Decision on Bristol nursery becoming shared house and community hall amid parking fears

The Vining Hall, on Etloe Road in the Westbury Park area, was built in 1891 and most recently used as a nursery that closed down recently. An existing extension will be demolished and replaced with a three-storey house in multiple occupation with six bedrooms.

Councillors on Bristol City Council’s planning committee B voted to approve the plans on Wednesday, November 19. They were put forward by the owner of the former nursery, Samantha Packer, who faced problems with recruitment, new laws and high building costs.

Colin Pemble, a planning agent representing the applicant, said: “She’s found it increasingly difficult to operate there for a number of reasons — difficult to get staff, changing legislation, a very costly building to run. For her, it’s no longer viable and so it closed. She thinks she can put the historic former chapel to good use as a community building.”

The businesswoman operates another nursery nearby but finds recruiting staff difficult due to high housing costs in the area. But the plans to convert part of the building into an HMO could solve this problem, accommodating staff who would then work in the nursery that’s still open. Mr Pemble added that an HMO would create less parking pressures than the former nursery.

If parking permits were rolled out in the area, future residents wouldn’t be able to apply for one. However local critics said that the three-storey home would be “giant and towering”, and the new residents parking on the road nearby could endanger children. The area also already has “plenty of community halls”. The design of the new HMO could also contrast with old buildings.

Professor Robin Hambleton said: “This application is a classic example of what urban planners call ‘town cramming’, meaning massive overdevelopment of a small site. This is a giant, towering three-storey building which will be overbearing. There’s no need for a community hall, we’ve got plenty of community halls. The road safety conditions in this area are really troubling.”

Liberal Democrat Councillor Caroline Gooch added: “There was an accident not too long ago on the junction right by this, because there are people trying to use it as a cut-through literally all the time. It’s an absolute nightmare of a road. There’s a lot of Chelsea tractors and cars parked on the pavement. It’s the whole congestion part that really worries me.”

Rules on the nursery building mean that it must be retained for community use. So if it wasn’t converted into a community hall, another usage would be found that would still likely mean people driving there. The surrounding area could soon become a new resident parking zone, which would reduce parking pressures by issuing permits to people living there.

Voting in favour were Labour Cllrs Lisa Durston and Don Alexander; Green Cllrs Abi Finch, Mohamed Makawi and Lisa Stone; and Conservative Cllr Bador Uddin. Voting against were Cllr Gooch and Green Cllr Guy Poultney.

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