Lockleaze residents demand ‘more than just houses’ in area earmarked for over 1000 new homes

Residents of Lockleaze are demanding “more than just houses” as 1000 new homes are set to be built across 25 developments in the neighbourhood. They say that “no where near enough is being done” to support the wellbeing and social needs of both current and future residents.

The 25 developments include a 180-house development on Bonnington Walk, 268 homes on the former Romney House school site, and 50 flats in place of the Cameron Centre and ex-police station on Gainsborough Square.

But the 120 member-strong Lockleaze Residents Planning Group, set up to influence developments in the area, say you need more than houses to have a community.

A spokesperson for the group says: “We’re not against homes one bit, but we also need community: we need community spaces, places to socialise, places to play and shops to buy groceries, and places that offer employment opportunities. People want to take their families somewhere to eat that’s affordable and local – that’s not a big ask.”

The 25 developments across Lockleaze are displayed at the Hub community centre on Gainsborough Square. Photo by Emily Shimell

A resident of Brangwyn Grove in Lockleaze, who asked not to be named by Bristol24/7, agrees that the area is suffering from too many houses and too few facilities: “They want to put over 1000 new homes here, but there are no plans for anything else that we’re desperately in need of.

“Our health facilities are oversubscribed, the nurseries in the area have waiting lists, we don’t have a place for a coffee and there’s no supermarket.”

Debra Stirling, a resident of Landseer Avenue, also thinks that Lockleaze, particularly Gainsborough Square, needs more than houses to bring it back to life. She wants to see more shops, such as a greengrocers and butchers, as well as provisions for young people.  She says: “We had all that in the 80s. Now there’s no local pub for a pint, and you can’t get a Sunday joint or fresh daily vegetables.

“I know we need more houses for families, but where there’s an increase of homes, so must the infrastructure keep up.”

However, Bristol City Council told Bristol24/7 that it is considering additional community space in the vicinity of Gainsborough Square, adding that it is looking at building a replacement for the library there, as well as liaising with the NHS about access to healthcare services in the area.

The council also says that it has invested in significant improvements to the open space and public realm in Gainsborough Square, and that two new supermarkets have recently opened in Lockleaze, improving amenities for the community and providing job opportunities.

Nonetheless, only three of the 25 sites across the the ward are primarily planned for developments other than housing: one for additional courts at the Lockleaze Sports Centre, and the second is the new Trinity Academy, currently in construction on the site of a former school. The third is for a plant storage site on a former gas holder in Eastville.

There are plans to build up to 150 homes on Dovercourt Depot – but Lockleaze residents say the land should be used to provide employment opportunities alongside the new housing. Photo by Bristol City Council

Dovercourt Depot is one of the 25 development locations in Lockleaze, earmarked for 120-150 homes by Bristol City Council. The area covers a section of brownfield to the north of the site, currently used by the council for storage, and greenfield to the south, including open green space and woodland.

The Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust say that the brownfield part of this site was recognised as a key spot for job creation in the area within the draft Lockleaze Neighbourhood Development Plan.

“The Dovercourt site is a place where Lockleaze could have some local jobs, workshop space, maybe a mix of housing and shops, or support new industry that can capitalise on the green economy”, says a spokesperson for the Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust.

The Friends of Dovercourt Road residents group add that they are not against the development of the brownfield section of the site, as they recognise the need for homes. But they also say that there are major flaws in the plans, and do not feel that residents’ voices are being heard.

Local resident and spokesperson for the group Sophie Coles says: “We are being flooded with new residential developments, with total lack of consideration for existing residents. This would not be tolerated in more affluent areas of Bristol.”

Part of Romney Avenue, at one of the main entrances to Stoke Park, is earmarked for 15 homes – but Lockleaze residents feel it should instead be used for a visitor centre for the park. Photo by Emily Shimell

Another one of the 25 development areas is on Romney Avenue, where 15 homes are planned at one of the main entrances to Stoke Park. Residents are “dumbfounded” that the council would “not jump at the chance” to use this site as a cafe or visitor centre for the park.

