Ashton Court Mansion future to be discussed in year of talks

The future of Grade-I listed Ashton Court Mansion will be discussed in a 'year of conversations'.

Bristol City Council, which owns the building, has agreed to a request from Bristol Civic Society to a year of debates about its future.

Two thirds of the mansion is derelict and the repair bill has been estimated to be £20m.

Developer Norman Routledge thinks he could do it for £5million and said it should be the "jewel" for Bristol.

He said: "Who in Bristol doesn't know about Ashton Court, but who in Bristol knows how bad it is?

"It should be the absolute jewel in the crown for the city, everyone should be able to come and use the wonderful grounds and think 'wow this mansion is owned by the city and is beautiful, looked after and cared for' instead of - well you can go in and see the tatty bits if you want - its such a shame."

Bristol Civic Society made an offer in May to Bristol City Council to host a year of study, debate and conversations about the property to "explore all opportunities" by hosting events.

In its proposal it said: "We think it's vital that we maintain the momentum and work with others in the city.

"It will be a real challenge - the mansion is two-thirds derelict."

In its offer to the council it said: "At the moment there is no clarity over the long-term future of Ashton Court Mansion.

"This needs sorting before there is further serious physical deterioration or even a disastrous fire."

The society said that it received the go-ahead from the Council in June and is now moving ahead with planning to start work in September 2023.

Mr Routledge is a property developer who specialises in restoring listed buildings with recent projects including the Grade-II* listed Mount Without and the Grade-I listed Kings Weston House.

He suggested that a community interest company could be formed of people who are interested in saving the building and they could get the repair bill down to £5 million.

He said: "I think 75% of Ashton Court Mansion is pretty much derelict. It's got a good roof, which is its saving grace. The 25% left on the ground floor is all very tired and 1970/80s at best.

"They've taken out all the walls upstairs and the ceilings upstairs... if you go onto the first floor you can see the roof."

Mr Routledge said: "The estimate from the report said it would cost £20 million to repair, I think if we did things the way Kings Weston House was done - using the right people and doing it the way we did it there - if we had £5 million we would have a fully refurbished Ashton Court."

He believes one method of raising the money is to found a Community Interest Company (CIC) in which local people and companies could invest.

"That would allow the consortium, whoever they may be, to get on with saving the building whilst at the same time allowing them to earn a bit of money from their shares. It's a win-win all round, I think."

"Its a black hole for Bristol City Council, they don't want to be seen to be leaving it to rot so have to keep spending a bit of money on it.

"It's been derelict for over 50 years."

A spokesperson for Bristol City Council said: "Over recent years we have engaged with community representatives across Bristol on the future of Ashton Court Mansion.

"We will be working with the Civic Society over the coming year to explore a number of potential options.

"We remain committed to ensuring public access to Ashton Court Mansion, in much the same way as Bristolians enjoy the much-loved surrounding Estate."

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