Lockleaze residents fight to save community centre set to be demolished for housing

Lockleaze residents are calling on Bristol City Council to reverse its plans to demolish the Cameron Centre to make way for housing.

The council is proposing to build 50 flats in place of the community centre and adjacent former police station, saying this will help to meet the need for new homes in the city and support the regeneration of Gainsborough Square.

But a local resident has launched a petition against the demolition of the space, which has over 300 signatures so far.

Merriel Waggoner says that the Cameron Centre is a much-loved community hall, library and kitchen – and is a vital facility for the Lockleaze neighbourhood.

She says: “The Cameron Centre was built as part of this community for purpose. To demolish this wonderful community centre to build 50 flats with a token community space underneath is criminal.”

The former police station on Gainsborough Square in Lockleaze and the Cameron Centre are set to be demolished to make way for housing. Photo by Emily Shimell

The plans for the development also include a ground-floor community facility, such as a cafe and library.

But Merriel says that this does not compensate for the loss of the Cameron Centre, with a new community hall and kitchen not being proposed.

She adds: “It doesn’t provide a space for all the wonderful things that currently take place here. We’re basically losing the prime community building in Lockleaze for housing – that’s outrageous.”

“Now is a time when our community spaces are needed more than ever, and to deprive the area of this thriving centre is a massive mistake.”

“Our petition calls for Bristol City Council to scrap its plans and instead invest and protect this essential community building.”

The Cameron Centre operates a full timetable during non-Covid times. It provides an accessible space for sports, markets, playgroups, religious services and public meetings.

Daren Sims, instructor at Bristol North Aikido, who are based at the Cameron Centre, says that he fears any new provisions will be too small for sport activities.

He says: “Communal halls like the Cameron Centre are comfortable and engaging for many movement-based activities, and much more welcoming for the not-so-athletic types

“By losing this hall, we would be pushed elsewhere. A sports hall or open football field just doesn’t fit the bill for all activities.”

Community groups that use the Cameron Centre, such as Bristol North Aikido, are concerned about the plans to demolish the space. Photo courtesy of Daren Sims

The Cameron Centre is managed by the Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust, and hiring out the space for activities provides one of the main sources of income for the organisation.

Suzanne Wilson, chief executive of the Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust, says that the current hall is extremely well-used, but the building needs vast improvements and investment if it were to remain.

She says: “We would like to see that any new development here provide more, not less, facilities, with interesting character and good design.”

Suzanne says that suggestions have been put forward in the past about how a community hall, library and cafe facility could work together with support from the trust.

However she is concerned that these ideas have been “stripped back to the bare minimum” and the proposed plans have lost the key facilities that the space needs to survive and thrive.

“With the right design and a hall to hire, we could enable better opening hours for library facilities and enable social enterprises such as a nursery to help financially sustain our community spaces for the long run,” she continues.

“This is our flagship opportunity in the heart of Gainsborough Square, and it feels like it could be wasted. The new plans do not address all the needs of the community in this location.”

Bristol City Council says that it is helping to meet the need for new homes in the city and supporting the regeneration of Gainsborough Square. Photo by Emily Shimell

A Bristol City Council spokesperson says that planned housing in Lockleaze supports the Lockleaze Community Plan (2019-20) which identifies housing as the main local priority.

“However creating the infrastructure needed to support new homes and residents in the area is vitally important, so community spaces and facilities do and will feature across the area,” the spokesperson adds.

The council also says that it is very supportive of Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust and wants to work closely with the trust as designs for the Cameron Centre site develop.

It adds that is is investing in significant improvements in the area, including a new community building on Bonnington Walk, and the possibility of additional community space on or near Gainsborough Square.

Main photo by Emily Shimell

Emily Shimell is reporting on Lockleaze as part of Bristol24/7’s community reporter scheme, a pilot project which aims to tell stories from areas of Bristol traditionally under-served by the mainstream media

Read more: Lockleaze residents demand ‘more than just houses’ in area earmarked for over 1000 new homes