New use approved for old Keynsham garden centre

PLANS to redevelop a disused Keynsham garden centre have been approved by Bath & North East Somerset Council.

The council has agreed that five disused buildings at the former Whitegate Nurseries site on Stockwood Hill can be demolished and replaced with three new blocks containing a total of 15 industrial units.

The application, submitted by Whitegate Bristol Ltd, had faced objections from Keynsham Town Council, which said the proposals would amount to overdevelopment of the green-belt site, raise safety concerns over access onto Stockwood Hill, and generate traffic the road would be unable to cope with.

Concerns were also raised about the lack of safe walking and cycling routes to the site for workers, as well as recurring incidents of flooding in the area.

But B&NES Council planning officers, who made the delegated decision to approve the plans, said they were satisfied that these issues had either already been addressed or could be managed through planning conditions.

Under the approved scheme, the new industrial units would be arranged in three blocks, reducing the overall number of buildings on the site. Officers said this would help to lessen the “visual clutter” and improve the openness of the green belt compared with the current layout.

Although the two-storey, metal-clad units would be taller than the existing structures, planning officers said their proposed height of six metres was not excessive and would allow for effective screening by surrounding vegetation.

Before any of the units can be occupied, further details will need to be submitted to the council covering hours of operation, deliveries and waste collection.

Avon and Somerset Police had initially objected to the proposals, saying safety and security issues had not been adequately addressed. But the applicants later provided details of what the council described as a “comprehensive” CCTV system and additional security measures, which were judged to be acceptable.

Planning officers concluded that the development would not result in significant harm to neighbouring properties through noise, odour, traffic or other forms of disturbance.

The plans include 35 car parking spaces, along with additional provision for deliveries, servicing vehicles, visitors and cycle parking.

Whitegate Nurseries closed in 2018 after trading for 64 years. Earlier proposals for the site have failed, including a plan to build up to nine homes submitted in 2021 that was later withdrawn, and an application in 2022 to convert five of the six buildings into homes, which was refused by the council and later dismissed on appeal by a planning inspector.

Planning officers acknowledged that the earlier scheme had been rejected due to a lack of safe and convenient pedestrian and cycle access but said the latest application represented an “entirely different proposed use”.