One of Bristol's most notorious spots has been radically changed, with the owners of the land saying they want to create a 'more welcoming space'. In the end, all it took to apparently transform Turbo Island into just another bit of public space was a layer of tarmac and some bike racks.
But there are reports that there have already been attempts to light fires on the spot that became, for some, an iconic representation of counter-culture Bristol, and for others a lawless and dangerous focal point for anti-social behaviour.
The end result of a week or so of work by contractors hired by Turbo Island's owners - London advertising property firm Wildstone - has rendered Turbo Island a very different environment from how it was just last month. Gone is the bare earth ground, smouldering fires and old sofas and chairs, and in has come tarmac, a bike rack and an attempt at normalising what for many was a very different sort of place.
