Plans to redevelop the Hill Rise Garage site at Englishcombe Lane at Southdown have been given the go-ahead by Bath & North East Somerset Council.
The Hill Rise Garage site
A terrace of three houses will be built to replace lock-up garages at the “backland site”, along with the change of use of the workshop itself to offices.
The plans were submitted by BHR Properties Limited.
Previous permissions to develop the site had expired.
The application said that Hill Rise Garage has been operated for many years as a vehicle repair and MoT centre but the business has “rent arrears and is therefore no longer viable”.
It said the latest plans makes the most efficient re-use of the site in a sustainably located urban area.
The access drive passes alongside the Tesco Express store.
The three-bed houses will be cut into the slope of the site. They are described as being “traditionally detailed” and built of Bath stone and will be “in scale and harmony with their surroundings”.
The application also said that each home will have a bike shed, “recognising that the site is sustainably located as part of the urban area of the city, where other means of transport than the private car are truly feasible for day-to-day living. There is also a regular bus service operating along Englishcombe Lane.”
The change of the use of the workshop involves raising the roof to provide a first floor with office parking for four vehicles at ground level. There will also be two spaces to serve the three houses.
The council received a small number of objections to the plans, highlighting concerns which included parking, overlooking and overdevelopment of the site.
But officers said the scheme complied with planning policies.
One of the conditions of the planning permission is an investigation and risk assessment of the nature and extent of contamination on the site before any development can take place.
