The future of the plan had been in doubtAn image of the planned development at Baltic Wharf on the harbourside on Spike Island in Bristol.An image of the planned development at Baltic Wharf on the harbourside on Spike Island in Bristol.(Image: Goram Homes)

Work to build more 166 new homes on the edge of Bristol’s Floating Harbour could start as soon as the end of July, after the council’s housing company confirmed it had found both a builder and a housing association.

It could mean the Baltic Wharf caravan site may well close on July 20 – at present that is when they are taking bookings up until – and unless there are delays, Goram Homes could be on site and starting preparatory works by the last week of July.

The future of the Baltic Wharf plan had been in doubt after Bristol City Council voted last October not to fund the building of the ‘affordable’ part of the development. But since then Goram, the council’s house-building arm, has signed a deal with developers The Hill Group, and with Sovereign Housing Association, so the development is going ahead – with 40 per cent of the homes classed as ‘affordable’.

That means 166 flats will be built in total, and 66 will be ‘affordable’ in planning terms. Of those, 16 will be available to buy as shared ownership properties with Sovereign, while 50 apartments will be let out by Sovereign at ‘social rent’ – the cheapest kind of affordable rent and the same level as a council flat.

There had been a hope, during the years that the Baltic Wharf plan was being pushed through Bristol City Council, that 100 per cent of the new homes built on this site would be ‘affordable’, but that was dropped to 40 per cent because of the costs.

Sovereign and Goram will receive grant funding from Homes England to allow 66 of the homes to be bought by Sovereign and rented out as affordable, and local Bristol people on the HomeChoice Bristol housing waiting list system will be able to apply to rent one when they are completed.

(Image: Google Earth)

The Government is also funding the up-front costs of preparing the waterfront land with a £2.44m grant from Westminster’s Brownfield Land Release Fund. It means the council will clear the site this summer and conduct all the groundworks, piling and drainage needed.

“Creating safe and healthy neighbourhoods, with affordable, high-quality homes is one of the council’s key priorities,” said Cllr Barry Parsons, the council’s lead on housing. “With over 600 affordable homes currently under construction, and hundreds more due to begin work before the end of this financial year, we’re making progress on opening up the supply of homes needed to have a meaningful impact for households across Bristol.

“Our own housing company, Goram Homes, has worked tirelessly with development partner The Hill Group and their partner housing association to make 40 per cent affordable housing at Baltic Wharf possible. This development is creating good quality homes in an iconic part of our city that will provide housing for families for many generations to come.

The proposed Baltic Wharf development viewed from the other side of the harbour(Image: JTP and Atelier78)

“With the pressure being felt on housing supply in the city, we’re looking at innovative ways of unlocking land and opportunity to accelerate house building. This includes working with national and regional partners to unlock smaller plots of land for social housing through the Government’s new Small Sites Accelerator programme,” he added.

Goram Homes boss Stephen Baker said it was a challenge to make the sums add up to ensure there could be homes built there that would include 40 per cent affordable.

“Financial viability in the housing market is challenging,” he said. “However, we remain absolutely committed to building high quality, affordable homes in the right places, and we will not reduce the number of affordable homes at Baltic Wharf.

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“It’s our role as the council’s housing company to find the solutions that get much-needed affordable homes built, and we are looking forward to starting work on this landmark site this summer,” he added.

The site and the plans for it have been controversial for years, ever since it became one of the council-owned sites earmarked for housing under the previous Labour mayoral administration.

A campaign was launched to stop the plans going through that even involved a large group of women ‘marrying’ the 70 or so trees that fill the caravan park at the moment.

The scheme took a long time to go through the planning process too, because of concerns from experts about flooding, given the site is on a narrowest part of Spike Island with the tidal River Avon to the south and the Floating Harbour to the north.

The Hill Group are already hard at work building more than 100 new homes on the site of the Amerind Grove nursing home complex just north of the Tobacco Factory in Ashton Gate, and this will be another major site just a few hundred yards away.

In 2021 more than 70 women ‘married’ dozens of trees in a ceremony to oppose plans which could see trees being removed from a prospective building site on Baltic Wharf Caravan Club Site, overlooking the Floating Harbour in Bristol(Image: Peter Herridge / SWNS)

“We’re proud to be moving forward with Goram Homes on the delivery of Baltic Wharf – a project that demonstrates what can be achieved through true collaboration and shared values,” said Allan O’Brien, The Hill Group’s regional director.

“In a climate where housing delivery faces increasing financial pressures, securing 40 per cent affordable homes on such a prominent harbourside site is a testament to the determination of all partners involved.

“At The Hill Group, we’re committed to building high-quality, sustainable homes that meet the needs of local communities. Baltic Wharf will not only bring much-needed affordable housing to Bristol, but also create vibrant public spaces that enhance this iconic part of the city. We look forward to starting construction this summer and to seeing this transformative vision take shape,” he added.

It now seems likely that the Caravan and Motorhome Club presence in Bristol will end on, or at some point soon after July 20. The Caravan Club had tried to obtain planning permission to create a new home on the site of the former police equestrian base next to the River Avon at Rownham Mead, on the opposite side of the river from Hotwells, but in 2022 a Government minister ultimately vetoed the scheme amid concerns over people in caravans being flooded.