‘Carriageworks not gentrification’ – Ferguson

City mayor George Ferguson said planners “pushed as hard as they dared” for affordable housing on the Carriageworks site on Stokes Croft.

Councillors gave the green light to plans for a £20 million redevelopment with 112 new homes, of which only 10 per cent would be affordable.

The city mayor, who does not play a formal role in the planning procedure, said he was irritated that the affordable housing provision missed the council’s own policy of 30 per cent.

But he hinted that the long-overdue redevelopment, which is due to be completed in early 2018, would have been at risk if officers and councillors stood firmer.

He added that he does not fear that the project will lead to gentrification in the “mixed and vibrant community” of Stokes Croft.

Speaking to Bristol24/7, the mayor praised the overall designs, saying: “I think architecturally it’s excellent.

But he added he was disappointed by the overall number of affordable homes. “This irritates me no end that time and time again we get exceptions to the guideline – which is more than a guideline, it’s a policy of 30 per cent affordable.

“All I can say is in my discussion with the planning officers, they pushed as hard as they dared. If they had pushed further it would probably been defeated at appeal and that danger sometimes does result in compromises like this.”

He said despite the shortcomings the development would overall deliver “a very positive contribution to the fabric of the area”, before dismissing claims it would lead to gentrification.

“Gentrification is a very sweeping term and I do understand the fear but I feel Stokes Croft is pretty resilient in having a mixed and vibrant community,” he said.

“It’s never going to be posh gentrification and if you’ve got a mixed community it’s right that you have a mix of everything and this, I think, is adding rather than subtracting to the mix.

“Yes, I understand the general term. It is one that’s flung at all sorts of developments. But ask local people and they will say they want improvements to their area, and in anybody’s language this, overall, represents an improvement to the area.”

The Carriageworks and adjacent Westmoreland House have been derelict for about 30 years.

Owned by Comer Homes, there have been a number of planning applications to develop the buildings and the council has tried in the past to force the owners to sell up.

Ferguson said a compulsory purchase order was placed on the building before Fifth Capitial London, who have a deal to buy the site from Comer Homes, declared an interest.

He said that a portion of the £500,000 that was put aside of the legal process was already spent by the time Fifth Capital had submitted their plans.

Compulsory purchase orders can only go through if there is not a legitimate planning application from the private sector already in place.

Ferguson said he will now do “everything I can” to encourage the plans are carried out, adding: “I’ll be convinced it will happen when I see machinery on the site.”

Marc Pennick, Fifth Capital London director, said the low proportion of affordable homes was due to “costs of developing the site which my team worked very hard on driving down”.

He added that money ring-fenced for a compulsory purchase order could be used to create more affordable housing on the site. “I would be happy to discuss that with the Mayor,” he said.

He added: “The site will bring other benefits, like bringing the listed building back to life and designing a new commercial hub which locals and the wider community can enjoy. We will be creating a new market square which will benefit start-up businesses.”

He said work should start on the development in June 2016, with completion by February 2018.