A people’s plan for Old Market

It’s been a slow morning at the Salvation Army hall on Hassell Street, with just a trickle of voters turning up to vote in a referendum which could shape the future of their area.

Soon after 11am, the second voter in fifteen minutes exits the building. 

The question being asked at the tiny booth inside is whether the 3,000 or so people who live in the Old Market area want the council to adopt a neighbourhood plan for the Old Market Quarter which will help it decide on planning applications in the near future.

Among the proposals is an idea to reduce the traffic on Old Market Street to two lanes and widen the pavements and line them with trees under which pop-up markets could be held.

Paul Bradburn, chairman of The Old Market Community Association, is more than happy to talk to Bristol24/7 as he comes out of the polling station.

“This is such a brilliant project, I must admit. This is the biggest community-led project in a long time and would be such a success if it all works out. We would finally be putting our neighbourhood on the map and as a community.”

Old Market, of course, was once a thriving destination, full of theatres and housing a major tram terminus. That was until the war and the subsequent planning disaster which led to the Temple Way bypass cutting the area off from Castle Park and the city centre.

“The neighbourhood plan, if adopted through the referendum, aims to help residents play a more direct role in planning the area they live and work in,” Bradburn adds. “This idea of community makes the vote all the more important.

“The best thing about this project is the fact it can all be done off the community’s back – the success will be down to us all.”

Another voter, 31-year-old store manager Alan Davis, suggests that all local residents should be interested in regenerating the area, but realises that a lot of people just aren’t particularly bothered about it. “They’ll all have moved away in five years so these plans don’t matter to them,” he fears.

Back at the polling station, an hour has passed and another seven voters have come and gone.

The owner of The Exchange, Paul Horlick, 47, can’t vote as he doesn’t live in the area. But the referendum decision still affects his business: “The idea of the area being developed is good, for sure. We need to brighten it up, as if to give it a face lift.

“It’s definitely a better idea to go along with the community plans, incorporating the people who actually use it.”

Civil servant Simon Radford, 44, says: “For me, it’s a yes to the local plans and to what the people want to do. If you’re going to change the area, you need the locals, you need to talk to the community and consult. These people that live here know what’s best. Listen to them”. 

Polls close at 10pm on Thursday. To find out how you can vote, click here.

Read more: 13 things you didin’t know about Old Market