Features / Haymarket Walk
What next for Haymarket Walk?
A repossession order is plastered to the shuttered up windows of Loot Vintage in Haymarket Walk.
Loot is one of a number of businesses in the concrete underpass connecting the Bearpit and Cannon Street that is due to be demolished under plans which were approved last week to replace the Premier Inn site with two new tower blocks.
The proposed redevelopment of the site which overlooks the Bearpit would see the demolition of the current building, which is also home to a Beefeater restaurant and Cannon Street car park, as well as a number of small businesses in Haymarket Walk, including Sky Kong Kong, The Mayflower, and until recently, Loot Vintage and vegetarian restaurant, Flow.
is needed now More than ever
In their place, developers Olympian Homes plan to build two new towers, standing at 28-storeys and 18-storeys respectively, one of which would host student accommodation with 422 bedrooms, while the other would contain 142 co-living spaces. 26 studio flats of the co-living block would be ‘affordable’.
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Read more: Approval for developements with 28-story tower block
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It’s a controversial plan – many of the objections centre around the proposed height and the lack of affordable housing – and one that is largely selling itself on its proposals for the development of the public space surrounding what will be one of the tallest building in Bristol when construction is complete.
So why has so little been asked about what will become of the businesses that occupy the current site, including on Haymarket Walk? And how the public space in which they reside be managed in the future?
Under the plans, Haymarket Walk will be levelled and replaced with a public space with a cafe, seating areas and green spaces – image: Hodder + Partners
A design and access statement from the developers gives an idyllic vision for the space: “A vital part of the proposals is the activation of the public realm, creating a vibrant, welcoming and safe space for all users,” it says.
The planning application include plans for better pedestrian access, covered seating spaces, a more inviting bus station entrance, and a central pavilion in the form of “a cylindrical kiosk, clad in bronze anodised aluminium panels with a free form canopy” which could hold “a coffee shop, flower shop or food establishment”.
Some of these proposals have been welcomed. For example the changes to the St James’ Park entrance would open up views to the historic St James’ Priory, currently largely hidden behind the Beefeater. And plans to bring in over 2,000 more square metres of public space, 43 new trees, and a play area, could finally revitalise what is currently a neglected concrete muddle in Bristol’s city centre.
There have been a number of attempts to improve the area in and around the Bearpit. It’s been the focus of numerous civic and creative projects over the years, as various groups have attempted to breathe life into the spatially awkward walkway under the roundabout, from theatre projects, community kitchens, markets, and even a community garden run by Edible Bristol.
This changed in 2018 when the council took back full control of the site, and since then – besides a summer clean-up with involved installing flower planters, the removal of the famous Ursa the bear, some extra lighting, and graffiti clearances, the site has remained largely untouched, apart from the trickle of rough sleepers who have found comfort in the protective walls beneath the constant flow of traffic above.
This extends to Haymarket Walk, which will soon be subsumed as part of Olympian Homes’ proposals. The two levels once contained some of the most interesting shops in Bristol including record shops Replay and Virgin, But nearly every business is now closed, and the remaining couple have been told they have to move out by June 1, when the site will be levelled.
A week after plans were approved for the two tower blocks, every shop in Haymarket Walk, apart from the Mayflower Chinese restaurant, was boardered up – photo: Mia Vines Booth
One of Bristol’s most popular restaurants is located in Haymarket Walk. Sky Kong Kong, managed by Wizzy Chung has been the subject of two attacks by vandals in less than a year, including the destruction of her plants in August, and the smashing up of her restaurant in February this year.
But Wizzy has sympathy for rough sleepers in the area – one of which was helping her plant her vegetables and herbs before they were vandalised – and is cautious to blame the issues with the area on them.
Since the Premier Inn site plans were approved, Wizzy has been largely silent on social media, and it’s not clear yet if she will relocate her business to another location following what is an end of lease notice from the developers.
But closures are already in order. A repossession sign on the boarded-up Loot Vintage informs the owners that the locks have been changed. In a farewell message on Instagram, the Loot team said that their time on Haymarket Walk has been “a momentous part of our lives”.
Haymarket Walk once contained some of Bristol’s most interesting shops – photo: Martin Booth
In a statement, they said: “For those that don’t know, we have been evicted due to student accommodation being built on our spot. Everything comes to an end but we would like to say to all the wonderful customers, staff and friends we have made over the last decade at the Bearpit, a massive thank you for the amazing energy given and love and support to keep a small business moving and grooving in Bristol city centre.”
A restaurant directly opposite Sky Kong Kong also announced it would be closing up shop the day the plans were approved.
A statement from the owners of Flow, an award-winning vegetarian restaurant that has been there since 2016, said: “The time has come, the developers are upon us and alas our last service will be Saturday June 1.
“Some of you may have seen that the Bearpit area is being regenerated and unfortunately that means our little hideaway will be meeting with a wrecking ball at some point in 2024. Thus, we have been given notice to pack our knapsacks and mosey on out.”
Down the road, God’s House International Centre, a church under the Premier Inn with a strong community, is another business that has been told to close before June 1. They told Bristol24/7 they don’t know where they will go, and are worried the people they support will struggle without them.
Most people are in agreement that the site around the Bearpit needs improvement. Indeed, initial consultations carried out by Olympian Homes, 73 per cent of respondents said the space currently does not feel welcoming or safe and, anecdotally (according to the developer) most people didn’t like the experience of walking in or around the current site, with some calling the space “ugly”, “intimidating”, “unsafe”, “horrid” and “abandoned”.
But many of those who criticised the current site, also agreed that communities should be involved in the plans. A number of objections submitted to the council argue that the development is a missed opportunity.
Add to this, a 28-story tower block development proposed for the empty Debenhams next door, which also overlooks the Bearpit, and its difficult to see how either of them will contribute to changing the face of the Bearpit itself.
In a consultation for the St James’ Square site, some respondents suggested building a new community centre or garden where the Haymarket currently stands, or even a homeless shelter. So a “wrecking ball”-style transformation, as the owner of Flow described the development, might not be the right answer.
Olympian Homes’ proposals could also just be the latest example of the creeping rise of pseudo-public spaces managed by private developers in the city. This was seen most recently in Temple Quay last year, when signs appeared banning photos – and were then taken down – in what many assumed was a public space, and also in sites like Cabot Circus, Wapping Wharf, Finzels Reach and Millenium Square, which are all owned and managed by private organisations.
While these areas all appear public, they are in fact privately owned, often with a lack of transparency over who owns the site and if and how the public can use the area.
Cannon Street will be opened up with a new public green space by the bus station – photo: Mia Vines Booth
God’s House International Centre, a church under the Premier Inn with a strong community, is another business that has been told to close before June 1 – image: Hodder+Partners
When you apply this kind of management to somewhere like the Bearpit – long seen as a space synonymous with hosting community events, supporting vulnerable people and even an anarchist canvas for others – the idea of replacing this with a new pseudo-public space feels largely at odds with this vision.
There are some creative proposals for the space put forward by Olympian Homes, which suggest a level of community engagement, including public art projects, one of which is already in the works with Gingko Projects, an independent public art and cultural producer who are the team behind public art projects across the UK, including on East Street in Bedminster. But how this will look in reality is yet to be seen.
Olympian Homes still have an opportunity to transform the area making up Haymarket Walk into a community-owned and invested-in public space, but it will require a much more rigorous community engagement process that allows those who use and interact with Haymarket Walk to help shape its future.
Main photo: Mia Vines Booth
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