Greens try to overturn Broadwalk Shopping Centre decision
Some have criticised the Greens for trying to 'frustrate good governance', and comes after councillors voted to knock down in a shock decision earlier this year
Green councillors have tried to overturn a controversial decision to knock down and redevelop a South Bristol shopping centre during a “confusing” planning committee row. Permission to demolish the Broadwalk Shopping Centre could be cancelled and taken away.
The Tory committee chair scolded the Greens for trying to “frustrate good governance” while council staff warned of “procedural impropriety”. The option to rescind planning permission for the Broadwalk development, in Knowle, will now be discussed in private by councillors.
In July, councillors voted to grant developers permission to knock down the shopping centre and build hundreds of flats and new shops. But Bristol City Council has still not issued a decision notice to the developers, meaning they don’t technically have permission yet.
Green Councillor Tom Hathway moved a motion during the development control A committee, on Wednesday, December 13, to suspend standing orders — council rules on how meetings are run — and debate and vote on rescinding the controversial July decision.
This would mean developers would not be able to go ahead with their plans for the Broadwalk development, which are unpopular among some locals due to the height of the buildings — some 12 storeys tall — and concerns about cramped apartments. Critics have also questioned the way permission was granted.
The committee voted to grant permission in July after little public debate and at the apparent surprise of some councillors — particularly as the same committee appeared to have voted in May to refuse permission. Campaigners are planning to ask a judge to review the issue.
Green Cllr Ed Plowden said: “We’re trying to make the view of this committee clear, and we’re trying to protect the council from a judicial review because we have two contradictory decisions.”
The controversy is one of many now engulfing the council’s planning system, as well as a boycott of the development control B committee, allegations of “religious abuse”, a chronic shortage of staff, a massive backlog of applications and claims of a loss of public confidence.
The new motion to revisit the July decision was “unprecedented”, according to Conservative Cllr Richard Eddy, the chair of development control A committee. This is because everything councillors vote on is usually listed on an agenda, with a detailed accompanying report.
Cllr Eddy said: “It is unprecedented in my view, and that’s over three decades of serving on development control committees, to discuss something which is not on the agenda. It would be wholly inappropriate to seek to hijack today’s agenda.”
Cllr Plowden suggested voting on adjourning the meeting, so that party leads could discuss the issue at a later date and in private, sparking criticism from the Tory chair. Some councillors admitted that they were confused about what exactly they were voting on.
Cllr Eddy added: “I don’t think you should be seeking to frustrate the good governance and good business of this committee. Obviously our Green colleagues want to play politics and have further pre-Christmas discussion for their election leaflets of the Broadwalk saga.”
Council rules say only decisions listed on agendas for public meetings can be voted on, unless in extraordinary circumstances. One council officer said deciding and voting on something not on the agenda was “not sound governance and could amount to procedural impropriety”.
Councillors are now expected to discuss the Broadwalk decision, and the call to rescind it, in private, before potentially coming back to a future committee meeting in public.