It wants formal permission to continue welcoming visitors
A prominent Georgian property on Berkeley Square is the subject of a new planning application, as its owner seeks formal permission to continue operating the site as a guest house.
The application, lodged by Mr P Culliford, proposes to retain the current use of 3 Berkeley Square as a seven-room guest house with a live-in manager’s studio apartment.
Set within the Park Street and Brandon Hill Conservation Area, the property is a Grade II* listed building occupying a mid-terrace position on the historic square.
According to the planning documents, the proposal affects all floors of the building except the basement, which is currently in use as a health clinic under Class E.
The application is retrospective, seeking to regularise a use that has already been established.
As the submitted planning statement explains ‘the current use has subsisted since 2016 and has proven viable,’ with the guest house offering accommodation for up to 14 guests, who typically stay for short visits of around two nights.
No external or internal alterations are proposed.
The building’s existing layout will remain unchanged, and a separate certificate of lawful development has been submitted in parallel, given the listed status of the property.
The planning statement highlights that the site’s city centre location—on the edge of the Park Street and Queens Road Primary Shopping Area—makes it ideally suited for guest accommodation.
It notes that tourism uses are supported by Bristol’s Core Strategy, with Policy BCS2 encouraging ‘facilities and services that contribute to the diversity and vitality of the city’.
From a heritage perspective, the proposal has been assessed as having no detrimental impact on the character or significance of the conservation area.
The statement affirms that “the development does not harm the host building nor the conservation area,” citing national and local planning policies that require such proposals to preserve historic character.
The continued use of the site as a guest house is also considered a practical response to changing urban needs.
With demand for office space declining in the wake of hybrid working patterns, the report argues that the hospitality use provides a sustainable and beneficial alternative.