Ground Floor Units Britannia Buildings Merchants Road Hotwells Bristol BS8 4QD Data via plota.co.uk
26/13338/COU - Prior Notification - Change of use (C3)
Refused
Proposal
Application to determine if prior approval is required for a proposed: Change of use from Commercial, Business and Service (Use Class E) to Dwellinghouses (Use Class C3) Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 (as amended) - Schedule 2, Part 3, Class MA. Data via plota.co.uk
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View original council record ↗Last checked
Application progress
✓
Received
7 Aug 2026
✗
Refused
2 Oct 2026
Appeal
Not lodged
Refused on 2 Oct 2026 · Delegated Decision · Last checked 3 Oct 2026
Documents 18
Decision & officer reports 2
Statements & assessments 2
Plans & drawings 9
PDF
000-PLA-010 A EXISTING GROUND FLOOR PLAN
Plan · 7 Aug 2026
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PDF
000-PLA-021 EXISTING REAR ELEVATION
Plan · 7 Aug 2026
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PDF
000-PLA-022 EXISTING FRONT ELEVATION
Plan · 7 Aug 2026
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PDF
000-PLA-110 A PROPOSED GROUND FLOOR PLAN
Plan · 7 Aug 2026
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PDF
000-PLA-121 A PROPOSED REAR ELEVATION
Plan · 7 Aug 2026
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PDF
000-PLA-130 DETAILS OF REFUSE STORE
Plan · 7 Aug 2026
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PDF
000-PLA-131 DETAILS OF CYCLE STORE
Plan · 7 Aug 2026
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PDF
670-PLA-000 SITE LOCATION AND EXISTING SITE PLAN
Plan · 7 Aug 2026
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PDF
670-PLA-001 A PROPOSED SITE PLAN
Plan · 7 Aug 2026
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Application forms 1
Consultation & comments 2
Site constraints 12
Coal mining development high risk area
Recorded coal mining features at or near the surface. Most planning applications here need a coal mining risk assessment.
From the Mining Remediation Authority, formerly the Coal Authority. The development high risk area marks recorded coal mining features at or near the surface: mine shafts and adits, shallow workings, mine gas and former opencast sites. Most planning applications there need a coal mining risk assessment; householder applications, changes of use and some minor works are exempt. Mine entry positions come from old plans and can be out by several metres, and unrecorded workings can exist anywhere in the coalfield.
City Docks conservation area
Demolition needs planning permission and permitted development is restricted.
The council must give weight to preserving or enhancing the area's character and appearance. Not every council has published its boundaries as open data.
Article 4 direction
Clifton Ward (1999 ward boundary). Named permitted development rights are withdrawn here.
An Article 4 direction withdraws particular permitted development rights, so work that would normally need no application needs one here. Not every council has published its directions.
In flood zones plus climate change
Inside the extent flood zones 2 and 3 could reach with climate change: the Central allowance for the 2080s on rivers, the Upper End allowance for sea level rise to 2125. From the sea. Defences are not counted.
The Environment Agency flood map for planning. Councils use it to decide when a flood risk assessment and the sequential test are needed. It is indicative and does not show whether a particular property will flood.
Air quality management area: Bristol AQMA
The council has declared the area as failing an air quality objective.
Schemes that add traffic, parking or combustion plant are assessed against the area's action plan and may need an air quality assessment.
National infrastructure project about 458 m away: Portishead Branch Line - MetroWest Phase 1
The site is about 458 m from the project boundary. Railway, decided. The project page says whether consent was granted.
Nationally significant infrastructure projects (power stations, electricity lines, pipelines, major roads and railways, harbours, airports and reservoirs) are consented by a Secretary of State under the Planning Act 2008, after an examination by the Planning Inspectorate, rather than by the council. The boundary is the one the Inspectorate consults on and can change as the scheme does. Projects are shown within 2 km of the site.
Radon affected area, class 5
An estimated 10 to 30% of homes reach the radon action level. Indicative for the 1 km square, which takes the highest class found in it; a radon test gives the answer for a building.
