A Victorian wall separating a block of flats and houses in Cotham will soon be demolished.
The housing association that owns the flats, which were built in the 1970s, intends to knock down the stone boundary wall and rebuild it, charging people who live next door for some of the works.
The four-storey Knightstone Lodge on Archfield Road is owned by LiveWest Homes. The wall behind the flats has failed and needs to be rebuilt, and the boundary wall to the front of the property also needs to be partially rebuilt.
Bristol City Council’s development control A committee voted on April 16 to grant planning permission for the works, despite objections from some neighbours.
Green Councillor Guy Poultney, representing Cotham, said: “Residents approached me about this some time ago, largely because they couldn’t make contact with the applicant and they didn’t understand why it was that the applicant seemed absolutely hell-bent on demolishing large sections of this wall, or even the whole thing, unnecessarily.
“We have these walls stretching throughout this particular bit of my ward. As far as I can tell, this is the only time someone has ever proposed demolishing one of them, rather than simply repairing it. We still have no explanation. We do not know why they want to do this in this impossibly destructive way.”
No one representing LiveWest Homes attended the committee. Before the meeting, the association said parts of the walls were unstable and could collapse. Some parts are cracking and bulging, with water leaking through too. Existing stones would be kept and reused “as much as practical” in repairs.
The housing association could serve a “party wall notice” on neighbours living next to the block of flats. This would compel them to pay for some of the extensive works, as the rear wall is shared. But some residents objected to the plans, saying the demolition was unnecessary.
Writing to the council, one said: “The state and repair of the walls around the property are no different from any other in this area. If one structurally surveyed the area, the entire wall structure of Cotham would require urgent rebuilding. Walls regularly collapse, especially post the very dry summer two years ago, and local repairs are made and stay good for many years.
“The request for a comprehensive rebuild of entire surrounding walls is an easy option for a management company to pursue — time-efficient, but a huge financial burden for those families living in adjacent properties, who have been told they will be required to share the costs of the works.”
Party wall disputes are dealt with through a separate process, and councillors were told they shouldn’t consider who would pay when making their decision. All but one of the committee members voted in favour of granting permission. Green Cllr Ellie Freeman abstained.
Green Councillor Serena Ralston said: “Having had a situation in my own garden where a wall almost collapsed on one of my children, because the neighbour hadn’t maintained it, I would always go with the safety option. I know it’s not ideal, but nor is it ideal collapsing on somebody.”
By Alex Seabrook, Local Democracy Reporting Service