Work could begin ‘in the near future’
Coronation Road fire 3
A former Bristol metalworks that was seriously damaged by fire at the weekend will be redeveloped and work could start ‘in the near future’. That was the message from one of the country’s biggest housing associations, which wants to build more than 150 new homes on the site alongside the River Avon.
Police are continuing to investigate the blaze that took hold at the old Bristol Metal Spraying facility at the western end of Coronation Road in Ashton Gate on Saturday afternoon. The cause of the fire is being considered as arson because witnesses say they saw a group of youths running away from the site, just before smoke started billowing from the scene.
The site, known as the Former Payne’s Shipyard after its original industrial use in the 19th and early 20th centuries, has been empty since Bristol Metal Spraying closed down in late 2020. A year or so later, councillors gave planning permission for a private developer to clear and clean up the site and build 154 new homes in four blocks of flats in a riverside development that would also include a walkway created on the south bank of the New Cut.
Faced with the costs crisis in the building industry in the early 2020s, and the challenges of decontaminating a site found to contain a long list of heavy metals, as well as concerns over the stability of the river bank, the developer sold the site to Sovereign Housing Association.
CGI impression of Payne’s Shipyard housing development from River Avon New Cut, Bristol(Image: Scott Brownrigg / Crest Nicholson)
Since then, Sovereign have been working to overcome all the planning conditions laid down by council planning officers over everything from decontamination and river bank safety to dealing with the presence of a large mains water pipe, landscaping the former industrial site, and the roadworks necessary to change the access to the land.
READ MORE: Dramatic aftermath of huge fire at former metal works in BristolREAD MORE: Arsonists on the run after fire tears through empty workshop in Southville
There has not been any clearance or construction on the land for five years since Bristol Metal Spraying closed down, but Sovereign said they hope to get started soon. Over the past two years, a series of new applications have been submitted to City Hall to explain how the developers would meet the conditions set down by councillors in 2021 and they have steadily been approved by council planners.
“We’re aware of the fire at the site and we’re working with the fire service to determine the impact and damage caused,” a spokesperson for Sovereign Housing Association said.
“In terms of the development, we’re working with Bristol City Council on the discharge of planning conditions that will allow us to progress.
The scene and after a major fire on Coronation Road in Bristol(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach PLC)
“We’re finalising contract negotiations with a contractor in relation to the main works with a view to progressing construction on the site in the near future,” he added.
The purchase of the site by Sovereign hasn’t increased the number of affordable homes being built – that was set at 31, or 20 per cent of the total, back in 2021 when councillors approved the plans.