Bath & North East Somerset Council has fired a warning shot to the Bath Press developers over another planning breach.
How the original 19th-century building façade will look | Image © City & Country / Savills
The site on Lower Bristol Road is being redeveloped for housing by City & Country.
Flouting the planning constraints for construction traffic, cement mixer lorries have been travelling to and from the site along the A431 through the villages of Kelston, Swineford and Bitton.
This week, Councillor Matt McCabe, cabinet member for built environment and sustainable development, told the Echo: “The council issued a Breach of Condition Notice to the developers of the Bath Press site on 11th December which requires compliance within 28 days.”
If the developers do not stick to the construction management plan after this time, they will be committing an offence.
The Bath Press site | Photo © Bath Echo
This week, Simon Vernon-Harcourt, design and planning director for City & Country, said: “We acknowledge there was a breach of condition, which has resulted in the construction management plan agreed with the council not being followed to the letter as it should have been.
“City & Country takes this very seriously, and has proactively made several changes, including appointing a new and experienced project director who will take responsibility for running the scheme.
“The project director will also be reaching out to the local school (Oldfield Park Infant School) and councillors to discuss matters further and ensure the smooth running of the project moving forward.”
In October, we reported that tipper trucks taking waste material from the Bath Press site to Wick Quarry had been using the A431 and A4175 through Oldland Common as an unofficial short cut.
Tipper trucks on the A431 at Swineford
There were believed to have been between 150 and 200 daily trips.
Concerns were raised about the speed that some of the vehicles were travelling through Bitton, particularly at school rush hour, and about the impact on the bridge over the River Avon in the village as three years ago it was revealed that it might need strengthening or even replacing.
Councillor McCabe told the Echo at the time that the developers had been asked to remind all their contractors of the approved route, and the situation would be monitored in case any further issues arose.
The developers currently have an appeal lodged with the Secretary of State to keep the 88-inch TV screen on top of their sales suite next to the crossroads where Windsor Bridge Road, Brook Road and Lower Bristol Road converge.
Two applications to the council to keep it in place have been turned down, with officers highlighting it “prejudices public safety” at the busy junction, looks out of place and the illumination impacts on local residents.
