The developer of a proposed new £100m office complex earmarked for a site at the rear of Parkway Station has successfully re-applied for outline planning permission.

The original planning consent for the development, which could provide space for up to 2,000 workers, was granted in 2016, but it expired in June this year.

The new application, submitted by developer Ashfield Land, was for the same scheme as previously approved, however, it was necessary to assess it against new planning policies that South Gloucestershire has adopted in the intervening years.

The existing buildings on the Hunts Ground Road site, opposite the Parkway Park & Ride facility, were demolished in 2017.

The proposed 18,500sqm development, named ‘The Approach’ in marketing literature, is being targeted at corporate occupiers seeking a high-quality, sustainable, well-located and well-connected HQ building.

The site has excellent connectivity because of its proximity to Parkway Station, as well as the recently opened Stoke Gifford By-Pass. From 2022, it will be also be served by the Cribbs Patchway MetroBus Extension, currently expected to be running from 2022.

The plans include a two-storey decked car park with 525 car parking spaces, of which 21 are for disabled use. There would also be 250 cycle parking spaces as well as 20 shower cubicles on site.

The outline planning consent defines the scale and position of the building and access to the site from Hunts Ground Road. Once an agreement has been reached with a suitable occupier, the developer will submit a ‘reserved matters’ application. This will address specific details of the final scheme, including landscaping and the appearance of the building.

More: "… the best-connected consented office scheme in the SW today" »

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Anyone who has driven along the A4174 Ring Road between Abbey Wood and Hambrook recently can’t failed to have noticed the plethora of housing developer signs that have sprung up along the northern edge of the road, with Crest Nicholson and Linden Homes telling us that some new development is ‘Coming soon’ and urging us to ‘Register now’.

Journal readers will be aware from previous articles that 2,000 new homes are to be built on either side of the Stoke Gifford By-Pass, which links Parkway North with the Ring Road. This development is known as the ‘East of Harry Stoke (EoHS) New Neighbourhood’, where the houses are currently planned to be completed between 2020 and 2026, subject to further planning approvals and S106 agreements.

This is in addition to the 1,200 new homes earmarked over a decade ago for an adjoining area further to the west known as ‘Land at Harry Stoke’ (LaHS). Here, just 166 units of the approved housing quota have so far been delivered – at Crest Nicholson’s Highbrook Park development.

Little has happened on the ground for the last couple of years, but that all changed in July when excavators began work in earnest on land between Westfield Way and Highbrook Park. The Journal understands that this activity is associated with the construction of a new access road that the developers are contractually obliged to provide before the 200th home can be occupied on the LaHS site, suggesting that house building might be about to resume.

Above: Construction activity at a site off Westfield Lane.

More: Pressure on council to progress 763-home planning application »

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Provisional plans for a new Aldi, Premier Inn, Costa and gym (The Gym Group) in Stoke Gifford are being consulted on ahead of a possible planning application being made in the coming weeks.

Aviva Investors, which owns the vacant site next to Sainsbury’s and between Fox Den Road and Great Stoke Way, says it has been working on the plans for the last four years.

The proposals were made public in early August when residents living near the development site were sent a letter and site plan (see facing page) with an invitation to provide feedback in an informal consultation.

Helen Rainsford, senior real estate director at Aviva Investors, said:

“We are delighted to progress these proposals, which will help serve the growing community, existing employment and passing trade from Parkway.”

“We did explore a number of different options, including residential and student, employment and retail. The initial feedback has been really positive, especially for the Aldi. With parking being an issue in the area, we have been mindful not to exacerbate the situation and make the site accessible to pedestrians and cyclists.”

Aviva Investors says it would welcome further feedback on the proposals, which can be sent to consultationevents.southwest@eu.jll.com or by calling their agents JLL on 0117 927 6691.

There are also plans, still subject to confirmation, to give a presentation to Stoke Gifford Parish Council at a scheduled meeting of its Planning and Transportation Committee on Tuesday 24th September. The meeting takes place at Little Stoke Community Hall, Little Stoke Park, starting at 7pm.

Subject to feedback, a planning application could be submitted “in the next month” and Aviva Investors says it hopes the new facilities will be open by early 2021 (subject to receiving planning consent).

Image: Aerial view looking south, with the Premier Inn and gym in the foreground. The rear of the existing Sainsbury’s store can be seen in the far background.

More: Site plan of the proposed development »

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As Crest Nicholson prepares to begin construction of a 763-home development in Harry Stoke (subject to final planning approval), a local history enthusiast is calling on the developer to preserve a historic water feature…

By Adrian Kerton

The ‘moat’ at Harry Stoke has always been regarded as an insignificant small pond, but now the surrounding scrub has been cleared, it can be seen to be a large, well engineered water feature, with an extensive dry stone wall. It is connected by an underground stone lined drain to the Stonelands pond, which is a breeding pond for the great crested newt, and as the two ponds are connected, it is probable that the moat is also a breeding pond.

So what is the purpose of the feature? A map of 1951 shows the designation as a ‘moat’, but the surrounding terrain suggests it never encompassed the early medieval settlement.

So what was it? We know that in 1304 John le White of Bristol sold a plot of land and a mill to Margaret Gifford, so was it the mill pond? Previous excavations haven’t shown the presence of a mill, but South Gloucestershire Council archaeologist Paul Driscoll has requested some exploratory trenches.

The other explanation is that the moat is a medieval fishpond.

“Like field-ponds, fishponds have not been seriously studied. Popular legend links them exclusively with monasteries and monastic properties, but in fact the fishpond was a useful adjunct to any village.” – B. K. Roberts, Medieval Fishponds, 1966

“Period fishponds are very representative of large scale animal husbandry during the medieval and post medieval period. As such they have considerable historic interest.” – Historic England (which lists more than 50 medieval fishponds as scheduled monuments)

More: Medieval fishponds are usually rectangular »

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