Developers wanting to build accommodation blocks for 66 students right on the narrow street known as ‘Crack Alley’, say their project will make the area safer.
Hepburn Road, a narrow alley off Stokes Croft, became famous around the country with the broadcast of the BBC documentary ‘Drugsland’ - the first in the series was called ‘Crack Alley’, and featured police operations to target crack dealing in the alley which runs from Stokes Croft into St Paul’s.
Down that alleyway behind the shopfronts is a series of empty industrial buildings, which Bristol-based developers Crescent Property Developments want to build nine new homes to rent, two workshops to rent and buildings to house 15 student flats which would provide a total of 66 rooms for individual students.
The development project also includes a renovation for the shops on Stokes Croft, and will see a return for the Bristol Porridge Project, which had to close in its old site off Trenchard Street in 2019.
The bulk of the site was home to National Windscreens, a business which sold the site to developers and relocated.
And the developers said they have big plans to transform the area, with community involvement.
“A local artist will be commissioned to create a new sign over the Hepburn Road entrance, and the community will also be asked to produce a mural for Hepburn Road, to help stop graffiti,” said a spokesperson.
“As well as the now-disused industrial buildings, the site also has a number of shops on Stokes Croft, with student flats above them. The shops, which had been empty for some time, have already been upgraded and two new tenants secured, the barber/sneakers store Cuts and Creps, and the popular Bristol Porridge Project.
“But the rest of the site – where the windscreen fitters worked - needs to be cleared for redevelopment,” he added.
The developers said their plans, which are yet to be formalised in a planning application to Bristol City Council, will feature buildings of four storeys, with smaller buildings dropping in height as it moves north to south on the site towards Hepburn Road.
The developers said they are conscious of the site’s reputation as ‘Crack Alley’, and are already working with the police about how their plans will help tackle the issue.
“It is a known problem area for drug misuse,” said a spokesperson for the developers.
“The developer has already met with the local police who have suggested ways of reducing anti-social behaviour.
“Plans to make Hepburn Road safer include building apartments and two workshops overlooking the lane – so-called ‘active frontages’ – which will see people living and working on the lane.
“Spaces where drug-users have congregated will be landscaped and securely fenced.
“The developer is also planning to commission a local artist/maker to create a new sign to go over the Hepburn Road entrance. And – based partly on police advice to help prevent unwanted graffiti – the developer will be inviting the local community to produce a mural for the wall of Hepburn Road,” he confirmed.
