It’s been nearly a month since the diggers moved into Turbo Island, one of Bristol’s most famous unofficial landmarks, to create what the owners hoped would be a ‘more welcoming space’. The addition of a tarmac surface and bike racks that not many people seem to want to use have met a mixed response from locals but has done little harm to the location's stellar five-star status on Google reviews.
For some people, this small triangle of land in Stokes Croft is synonymous with the city’s counter-culture scene and is part of the soul and fabric of the area. It has long attracted gatherings, fires and raves in part because its primary use as a site for advertising billboards left it vacant, while its private ownership left it outside the control of any council street drinking bans.
But for others, Turbo Island is a dangerous focal point for anti-social behaviour, with fires started on the formally rubble-ridden ground causing unnecessary problems for Avon Fire & Rescue, which was called out to 44 incidents on the site between April and July this year. Despite the redevelopment, figures from fire service revealed that firefighters were called to nine reports of fires at Turbo Island in the 12 days between October 25 - the day after the work began - and Sunday, November 6.
