![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_TCB300925GlosRoadBRI_02JPG.jpg\")
A building and shop front on Gloucester Road in Bishopston that has been empty and boarded up for nearly 20 years – pictured here in 2025(Image: Google Maps)<\/p>\nAfter a seven year battle over a new Wetherspoons thereA building and shop front on Gloucester Road in Bishopston that has been empty and boarded up for nearly 20 years – pictured here in 2025(Image: Google Maps)<\/p>\n
One of Gloucester Road\u2019s last remaining empty eyesore landmarks could finally be knocked down with a plan for new flats and a new shop on the famous two miles of independent businesses. The building is currently more of a landmark for the huge mural of a slice of water melon painted on the front, but has been boarded up, covered over and empty for almost 20 years.<\/p>\n
At the start of the 2000s, number 349 Gloucester Road, on the Ashley Down side of the road near the Co-op, was a locally-famous store called Nooze \u2018n\u2019 Booze mini-supermarket, but that closed and by 2008 it was boarded up completely.<\/p>\n
For a time in the early 2010s, the building became a reclamation shop restoring and selling second hand furniture, but by 2014 that shopfront had also closed down, and Wetherspoons took on the site, with plans to open a new pub there.<\/a><\/p>\n They submitted planning applications six times for a brand new pub<\/a>, and in 2018 and 2019, covered the building in new boards advertising the pub as \u2018coming soon\u2019. The Covid pandemic delayed the scheme but in 2021, councillors at City Hall approved the Wetherspoons plan<\/a> despite a total of 241 objections from people living locally.<\/p>\n Despite obtaining planning permission<\/a>, the building was never converted and remained boarded up into 2025.<\/p>\n Now, a new developer has unveiled plans to knock the building down and build a new one – this time up to five storeys high – that will include 13 flats and a new ground floor shop that they say will \u2018contribute to the vitality and sustainability of Gloucester Road\u2019.<\/p>\n Speare Developments has launched a consultation into its proposals, and are holding an online consultation meeting next week to explain their plans in more detail.<\/p>\n \u201cBristol is facing a housing emergency, with demand far outstripping supply,\u201d said a spokesperson for Speare Developments. \u201cToo often, young professionals who want to live in the city end up in converted houses that were never designed for modern living,\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis site gives us the chance to provide high quality, purpose-built accommodation in a highly sustainable and desirable location,\u201d they added. \u201cWe know there is a strong sense of identity in Bishopston and along Gloucester Road, and our goal is to bring this long-vacant site back into positive use in a way that benefits the whole community.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Bristol and Bath’s E-scooter and e-bike scheme to go 24 hours this week<\/a>READ MORE: Centre of Bristol transformed by huge new artwork<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cBy introducing new homes and a shop on the ground floor, we can help strengthen the vitality of the high street while addressing one of the city\u2019s most pressing needs. This consultation is a key step, and we want to hear from as many people as possible.”<\/p>\n \u201cThe site is being brought forward with careful consideration to local infrastructure and the neighbours of the site. We want to hear from anyone with concerns so we can work with them to get these plans right,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n \u201cThe vision includes up to 13 new flats designed with young professionals in mind, alongside a new ground floor shop that would contribute to the vitality and sustainability of Gloucester Road.<\/p>\n \u201cThe plans are for a building at a variety of heights with the highest element at five storeys. Careful consideration has been given to how this building looks from both Gloucester Road and neighbouring streets. The plans balance what\u2019s appropriate in this area with what can be viably delivered.<\/p>\n \u201cThe consultation stage is an important opportunity for residents and local businesses to provide feedback on the emerging plans,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_TCB300925GlosRoadBRIJPG.jpg\")
A building and shop front on Gloucester Road in Bishopston that has been empty and boarded up for nearly 20 years – pictured here in 2008(Image: Google Maps)<\/p>\n![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_TCB300925GlosRoadBRI_result.jpg\")
New plans have been unveiled for a building and shop front on Gloucester Road in Bishopston that has been empty and boarded up for nearly 20 years(Image: Speare Developments)<\/p>\n