PLANS to demolish the former fire station in Keynsham town centre and replace it with 21 flats have been approved.
The scheme for the over-55s would include commercial space on the ground floor facing Temple Street.
A new pedestrian walkway through the site would link Market Walk to the leisure centre and Riverside View apartments.
The four-storey scheme does not include any affordable housing, a fact that concerned members of Bath & North East Somerset Council planning committee.
But council officers said this had been accepted by an independent assessor because flats for the over-55s would fetch a lower price than those without an age restriction, rendering affordable housing unviable.
However, at the committee’s meeting on November 20, some councillors questioned why the developers had proposed the over-55s restriction in the first place, and they asked if removing it would allow for affordable housing provision. They also wanted to know if building a higher development with more flats would solve the issue.
But they were told the height of the proposed development had been reduced at the request of council officers to help it fit in with the surrounding environment. It would be lower than the adjacent library and Riverside complex.
An agent for the applicant, Chewton Place Developments Ltd, said it was a sustainable scheme that would “bring a long-term vacant site back into use.”
It would include a green ‘living’ wall and solar plans laid flat on the roof to reduce their visual impact.
Some members felt that the provision of 42 cycle spaces was “over-generous” while just two car parking spaces with electric charging facilities were too few. But officers said these numbers were policy compliant.
Councillor Fiona Gourley was disappointed by the lack of communal facilities and green space, apart from a tree and two benches.
And Cllr Eleanor Jackson said the scheme should be rejected because of its design, which she compared to Duplo.
But Cllr Duncan Hounsell (Saltford ward) said the scheme represented a good use of a cramped site and would rid the area of its “ugly” old fire station.
Regarding the design, he said it was in keeping with the modern look of the council’s own adjacent library and civic centre.
Permission for the scheme was granted, on condition that there should be a seagull management plan because of the flat roof, and that the green infrastructure should be maintained by the developer for the lifetime of the building.
Two disabled parking bays will be moved to another part of Temple Street.
Chewton Place Developments bought the former fire station in 2017. Since then, there have been various failed attempts to redevelop the site, including a proposed boutique hotel.
Pictured above, the old fire station in Temple Street. Below, how the new flats would look
