Plans unveiled for 650 homes in South Bristol

PLANS for 650 new homes in one corner of the Bedminster area of Bristol have been proposed in two different applications along the Malago Road.

The first has been unveiled by developers Watkin Jones, which is emerging as the second major developer of the Bedminster Green regeneration project on either side of the main A38 road through Bedminster.

And the second application is to demolish the former Selco builders’ merchants site at the end of Malago Road, and build up to 220 new flats next to the railway line and the St John’s Lane bridge.

Watkin Jones’ plan is for the narrow strip of land on the south side of Malago Road between the road and the railway line.

The developer has bought the land and also bought another key site that form two of the five Bedminster Green plots, which could be about to bring 2,000-plus new homes to a small area of Bedminster.

The Malago Road site is the former Pring & St Hill engineering works, whose factory closed in 2003 and was demolished in 2009.

Ever since then, there have been plans to build flats on the site. The most recent plan for the site was one proposed by developers a2Dominion, which wanted to build blocks of student accommodation for up to 550 students, along with 40 separate affordable homes.

That plan, which would have seen blocks of flats up to 12 storeys high, was refused by council planners and again by government planning inspectors on appeal in April 2021.

Now the new owner, Watkin Jones, has returned with fresh plans. It wants to build accommodation blocks for 432 students, and said it has “listened to the community’s concerns” about those previous proposals.

Tony Garner, the development director for build-to-rent specialist Watkin Jones, said the new proposals will reduce the number of buildings from four to three, and they will not be quite as tall either, with the number of students living there being reduced from the original 550 to 432.

“This is an opportunity to transform a disused brownfield site to support lowering student demand for local housing, as well as boost the wider investment in Bedminster,” he said.

“We estimate that this development would generate up to £2.4 million a year in student spending that could reinvigorate and support local businesses on East Street and across the rest of Bedminster.”

The builders’ merchants Selco announced it was to move from a site on Sheene Way at the end of Malago Road in November 2020 to a new site on the Caters Industrial Estate in Bishopsworth, and the site and its car park has been empty ever since.

It was reported in February this year that developers PG Group had plans for up to 220 new flats on the Selco site.

Now the PG Group has moved a step nearer submitting a formal planning application for that site, and said they have entered into a Planning Performance Agreement for the site.

We estimate that this development would generate up to £2.4m a year in student spending that could reinvigorate and support local businesses TONY GARNER