Public Consultation on the Travellers Rest Development

Black Box Planning are working on behalf of Bromford Housing, a Registered Provider of affordable housing, who are bringing forward a proposal to redevelop the former Travellers Rest site on the A38 Gloucester Road, Patchway (adjacent to The Common, and within Stoke Lodge and The Common Parish).You may know that Greene King formerly operated the Travellers Rest public house. The pub business was struggling long before March 2020, but at that time, the Government restrictions relating to the Covid-19 pandemic forced the business to close permanently. Thereafter, Greene King sought alternative solutions for the property and the building has been vacant for two years.

Bromford Housing are a registered provider of affordable housing and manage almost 45,000 homes across central and south west England. As well as managing affordable homes for people in need, they also develop and build new dwellings, including taking sites through the planning system. There is a significant need across South Gloucester on local housing registers. Approximately 1,450 no. households have expressed a need for affordable housing with a preference for Patchway. The greatest need within this is 1 and 2 bedroom properties, representing 79% of those households registered.

The principle of development is widely acknowledged in planning for encouraging and supporting brownfield opportunities for residential development to reduce the requirement to build on greenfield sites to deliver new housing, especially where it would help meet identified needs, such as for affordable housing. The proposal involves the demolition of the existing building and later additions, together with the construction of a new building comprising 27 no. 1- and 2-bed apartments which will be let and managed as affordable housing by Bromford into the future.

The new building is designed to ensure its relationship with the A38 is reflective of the current building. I hope that you will agree that this is a high quality proposal contributing towards meeting a very important housing need locally. Other works include on-site car parking for all residents to ensure no increase in on-street parking and new communal landscaped grounds for residents. It would also involve the stopping up of the accesses on and off the A38 and a new vehicular access formed onto The Common to the south.

Find out more in our Parish Council minutes – 12 April minutes