PLANS to convert a nursery in Westbury Park into a shared house and a community hall have been given the go-ahead in spite of fears of parking pressures.
The Vining Hall, on Etloe Road, was built in 1891 and most recently used as a nursery. An extension will be demolished and replaced with a three-storey house in multiple occupation (HMO) with six bedrooms.
Councillors on Bristol City Council’s planning committee B voted to approve the plans on November 19. They were put forward by the owner of the former nursery, Samantha Packer, who faced problems with recruitment, new laws and high building costs.
Colin Pemble, a planning agent representing the applicant, said: “She’s found it increasingly difficult to operate there for a number of reasons — difficult to get staff, changing legislation, a very costly building to run. For her, it’s no longer viable and so it closed. She thinks she can put the historic former chapel to good use as a community building.”
The businesswoman operates another nursery nearby but finds recruiting staff difficult due to high housing costs. The plans to convert part of the building into an HMO could solve this problem, accommodating staff who would then work in the nursery that’s still open. Mr Pemble added that an HMO would create less parking pressures than the former nursery.
Neighbours opposed the plan.
Professor Robin Hambleton said: “This application is a classic example of what urban planners call ‘town cramming’, meaning massive overdevelopment of a small site. This is a giant, towering three-storey building which will be overbearing. There’s no need for a community hall, we’ve got plenty of community halls. The road safety conditions in this area are really troubling.”
Liberal Democrat Councillor Caroline Gooch added: “There was an accident not too long ago on the junction right by this, because there are people trying to use it as a cut-through literally all the time. It’s an absolute nightmare of a road. There’s a lot of Chelsea tractors and cars parked on the pavement. It’s the whole congestion part that really worries me.”
Rules on the nursery building mean that it must be retained for community use.
The surrounding area could soon become a new resident parking zone, which would reduce parking pressures by issuing permits.
Voting in favour were Labour Cllrs Lisa Durston and Don Alexander; Green Cllrs Abi Finch, Mohamed Makawi and Lisa Stone; and Conservative Cllr Bador Uddin. Voting against were Cllr Gooch and Green Cllr Guy Poultney.
By Alex Seabrook, Local Democracy Reporting Service