News / Housing
First glimpse at Lockleaze regeneration plans
An unused office block will be demolished to make way for 268 homes in the first step towards ending a “decade of neglect” in Lockleaze.
Bristol City Council cabinet members last week signed off on a £178m regeneration of the area, in a move that was hailed a chance to show the community it is cared about.
Plans to redevelop Romney House – following ‘extensive’ public involvement – is the first glimpse of how the multi-million investment, expected to deliver 800 new homes, will look.
is needed now More than ever
The regeneration is seen as an chance to end a decade of neglect
The council says the site has good access to major employers – including the Ministry of Defence, UWE Bristol and Hewlett Packard – and benefits from an extensive transport network.
The scheme will deliver a mixture of ‘much-needed’ homes and flats, with 62 of them affordable and 19 intermediate. It will also connect the community with the 1,100-home Cheswick Village in South Gloucestershire.
The overall development will be divided between five packages of land.
Estella Tincknell has welcomed the investment in the area
Speaking at a cabinet meeting last week, Estella Tincknell, Lockleaze ward councillor, said she and Labour colleague Gill Kirk were pleased to see the council finally investing in the area “after 10 years of neglect”.
Plans – submitted to the council’s planning department – say Lockleaze was largely agricultural land until it was developed to address the post-war housing crisis.
The development is planned around the principle of the ‘garden city’, with a generous provision of open space.
Current residents have drawn up a development plan that envisages a ‘spacious and leafy village’ and the scheme has a ‘linear green’ running through it to provide a connection to the Grade II-listed Stoke Park.
The 5.2-hectare site was a purpose-built secondary school, but it closed in 2004. Bristol City Council then moved in, but the space has remained vacant and unused since the council offices were decommissioned last year.
These proposals include parking for 340 cars, but some routes through the development will give preference to buses, pedestrians and bicycles.
The site crosses the boundaries of Bristol City Council and South Gloucestershire Council and will be considered by both authorities.
Stephen Sumner is the local democracy reporter for South Gloucestershire.
Read more: 800 new Lockleaze homes to address ‘critical need’
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