Bath new-build hit by recession

A number of development schemes in Bath have been halted because of the recession.

Developer Crest Nicholson says the Western Riverside project faces delays until the economy starts growing again and the housing market stabilises.

The City of Bath College's £68m expansion plans have also been suspended because of a lack of money.

And chef Raymond Blanc has postponed his proposals to open a new restaurant in the old Quaker Meeting House.

John Lederer, managing director of the Brasserie Blanc chain, said: "Where [the recession] has the largest effect is on developers of sites. There is a chain. We rely on someone buying a property and doing some structural work on it.

"Now they are the people who don't have the money, so they don't do it."

The leader of Bath and North East Somerset Council, Frances Haeberling, said she believed the city would survive the downturn.

"I think Bath is better placed to weather the storms of the recession than maybe other areas, because we rely so heavily on tourism," she said.

"It's something we've been trying to change, but at the moment it's a kind of help in a way.

"The low pound does mean we are quite attractive now to foreign visitors."

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Recession hits new builds