Bath housing association and housebuilder Curo has abandoned ambitious plans to demolish more than 500 homes on the city’s Foxhill Estate and replace them with 700 new ones following legal action by a residents’ group.
Curo had intended to tear down 542 homes of the estate’s 900 homes to regenerate what is often viewed as Bath’s ‘forgotten’ housing estate, pictured.
However, the Foxhill Residents’ Association complained that the number of affordable homes in the scheme – 30% of the 700 new-builds – was too low and would result in the overall loss of 204 affordable properties.
Lawyers acting for the association claimed Bath & North East Somerset Council (B&NES) had failed to apply its own planning policy on the loss of social housing properly when it in approved the plans and had secured a judicial review in the High Court.
Curo will now invest in refurbishing the homes it owns at Foxhill.
The housing association won outline planning permission for the scheme last year. At the time it said its “significant investment” in the area – which suffers from higher-than-average unemployment and related social problems – would not only develop new homes and upgrade community facilities but also provide skills and employment opportunities as well as improving links the rest of the city.
The planning application was the result of three years of consultation with the council, residents and other stakeholders following Curo’s acquisition of the site in 2013.
But this week Curo chief executive Victor da Cunha wrote to all Foxhill residents saying he was “deeply disappointed” but had decided there was no other option.
He blamed community opposition, mixed political support and an absence of forthcoming government grant for scuppering the scheme.
In the letter he said: “Residents have told us that they no longer want to live with the uncertainty of what may happen to their home in future.
“The recent legal action by a group of residents may result in further delays and uncertainty for 12 months or more.
“Even if this legal action is unsuccessful, this would not promote the necessary consensus to deliver a truly community-owned, successful project.”
B&NES said: “We hope that Curo will take the opportunity to take stock of the situation and that they will continue to engage with their residents to give them more certainty over the future of the estate.
“The council will look at the implications of Curo’s decision in more detail over the coming weeks.”
