Plans to transform the former site of a Bristol school into an £85m retirement community and leisure hub have been recommended for refusal following a review.
Councillors are set to meet next Wednesday (August 9) to consider the proposals for the five-acre site at Westbury Park, which borders Clifton Downs and is the former location of St Christopher’s School, which closed in 2020.
Bristol City Council’s planning committee had been due to make a decision on the plans at a meeting on May 31, after planning officers previously recommended it refuse the development, called St Christopher’s Square, with a report saying it would be “unacceptable in terms of design”.
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The group behind the scheme, which includes investment firm FORE Partnership, care operator Amicala and development manager Socius, requested a delay, “to allow officers more time to review their report”. The companies have said the project could provide more than 100 extra care homes for older people.
However, a fresh report from planning officers has maintained the recommendation to refuse the development, and dismissed the developers’ rebuttal that the previous findings were “inaccurate, unbalanced, and unfair”. The updated report said no changes had been made to the proposed development, and reiterated the previous grounds for refusal.
Planning officers said the scale of the project would be out of context with the surrounding Downs Conservation Area and heritage buildings on the site, resulting in a loss of its “verdant” character. The officers also noted the work could result in the loss of “important existing trees”.
Basil Demeroutis, managing partner of FORE Partnership, said: “We have worked incredibly hard on this scheme for two years now and continue to stand by and strongly believe in the merits of our proposals. This scheme goes beyond policy level, adopting innovations that will set a new standard of the city, and care sector, when it comes to low carbon and socially impactful development. This is a step we must take to turn the dial, made even more evident this summer as we continue to witness the devastating impact of climate change.
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“Additionally, our proposals address issues that are only becoming more prominent, such as the growing need for age-appropriate housing, freeing up under-occupied family homes and easing the burden on the NHS. We are grateful to Bristol City Council for their ongoing work during this period, and for allowing this thorough assessment of the scheme.”
Under the plans the site’s existing buildings could be refurbished, including the villas fronting Westbury Park and the Grade II-listed building Grace House, while others could be demolished and replaced by new blocks of flats ranging between three and five-storeys in height.
The site could also be opened to the public for the first time in years, with residents of the retirement community and wider local area having access to a new leisure centre, including a café, an urban village hall, a wellness centre featuring a hydrotherapy pool and gym, plus activity rooms.
Planners previously said that the application for the development, which is being devised with a view to making it one of the few extra care communities in the country to operate with net-zero carbon emissions, did not demonstrate a resilience to climate change through its site layout, nor through its approach to design and construction. In their latest report planners said this reason for refusal was still “subject to review”.
According to the report the plans have received objections form Historic England, local councillors and residents, who have voiced concerns about the impact the scheme could have on traffic and parking.
St Christopher's Action Network (SCAN), which is opposed to the project, said: "We now hope and trust that those councillors sitting on the planning committee will follow the wise guidance from the experienced planning officers and reject this appalling application outright. Then we can start to think about a kinder, better and wiser use of the site that brings genuine community and public benefit."