Saltford garages to make way for houses

TWO blocks of garages in Saltford can be knocked down to make way for social housing, planners have agreed.

Housing association Curo has been given permission by Bath & North East Somerset Council to build two pairs of semi-detached houses where 24 garages currently stand next to the car park in Wedmore Road.

The site – described by the applicants as an “unsightly piece of brownfield land” – lies outside Saltford’s housing development boundary but is not within the green belt.

Each of the two-bed houses will have two car parking spaces, as well as secure cycle spaces.

Saltford Parish Council, which was consulted on the scheme, said that while it regretted the proposed loss of off-street parking that the development would entail, it accepted there was a need for affordable housing in the village and that it considered, on balance, that the proposals represented a sensible use of the site.

Duncan Hounsell, B&NES councillor for Saltford, said: “The old garages probably date back to the 1960s. They are not fit for purpose and the enclosed layout has given opportunities for low-level crime.

“The proposed development is a planning gain, bringing much-needed affordable housing. This development takes pressure away from building on Saltford’s green belt. As ward councillor, I fully support this application.”

The parish council had requested that Curo give the current users of the garages the maximum time to vacate and find alternative arrangements. But in granting planning permission, B&NES Council said it was unable to control when Curo might ask the tenants to leave.

As reported in last month’s Voice, Curo has also won approval to demolish 15 garages on the corner of Stratton Road and Camerton View and build four semi-detached houses for social rent in their place.