Supermarket chain Iceland has objected ‘in the strongest possible’ terms to the huge plans to demolish a South Bristol shopping centre and build 850 flats in its place.
If the controversial plans to level the entire Broadwalk Shopping Centre site and build a new, mainly residential development called ‘Redcatch Quarter’ in Knowle are approved, Iceland said its store would close and leave no supermarket in the area.
Iceland’s national bosses have hired chartered town planners Depol to write a detailed, seven-page letter of objection that lists many reasons on why it thinks council planners at City Hall should turn down the application, including many that go further than just the loss of retail provision in the area and the Iceland store itself.
Read next: Council chief tells 'Redcatch Quarter' developers 7% affordable homes 'isn't good enough'
The developers, Broadside Holdings, say their plans for Redcatch Quarter are the only viable future for the site, with the existing shopping centre becoming run-down and in need of a renovation that they believe would not turn around the long-term prospects of the centre.
There is existing planning permission to build around 420 flats on the site of the shopping centre, while renovating the existing shopping centre itself, but new owners have bought the site since then, and say that in a post-Covid world, creating a mainly residential development with bars and shops in a Wapping Wharf-style new pedestrian street from Wells Road to Redcatch Park is the only option.
Iceland’s objections are manifold, with a lengthy report to council planners. Planning consultant Chris Betteridge, writing on behalf of Iceland, said: “Iceland objects to the current application in the strongest possible terms. My client Iceland Foods Ltd is an occupier of the Broadwalk Shopping Centre and have been longstanding occupier having been providing a service to local residents of Knowle since the store opened in September 1995.
“The current proposals would result in the extinguishment of the Iceland store in the centre and bring to an end the company’s 28 year occupation. Iceland represents the only supermarket within the defined Wells Road Town Centre and as such providing a critical service to local residents,” he added.
Iceland recently closed another of its South Bristol stores - in another declining shopping centre. When the Iceland store closed in the St Catherine's Place shopping centre in Bedminster, it left just one more store open in the entire centre. There, its owners have planning permission to build flats on the site and refurbish the shopping centre, but seem to have done nothing to act on that permission for two years.
At Broadwalk, Mr Betteridge told the planners that not only would demolishing the shopping centre lead to a ‘harmful’ 30 per cent reduction to the amount of stores in Knowle itself, but the scale of the project and the work involved would effectively turn the heart of Knowle into a huge building site for years - and that could kill off the businesses on Wells Road itself.
"It is anticipated that the Broadwalk Centre will be closed and demolished in full to make way for the development proposals,” he wrote. “As the Broadwalk Centre represents the vast majority of the designated Town Centre, there will be a period where the Town Centre offer will be extremely limited with no supermarket or convenience retail offer of any note. This will have a damaging impact on the businesses on Wells Road and Redcatch Road which also form part of the designated centre contrary to the requirement to support the role town centres play at the heart of their community.
“The application proposal will have a damaging impact on Wells Road Town centre in the short term removing the Centre’s convenience offer including the extinguishment of my client’s store, the Broadwalk Centre’s closure and demolition will have a detrimental impact on the centre’s offer and on the other businesses in Wells Road Town Centre reducing the attraction of the centre to shoppers.
“Overall the proposal will reduce the amount of floorspace in the designated Town Centre reducing opportunities and overall future offer of the town centre to the detriment of the centre itself, the local area and to residents who will no longer be able to meet their needs in the Town Centre,” he added.
Iceland is also objecting to the plans on the grounds that what will replace the shopping centre - 850 flats in tower blocks up to 12 storeys high - is too big for the area.
“The scale of development represents an over development of the site with an excessive density of residential use on the site which far exceeds the identified optimum level for this area of Bristol. The size and scale of the proposal is out of keeping with surroundings and is wholly inappropriate in the context of surrounding development and buildings immediately adjoining the site,” he added.
A spokesperson for the developers defended the plan. “Broadwalk Shopping Centre has been in decline for years and there are now many shop units empty and other stores leaving,” she said. “The Redcatch Quarter represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to breathe new life into the town centre and create the vibrant, bustling heart that the Knowle community deserves.
“The Redcatch Development Partnership is committed to delivering a high-quality scheme with sustainability and community at its heart, creating a place that local people can be proud of,” she added.
The plans for Broadwalk have split the community in Knowle. A campaign group of local residents has been set up to co-ordinate opposition - they say while they want the regeneration of the shopping centre and some kind of project for the site, what is planned is too big for the area, with questions over where the residents in 850 new flats will park, go to schools and the doctor's.
But others in Knowle support the idea, including the area’s two Knowle Community Party councillors, who warned those opposing it that it’s the only plan on the table, and if it’s refused, the danger is the shopping centre eventually closes and nothing happens for years to come.
The application was due before councillors last month, but that’s been put on hold temporarily as more objections come in. Last week, Bristol Live revealed that the man in charge of housing at Bristol City Council - cabinet member Cllr Tom Renhard - had written to the developers to tell them their seven per cent affordable housing allocation ‘simply wasn’t good enough’, and asking for a GP surgery to be designed into the plans.
In response, the developers said the costs of demolishing the existing shopping centre, snooker hall, bingo hall and multi-storey car park were so great that they could only afford to include 7 per cent affordable homes.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the developers said: “There are extraordinary costs required to remediate this brownfield site - including the clean-up and removal of fuel tanks under the former petrol station. The proposed development has also been subject to the record-breaking inflation which has swept the UK, and this has significantly increased remediation and build costs.
"The Redcatch Development Partnership has complied with policy around the viability process and is engaged with Bristol City Council to explore opportunities to increase the level of affordable housing as the plans progress."
Read next - ‘Redcatch Quarter’, the story so far:
July 2018 - First plans unveiled for 400 new homes and revamped Broadwalk shopping centre
March 2019 - Councillors give permission to 400 new homes plan
Sep 2019 - Wilko confirms it’s leaving Broadwalk
Dec 2019 - Knowle could become Bristol's next 'hotbed of regeneration' say property experts
July 2021 - What people want for future of 'run-down' Bristol shopping centre
Jan 2022 - Broadwalk to be renamed ‘Redcatch Quarter’, announce developers
Jan 2022 - New plans to demolish Broadwalk entirely and build 800 flats unveiled
May 2022 - South Bristol MP warns of shortage of schools and GPs with 12,000 new homes
June 2022 - Developers tweak plans for ‘Redcatch Quarter’ after consultation
July 2022 - The battle for the soul of Knowle is just getting started
Sep 2022 - Only a small fraction of 850 new homes in South Bristol will be 'affordable'
Sep 2022 - 'Fearful' traders join fight against new 'Redcatch Quarter'
Jan 2023 - Broadwalk or Redcatch Quarter - huge plans divide the Knowle community
Jan 2023 - Fury as campaigners told refusing 'Redcatch Quarter' plans will 'damage community'
Feb 2023 - B&M to close as D-Day for Broadwalk Shopping Centre is postponed again
March 2023 - Council chief tells 'Redcatch Quarter' developers 7% affordable homes 'isn't good enough'
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