Residents are claiming a historic victory after they persuaded developers wanting to build 850 flats on the site of the Broadwalk Shopping Centre in Bristol to reduce the number of new homes by almost half – and change controversial tower blocks that overlook a park into three-storey townhouses instead.
The new plans for what could become ‘Redcatch Quarter’ were unveiled for the first time today to local residents, who raised thousands of pounds to challenge the plans proposed by Broadside Holdings. The plans for as many as 850 flats on the site of the shopping centre in Knowle have now been reduced to 492, and instead of three 12-storey tower blocks facing Redcatch Park, there will be a development of 92 three- or four-bed townhouses.
The plans still include a series of blocks of flats up to 10 storeys that on the Wells Road and Broadwalk corner, and the amount of retail and community space that was part of the development has been reduced too.
The leaders of the community group that took the city council to a Judicial Review and challenged the way they gave Broadside Holdings planning permission for more than 800 flats back in the summer of 2023 said they were happy with the compromise deal.
Presenting the plans to local residents at two public meetings today (Feb 26), Laura Chapman, who was the signatory to a £10,000 legal challenge, told residents that she felt they had got the best compromise possible. She told the meetings that even if the residents’ group had won the Judicial Review and got the planning permission quashed, the developers may well have simply resubmitted the same plans and ultimately won permission on appeal from the Government.
“We’ve always supported the redevelopment of the shopping centre – despite the accusations we’ve received of being NIMBYs – but we knew in our gut that there had to be a better solution than 12 storey towers looming over Redcatch Park,” said Laura. “Today we’ve proved the naysayers wrong. For the first time we – and we hope the wider Knowle community – feel confident that this really is the best possible scheme for Knowle,” she added.
The developer’s plan to demolish the 1970s shopping centre in Knowle and build up to 850 flats in its place was given planning permission by Bristol City Council in controversial circumstances in the summer of 2023. Councillors initially refused permission, but after a series of meetings between the developers and the man in charge of the Mayor’s Office, Kevin Slocombe, and committee chair Cllr Richard Eddy, the plans were brought back before the same committee and narrowly passed.
Local residents challenged this and were granted a Judicial Review last year, which would have investigated the way council planners overturned their original decision to turn down the scheme. Once a judge agreed that the local campaigners had a case last year, Broadside Holdings began negotiations with the local residents, and a compromise deal has now been reached, which will see the development go ahead, but in a substantially scaled back way.
“Knowle deserved better than the tower blocks, so we picked ourselves up, dusted ourselves off, and went out to fight for our community,” said Laura. “It’s been a long 18 months and we’re so happy to have finally reached a mutually-acceptable plan for Broadwalk, which we couldn’t have done without the leverage gained by the threat of the Judicial Review,” she added.
“We hope that our victory has inspired and encouraged the many other communities around Bristol who are also fighting oversized development proposals, in the wake of Marvin Rees ’ controversial endorsement of tall buildings at any cost. Keep fighting, keep hopeful, and keep shining your big powerful lights into the darkest and dingiest corners of Bristol City Council and the planning system,” she added.
Broadside Holdings will now put forward new detailed plans and ask the city council to approve them. A spokesperson for the developer said they were pleased to have reached an agreement. “The redevelopment of Broadwalk Shopping Centre has been extremely complex,” he said. “We really want to see a development that will regenerate this important site in a way that brings as many benefits as possible, not least affordable housing and local services.
“Over the past year we have been working closely with Laura Chapman to understand what is and what is not acceptable to the community. We have played a key role in helping reach an agreement between Laura – as the person who pursued the legal challenge to the 2023 planning permission – and Bristol City Council. And we’re really pleased that – through listening to and working with Laura and Helen – we’ve been able to reduce the scale of the buildings in a way which Laura feels is much more closely aligned to the community’s wishes.
“We will, of course, have to go through the planning process with Bristol City Council, but will also be sharing our revised scheme with the community in the coming weeks and months, including with the Knowle Neighbourhood Planning Group, Friends of Redcatch Park, Redcatch Community Garden and the cricket club. We will hold a public exhibition which everyone is welcome to attend. We will share all the event details closer to the time,” he added.