Clifton: New six-storey block of flats in Whiteladies Road ‘too tall’ due to old cottages nearby

Developers are hoping to get permission to build 60 new homes but are facing obstacles from local councillors, Historic England and neighbours concerned about their plans.

Elizabeth Blackwell Properties Ltd has applied for planning permission from Bristol City Council to build the homes, and 209 square metres of offices, split over two blocks. One block would be four storeys tall and the other would be six storeys tall.

The site is currently home to a small office building, a terrace of four houses, a bungalow, garages and a car park with 29 spaces. These buildings would be demolished if the plans go ahead. The flats would have one or two bedrooms each and 12 homes would be affordable.

Councillors on the development control B committee will vote on Wednesday, October 8, on whether to approve planning permission for the flats. That’s after the two local Green councillors representing the area “called in” the application, with concerns over the effect on old buildings.

Councillors Serena Ralston and George Calascione, in a statement referring the plans to the committee, said: “The applicant has not provided enough information on the impacts on the historic environment to reassure us that the proposed development will not have a detrimental impact on the Whiteladies conservation area and heritage assets.

“The massing of Block B is likely to be more dominant. We are concerned that the new design proposals are poor quality. They could cause overdevelopment of what is a constrained site.”

They added that the new homes could be too close to existing student flats and a retirement complex, and this would lead to a loss of light, privacy and overlooking. They also said that the flats should be larger, as the city needs more homes for families.

A similar planning application was refused in 2023 by the government’s Planning Inspectorate, who said the block of flats would tower over neighbouring properties. A committee of councillors also refused plans back in 2021, after safety concerns about access through a car park of a neighbouring retirement village called the Vincent.

Historic England has also called for more information on how the new homes will affect views of old buildings. They said most of the buildings coming down Whiteladies Road are two to three stories tall, and occasionally four storeys. An adjacent seven-storey office block “demonstrates the detrimental impact such development can have on the conservation area”.

Since the previous plans were refused, the developers have pushed one block away from the cottages on St Vincent’s Hill, and reduced the height by one storey. The other block has increased in height by one storey.

In planning documents, architects said: “The design carefully considers the historical context, contemporary surroundings, and feedback from the previous application, emphasizing scale, proportion, and contextual appropriateness.

“Key changes, such as reducing the building mass closest to the cottages, lowering parts of the building in height, and orientating the building away from the cottages, significantly enhances the proposal’s relationship with the neighbouring buildings.”