A scheme to build hundreds of homes on the former gas works site to the east of Bath is set to take a step forward thanks to an £18 million funding offer from Homes England.
Bath & North East Somerset Council submitted plans for 351 homes at the site in 2023.
A report going before cabinet members seeks approval to accept the £18,202,421 of funding, which will enable work to start on the land remediation and infrastructure of the Bath Western Riverside Phase 2 site to prepare it for development.
The local authority acquired the three large gas holders in the centre of the site, which is approximately 30% of the Bath Western Riverside Phase 2 land, using the West of England Combined Authority Land Acquisition Fund.
Works to remove the network of live gas pipes across the site were completed in October 2023, using Homes England Housing & Infrastructure Funding.
The single-member decision report before Councillors Matt McCabe, cabinet member for built environment, housing and sustainable development and Mark Elliott, cabinet member for resources, recommends approval for the funding from an existing Homes England Housing and Infrastructure Funding (HIF) agreement.
The surrounding land on the site is owned by St William (Berkeley Homes). A land swap between the two parties, which was completed recently, has provided the council with a plot of land to be developed.
If the additional funding is approved, the remediation and infrastructure work will be carried out by St William (Berkeley Homes).
The report also recommends that the Provisional Capital programme for Bath Western Riverside is increased to £44,192 million to incorporate the additional funding from Homes England and for the council’s Highways team to progress the adoption of the highway from the southern end of the Destructor Bridge, which will enable residential site access from Midland Road.
St William (Berkeley Homes) was granted planning consent in June 2024 for 611 new homes and a nursery on its plot.
