Decision details

In September 2022 the Council secured external grant funding of £19.8m from WECA to contribute towards the costs of enabling infrastructure for the major new housing development at Hengrove Park, which will deliver approximately 1400 new homes (50% of which will be Affordable Housing), a 22 hectare new public park, and community and employment facilities.
The funding arrangements for the Hengrove Park WECA grant, and the Council’s overall delivery approach for the Hengrove Park development, are set out in the previous Cabinet Report approved in October 2023.
Approximately £10.7m of the WECA funding is being used directly by the Council to deliver enabling infrastructure projects to accelerate the delivery of the homes at Hengrove Park, including for example new highways junctions, sustainable travel improvements, and enhanced public realm.
The other £9.1m will be passed by the Council to Goram Homes (the council’s wholly owned local housing delivery company, who are delivering the new development at Hengrove Park), to deliver similar enabling infrastructure projects which Goram Homes are best placed to deliver (because these works fit into an integrated programme of development works that Goram Homes are managing), including for example demolition works, new access roads, landscaping and drainage works etc.
The purpose of this Officer Decision Notice (ODN) is to record a decision taken by the Executive Director – Growth and Regeneration, in accordance with the provisions of the previous Cabinet Report and in consultation with the Director of Finance and the relevant Policy Committee Chairs, to enter into a ‘pass down funding agreement’ between BCC and Goram Homes; which will enable a portion of the WECA funding to be spent on eligible enabling infrastructure projects at Hengrove Park which Goram Homes are delivering, and mirroring the terms of the overarching grant funding agreement between WECA and BCC.

Decision taken by the Executive Director – Growth and Regeneration, in accordance with the provisions of the previous Cabinet Report and in consultation with the Director of Finance and the relevant Policy Committee Chairs, to enter into a ‘pass down funding agreement’ between BCC and Goram Homes; which will enable a portion of the approved WECA grant funding to be spent on eligible enabling infrastructure projects at Hengrove Park which Goram Homes are delivering.

Option 1 - An alternative option considered was direct delivery of all of the enabling infrastructure projects by Bristol City Council - this option was not considered the best approach in every case because some of the enabling infrastructure projects that need to be delivered at Hengrove Park are closely integrated into the overall delivery programme being led by Goram Homes (and for example in terms of design, planning consents, and construction works need to be closely coordinated and delivered by the same teams).