Representatives from Homes England, the West of England Combined Authority and Bath & North East Somerset Council visited the long-derelict Bath Gasworks site to see progress on its transformation into one of the city’s most significant regeneration projects.
Located beside the River Avon, the landmark scheme is unlocking a major brownfield site and delivering the first phase of a sustainable new neighbourhood. The scheme includes 611 low-carbon homes, a public park, river walk, café and nursery, and forms part of a wider ambition for more than 900 homes across the area.
The start of groundworks is a major milestone for the development. Homes England funding, secured by B&NES and Berkeley Group, has been instrumental in delivering the remediation and enabling works.
In the coming months, new buildings will begin to rise, the remediation phase will complete, and green spaces along the river front starting to be planted.
The regeneration of Bath Gasworks represents a major investment in one of the city’s largest brownfield sites, providing much needed housing alongside infrastructure and public realm that will benefit residents across Bath.
Over £6m has been invested in the preparation and remediation phase to date, with a further investment of £170m committed over the lifetime of the build. Currently, 50 people are employed on site, with up to 3,000 jobs expected to be supported throughout the development. More than 5% of these roles will be training positions.
Helen Godwin, Mayor of the West of England, said: “The Central Bath and Bristol Growth Zone is at the heart of our new ten-year Growth Strategy, which aims to build the new homes that local people need while creating 72,000 new jobs.
“It’s exciting to see a transformational vision for the Bath Gasworks development, supported by regional funding to the council. This key site, near one of our growing rail network’s stations, can make an important contribution to the West’s growth and deliver a real investment in making life here better thanks to a new park, nursery, and café.”
Councillor Matthew McCabe, Cabinet Member for Built Environment, Housing and Sustainable Development at Bath & North East Somerset Council said: "The council is committed to increasing and diversifying housing supply locally to include open market, affordable and social housing right across Bath & North East Somerset and I am very pleased to see good progress is being made at Bath Western Riverside.
“Once the ground remediation works complete in March, Berkeley will start building on its section of the site where I look forward to seeing good quality, sustainable homes transforming the riverside area.”
Elkie Russell, Managing Director at Berkeley Homes, said: “We are excited to transform this redundant brownfield site into a new landmark place to live in the heart of Bath.
“We are hugely proud to be delivering these works in partnership with Bath & North East Somerset Council (B&NES) and Homes England, and to have the opportunity to create a sustainable city centre neighbourhood that responds positively to the site’s heritage. We have worked closely with the council, Historic England, ICOMOS and others throughout the planning process to shape the final design.
“This spirit of partnership has extended to working with the council and our strategic partners to secure 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.”
Berkeley Group is planning to launch the Bath Gasworks Marketing Suite in the New Year.