PLANNING CONSENT GRANTED FOR HANGAR RESTORATION IN NORTH BRISTOL

YTL Developments has received approval from South Gloucestershire Council to revitalise a Grade II listed aircraft hangar into a new lifestyle hub at Brabazon.

Originally built in 1917, Hangar 16U housed Battle of Britain fighter planes, including Hawker Hurricanes. The restoration work will see this historic structure return to support community life as it is transformed into a new public library, café, gym, social and wellness hub.

Bristol-based architects Ferguson Mann have designed Hangar 16U to live up to the legacy of its past, ensuring that distinctive features such as the original hangar doors are restored and rehung. The iconic Belfast trusses and intricate red brickwork will also be fully preserved, they promise.

Hangar 16U is located between The Hangar District – the first phase of 302 homes at Brabazon, almost half of which are now completed and occupied – and the 15-acre Brabazon Park, which will be a modern re-imagining of Britain’s historic tradition of public parks. Work to restore the building is due to start soon and open next year.

YTL Developments is wholly owned by international group YTL Group. In the UK, YTL owns Wessex Water, GENeco waste to energy and the Gainsborough Bath Spa Hotel.

Sebastian Loyn, Planning and Development Director at YTL Developments said: “Hangar 16U has an incredible history and we can’t wait to bring this building into public use.

“As an early aircraft hangar in a pioneering era of aviation, it was at the centre of community life in North Bristol. The work will transform it into a new local hub at the heart of the community once again.”

Based out of Longwell Green, Fiske specialises in designing, developing and producing packaging for a variety of market sectors.

Its range includes conventional transit packaging to decorative cardboard boxes. Fiske has 25 employees, operating out of specialised facilities.

RH Fibreboard, part of the investment group Goonvean, views the move as a good way to bolster manufacturing capabilities in the South West, diversify its customer base and boost existing distribution channels.

Richard Jarratt, the previous major shareholder of SH Fiske, said: “After over 30 years heading the business, we are extremely pleased to be passing over the custody of the company to a familyrun investment group who we are sure will facilitate the exciting next stage of the company’s history.”