Updated plans for £150m Broadwalk Centre revamp include new cinema and library

Updated plans for a £150m revamp of Bristol’s Broadwalk Shopping Centre have been revealed following six months of consultation.

The proposals are set to transform the crumbling 1970s centre in Knowle into a ‘vibrant, friendly, and walkable destination’ suitable for the 21st century.

The scheme, known as The Redcatch Quarter, will include the build of up to 880 new apartments and shops along with a community hub, café and restaurant area.

And following feedback from residents and councillors, developers have announced they are also planning a neighbourhood cinema and new library at the centre.

They have also made changes to the scheme’s layout and designed a ‘more engaging and attractive entrance’ into Redcatch Park, currently dormant land behind Broadwalk.

Francis Hilton, project manager, said: “We are very grateful to local people for the feedback they have provided, which has been instrumental in informing the proposals.

“We look forward to continuing to work with local people, stakeholders, and Bristol City Council to help realise the potential to create a thriving and bustling heart for Knowle that improves the vitality of the town centre and celebrates the distinct identity of the local area.”

Residents will have the opportunity to comment on the updated proposals before the consultation period is formally drawn to a close on Friday, July 8.

At an online public consultation meeting attended by BristolWorld in January, developers branded the current centre ‘monolothic and hostile’.

More than 300 questions were received during the meeting, many of them related to parking and concerns that surrounding roads would be clogged up without an adequate number of parking spaces.

Developers said they were planning on funding a Resident Parking Zone around the site to manage any overspill, which may happen as the project like many others across Bristol is designed to encourage active travel.

It is understood that housing at the site would be mixed-tenure, with 77% rental, 23% shared ownership and 11% affordable, a figure developers are hoping to improve.

To conserve energy and mitigate against fuel poverty, the new homes should use 75% less energy than the average new home.

If the project is greenlit, it will be a while before we see any movement, with Mr Hilton adding at the meeting: “We are at least 18 months away from starting at the site.”