Scores of shopkeepers and traders on South Bristol’s main ‘high street’ have launched an appeal to everyone in the area to continue to support them - because they fear council roadworks will close them down.
The traders on East Street in Bedminster say they have been hit hard by the first month of roadworks that have closed Malago Road northbound. And now, as well as demanding the council do something to help as quickly as possible, they are also appealing to everyone in South Bristol to make an extra effort to come to East Street and shop there.
Almost all the shopkeepers on East Street have signed a petition to Bristol City Council demanding that the roadworks that have been put in place around Bedminster for the next two and a half years be altered somehow, to make it easier for people to access car parks and side streets to once again visit the bustling high street.
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East Street was named one of Bristol’s key shopping areas by the council, with the Mayor of Bristol launching the council’s ‘Where’s It To?’ campaign to promote local shops there last year.
Bristol Live has repeatedly asked Bristol City Council about the traders’ concerns for the past four weeks, but the council has so far failed to respond. Now, traders in East Street say they fear there will be few of them left if the current restrictions on driving in and around Bedminster are kept in place until July 2024.
On the second Monday of January last month, work began to install a heat network to the massive Bedminster Green regeneration scheme either side of Malago Road - the main road that runs parallel to East Street. Work on two of the five Bedminster Green development sites also began that day - with sites being cleared for what could eventually be more than 2,000 new homes.
Traders on East Street have long supported the Bedminster Green regeneration project, but now say they face tough times because of the way the work has been programmed, with such a lengthy closure of the main road into the heart of Bedminster hitting their trade.
The petition was started at the end of January by a group of traders. It calls for Bristol City Council to reconsider the way the road closures are being carried out.
“After only two weeks of this disruption we already can observe a massive drop in our takings on a daily basis, from 20 per cent up to 50 per cent loss,” it reads.
“All of us observe that we were actually busier during lockdowns. We are only recovering from two years of covid restrictions that impacted drastically on our businesses, and the prospect of having to deal with the closure of Malago Road for the next two and a half years will devastate our businesses and this is entirely unacceptable to us,” the traders added.
Traders, residents and commuters driving along Malago Road southbound say they have been left baffled by the full closure northbound - it’s difficult to see where, if anywhere, is actually being dug up for any 'Heat Network' - contractors' offices and storage facilities appear to be the only physical thing blocking the road.
Bristol City Council said the roadworks are necessary to allow for the creation and installation of a District Heat Network to serve the Bedminster Green developments.
The alternatives
There are a few alternatives being put forward by the traders of East Street. One is to allow vehicles to be able to drive down East Street again.
The road is already one way - with buses, taxis and bikes allowed northbound, and all vehicles are allowed after 7pm. But many traders - although not all - say that while Malago Road is closed northbound, East Street should be reopened during the day.
Many drivers already break the ban - and at the end of the first week of the roadworks, local police issued tickets to drivers flouting the regulations.
But the long-term plan from the Bedminster Business Improvement District is to completely pedestrianise East Street, as part of ambitious £10m plans for the street that look to take advantage of the economic boost of the Bedminster Green proposals.
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If East Street can’t or won’t be reopened, the local traders say they want flexibility in the roadworks scheme. “We are asking for the plans to be amended in order to make the road accessible again,” the traders said.
“We can understand that from time to time some parts of the road will be cordoned off, but we cannot understand why, or under any circumstances accept, that the road has to be completely closed for such a long period of time.
“In the first two weeks we haven’t noticed development works that could justify such a drastic road closure and feel that large parts of the road closure have been enacted simply to serve the convenience of the developers, with offices, parking, toilets built in the middle of the road which could easily be relocated to the many areas of unused ground that surround Malago Road,” they added.
The impact
Many traders told Bristol Live that they had little notice of such a lengthy and impactful road closure, and that their customers had told them it was too complicated to visit East Street any more.
Bedminster BID said that the vast majority of footfall on East Street came from local people walking there, or getting the buses - which are still running down East Street - and only a fraction of the shoppers come by car.
The issue is that some of the car parks down side streets that serve the town end of East Street are inaccessible now, unless a driver goes all the way around Dean Lane and Asda and back down Bedminster Parade. Traders say signage is poor, and they are noticing few people are trying it.
After the first week of the roadworks being in place, Bristol Live reported that many traders were concerned - they had been given little notice and were beginning to see a drop in trade. Now it's been a full month, the results are unarguable, they said.
READ MORE: Heat Network roadworks will 'kill us off' say traders
The drop in drivers coming from South Bristol up to East Street affects some traders more than others too - takeaways, cafes and convenience stores have been hit hardest, the traders said.
Kerrie Sleeman, who runs the East Street branch of Miss Millie’s, said he’d had his worst day’s trading in the nine years he’d been running the takeaway in the week after the roadworks began - worse even than the depths of the covid lockdown.
“Trade has definitely been down in the last few weeks, mainly due to the half-shutting of Malago Road. Now people from South Bristol, like Hartcliffe, Withywood, Knowle, can’t get down to us unless they park about a five minute walk away - people don’t want to do that,” he said.
“I feel that they need to open up East Street, and make it a complete loop and allow 15 minute parking that would be good, possibly more bus stops.
“It’s a long way for people to come and I don’t feel like people are willing to do that. The road is open from 7pm to 7am and that’s fine for our evening customers, but it’s the days that we’re really struggling.
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“I’m not just talking about myself - there’s a lot of shop owners here that are feeling the pinch at the moment,” he added.
The petition to the council ends: “We, the undersigned, are concerned business owners who urge our representatives to act now to amend the road closure in Malago Road to prevent imminent economic devastation to the businesses of East Street and Malago Road.”
The appeal
Traders in East Street and Malago Road are now making a direct appeal to their customers from South Bristol to continue to come - to make the extra effort and ensure that their favourite shops and takeaways survive this.
Amandine Tschou, who runs the vegan junk food cafe VX, said: “All of the traders here signed the petition. We are all worried that in 12 months a lot of us won’t be here.
“We are concerned that the last bank on East Street, the TSB, will close too. It’s annoying and baffling that the council is making the whole road close for such a long time.
“The Bedminster BID team have reassured us they are taking our concerns to the council, but it needs to be sorted quickly,” she added.
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“And we want to get a message out there to everyone - please keep coming to East Street. We are very much open, we are all still here - please don’t let this kill us all off,” she added.
Kerrie at Miss Millie’s agreed. “We are still here,” he said.
“I want people to know it’s not ‘doom and gloom’ and ‘don’t come to Bedminster’, this is an extra reason that people need to be coming to Bedminster. We are still here and we are still open,” he added.
The council’s unanswered questions
On Monday, January 10, the day the roadworks began and Malago Road was closed northbound for a proposed two and a half years, Bristol Live asked Bristol City Council a series of questions about the works.
These questions included: Why is it going to take two and a half years? Will there be there all day every day to justify such a long and impactful closure? Will there be times when Malago Road can be reopened both ways? What consideration was made to the possibility that Malago Road could be one way, but switch directions with the rush hour?
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On Tuesday, January 18, the same questions were asked of Bristol City Council. And again on January 24 - two weeks into the roadworks period. With increasing amounts of concern from traders on East Street about the impact, another question was added at that point, about whether consideration had been given to reopening East Street to traffic again.
Those questions were asked again on January 31. Each time, there has been no response at all from Bristol City Council.
Amandine Tschou said she is not surprised. "Don't worry, we've heard nothing from the council either," she said.
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WATCH: Our live Facebook broadcast as the roadworks scheme began
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