From the British Geological Survey and UK Health Security Agency indicative atlas. Under building regulations, as the BRE guide BR 211 (2023) sets out, new buildings and extensions need basic radon protection from class 3 in England and Wales and from class 2 in Scotland, and full protection from class 5. The class at the site itself, from the detailed BGS map, decides which.
8 listed buildings within 150 m of the postcode pin
Nearest: Cumberland Basin walls and associated features including Junction Lock swing bridge, Grade II, about 38 m from the postcode pin · 7 Grade II
The site itself is not listed. Listed building consent is needed for work that affects the special interest of a listed building, inside or out, on top of planning permission. Setting can be a consideration for buildings nearby; there is no fixed radius.
Show all 8 with distances
- 38 mCumberland Basin walls and associated features including Junction Lock swing bridgeGrade II
- 65 mThe Pump House Public HouseGrade II
- 104 m3 Dock Cottages Cumberland Basin Road Bristol BS1 6XL
- 113 mOld Dock CottagesGrade II
- 141 mFlats 11-15 Trinity PlaceGrade II
- 147 mNova Scotia Hotel Public HouseGrade II
- 148 mOld Dock CottagesGrade II
- 149 mNumbers 1a and 2a and Attached Front Garden Walls and PiersGrade II
Local nature reserve about 278 m away: Avon New Cut
Work nearby can need a habitats assessment.
Harm to a protected site is only accepted where there is no alternative and an overriding public interest.
Also on the record
Scheduled monument about 195 m away: Underfall Yard, Bristol Docks; Inside the Bristol built-up area; Flood defence about 38 m from the postcode pin (natural high ground, designed for a 1 in 50 year flood).
Not affected
Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · Not green belt
Checked on 6 October 2026. The pin for this application is the centre of its postcode rather than the building, so distances to nearby designations are measured from the postcode and can be out by the width of the postcode area. Historic England, the Environment Agency, Natural England, the Mining Remediation Authority, the Planning Inspectorate, the British Geological Survey and UK Health Security Agency (radon, contains BGS materials © UKRI) and council datasets, Open Government Licence. A boundary can run through a site and the council holds the definitive record: confirm with the council before relying on this.
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Nearby new applications
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Important details
- Council
- Bristol
- Application type
- Prior Notification - Change of use (C3)
- Postcode
- BS8 4QD
- Received
- 7 Aug 2026
- Validated
- 7 Aug 2026
- Ward
- Hotwells & Harbourside
- Parish
- Central, Clifton And Harbourside
- Target decision
- 2 Oct 2026
- Decision
- Prior Approval REFUSED
- Decision date
- 2 Oct 2026
- Decision level
- Delegated Decision
- Applicant
- Show
- Agent
- Aspect360 Ltd
How this decision compares
Decided in 56 days from validation, about the council's usual 56 days. Refused, as 32% of changes of use here are.
This one56d
Council56d
UK56d
59%decided within 8 weeks
68%approved
228decided in the last year
Plota live figures for changes of use decided by Bristol in the last twelve months, from validation. Bristol decision record →
Public comments
No public comments yet.
Last counted 3 Oct 2026
Consultation & key dates
- Alt. reference
- PP-14909955
- Planning Portal ref
- PP-14909955
- Comments by
- 1 Oct 2026
- Statutory expiry
- 2 Oct 2026
Historical activity at this location
25 nearby applications on record - archival context, not part of the live application.
Within ~100m
Nearby activity
2025
Approved
13 Sandford Road Bristol BS8 4QG
The proposed works include extension and alterations to the rear of the property and repl…
2025
Approved
8 Christina Terrace Bristol BS8 4QB
T1 - Bay - Fell.
2025
Approved
3 Sandford Road Bristol BS8 4QG
T1 - Pyrocantha - Fell. T2 - Rowan - Fell. T3 - Cherry - Reduce height by 1-1.5m, reduce…
2024
Approved
12 Christina Terrace Bristol BS8 4QB
Renovation of an existing property including a ground floor rear extension and a second s…
2024
Approved
Area In Front Of 49 & 50 Rownham Mead Bristol BS8 4YB
Silver Birch x 2 - Reduction in size by 2 - 2.5m.
