‘As always, Stockwood is forgotten’ - locals and businesses discuss key car park after mystery sale

Business owners and residents in Stockwood say they will oppose any planning applications for homes being built on a piece of private land that has been used as a car park for the past 50 years.

The parcel of land in Harden Road is located at the rear of the shops on Hollway Road and the 45-space car park has been used by local people for decades for the shops, school and doctor’s surgery.

Last week, the land was sold at auction for £65,000 - £15,000 over the guide price - and now Stockwood business owners and residents are worried the undisclosed new owner may try to apply for planning to build houses. Three years ago, plans for homes on the site were refused by Bristol City Council, which once owned the land before selling it to private owners.

Lee Bavetta has run the Stockwood Barber Shop for 16 years and his business backs on to the car park. He says the land has always been an essential car park for people using the shops, school and doctor’s surgery.

Mr Bavetta says he would be be against any plans to build houses on the site, but also points out the car park is in a state of disrepair with uneven ground and pot holes. He says he has personally helped several elderly people who have fallen over in the car park and badly injured themselves. He thinks the council should buy the land back under a Compulsory Purchase Order.

“When I came here 16 years ago the car park was in a worse state than it is now. The potholes have only been filled up thanks to local business owners who clubbed together to fund it so the place looked a bit better. The council never got involved.

“Over the years, we’ve had loads applications for houses to be built there but I don’t know how it could work logistically because the shops need access, as do the flats above. It won’t work as it has to be passed through us again and we’ll just throw it out again.

“This shopping development opened in the early 1960s and a lot of my customers can remember it being built. They told me the council owned the areas around the shops and they still own the bit outside my shop. They sold the back where the car park is so they have created the problem.

“They should put a Compulsory Purchase Order on it and relocate that person to another piece of land. We’ve showed our intentions by mending the pot holes but it’s time the council did something now.

“As always, Stockwood is forgotten and it has been the same all the time I’ve lived here. We never get anything done here unless it’s done by a private company or a charity. The council never sorts the problems up here.”

Local resident Simon has lived in the area 38 years. He also says he has had to help people who have fallen over in the car park on up on a regular basis. He says: “The problem is you have double yellows all along the street in front of the shops, where the buses go. But everybody parks on them because they don’t want to put their cars into the car park as the ground is so rough - loads of people have damaged their wheels and bumpers.

“No one has ever come along and said they would tidy it up and make it look nice and then progress from there. The council could quite easily tarmac that area.”

Barry McCormack is the chair of trustees at Animal Affairs, a general stores in the rank of shops on Hollway Road that supports local animal services. He says: “I’ve been here 20 years and I’ve seen planning applications come and go for the car park and it’s always an unknown owner.

“We use the rear door that opens onto the car park for deliveries and also as a fire exit. It’s also used for the bins to be collected so there has to be constant access and to impact on that would kill the neighbourhood. But it looks scruffy and there’s a lot of flytipping going on. Some of the potholes are deep enough to keep carp and trout in!

“People have been walking across that car park for 50 years so maybe that gives people a public access right of way, but it has always been a service yard for the shops as well as a car park. We suggested to the council they bought it back, swap the parcel of land and let the guy who owns the land develop the bottom bit.

“One other option would be for the local shopkeepers to club together and buy it but because there’s a mix of national chains and small independents, that will never happen because you’ll never get unity. It’s a complicated situation.

“The council should buy it back and maintain it. Even if they charged people 50p to park there they would get some money back eventually. Or you could knock the whole place down and start again - it’s 60 years old after all.”

Dawn Harrison has run Crazy Angels hairdressers for 34 years and she says she’s ‘furious’ with the state of the car park, but doesn’t think housing is the answer, either. She says: “The car park is looking scruffier than it has in the whole time I’ve been here. There are old mattresses and rubbish piling up like I’ve never seen before, it’s disgusting.

“But there’s no way they could build houses there. I saw the last plans and they put a small access lane for the back of the shops but that wouldn’t be enough room - and the houses would be cramped up too.”

John Reilly is managing director of Goodwill Financial Services, which also backs on to the land. He has personally helped to keep the car park tidy, even taking rubbish to the tip in his car. He also helped to pay for the filling in of the pot holes.

He says: “I think the idea of building houses on this site is a non-starter. Every time planning permission has been sought in the past it has been turned down and for good reasons, but prospective buyers keep trying their luck though.”

Back in the car park, Stockwood resident Louise, who has just parked her car there to pop to the local shops, says: “My children went to the school here and we always parked in this car park. We’ve lived here 20 years and it has always been like this.

“The people I know say they don’t want it turned into houses. Where else will you park when you bring your children to school? We’ve got everything here - the doctors, the hairdressers, the local shops, the dentist - but there’s nowhere else to park because there are double yellow lines at the front.

“I heard it sold for more than the asking price so somebody wants it badly but where would you put houses anyway as all the shops need access at the back for deliveries and people live in flats above.”