Plans to convert historic Bristol cinema into flats set to be refused

Plans to convert a historic cinema building in Redfield into flats are set to be refused due to a lack of parking spaces.

Developers are planning to turn the art deco building on Church Road into apartments, with a bar, cafe and tiny cinema, but have faced strong opposition from locals.

Campaigners from Save Redfield Cinema are fighting against the plans, which include 13 shared “co-living” flats with 42 bedrooms in total. Instead they want to see the St George’s Hall building on Church Road, which was also previously a pub, brought back into use as a community cinema.

Councillors at Bristol City Council will vote on Wednesday, April 10 on whether to grant planning permission for the developers’ plans. Planning officers are recommending that the development control B committee refuses permission, due to a dire shortage of parking spaces in the area.

In a planning report, officers said: “The site is located in an area that experiences severe pressure for on-street parking, with a significant proportion of the high number of public objections received raising this as a concern. Despite the provision of two separate parking surveys, evidence has not been provided to satisfactorily alleviate these concerns.”

The developers, Landrose, say they would attempt to stop any future residents from owning a car, to avoid adding to parking pressures on nearby streets. This includes evicting residents who don’t follow rules in their contract which forbid owning a car. But council planning officers said this would neither be “reasonable or enforceable”, and parking pressures would inevitably increase.

They added: “The demand for on-street parking in the locality of the development can often lead to unsafe highway conditions, including the obstruction of footways through indiscriminate footway parking which can in some locations force disabled users, pushchairs and pedestrians into the road, while also hindering visibility between road users at junctions.

“It is therefore considered that the proposal would result in illegal or dangerous parking that would be to the detriment of highway safety, and is contrary to planning policy.”

Landrose is applying for planning permission to build apartments, as well as a gym and communal workspace. The space at the front of the building would be turned into a bar, cafe and cinema with 46 seats. But campaigners say this cinema would be too small to run successfully as a business, and would be unlikely to last for long if these plans went ahead.

Dave Taylor-Matthews, from the Save Redfield Cinema campaign, said: “There’s nothing in planning documents that would hold him to deliver that - it’s just an illustration. In my experience, I don’t think it’s viable and any commercial cafe operator will recognise that there are more lucrative ways to use that small space.

“We want to see the history and community value recognised. We’re working with other developers who share a better vision for the whole community, and who are happy to work with us to deliver an exciting project for the people of east Bristol.”

Instead, the campaigners want to turn the building back into a cinema, with three screens each having between 80 and 200 seats. Their planned cinema would have eight times the capacity than Landrose’s tiny one, and would be run by a community interest community. A separate property developer would still build some housing on the site, to help fund the project.

Although planning officers have recommended they refuse the plans, councillors on the committee could still decide to approve planning permission next week. Landrose said their plans would provide well-designed and affordable homes, and improve the look of the building from the outside.

In planning documents, architects said: “Our ambition is to bring this derelict building back into life after years of neglect by drastically improving its external appearance and use to turn it into a vibrant pillar of the community. Our proposal retains a commercial element including a boutique cinema and cafe/bar to reinforce the character of Church Road and provide a cultural destination for the local community to socialise.

“The boutique cinema gives the community a space to share its unique voice. The intention is to create a place where people can meet like-minded film enthusiasts, where art-house cinema can thrive or where the local community can put on their own film festival to celebrate St George and the surrounding area.”

It’s unclear what would happen next, if the committee refuses permission. Either Landrose could come back with different designs more likely to get approval, appeal to the planning inspector to overturn the committee’s decision, or sell the site. As the building is protected as an Asset of Community Value, this gives the community the option to buy it if it comes up for sale.

St George’s Hall was built in 1912 as a cinema, and expanded in 1927. The cinema closed in the 1960s and was converted into a bingo hall, and then a Wetherspoons pub in the 1990s which closed in 2021. The campaign to reopen the cinema has received widespread support, including from famous Bristol actor Stephen Merchant.