CAMPAIGNERS are urging the new owners of the former St Christopher’s School in Westbury Park to listen to the community and avoid repeating the disasters of the past.
After the school shut in 2020, plans for luxury retirement flats on the site next to the Downs provoked widespread opposition and were thrown out, forcing the owners of the site into receivership.
Last month, the sale of the five-acre site, which includes the Grade II listed Grace House and several villas, to a new developer, the London-based company Square Bay was completed. It will work with Bristol-based Acorn Property Company on a residential development.
The two firms have pledged to continue working with St Christopher’s Action Network and Westbury Park Community Association and the wider community to decide the site’s future.
Westbury Park Community Association said in an email to members: “We aim to ensure that [the developers’] programme of work is as good as it should be for this important and very challenging development site with significant potential impacts both on immediate neighbours and all of our community.”
SCAN, which has been campaigning for nearly five years, said it wanted the site to be developed in a sensitive and appropriate way: low rise, low density and low impact.
Spokesperson Robin Hambleton said: “We hope Acorn can hear us loud and clear! We want you to listen to the views from our community. Families living here want a scheme that is low rise, low density and low impact. Any new plans MUST protect road safety, especially for our local children walking to school, as well as preserve the unique character of our neighbourhood. We are all bruised by the disaster of the previous planning application so we hope the new developers recognise this is a sensitive site that needs a lot of thought.
“Of course we want to see this site brought back to life – and to serve the community as it once did. We look forward to making sure this happens by working together with all the people who care about this special place. We do not want to be left with a scheme that only delivers profit for the developers rather than benefits to the community.”
Details of what is proposed have not yet been made public but Square Bay has told SCAN that Grace House, the Grade II listed part of the old school will probably become residential, some of the large villas facing the Downs will be converted into flats and others refurbished as single homes, and the rest of the site will be two or three storey houses.
The plan is for Acorn Property Group to take over the site if planning permission is granted. Acorn is also in the midst of acquiring the former Bristol Zoo Gardens site in Clifton.
The St Christopher’s site was granted Asset of Community Value (ACV) status in 2024.
Robin Hambleton added: “Crucially, now the site is protected as an ACV, any new development has to honour the legacy of more than 70 years of special education that the school gave our city and ensure the site delivers social value for the local community in the future.”
SCAN has prepared a planning brief, asking the new owner to not overdevelop the site, protect the ecology of the land, safeguard road safety and traffic, offer development that blends in with the existing two-storey housing in this Conservation Area, and honour the legacy of the St Christopher’s School by enabling the site to deliver social value in the future.
A spokesperson for the developers said: “Square Bay’s completion of the purchase of St Christopher’s in Westbury Park marks the start of a new chapter for this historic site in Bristol. Working in partnership with Acorn Property Group, Square Bay is committed to continuing its engagement with the Westbury Park Community Association, St Christopher’s Action Network, and the wider community as we consult on the site’s future.
“In the meantime, we wanted to let our neighbours know that we are now making the site safe by improving the security measures.
Details of the public consultation will be shared in due course. We look forward to meeting as many of our neighbours as possible in the coming months, to discuss our plans and hear the community’s feedback.”