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Giant 90s shopping centre to be demolished ‘as soon as next year' in new plans
GIANT 90s shopping centre to be demolished to make way for new development after years of residential disputes.
Developers have announced new revised plans with a scaled-back design, promising hundreds of new homes in South Bristol.
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The plans
Broadwalk Shopping Centre is set to be demolished as soon as next year after the proposed new plans were finally approved.
The developers are Broadside Holdings, who are planning to knock down the centre, along with the multi-storey car park and bingo hall at the back of the centre.
In its place, nearly 500 new homes will be built in the small village of Knowle, located in South West Bristol.
Shops and a pedestrianised street have also been included in the plans to develop the area.
Controversy around the development
The journey to the sites approval has not been smooth sailing, and the new plans do not resemble the original ideas for the development.
Initially, Broadside Holdings wanted to have approximately 850 new flats.
In order to have this number, they would have had to build three ten-storey tower blocks overlooking Redcatch Park, which has a children's playground and community garden located inside.
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As a result, the community in the area were unhappy with the plans.
However, while Broadside did get planning permission for the more than 800 flats on the site in 2023, the controversial circumstances which led to the approval led to legal action.
Local resident Laura Chapman took Bristol City Council to court over the way it granted planning permission for the original Redcatch Quarter plan.
Chapman crowdfunded with residents of the Knowle Neighbourhood Planning Group and the Broadwalk Redevelopment Community Group to bring the legal action to the council.
As a result of the action, the development revised its plan, compromising with the local area, so that Chapman would drop the judicial review process.
Development compromise
The developers compromised massively on their original idea, and recently announced the newly approved plan.
Broadside has cut the number of new homes proposed from 850 to 492.
Instead of flats, the development will be made up of houses to prevent the flats overlooking and impacting the park.
While there will still be shops and a pedestrianised street, the size and the number of shops have been scaled back.
Local services such as a new dentists surgery and library are still included.
It is believed that construction on the site could start as early as next year, with plans for it to be finished by 2030.
To maintain communication with the local community two drop-in sessions are being hosted at Knowle Methodist Church on Friday July 11.
The first takes place between 12 noon and 3pm, and the second between 4pm and 7pm.
