Somerset planning: New water sports lake and art gallery repairs planned

Plans for a new water sports lake in Somerset, important repairs at a gallery to save artworks, and a bid to replace sash windows at a Bath building with plastic are among the schemes people are trying to get planning permission for in Bath and North East Somerset and North Somerset.

Every week, the two neighbouring unitary authorities receive hundreds of planning applications and we have selected some of the most interesting proposals.

All planning applications are available for public inspection on the respective council’s website. Most plans will be decided by council planning officers, but some of the most significant or contentious will go before the councils’ planning committee. Planning committees are made up of elected councillors but decisions should be decided based on the council’s planning policies, not local politics — although it doesn’t always turn out that way.

Somerset could get a new lake for water sports

Somerset could soon have a new lake, specifically built for kayaking and water sports activities.

Mendip Activity Centre wants to build the lake in a field atop the Mendip hill, just to the east of its basecamp campsite for non-motorised water sports. The outdoor centre currently offers water sports activities at a lake in Hewish, near the M5, but warned having a remote site had cause challenges around accessibility and water quality.

A statement submitted with the application said: “Creating a new lake enables Mendip Activity Centre to provide a wider range of activities encouraging active living and engaging more people in water sports and blue health.

“The location of the lake has been carefully considered to work with the existing landscape, with new native planting and wetland areas in and around the lake to soften the edges and set the lake within its surroundings.”

The centre submitted an initial planning application to North Somerset Council in January, but has now submitted an application to determine if it needs an environmental impact assessment. Both remain yet to be determined.

You can view and comment on the application here.

You can view and comment on the main planning application submitted in January here.

Critical repairs to art gallery roof to save artwork

Important repairs have to be made to the roof of a historic art gallery to protect the art within from water getting in.

The Victoria Art Gallery in Bath was built between 1897 and 1900 and named to celebrate the then Queen’s sixty years on the throne and contains over 1,500 works of art. But modern rooflight windows added in the 20th century have deteriorated over time and now allow water into the gallery space.

Now plans have been submitted to Bath and North East Somerset Council to replace the windows and also to replace the current ladder arrangement with a new “mansafe” system to avoid the risk of falls.

A statement submitted with the application said: “This work is required in order to safeguard the future of this heritage asset which has been experiencing leaks with the current rooflight now at the end of it’s life. This rooflight is also located above the main gallery space, therefore art work within this space needs to be safeguarded from water ingress.”

Tickets to the gallery are £10 for adults, £3.50 for children, and £9 for students and seniors. Bath and North East Somerset residents can get in for free with a Discovery Card.

You can view and comment on the plans here.

Bid to replace all sash windows and wooden doors on Bath buildings with plastic

Housing association Curo is planning to swap out all sash windows and wooden doors with PVC at a block of flats in Bath.

32–54 Bloomfield Road in Bear Flat is a small block of flats in a pared-back Georgian terrace style. But now the housing association which owns the building wants to replace them with more modern PVC casement windows and PVC doors to boost energy efficiency.

A statement submitted with the application said: “The property was constructed post-1950s and designed to mimic the Georgian style prevalent in the surrounding conservation area. The existing windows are aluminium and are not sympathetic to the surrounding area in design, colour or material.

“Therefore, we feel this application will not harm any heritage asset in the area while improving the buildings fabric and thermal performance.”

You can view and comment on the plans here.