Planning permission has been approved by councillors to knock down the Galleries shopping centre in Broadmead and build 450 homes, offices and student flats with 750 beds. The plans also include restaurants, shops and pedestrianising the road running along Castle Park.
The Galleries opened in 1991 but has struggled for many years, particularly since the opening in 2008 of Cabot Circus, another shopping centre. Many shops are currently empty and developers said the centre is now “obsolete” and outdated.
Deeley Freed now has the go-ahead from Bristol City Council to press on with the huge changes in the city centre, including demolishing the car park. Councillors on the development control B committee voted to approve permission on Wednesday, January 29.
Max Freed, director of Deeley Freed, said: “The Galleries has been struggling since well before the pandemic. It’s poorly designed and car parking covers 40 per cent of the site. It has long been obsolete. Our proposal would completely transform the site.
“There would still be shops and restaurants on the ground floor throughout the development, including new units facing outwards to Castle Park and Broadmead. Please support our proposal to kickstart Bristol city centre’s regeneration.”
Developers will reuse the basement and foundations of the existing shopping centre, and they say the new buildings will lead to a 40 per cent reduction in carbon emissions. This is through a connection to the district heat network, as well as extensive solar panels on the roofs. Newgate, the road running between the Galleries and the park, will also be pedestrianised.
The Broadmead Medical Centre and an assessment clinic for the Bristol Eye Hospital inside the Galleries will relocate elsewhere in Broadmead. The developers will contribute £1.3 million to help the NHS with the relocation. Ninety of the 450 homes will also be classed as “affordable”. A hotel and music venue are also included in the development plans.
Sandra Fry, of the Bristol Civic Society, welcomed the hundreds of new homes, but raised concerns about the height of the new buildings, the tallest of which will be 21 storeys. Local Green Councillor Sibusiso Tshabalala also welcomed the development, noting the need for new homes and how the upgraded retail and restaurant space would keep the centre vibrant.
The wider regeneration of Broadmead includes major changes to the road network. The Horsefair and Penn Street would be completely pedestrianised, with buses and taxis diverted through Fairfax Street, which runs underneath the Galleries. Other huge buildings nearby will also be demolished and redeveloped, like the Premier Inn on the Bearpit and Debenhams.
Green Cllr Jenny Bartle said: “This building is younger than I am, and I’m very young. We’re demolishing an awful lot of building, that’s really quite new. I worry about the precedent that it sets. But I don’t think it’s within our broader policy, because it’s not very green. Having said that, I think that it’s otherwise a very strong application and I do support it.”
The committee voted unanimously to approve planning permission. Some details of the scheme will still need to be worked out, and will return to the committee at a later date for approval.