Dovercourt Road: 140-home plan recommended for approval by council planning officers

Councillors making a decision on huge plans for 140 new homes in Lockleaze will be recommended to approve the controverial scheme.

A decision on the homes to be built at an old depot off Dovercourt Road has been postponed due to The Queen’s death, but a report provided to the members of development control committee reveals what officers recommended they should do.

It says that the planning application from Goram Homes should be approved with an agreement 42 homes be affordable.

The recommendation comes despite concerns from local residents and councillors that the site, on the council storage depot between Dovercourt Road and the railway, only has one small access road.

Developers said they would redesign the road, making it more suitable and safe for future residents.

The 140 homes would include a mix of two, three and four-storey buildings, comprising about 63 apartments and 77 houses. The council received 183 public objections to the plans, and three letters in support.

Cllr David Wilcox, representing Lockleaze, commented on the application: “I do see the need for affordable housing in both Lockleaze and across the city, and this development might deliver at least 42 out of 140 homes…However, I cannot support a development that isn’t fit for purpose by having a single access route onto Dovercourt Road.

“It is too narrow and will lead to collisions on Dovercourt Road or the access road itself.”

The single access route is a small T-junction leading onto Dovercourt Road.

This would be changed by installing dropped kerbs, widening the pavements, and making the road more narrow. A second access route was planned for emergency use, which would have gone through an existing lane between numbers 98 and 100 Dovercourt Road.

But this route has been removed from the plans, after objections from residents and talks with the fire service.

Councillors on the development control committee were originally due to make a decision on housing plans on Wednesday, September 14. But this has now been delayed, after all public Bristol City Council meetings were postponed following the death of the Queen last week.

The report from officers recommending approval said: “The proposed development would conteribute to the deliver oy new, affordable homes on previously developed land.

“Subject to conditions, the proposed development would be accepatalbe in terms of transport and highways.”

It’s unclear when the meeting will take place instead, although it’s expected to be soon.