Legal action threatened over tower block plans

Legal action has been threatened over plans to demolish a hotel and replace it with two tower blocks.

Bristol Civic Society is applying for a judicial review into the approval of plans to knock down the Premier Inn hotel on the Haymarket in central Bristol.

In its letter to Bristol City Council, the society asked the council to withdraw planning permission and reconsider the scheme.

The council said it was unable to comment on legal matters.

In March, developer Olympian Homes was given permission to replace the hotel with two tower blocks, one with 28 floors and 422 student bedrooms, and another with 142 co-living bed spaces.

Bristol Civic Society is a voluntary organisation which aims to improve the city's built environment and celebrate its heritage.

It claims councillors were not properly informed by planning officers about the potential heritage harm, the risk to "key views", the impact of the construction and sustainability concerns.

The society claims the decision was legally unsound as a result.

It said it was particularly "appalled" by the 28-storey tower, which it claims blocks views to and from the Kingsdown escarpment and "disregards Bristol's character".

Olympian Homes previously said the area around the planned buildings would be vastly improved, particularly for passengers leaving the adjacent bus station.

“This development would replace a very tired building with what we hope will be the most elegant tall building in Bristol, helping relieve the pressure on wider family housing stock," the chairman of Olympian Homes Mark Slatter said.