A big former special school site near the Downs in Bristol has been bought – and the patrons are working with the identical housebuilders on the centre of the controversial redevelopment of the former Bristol Zoo site.
The old St Christopher’s School in Westbury Park occupies a big site behind the grand Georgian homes that line the jap facet of the Downs. It’s been the topic of an enormous battle to, first, save the school or reopen it as an schooling facility, after which to strive to reserve it for the group.
When it was put on the market for £10m a year ago it was said to be Bristol’s most expensive property sale, and now it’s been bought, native campaigners have informed the brand new house owners they’re able to work collectively to redevelop it in a ‘low impact’ means.
The site has been purchased by London-based property group Square Bay, who’ve introduced they are going to be working with Acorn Property Group, whose workplaces are a brief distance away on the south facet of the Downs.
Acorn Property Group are presently the subject of ongoing weekly protests every Wednesday outdoors their workplaces, by native residents of Clifton campaigning to attempt to cease their plans to construct nearly 200 new houses on the site of the former Clifton Zoo.
The St Christopher’s Action Network (SCAN) group mentioned they had been ‘sending a strong message’ to Square Bay and Acorn Property Group, that they need to work with them on the plans for St Christopher’s.
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“We hope Acorn can hear us loud and clear!” mentioned SCAN spokesperson Robin Hambleton. “We want you to listen to the views from our community.
“Families living here want a scheme that is low rise, low density and low impact. Any new plans MUST protect road safety, especially for our local children walking to school, as well as preserve the unique character of our neighbourhood,” he added.
“We are all bruised by the disaster of the previous planning application so we hope the new developers recognise this is a sensitive site that needs a lot of thought,” he mentioned.
“Of course we want to see this site brought back to life – and to serve the community as it once did. We look forward to making sure this happens by working together with all the people who care about this special place. We do not want to be left with a scheme that only delivers profit for the developers rather than benefits to the community,” he added.
The five-acre site consists of 5 giant villas that entrance onto Westbury Park, in addition to the distinctive, hexagonal and listed Grace House constructing that was the guts of the previous special wants school.
St Christopher’s School was a school for youngsters with special academic wants for greater than 70 years, however in 2020 it shut down suddenly at the centre of an abuse scandal. It was put on the market final yr when a firm that bought it to redevelop it went bust without putting any plans into action.
In 2024, native residents obtained an Asset of Community Value standing for the site – which gave them first refusal when it was put up on the market. But SCAN say despite the fact that they didn’t purchase it themselves, they need to have a say in what occurs to it now.
READ MORE: St Christopher’s School in Westbury Park up for sale againREAD MORE: Special school firm settles out of court with pupil after Bristol abuse scandal
“Crucially, now the site is protected as an Asset of Community Value, any new development has to honour the legacy of more than 70 years of special education that the school gave our city and ensure the site delivers social value for the local community in the future,” added Robin Hambleton.
“SCAN will be pushing for local families to be at the heart of any new plans and has prepared a planning brief with a broad overview to guide the future owner – calling for any development to be low rise, low density and low impact.
“It asks the new owner to not overdevelop the site, protect the ecology of the land, safeguard road safety and traffic on our streets, offer development that blends in with the existing two-storey housing in this Conservation Area, and honour the legacy of the St Christopher’s School by enabling the site to deliver social value in the future,” he added.
A spokesperson for Square Bay mentioned that though it’s early days, they hope their plans will align with SCAN’s.
“Square Bay’s completion of the purchase of St Christopher’s in Westbury Park marks the start of a new chapter for this historic site in Bristol,” he mentioned.
“We appreciate the previous proposals have left local people feeling concerned about what will happen to the site, and what is being proposed. We believe there is a real opportunity to deliver a redevelopment of the site that is sympathetic to what local residents are asking for, and which respects the development brief produced by St Christopher’s Action Network (SCAN).
“The Square Bay team is working in partnership with Acorn Property Group to deliver the scheme and are already in discussions with SCAN, Westbury Park Community Association (WPCA), and other neighbouring residents.
“We look forward to working with these groups and neighbours as well as the wider community over the coming weeks and months in preparing a planning application which – as far as possible – reflects the community’s wishes while also meeting the council’s requirements.
“We believe this site – which has now been vacant and deteriorating for several years – can be brought back into life, with a sensitive redevelopment of handsome renovated and new homes set in beautiful grounds.
“In the meantime, we wanted to let our neighbours know that we are now making the site safe by improving the security measures. Details of the public consultation will be shared in due course. We look forward to meeting as many of our neighbours as possible in the coming months, to discuss our plans and hear the community’s feedback,” he added.
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