward the gentrification of Stokes Croft.
Bristol City Council blocked the plans in December, but developer Sustainable Britain - part of Connolly & Callaghan Group - has now applied to the Government’s planning inspector to overturn the decision. A report on behalf of the developer said: “On the balance of the issues, the residential conversion of Blocks B and C of the existing office buildings into 45 dwell- ings is a form of sustainable development that would make most efficient use of the site.”
A date for the Government hearing is yet to be set. Another application by the same developer to develop just Block C into 25 flats was turned down by the council in April. In March, the Bristol Post reported that people working in Block C - the building facing City Road and home to the Bristol Bike Project - had been told they had to leave.