This week’s round-up of the most notable Bristol planning applications
O2 Academy Bristol(Image: C) James Beck 2019/Bristol Live)
An unused cafe area at Bristol’s O2 Academy would be turned into a changing room for performing acts and a production office under new plans recently submitted.
Each week Bristol City Council receives dozens of planning applications seeking permission for a whole range of developments.
Over the past seven days, those applications also included two sets of vacant offices to become new homes, the retention of a house extension built without permission, and repairs to a historic monument.
Every week dozens are validated by the local authority and we have selected some of the more interesting proposals.
All planning applications submitted to the council have to be validated and are available for inspection by the public.
Anyone is also allowed to submit comments about the applications — whether in support or objection.
The majority of applications are decided by planning officers at the council under delegated powers.
However, some will go before elected councillors who sit on planning committees.
No dates have been set for when the planning applications below will be determined.
They can be viewed by going to the planning portal on Bristol City Council’s website.
O2 Academy
An area at the music venue in the city centre that was originally designated as a cafe but never used would become a changing room for touring performers and a production office.
Academy Music Group has applied for a lawful development certificate to confirm the changes.
The area has been used as a storeroom after being left vacant.
In planning documents, the agents said: “This space will also provide fully independent stage access and changing facilities for wheelchair uses.
“Providing this service will help to ensure the future of this important Bristol attraction.”
House extension
A householder who built a rear extension without planning permission has asked to keep it.
The single-storey structure at Maskelyne Avenue was completed in December 2022 but has never gone through the formal planning process.
Offices to flats
Two separate applications to convert neighbouring offices into flats on the same road in Clifton have been submitted.
The first would see eight apartments created across four floors of a Victorian semi-detached building in Elmdale Road.
In planning documents, the agents said: “The floorspace at the application site is currently vacant, having most recently operated as offices.
“The previous tenant vacated the property in September 2025 having gone into administration.
“The site has remained unoccupied since then.”
The other, just a few doors away, opposite Bristol Grammar School, would turn offices into four flats, one on each level of the property.
Planning agents wrote: “All four floors of the building have been used as offices continuously since at least the last 16 years.
“Most recently Humble Bee Films occupied the office for five years from 2019 and prior to this the building was occupied by Poole Martin Insurance Brokers for at least 10 years.”
Both applications are requesting prior approval under permitted development rights.
Bristol High Cross
Conservation work would take place to a monument at a park in Clifton.
The city council wants to repair Bristol High Cross in Berkeley Square Gardens amid concerns over its condition.
The Grade II-listed structure in the corner of the park, which has a plinth with four statues of seated monarchs, is a 19th-century replica of the original cross from 1373 which was moved to Stourhead in Wiltshire.
It originally stood in College Green but was relocated to Berkeley Square in 1950.
In planning documents, agents said: “The cross is in poor condition and is potentially structurally unstable.
“The proposed repairs will retain as much of the original fabric as possible and only include replacement if absolutely necessary for structural integrity.
“Any components in good condition shall be retained, including fixings unless they are corroded or damaged during dismantling, in which case they will be replaced on a like-for-like basis.
“The works shall be carried out by a stone conservationist using traditional methods and materials.”
They said the top part of the spire needed rebuilding.