Debenhams Site Application – 23/04490/F (Tower to the left)
Premier Inn Application – 23/02827/F (Two towers to the right)
The Kingsdown Conservation Group has objected to both applications and would encourage individuals to do the same.
These applications are the first of an intended number of tall buildings encircling Broadmead.
Grounds for objection include:
Unsustainable design, particularly in light of the climate crisis
Tall buildings embody far more embodied carbon that medium height buildings of the same size.
The principle that existing buildings should be refurbished or repurposed rather than demolished
Scale, height and bulk of the buildings
Failure to respond to context, inhuman environment at ground level and overshadowing of nearby buildings
Significant impact on the setting of historic buildings
Grade 1 St James Priory, The New Rooms, Portland Square and other listed buildings in the centre of the city
Impact on Conservation Areas (City and Queen Square, Kingsdown, St James Parade, Portland Square and Stokes Croft
Historic views across the city are embedded in Conservation Area Character Appraisals as being important and should be protected. Tall buildings will destroy these views and diminish historic buildings in the skyline.
Over intense development and poor external provision
Very high density housing, single aspect flats contrary to planning policy (Debenhams site) and inadequate external provision for residents
Cumulative impact
The negative effect on the city caused by cumulative tower blocks
Housing targets
These objections are not anti-housing but simply against the built form proposed. Other solutions, as for instance at Finzal’s Reach and early phases of Wapping Wharf, allow high density housing at a human scale that make a positive contribution to the city.
