Your say / Cribbs Causeway
‘Cribbs Causeway expansion would have perpetuated our reliance on the car’
The decision by central government to throw out the application to expand the shopping centre at Cribbs Causeway is a good one and it’s been rightly welcomed by most in the city.
To have given permission for the Cribbs development would have perpetuated our reliance on the car, the sort of shopping that has little variety and where much of the money spent there goes back to headquarters and suppliers miles away from the city – creating far less jobs for Bristol people for every pound we spend.
But saying ‘no’ to something doesn’t provide an answer to what our cities should look like and what sort of development we should say ‘yes’ to.
is needed now More than ever
If we are going to develop our cities it needs to be done sustainably. At their best, cities are ‘green’. We have to travel less because the services we need are close by (schools, GP’s, shops and offices) and the economies of scale that come from having large numbers of people means we enjoy far more variety of shops, workplaces and activities.
Sandy says the city centre has a good mix of big and small shops (photo in side St Nicks Market)
Bristol is a great city because the centre attracts both the best and biggest shops and entertainment and combines it with small shops, bars and restaurants that sell something unique and specialist. In other words it’s diverse and interesting.
Bristol manages to combine these two things like no other city I have visited and money stays in the city as a result. We are small enough that it is still relatively easy to get to the centre without using a car.
Combine this with the local centres we have around Bristol that makes it easy for us to get what we need without travelling too far.
Thankfully, we are investing in our city centre (although an arena would be a great addition to this!) and alongside this has to be to investment in our local centres – bringing communities together and making it easier still to get what we need without getting in our cars. Places like Filwood, Symes Avenue in Hartcliffe, Southmead and St Mark’s Road in Easton – the very opposite to expanding an enormous shopping centre and car park on the edge of Bristol.
Sandy Hore-Ruthven
Sandy Hore-Ruthven is the Green Party mayoral candidate for Bristol.
Read more: Cribbs Causeway expansion plans rejected
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