Office complex set to be demolished to make way for care home

Fountain Court, New Leaze, Bradley Stoke, Bristol.

A collection of office buildings on a large site in north Bradley Stoke looks set to be demolished to make way for a care home after South Gloucestershire Council granted outline planning permission for a proposed redevelopment scheme.

Under the plans, Fountain Court, a group of five two-storey office blocks on the north side of Woodlands Lane, located between Woodlands Park and The Orchard public house, will be replaced by a care home with 80 beds and 8 ‘close care’ apartments.

It is expected that 80 ‘full-time equivalent’ jobs will be created by the new care home, split over three shifts.

Permission was granted despite objections from Bradley Stoke Town Council, which claimed the plans contain inadequate/insufficient parking provision, and a neighbour living opposite the site, in Ottrells Mead, who said the application “failed to fully consider the detrimental effect it will have on the surrounding dwellings and the long term prosperity of Bradley Stoke”.

Officers assessing the application expressed concern that changing the designated use of the site from Class B1 (business) to Class C2 (residential institution) might result in a reduction in the number and range of jobs available in the local area. However, they noted that “the premises have remained largely vacant in a large part for a number of years” and that “there is a profusion of vacant offices of the Fountain Court standard”.

Outline permission was granted on condition that a ‘reserved matters’ (detailed) planning application is made within the next three years.

The applicant has also submitted, as a fallback position, prior notification of a change of use from offices to dwelling houses, to which the council has raised no objection. Such a change is classed as ‘permitted development’ by current Town and Country Planning legislation.

This article originally appeared in the August 2014 edition of the Bradley Stoke Journal news magazine, delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH, to 9,450 homes in Bradley Stoke, Little Stoke and Stoke Lodge. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.

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