SOUTH Gloucestershire Council has announced plans to sell the site of Yate’s former tumble dryer factory.
The authority says the 14.1 acre site in Station Road, which has been unused since Beko closed its factory at the end of 2024, is a “prime location” and an “attractive opportunity” for developers.
It has set out a series of “key requirements” for any development proposals for the site, including making more than a third of all housing ‘affordable’, providing local employment opportunities and respecting a historic bunker used during the Second World War.
The council is now asking developers to bring forwards proposals.
Announcing the move today, the authority said: “Its prime location close to Yate railway station and the town centre is expected to make it an attractive opportunity for developers to bring forward plans that will improve the area, providing homes and jobs for local people.
“The council will be able to influence the future redevelopment of the site, both as landowner, in deciding who to sell it to, and as the local planning authority, to ensure any development is in accordance with planning policies and priorities.
“Any proposals from developers will need to be approved through the planning process, where local residents will be able to view and comment on plans.
“Developers are also encouraged to engage with the community before making any formal planning applications to take local people’s input on board before submitting proposals.”
‘Ideal development’
The council says its “ideal development” should:
*Comprehensively cover the whole site
*Make a “significant contribution” to new housing supply, including making 35% of homes available for affordable social rent or shared ownership schemes.
*Provide opportunities for people living locally to work locally
*Retaining a historic bunker used as a first aid post during the Second World War.
Long history
The closure of the factory by Beko Europe at the end of 2024 ended more than a century of manufacturing on the site.
During the war it was home to the Parnall aircraft factory, where more than 50 people were killed during two air raids in 1941.
After the war ended production was switched to washing machines and then tumble dryers, and it has made machines for the Hotpoint, Creda and Indesit brands under owners including Merloni, who took over in 2001, and Whirlpool from 2014.
Whirlpool UK became part of Beko Europe in a merger in April 2024 and within months the company said it planned to close the plant, with the loss of 142 jobs, ending more than a century of manufacturing on the site.
Council’s £10m deal
The factory site had been bought from Whirlpool by South Gloucestershire Council in 2021 for just under £10 million, with the manufacturer becoming the council’s tenant.
At the time Whirlpool said the deal was “common business practice” and insisted it remained “totally committed to Yate”.
Council cabinet member for planning, regeneration and infrastructure, Chris Willmore, said: “The closure of the factory on Station Road was the end of an era, but we have an opportunity to help shape a new era with this significant brownfield site in the heart of the town.
“We have set out clear aspirations for what good regeneration looks like, which meets local people’s needs and preserves its unique history.
“We’ve talked and listened to the community, and we will do our best to deliver for them and bring the site back into use.”
Cabinet member for corporate resources Adam Monk said: “As the owner of the site, the council is currently liable for safety and security costs.
“Selling the land, subject to planning permission and having set out clear aspirations for how it could be best used, will help to deliver the new homes that people need, close to public transport and the town centre, and bring the site back into use, regenerating this part of Yate for generations to come.”