Housing Hundreds of flats approved near Cabot Circus

HUNDREDS of flats have been approved marking the start of a major regeneration of an area behind Cabot Circus.

- Alex SEABROOK

How the Crown Sawmills development would look

Developers now have planning permission to build 350 flats as well as student accommodation on two adjacent industrial sites in St Jude's.

Over the next few years St Jude's will be regenerated, with warehouses replaced with swanky apartments and the River Frome opened up with new riverside parks. The neighbourhood is already home to some housing, as well as music venues, but soon thousands more will move in.

Bristol City Council hopes the Frome Gateway regeneration project will help tackle the housing crisis, providing new homes close to the city centre. Councillors on Planning Committee A voted unanimously to approve two separate but neighbouring schemes.

The first application is on the Crown Sawmills timber yard, between Pennywell Road and the River Frome. A fifth of the 352 homes will be affordable. The flats will be spread across four blocks, with the tallest reaching 20 storeys in height.