2023
Refused
17 Sandford Road Bristol BS8 4QG
Installation of replacement double glazed windows in the front of the house.
2023
Approved
11 Oldfield Place Bristol BS8 4QJ
Change of use from small HMO (Use Class C4) to an 8-bed HMO (sui generis) through the ere…
2024
Refused
3 Christina Terrace Bristol BS8 4QB
Certificate of proposed use for - Replace the existing red double roman clay tiles, batte…
2022
Approved
18 Sandford Road Bristol BS8 4QG
Proposed ground floor extension, alterations to the existing ground floor roof, doors / w…
2022
Approved
10 Oldfield Place Bristol BS8 4QJ
Single storey side extension to rear.
2022
Approved
1 Sandford Road Bristol BS8 4QG
T1 - Maple - Reduce by approx 2m and reshape.
2021
Approved
25 Sandford Road Bristol BS8 4QG
Rear ground floor extension and attic dormer.
2021
Approved
7 Sandford Road Bristol BS8 4QG
Erection of a new rear extension.
2021
Refused
3 Christina Terrace Bristol BS8 4QB
Proposed loft conversion with 'dormer' roof extension to the rear of House in Multiple Oc…
2019
Approved
58 Rownham Mead Bristol BS8 4YB
T1 Ash - Fell. T2 Apple - 1m crown reduction. T3 Apple - 1m crown reduction. T4 Cherry…
2019
Approved
64 Rownham Mead Bristol BS8 4YD
Bay - Fell
2019
Refused
First And Second Floor Flat 2 1 Christina Terrace Bristol BS8 4QB
Addition of a side dormer at the property, and to change the current usage to a 5 bed HMO.
2018
Approved
50 Rownham Mead Bristol BS8 4YB
Proposed loft conversion, with the installation of 1no. rooflight to the front elevation…
2018
Approved
Ground Floor Flat 1 Christina Terrace Bristol BS8 4QB
Single storey extension.
2018
Approved
2 Cumberland Basin Road Bristol BS8 4QF
Proposed single storey rear extension to ground floor flat, rear roof dormer and velux ro…
2017
Refused
1 Britannia Buildings Merchants Road Hotwells Bristol BS8 4QD
Proposed change of use from 2 no. separate flats at first and second floor levels to 5no…
2016
Approved
3 Cumberland Basin Road Bristol BS8 4QF
Change of use from 6-bed HMO (C4) to 8-bed HMO (sui generis).
2016
Approved
13 Christina Terrace Bristol BS8 4QB
Erection of a ground floor extension to facilitate the use of the property as a house in…
2016
Approved
The Pump House Merchants Road Hotwells Bristol BS8 4PZ
Replacement of two timber glazed skylights on the main roof and thermal upgrading of roof…
2016
Approved
4 Christina Terrace Bristol BS8 4QB
Demolish existing lean-to structure and erect a single storey side extension
Bristol
Planning Authority Score
5.8/10
Average
#109 of 296 councils
Relevant to this application:
Change of use
Bristol ranks #112 out of 296 councils for householder decision speed. Householder applications are slightly more likely to be approved here (92%) than the national average (90%).
These figures are council-wide context, not a prediction for this application.
View full council performance
Bristol decision statistics
Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026
86%
Overall approval rate
Below avg (87%) #190 of 296
92%
Householder approved
Above avg (90%) #149 of 296
71%
Decided in 8 weeks
Above avg (63%) #112 of 296
37%
Extended time limit
Below avg (41%) #118 of 296
74%
Minor dwellings approved
374 decided (1-9 homes)
93%
Major dwellings approved
30 decided (10+ homes)
82%
Change of use approved
150 decided
2,098
Total decisions
293 refused in the year to March 2026
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Ground Floor Units Britannia Buildings Merchants Road Hotwells Bristol BS8 4QD
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