News / News Wire
Baths ‘will be finished by Christmas’
Developers at Bristol North Baths insist they will finish the project by the end of the year with the help of new private investment.
Chatsworth Homes has already borrowed £3.4 million from the city council and is more than two years late on its completion date for the new doctors’ surgery, library and flats.
Bristol City Council announced yesterday it had served legal letters on the developers threatening to cancel its contract and take back ownership of the site.
Chatsworth Homes released a statement on Wednesday saying they are committed to completing the library and flats for residents to move in by Christmas, with the help of bridging loan company Ultimate Capital.
They added that it was “still very much a wish to see” a medical practice open in the Grad II-listed former baths, despite Bishopston Medical Practice pulling out due to delays.
“Chatsworth Homes have always been, and still are, fully committed to completing both the Bishopston library/apartments and the adjacent regeneration of the Bristol North Baths,” the company said.
“It is in this regard, that after much consultation, Chatsworth Homes are pleased to announce that an arrangement is being put in place with Ultimate Capital to provide the necessary funding to allow both projects to reach completion.”
Chatsowrth Homes said Ultimate Capital are now in discussions with Bristol City Council. The council are owed £3.4 million, plus interest.
Chatsworth Homes are planning to return the money by selling the completed flats, leasing the surgery and developing the soon-to-be deserted Cheltenham Road library into flats.
But if their contract with the council is terminated, the council will take back the site and sell the properties themselves. There will be no net loss, the council have insisted.
Chatworth Homes’ director Kevin Batt said the development is still focused on regenerating the old baths into a medical centre, adding that he hoped to work with NHS England to attract tenants.
The Bristol North Baths development was supposed to be finished in the summer of 2013. A “stop and review” in 2014 found an unsatisfactory quality of work.
The council claims it can finish the project by spring 2016 if it cancels the contract and completes the work. Chatsworth Homes have two weeks to respond formally to the council’s legal letters.
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