News / knowle
Knowle snooker club under threat from shopping centre redevelopment
For nearly 30 years, a well-loved snooker club has been tucked away underneath the car park of the Broadwalk Shopping Centre in Knowle.
But with the shopping centre due for a £100m revamp, which will see part of the centre and its existing car park knocked down, many are worried that the redevelopment will see the loss of Snooker City.
With a spacious snooker room, darts area, skittles alley, bar and function room, the snooker club is considered one of the best in Bristol.
is needed now More than ever
Boasting around 2,000 members from across Bristol, Snooker City also doubles as a social club, hosting weddings, engagement parties, birthdays and more.
The function room of the club, which has been open for almost 30 years, hosts all sort of events
“When I got this 30 years ago, it was a dilapidated building,” says Snooker City owner Tony Lord. “I spent quite a considerable amount of money on it for the community to have a social club and all that’s now going to go down the drain.”
Tony claims that current redevelopment plans would force the club to relocate, which has left him seriously concerned about its future.
“It’s alright saying you’re going to relocate us, but tell us when and where,” Tony tells Bristol24/7. “There’s nothing in writing whatsoever.”
“It’s going to cost at least £100,000 to be relocated – new bars, new toilets, new this, new that, moving all the snooker tables, pool tables, carpets. Who’s paying for that?”
General managers Dean and Angie Davis first heard about the planned redevelopment from the media
Many people, including general managers Dean and Angie Davis (pictured), first heard about the development in media reports rather than from the group of developers behind the project.
“What I can see them doing is saying, ‘Yeah, yeah, we’ll do this’ and then at the last minute just pulling out of it,” says Angie, whose petition asking the city council to save the club has received more than 300 signatures. “I don’t think we’ve got much chance of fighting this, but we’ve got to fight it.”
Dean agrees, calling the redevelopment “a bit cloak and dagger”.
“Nobody knows what’s going to happen – it’s all hearsay,” he says. “In the grand scheme of things, Snooker City is a little fly in the ointment.”
Fellow manager James Anderson is also concerned about the impact the planned residential redevelopments will have on parking and traffic.
He says: “The problem is, it’s a very fine margin between needing a development and getting a development that’s right for the people that are here.”
The club has about twenty snooker and pool tables and is a hub for the community
James’ partner Kirsty Roberts is a regular at Snooker City, which she calls a “family club”.
“I’ll be devastated if this went,” she says. “It’s the only place you can actually take the kids. There’s never any trouble. The developers are going to do what they want to anyway, no matter what we say.”
Broadwalk Shopping Centre’s regeneration is being led by Pelican Property Development Limited and includes a variety of organisations such as Keep Architecture, Lichfields, CampbellReith and Cadence PR.
A spokesperson for the developers says that the car park above the club has “structural issues”.
“Regeneration plans will see the demolition of the car park and as a consequence, the club will need to close for health and safety reasons,” he tells Bristol24/7.
“Initial discussions have taken place with the owner to see if they can be accommodated within the shopping centre during the redevelopment work.
“Within the long term scheme proposals there is the opportunity to relocate the club permanently within the centre and discussions will continue directly between the owner and developer.
“It is very much hoped that Snooker City will remain in and be a part of the regenerated Broadwalk Shopping Centre.”
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
