News / KNowle West
Plans to replace former cinema with homes set for approval
Plans to replace a former cinema with homes are set to be approved – despite a campaign to save the building from demolition.
Bristol City Council planning officers have recommended the plans to build 30 homes in place of the Broadway Cinema for approval.
The art deco building on Filwood Broadway in Knowle West opened in 1938 but closed in the early 1990s, after being converted to a bingo hall some years previously.
is needed now More than ever
Demolition of the 85-year-old structure was approved in 2019 – but was delayed after a recent discovery.
A decision is due on the council’s plans to replace the former Broadway Cinema in Knowle West with homes – photo: Charlie Watts
The council is proposing 17 flats and 13 houses in place of the old cinema, the former petrol station site next to it and an area of wasteland behind it.
The flats will be housed in two three to four-storey blocks facing onto Filwood Broadway, the local high street in Knowle West.
One of the blocks will have commercial space on the ground floor while the other will have community space and could become the new home of the existing library on Filwood Broadway.
A mix of one, two and three-bedroom flats and houses will make up the development, all of which will be “affordable” – photo: Charlie Watts
The council’s planning application has received eight objections, which include concerns about a supermarket not being proposed.
Some local campaigners are also hoping the cinema’s demolition can still be stopped, with one telling Bristol24/7 he is prepared to squat in the building.
But in their report, planning officers say the building is “beyond economical repair and wholly unsuitable for modern commercial, retail or community use.”
There is a campaign to save the old cinema, which is due to be fully demolished by the end of May – photo: Nick Haskins
The old cinema is just one of the sites earmarked for housing in the area, with homes also planned for the former swimming pool site on Filwood Broadway.
The council’s planning committee will make a final decision on the plans for the old cinema site at a meeting on Wednesday.
Charlie Watts is reporting on Knowle West 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
Main photo: Charlie Watts
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