Bath & North East Somerset Council has secured a further £18.2 million from Homes England of grant funding from the Housing Infrastructure Fund to unlock the long derelict Bath Gasworks site and enable the delivery of a sustainable city centre neighbourhood with more than 900 low carbon private and affordable homes.
The grant will be used to clean up and reconnect the site, which has been redundant and fenced off since 1971.
The funding was secured through an innovative partnership between St William (a Berkeley Group company) and Bath & North East Somerset Council, who are working together to bring the gasworks back into community use.
A groundbreaking event took place yesterday on the site to celebrate the start of works and bring together the key partners driving the project forward.
St William owns around 65% of the former gasworks and achieved planning consent in December last year for 611 low carbon homes, a 2.7-acre riverside public park, nursery, café, restaurant, electric car charging points and a network of pedestrian and cycle routes.
The landscape design includes 263 new native trees and an anticipated biodiversity net gain of 38%.
The plan includes a further £2 million contribution to be invested in sustainable transport routes in the local area and other important infrastructure.
Bath & North East Somerset Council owns the neighbouring 35% of the site and is developing plans for around 300 additional homes and placemaking enhancements.
Both St William and the Council have engaged closely with Historic England to ensure their designs are sensitive to the historic setting and reflect the city’s UNESCO World Heritage status.
Elkie Russell, Managing Director, at Berkeley, said: “We are excited to transform this redundant brownfield site into a new landmark place to live in the heart of Bath. Once complete the 611 new, high-quality, low-carbon private and affordable homes will sit alongside a new public park, river walk, café and children’s nursery.
“We are hugely proud to be delivering these works in partnership with Bath & North East Somerset Council and Homes England, and to have the opportunity to transform this redundant brownfield site into a sustainable city centre neighbourhood. We have worked closely with the council, Historic England, ICOMOS and others throughout the planning process to design a place that positively contributes to the site’s heritage and setting within Bath. This spirit of partnership has extended to working with the Council and Homes England to secure £18.2 million of much needed funding to assist in the remediation of this contaminated land. We look forward to working with the Council to deliver this key site and transform this part of the city.”
Councillor Matt McCabe, Cabinet Member for Built Environment, Housing and Sustainable Development, comments: “We have set out clear ambitions in our B&NES Housing Plan to see a mix of housing which diversifies the housing supply locally, including open-market, affordable and social housing right across Bath & North East Somerset. So, it is very welcome news to see this complex site is now progressing, thanks to the hard work of Council officers and the cooperation, drive and vision of the St William team. This will be a major contribution to the much-needed housing supply in our area, as well as opening up more river frontage to residents.”
Pauline Schaffer, Director, Infrastructure Funding at Homes England, said: “Bath Riverside is an example of the ambition of Bath & North East Somerset Council and St William to remediate brownfield land and provide new homes for the local community. This key regeneration area for the Council has the potential to have a huge transformational impact on the city. We have worked closely with the Council and St William to support the project, which shows how investment from Homes England is helping to unlock new homes and thriving places people can be proud of.”
Dan Norris, the Mayor of the West of England, said: “It’s right that we build new homes in the right places, and redevelop brownfield land. Bath Riverside is just that. This former gas works, around the corner from Oldfield Park railway station, will in the not-too-distant future be home to around 900 new homes, a nursery, and a new park.
“I’m delighted that the £8 million investment from my Mayoral Combined Authority to secure the site has led to this £18.2 million funding from Homes England to finish unlocking the space for the new homes that local people need in central Bath.”
For more information on how we transform underused land into unique, well-connected and welcoming places where people and communities can thrive for the long term, read about our vision for communities here.
