Councillors from Midsomer Norton have raised concerns over the lack of affordable housing in a major Bath regeneration scheme, as Bath and North East Somerset Council approves plans for 96 new homes with none allocated as affordable.

Councillors on Bath and North East Somerset Council’s planning committee reluctantly approved the plans on November 19, despite raising concerns about the lack of affordable housing. The plans will see 96 homes built in two blocks of flats on Green Park Road Car Park, as part of the Bath Quays North regeneration project.

Large developments in this part of Bath would usually be required to include 40 per cent affordable housing, under the council’s own rules, although developers can build less if the land value would make providing affordable housing unviable. Planning officers told the committee: “The development would not be viable with any amount of affordable housing.”

Shaun Hughes (Midsomer Norton North, Independent Group) said: “Aequus state as one of their stated objectives is to be fully policy compliant in terms of affordable housing. So I am trying to understand why we don’t have any affordable housing here when it is clearly not policy complaint.”

Eleanor Jackson (Westfield, Liberal Democrat) said: “I can’t quite see why, if you have got a commercial building you are able to let for commercial rent, you can’t afford to have any affordable housing in the residential part.”

But Tim Warren (Midsomer Norton Redfield, Conservative) said: “It’s a well known fact that commercial isn’t viable any more. So if you want more jobs in the city, it has to be subsidised.”

Green Park Road Car Park is a council-owned car park and the developer is Aequus, a building company wholly owned by the council itself. Last week, the council agreed to establish a limited liability partnership (LLP) with the company in order to deliver the development. Although no affordable housing is planned, the council has said that profits from the development returned through the LLP could be used to fund further regeneration projects or subsidise future social housing.

In 2019, Bath Quays North was described as “the most significant development in Bath in a generation.” But after the company set to deliver it pulled out after Covid, the project “stalled” and building work never started.

Mr Warren told the committee: “It needs doing.” He added: “Aequus will put affordable in if they possibly can. Private developers won’t.”

Concerns were also raised over the height of the buildings at the committee meeting, particularly the “significant” extent to which the five storey block will tower over the two storey building at the end of Milk Street. Addressing the committee, neighbour Klaas Koopmans said: “I am going to lose all the light I get.”

Last year, the council signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of Bath to look at taking over the Bath Quays North redevelopment. The university said it would look at using the location to create new spaces for research, innovation and “enterprise activities.”