We have received word from community organisers who contacted Wildstone (the “owners” of Turbo Island) confirming that they are not interested in making any pre-auction deal to ensure community ownership.
This means we are left to fundraise for the auction, and take other actions to ensure Turbo Island remains accessible to the community. The PRSC have applied to have Turbo Island recognised as an Asset of Community Value (ACV), and the Save Turbo Island action group have applied for Village Green status.
The ACV status gives local groups and organisations the means of applying to their local planning authorities to have any buildings or land, which have important cultural or social importance in their neighbourhood, officially designated as an ACV. This gives communities the right to intervene if the listed asset is put up for sale- the planning authority will suspend any sale for six months to give local community interests time to raise finance to purchase it themselves.
The listing does not oblige the owner to sell to a community-based buyer at the end of the pause period, but it does validate the long use and community investment in the listed property. As the listing is made by the planning authority, it inevitably affects the way that subsequent planning applications for change of use are evaluated, and creates an expectation that changes to current community use will not be permitted except in exceptional circumstances.
Village Green status would not affect ownership of land, but means that it cannot be built on, which is obviously a downside for any more commercially minded buyers. The application is in, and we now need to collect supporting evidence. Ideally this would be dozens of people filling in a form which details memories of using the space- who used it, how much, for what, and what dates (just a year should be fine). If you’ve memories that qualify, or know someone who would, especially from around or before 2004, please get in touch! Message PRSC or email email hidden; JavaScript is required
And in the meantime, please keep spreading the word about the crowdfunder: https://chuffed.org/project/114157-save-turbo-island! Invite your friends, your enemies, your heroes and your family to help make sure Turbo Island can be used by the community into the future! Especially invite ones with deep pockets, and encourage any with good contacts and influence to spread the word.
Lets Save Turbo Island – for the people, for the future!
In the 1970s, when I came to Bristol, the space was known as Peace Park. It had the wall and grass, with a circular bed in the middle filled with Peace rose bushes. People sat on the wall, as a bench. May have been a lot of drinking going on…
No idea who owned it then. I assumed it was the Council and Parks looked after the roses.
Are you able to share what your plans are for Turbo Island should you be successful in your purchase? As you are of course already aware, it is a major hub of antisocial and criminal behaviour currently, with the current landowner being issued a Community Protection Order. How do you plan to curb these activities and avoid future CPOs? While it would be nice to avoid the land being sold to developers, I am reluctant to donate to this fundraiser as it is very vague in its plans to address current issues associated with the site.
Hi Jennifer, we wouldn’t have owned it. It would be up to Stokes Croft Land Trust how to decide what to do. We fully aknowledge that there have been issues, and we’d argue these are a result of long-term, deep seated issues we’ve allowed to build up as we cut local services, healthcare and other support. There was a period of a few months recently when people recently released dfrom prison were turning up, with no housing or support, and innevitably ended up trying however they can to survive.
The “Community Protection Order” has been utterly innefective (I’m sure you’d agree) and has resulted in more frequent fires, as people using Turbo Island resist efforts to make them un-welcome. If you want people to be trustworthy you must show trust. If we want people to be pro-social we have to show willing. The Save Turbo Island campaign (and the PRSC) think that we could massively improve Turbo Island, making it better for everyone, through serious and deep consultation and working with everyone who lives, works and plays on and around the space. Real engagement, and taking on board the concerns of the most regular frequenters of Turbo Island, will lead to a genuine shared sense of ownership, and better outcomes for everyone.
We’d love to hear your suggestuions of how we canachieve this.