Bungalows planned in South Bristol to go ahead despite council

BUNGALOWS in South Bristol could now be built despite city planners refusing permission for the controversial plans. Developers want to build five bungalows on a site at risk of flooding and previously home to natural habitats and wildlife.

Bristol City Council refused planning permission for bungalows on the site behind Marksbury Road several times, with the latest refusal in August last year. But local property mogul Alex Fry appealed to the government’s planning inspectorate, which has now granted permission.

Last summer councillors on the development control committee raised concerns that the green space had been “bulldozed” before the developers carried out a crucial ecological survey — which then unsurprisingly found “nothing of particular ecological value”.

In her report on the appeal, Helen Davies, a government planning inspector, said: “At the time of my site visit it was largely covered in brambles and scrub vegetation, with evidence of some dumping of household waste.

“I acknowledge the site may have been cleared at some stage prior to ecology assessments being undertaken and the application subject to this appeal being submitted. However, any such site clearance would not have required planning permission and protected species are subject to separate legislation.