Date set for long-awaited Turbo Island legal battle
A public inquiry will be held in the summer
A date has finally been set for a long-awaited legal battle over protecting Turbo Island as a “village green”. A barrister will hear from both sides of the debate over two or three days in June as campaigners try to get the infamous corner in Stokes Croft protected from development.
The public inquiry into Turbo Island will be held on June 16 and 17, with an extra day on June 18 if needed, in the St Pauls Learning Centre. The inquiry will be open to members of the public to attend. Then the barrister will consider the arguments and give advice to Bristol City Council about what the next steps should be.
Protecting somewhere as a town or village green is a legal way of ensuring the public has access and developers can’t build anything there. While village greens are usually used for innocuous activities like ball games and barbecues, what happens on Turbo Island is different. An update was given to the public rights of way and greens committee on Thursday, January 22.
Tom Dunsdon, a council solicitor, said: “I’ve been trying to sort out dates and a venue. We have a venue, which is the St Pauls Learning Centre. It’s a two-day inquiry with a third day overrun. There may be an evening session.”
One key test will be whether the activities on Turbo Island count as “lawful pastimes”. Revellers and street drinkers often converge on the corner of Stokes Croft and Jamaica Street, starting bonfires, playing music and holding impromptu parties.
While the site is a crime hotspot, with Avon and Somerset Police receiving a report of crime every other day, the anarchic nature of Turbo Island is symbolic of the wider neighbourhood and is cherished by some locals. Other people in the area say the bonfires and music are anti-social.
The barrister’s report could advise the site is protected, but they could also say there are valid arguments on both sides and end up inconclusive. The greens committee will consider the advice and then vote on whether to protect Turbo Island as a green. This could still then be challenged in the courts, if anybody unhappy with the result applies for a judicial review.
Conservative Councillor John Goulandris, chair of the greens committee, said: “The inspector will hear all the evidence, the inspector will write a report, and the report will come to PROWG the public rights of way and greens committee. We are seeing some definite progress. I know this one has been quite slow.”
Turbo Island was originally home to a building that was bombed during the second world war. The site was then left empty as constructing a new building there was considered too difficult, particularly given the awkward sight lines for drivers navigating the tight corner from Jamaica Street around to Stokes Croft. Then in the 2000s, the site became a counter-cultural symbol.
Following years of complaints about noise and smoke, the former landowners Wildstone, an advertising company, paved over Turbo Island to make the area less attractive for bonfires and street drinkers. However the antics there continued, and anti-social behaviour increased when the council cleaned up the nearby Bearpit, which appeared to just shift the problem up the road.
Wildstone sold the site to another advertising company, Out of Hand, in 2024. There were fears that the new owners could build something there. This prompted the People’s Republic of Stokes Croft, a community group, to apply to the council to register Turbo Island as a village green.