Judge says Broadwalk plan saga can go to Judicial Review

The future of Knowle’s Broadwalk shopping center – and plans to demolish it and turn it into the ‘Redcatch Quarter’ development – is stuck again today after a judge said there were grounds for a local resident to take the council to a judicial review on their controversial mode of plans.

It means Bristol City Council’s planning department will be called to judicial review by local Knowle resident Laura Chapman, and the story of what happened at the Town Hall with the Broadwalk plans last summer will be debated in court – unless the council or the Developer backs out in the meantime

Laura Chapman, one of the leaders of the residents’ group challenging the plans for the 819 new apartments on the shopping center site, said she hoped the judge’s decision would prompt a City Hall rethink of the case and that planners decide to cancel the permission granted to Broadside Holdings in the autumn last year.

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Ms Chapman’s application for a judicial review, made in February this year, has now been considered by a judge and granted – there was a chance the appeal would be dismissed before it even got that far – and that now means planning permission granted by the council under controversial circumstances in 2023 is under discussion pending the outcome of the legal action.

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Councilors initially refused permission for Broadside’s plan to demolish the Wells Road shopping centre, multi-storey car park and bingo hall and create a new area of ​​Knowle called Redcatch Quarter, with 819 flats and a range of community spaces, along with pedestrian streets. linking Wells Road with Redcatch Park behind.

But the same committee then voted a second time and granted permission – it later emerged that the developers and their agents had held meetings with the committee’s chairman, Cllr Richard Eddy, and then Mayor Kevin Slocombe to discuss ways to change the decision.

This sparked outrage among many councilors and residents around the Broadwalk who had campaigned against the plan. Those residents said that while they supported redeveloping the mall, what Broadside was proposing was too big, with too many new homes.

Local residents raised thousands of pounds to fund a legal challenge – and it has now been given a hearing by the judge’s decision.

Ms Chapman told Bristol Live she hoped the council, with its new administration after the May 2 election, would consider a rethink. That would mean the council canceling the planning permission and bringing it back to councilors for a decision, or the developers amend their plans and resubmit a new version.

“I hope the CCA will decide they don’t want the effort and expense of defending the Broadwalk planning approval, so we reach an out-of-court settlement to overturn it,” she said. “Given the huge changes in the political landscape in recent weeks, we’re really hopeful that there could be a realistic opportunity for that to happen.”

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Bristol Live contacted Broadside Holdings for a response to the judge’s decision this week. In February, when the first application for a judicial review was made, the developers said they wanted to work with the residents’ group.

Broadside’s director of development, Francis Hilton, said at the time that he was frustrated by the judicial review. “We recognize that we haven’t always gotten our communications right,” he said. “We contacted Laura Chapman and Helen Evans from the Broadwalk Redevelopment Community Group (BRCG) to establish a way to work together and met in early January following meetings with other groups.

“We are committed to working alongside the BRCG Group and other stakeholders as we begin detailed design, including offering to work with them on the scale of the development. We are therefore deeply disappointed to learn that Laura Chapman has decided to pursue unilateral legal action which will only lead to delays and increased legal costs.

“The judicial review means the center will be stuck in limbo for the foreseeable future, which could last up to another two years, depending on legal proceedings. In the meantime, the Center will remain largely vacant, unable to meet the needs of the community. We understand that local people want us to move on now and invest in their community,” he added.

“The Secretary of State at the Department for Housing, Housing and Communities has already reviewed the scheme and is pleased to see it go ahead. We are extremely concerned that the case could delay and even lead to a missed opportunity for regeneration which provides a new pedestrianized street for everyone, including new shops, community facilities and jobs. Hopefully the judicial review can be waived so we can move on to design.

“Our message to those with concerns is that we have heard you, we want your help to deliver something great for Knowle and we are absolutely committed to trying to scale back if we can and working with Homes England to increase affordable housing . offer,” he added.