Steve England, a local resident and wildlife educator in Stoke Park, believes this location is like an “own goal” for the council.

He says: “The Bristol City Council Stoke Park Management plan shows their ambition to have toilets, a visitor centre or a cafe. The Romney Avenue site is a council-owned plot of land on the edge of the park, at a key entrance point, outside the historic boundary, in an area desperate for facilities. You don’t get an opportunity better than that.”

Bristol City Council says the Romney Avenue site has been identified for new homes following the demolition of previous unsatisfactory housing there.

A council spokesperson says: “The site was considered as a location for a visitor centre however it proved not to be a suitable option for the park or Lockleaze.

“A visitor facility within the park would be welcomed and work is going on to identify a suitable location but a decision has yet to be made.”

Lockleaze residents also say they are “frustrated” and “outraged” that 32 council-owned houses were demolished 10 years ago on Constable/Chrome Road and have never been rebuilt, yet new plans are coming forward to build on green sites in the ward such as Bonnington Walk.

A resident of Constable Road, who did not want to be named by Bristol24/7, says that there were plans to build 81 homes in 2018, but still nothing has been built: “If they had built them by now, these new developments wouldn’t have such an impact all in one go. Why are they building on green spaces when they haven’t yet built what was promised?“

Bristol City Council told Bristol24/7 that since securing planning permission for new homes on Constable/Chrome Road,  it has sold the site to Abri Housing Association for residential development.

Houses are being built on green spaces in Lockleaze, including on Bonnington Walk, where 40 trees have been cleared to make way for 180 homes. Photo by Debra Stirling

Suzanne Wilson, chief executive of the Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust, refers to the 25 developments in the area as an “avalanche” of housing.

She says: “Nobody is taking a look across the whole of Lockleaze or taking a residents’ view. No one is focusing on the supporting infrastructure to support the health and needs of the community.”

She adds that the developments do not align with Bristol’s Economic Recovery and Renewal Strategy. This sets out priorities for areas across the city, including creating opportunities for employment; targeting communities experiencing long-term deprivation, such as Lockleaze.

“The council say themselves they can’t just build housing here; they have to build community,” says Wilson. “But then the only people coming forward with plans for the council-owned sites is the housing team, and it seems their aim is to just build as many houses as possible.

“We need the council to follow their own strategies for areas like Lockleaze, and we urge them to listen to our community, think of the area as a whole, and work with the Neighbourhood Trust to deliver what is desperately needed.”

Only three of the 25 developments in Lockleaze are not primarily for housing, including the construction of the new Trinity Academy school on Romney Avenue. Photo by Emily Shimell

A Bristol City Council spokesperson says: “Lockleaze is one of the council’s most important housing regeneration programmes and is designed to create new homes and support local regeneration by providing a mix of council, affordable and private market housing.”

The council says its £178m Lockleaze Estate Regeneration & Housing Delivery programme is in response to local residents’ support for change in the area, as articulated through the Lockleaze Vision and Lockleaze Draft Neighbourhood Development Plan.

The council claims this programme does support the Economic Recovery and Renewal Strategy, and that the planned residential developments also support the Lockleaze Community Plan (2019-20) that identifies housing as the primary local priority.

“Creating infrastructure to support new homes and residents in Lockleaze is vitally important,” adds the council spokesperson, giving a new community space building on Bonnington Walk as an example of a non-residential development planned in the area.

The spokesperson adds: “We are actively working with the Lockleaze community and provide funding to the Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust to ensure local people are kept up to date, have a voice and can influence development proposals in the area.”

Emily Shimell is reporting on Lockleaze as part of Bristol24/7’s community reporter scheme, a pilot project which aims to tell stories from areas of Bristol traditionally under-served by the mainstream media

Main photo by Ellie Pipe 

Read more: Ward profiles 2021: Lockleaze – ‘The key strength in this area is the people’