‘A boost to the area but there are some niggles’ - mixed reaction to decision to build homes on historic cinema site

A councillor for Filwood believes the ward’s cinema would have been saved if it was located in Clifton after Bristol City Council approved plans to build 30 affordable homes on the site.

Councillors approved the regeneration despite claims that the local authority has “lied, cheated, conspired to pull this building down”. Broadway Cinema opened its door in 1938 before becoming a bingo hall in the early 70s though the building has been left to rot for more than 30 years.

At a development control committee last night (January 18) members said it was “highly regrettable” that the building would be demolished, under previous consent in 2019, and that the protests about its loss came much too late, despite hearing that efforts had been made to have it protected but these were unsuccessful.

Labour councillor for Filwood, Zoe Goodman was at the meeting and praised the overall scheme which would aim to bring affordable housing to her ward but admitted it is likely the building would have been saved if it was located in a more affluent area of the city.

She said: “One of the main positives to take away from the plans is that there will be ground-floor space for retail or community use with housing above. This will be boosted by the Levelling Up funding which has been allocated to the council to improve the public space. I think it will be a very big boost to the area but there are some niggles.

“It is a real shame the cinema wasn’t saved in 1994 - it would have been great for something to be made of it back then so it could be retained by the community as an important landmark building.

“I think it probably would have been saved [if it was located in Clifton] but that is because of the different economic situation there. Clifton has its little cinema in a nice, old building that has been redeveloped - it is a richer area not because the council has chosen to neglect other areas but because the community has been able to afford to make it work.

“That just hasn’t happened in Filwood but with this Levelling Up funding, the community’s hard work and this decade-old framework to redevelop the place, I believe Filwood will become a destination more people will want to go to. The shame is, if we had this community in 1994 we wouldn’t have allowed the cinema to become derelict. We feel more empowered today and can push for vital resources and get results.”

Once it is demolished, the council will replace the cinema with a crescent of 17 flats and 13 houses with several three- and four-storey buildings will be created fronting onto Filwood Broadway.

Nick Haskins, of Knowle West Residents Voice group, whose grandfather built the cinema, told the meeting that the old picturehouse was “the beating heart” of the community and was visited in its heyday by Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, while boxer Dixie Brown had many fights there.

He said: “Bristol City Council has lied, cheated, conspired to pull this building down.”

Mr Haskins claims that he had conducted a local survey and found 2,000 people who wanted to save the building and use it for community use and that there was nothing for children to do in the area.