45 flats to be built on derelict Weston-super-Mare site empty for a decade

Blocks of flats are set to be built on a site which has sat "vacant and derelict" for a decade on one of the main routes into Weston-super-Mare.

North Somerset Council's planning committee has voted unanimously to grant planning permission for homes on land next to the A370, just north of the Drove Roundabout.

The land is currently an overgrown triangle of tarmac at the back of Bridge Road. It has been disused since 2015.

Now 45 flats will be built there in two four to five storey blocks as Weston-super-Mare's first build to rent development.

Nine flats will be affordable housing, representing 20% of the development.

What was said at the meeting

Speaking at the planning committee's meeting on 14th October, Peter Wren, of DLA Architects Practice, said: "The site is allocated in your local plan for 45 homes, vacant and derelict since 2015 on one of the main approaches into the town. Our scheme delivers that allocation in full."

Mike Solomon, an Independent councillor for Hutton and Locking who was sitting on the committee as a substitute, said the homes would have easy access to the town centre for jobs.

He said he would be supporting the plan and said: "It is a site I know well. … It is much needed housing."

Objections to the plans

Labour councillor Ciaran Cronelley, who represents Weston-super-Mare Winterstoke, said the flats would likely have multiple cars and that people on nearby Bridge Road were concerned about parking.

Conservative councillor Christopher Blades, who represents Clevedon Yeo, said he was concerned about the flats overlooking existing homes.

Twenty-six people had lodged objections to the plan with the council, with many citing parking concerns.

Mr Wren said the developers had reduced the height of the building by a metre in response to concerns, and that there would be 44 unallocated parking spaces on site.

The committee voted unanimously to approve the plans.

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