Mystery surrounds the future of one of Bristol’s most iconic spots – Turbo Island – after the land was bought by a buyer just hours before it was due to be auctioned.
The land at the corner of Jamaica Street and Stokes Croft had been put up for sale by Oxfordshire-based ad agency Wildstone, and was due to be auctioned this evening by Bristol estate agents Hollis Morgan.
The auctioneers told community groups who had offered to buy it before it went under the hammer to the highest bidder that there was no chance of a sale outside the auction process – but that appears to be exactly what has happened.
The Stokes Croft Land Trust and the People’s Republic of Stokes Croft, who both were working to buy the land to preserve it for the community, have been told it was sold for £100,000 – the same figure offered by the Land Trust just a few weeks ago – to a buyer outside of the auction.
The Hollis Morgan auction, which began at 5.30pm on Wednesday, October 16, no longer contains the land at Stokes Croft as one of its lots, and Wildstone confirmed they had entered into an agreement to sell it beforehand.
“A local buyer has come forward with an acceptable offer to purchase our land at 72 Stokes Croft,” said a spokesperson for Wildstone. “As a result, we are withdrawing the site from auction, pending the completion of due diligence and legal processes. Should everything proceed as expected, we will move to exchange contracts,” she added.
The sale left the Stokes Croft Land Trust disappointed – they had offered £100,000 – albeit a sum they promised to raise within six months – but were turned down last month.
“We are disappointed we did not have the opportunity to bid at auction the funds we raised from the community,” a spokesperson for the SCLT said.
“We want to thank everyone who donated, pledged funds and participated in the campaign to save Turbo Island, and believe in the importance of community ownership.
“The strength of feeling about the value of Turbo Island during this campaign has been striking. We hope to be able to work with the new owners of Turbo Island in making sure this iconic and important public square continues to be an invaluable community space in Stokes Croft,” he added.
Who has bought the small trapezoid-shaped parcel of land – and why – will be the key to what happens next with Turbo Island, and neither Wildstone nor Hollis Morgan were prepared to reveal the identity of the mystery buyer on Wednesday afternoon – the only clue being that Wildstone described them as ‘local’. “As the sale is going through the standard legal process, we are unable to share any further details of the buyer at this stage,” a Wildstone spokesperson added.
That ‘local’ clue appears to rule out the possibility that another billboard ad company had bought the site. The other two possibilities are that it has been bought by a benefactor who wants to keep it undeveloped for the community, or that it has been bought by someone with an eye to develop the small site.
In Hollis Morgan’s particulars on the land, there was mention that talks with council planners had taken place, a pre-application had been submitted and it was thought that a building up to four-storeys high with a shop on the ground floor could be something that is given planning permission.
However, there already is an application to designate the land as an asset of community value, and also talk of an application to have it marked as a Town Green – either of which would scupper any thoughts of building on it.