Proposals for land south of Freestone Road and west of Kingsland Road
Notwithstanding the improvements to the public realm and permeability of the site since earlier proposals, the Society objects strongly to the proposal and urges the Council to refuse it in order to seek a development solution more in keeping with the emerging character of the area and less harmful to Dings Park.
The application shows a building three to four storeys higher than the one we already had such grave concerns about. It would overbear Kingsland Road and cause some overshadowing of Dings Park. It would thus be extremely harmful to the emerging character of the area and to the ambience of Dings Park. We are also concerned about the impact of the development on wider views across the city. The Society considers that the maximum height of buildings should be similar to the 8 storeys proposed by the university for the south side of Gas Lane and respect the height of the student housing proposed for the north side of Freestone Road.
We would welcome improvements to make the Dings Park tunnel more user friendly.
The proposal would almost certainly generate more pedestrian and cycle traffic along Kingsland Road. We are concerned that the safety both of cyclists and pedestrians through the narrow Kingsland Road tunnel is addressed.
John Payne
Bristol Civic Society full response
Yet again we see another tall building being proposed in Bristol with the result of an overbearing presence
on what is planned for the remainder of this sensitive site. It seems to me that word has got around among
developers that our beloved mayor has a penchant for tall buildings. Does he not remember the mistakes of the 1970’s in central Bristol that we are still living with?
This proposal must be refused in order to keep this area retains a similar scale in building height and avoid
the dreaded canyon effect.