News / Housing
Developer drops plans for homes on old gasworks after finding gas pipes
A housing developer owned by Bristol City Council has dropped plans to build new homes on a former gasworks in Lockleaze after discovering underground gas pipes.
The site next to the railway line close to the junction of Dovercourt Road and Constable Road has been left empty for years but used to house large gasometers.
Goram Homes, which was set up by the council in 2018, is planning to build thousands of houses and flats elsewhere in Bristol over the next few years.
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The latest pipeline of developments and the company’s business plan were approved by councillors; with the old gasworks site removed from the plans due to the gas pipes as well as a large sewer.
Bristol City Council head of housing delivery, Louise Davidson, said: “During the last year, Goram carried out a lot of due diligence on that site and understood that there were significant site constraints, which would significantly reduce the residential capacity of the land.
“That no longer works for Goram’s model of delivery.
“The utility surveys have shown there are multiple constraints on the site, including gas easements which require a three-metre buffer zone; significant risk of earth contamination; and there’s a strategic sewer with an additional buffer zone which would need to be retained.
“As we’ve looked at the site, we’ve seen a shrinking of the land available for development.”
Initially, Goram hoped to build 72 homes on the site, but after discovering the pipes estimated only 40 to 50 homes instead, which they said would not be enough to make the development financially viable.
Alternative options are now being explored, although it is unclear what these are.
The land is currently empty but there are plans to use the area as a meanwhile site for people to live in caravans on.
A separate Goram development already taking place on an old council depot further down Dovercourt Road is under construction and unaffected.
The site was bought by the council in 2022 from the National Grid and Wales and West Utilities, paid for by a government grant and costing £1.3m.
The council’s cabinet approved plans to add the site to Goram’s pipeline in March 2024, hoping that at least half of the homes would become council housing.
A couple of years ago the council evicted 100 people living in vans from the other development on Dovercourt Road, ahead of construction beginning.
As the old gasworks is now being turned into a meanwhile site, van dwellers could soon be invited back to this corner of Lockleaze.
Main photo: Martin Booth
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