Find some way to let this plan go ahead
SURELY some compromise has to be found to allow the conversion of Bristol's General Hospital to go ahead. Granted the developers City and County want to change the agreement for affordable homes and payments to the council.
And there is a wide disparity between what they said they could afford and what they have offered. And undoubtedly the council is worried about setting a precedent if this allowed to go through.
But set against all that is the risk of a lengthy and costly legal battle. And worse still the prospect of this city landmark standing untouched and possibly falling further into disrepair while the debate rages on.
The developers are understandably angry. For they have come up with a brilliant scheme that will regenerate this whole area. Something upon which everyone agrees.
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These are an iconic series of buildings which have graced the city's landscape for more than 150 years. And the developers' scheme is both sympathetic and enlightened. It would be a tragedy if it was to be lost.
Isn't this exactly the sort of situation where an elected mayor could step in and bring both sides together and secure an agreement? If it is left to lawyers to talk to each other this scheme could be held up for years and end up costing us a fortune.
Comments
by Bristol1978
Friday, August 31 2012, 1:30PM
“I don't know why BCC are so concerned with how much Section106 money they receive from developers, they don't spend it when they do get it.
http://tinyurl.com/9zbyo3n”
by TorysRule
Friday, August 31 2012, 12:45PM
“Personally, I'd rather they were very hard on developers and didn't just allow them to build 500 tiny 1-bed flats.
The council needs to make sure that developers build 'good' things rather than just things that make their wallets swell.”
by FromMendip
Friday, August 31 2012, 12:22PM
“It's so typical of Bristol.
The council's default setting is always to say no or to make the process so difficult and long-drawn out that many never come to fruition.
Even the chairman of the council committee that turned down the application the other night told Radio Bristol it was an excellent scheme and his heart told him to support it whereas his head said no.
This splendid complex is in danger of joining the list of other derelict or near derelict sites that have lain empty in the city for two decades in some cases: Westmoreland House, Norwich Union, Temple Meads sorting office and the two hotels in Temple Gate are but some examples.
The council is concerned about the lack of affordable housing and wants much more in s 106 payments. A derelict site will bring in no affordable housing and no s 106 payments, and will be a further blot on the city's already scruffy townscape in several central districts. Furthermore, the build itself would create 200 much-needed jobs in the city.”