Bath & North East Somerset Council has approved plans to replace balcony guards at two blocks of flats in Bath following concerns about safety.
Easton House on Grosvenor Bridge Road | Image © Google Street View / Google 2024
The applications were to remove failing timber balcony guarding at Hampton House and Easton House at Grosvenor Bridge Road at Lambridge.
At Hampton House, 19 guardings will be replaced with steel ones, along with a further 15 at Easton House.
The blocks, which were built around 1970, are managed by Adam Church Ltd.
The applications stated that although regularly maintained, the old guardings had reached the end of their life and started to fail, “resulting in an unacceptable risk to the occupiers”.
During the planning consultation, an Easton House resident said: “The balconies are tiny, not really useable, and a little unsafe. I would much prefer to pay out of my own pocket to remove it by moving the kitchen wall forward to the edge of the building.”
The resident said they would either strengthen the flat roof by installing a terrace, with a strong steel base resting on existing brickwork, waterproof membrane and safe balustrade to meet all current regulations, or alternatively install a new balcony with cantilever fixing that meets all current regulations.
However, council planners said: “In determining this application, officers can only assess and consider the plans as put forward within the application.”
