Future of town centre plot remains uncertain

Vacant land at Savages Wood Road, Bradley Stoke.

The future of a vacant plot of land bordering Bradley Stoke’s Willow Brook Centre remains uncertain, despite recent reports of clearance activities taking place at the site.

The 0.357 hectares (0.88 acres) plot, opposite the Tesco petrol filling station and bordering properties in Hornbeam Close, was previously allocated in South Gloucestershire Council’s (SGC’s) Local Plan for a health centre. However, the council says that following expansion of existing doctors’ surgeries in the area and a marketing exercise (in 2012) to determine interest from other health providers, it has been decided that there is “no longer a requirement for this purpose”.

Consequently, the council made a decision to dispose of the site and the Journal understands that it is currently considering disposal for a self/custom build scheme.

The site was most recently in the news in May 2014, when Bradley Stoke Town Council asked SGC if it could be used to provide temporary car parking spaces for residents of the nearby Brook Court ‘later living’ complex, which suffers from an under-provision of spaces.

Town council minutes from June 2014 subsequently recorded that: “SGC have confirmed that this piece of land is due to be advertised for development on the open market in the next couple of months. SGC anticipate that the piece of land will probably sell for about £600K.”

The removal of the allocation of the land for use as a health centre is confirmed in SGC’s emerging Plans Sites and Policies (PSP) Plan, which also shows the plot as being within the formalised Bradley Stoke ’town centre’, an area which extends to include Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre as well as the Willow Brook Centre. The PSP Plan will be the subject of an ‘examination in public’ during February, which is the final step before its formal adoption by the council.

Asked about possible future uses for the site, an SGC spokesperson said:

“The location of the land within the defined town centre of Bradley Stoke and lack of a particular allocation would not in itself preclude, subject to other policy considerations (e.g. design, highways access) being met, development such as residential or self-build units. Any application would need to satisfy all relevant planning policies.”

The spokesperson confirmed that there are currently no live planning applications relating to the site.

Image: Archive photo from 2012.

This article originally appeared in the February 2017 issue of the Bradley Stoke Journal magazine (on page 3). The magazine is delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH, to 9,500 homes in Bradley Stoke, Little Stoke and Stoke Lodge. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.

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