Historic Brunswick Club will be turned into offices

Campaigners who fought in vain to preserve the historic Brunswick Club as a community arts venue say the case highlights a wider threat to Bristol’s cultural landscape.

Plans to turn the former working men’s club in St Paul’s into office space met with more than 300 objections and were refused by councillors last year, but the decision was overturned by a national planning inspectorate on April 30.

Owners Nordic Star Investments Ltd now intend to invest £2m in restoring and redeveloping the Grade II-listed buildings on York Street, which were leased to a collective of artists, musicians, film makers and performers until mid-March.

Director of CSJ Planning Michael Orr, who handled the hearing on behalf of the owners, has hailed the appeal decision a “triumph of common sense” and a chance to supply employment space for the area.

But The Brunswick Club, the community interest company that ran the venue as a vibrant arts space argue it’s a sad indictment of a national planning system that puts the monetary value of buildings before community interests.

For two years, the venue was run as an artist-led community and venue that champions alternative culture and new ideas. Photo of EBU © Simon Holliday

“We were producing a programme that was not really obtainable anywhere else in the city,” said Oliver Sutherland, speaking on behalf of The Brunswick Club CIC.

“We submitted strong evidence that highlighted the community value of the project we run and also the importance of the building in the city’s cultural landscape.

“My anger is that it sets a precedent that planning is about a building’s monetary value and not its community value. The main thing this hearing has done is highlight the fragility of artistic culture in the city.

“With a number of venues, art spaces and community projects at risk of losing space and the rise of rapid development in Bristol city centre, it’s becoming harder for non-commercial and non-profit projects to exist.

“Ultimately, this threatens Bristol’s diverse cultural landscape and the key things that the city are seemingly so proud of and trades on – music and art.

“The city is changing quite dramatically. All the properties around the area have been sold and they are all up for development and it’s not development for the community.”

The appeal decision follows a long-running battle to maintain Hamilton House as a community hub amid plans to partially redevelop the building into flats and the sale of both Lakota and Blue Mountain, which are due to be turned into ‘mixed-use’ developments.

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The Brunswick Club buildings were part of the original design composition for Brunswick Square, laid out in the second half of the 18th century and the site is one of the oldest surviving examples of Georgian town planning in Bristol.

The collective of artists and performers leased the property from March 2017 until they were asked to vacate the premises on March 15 2019, three days before the hearing.

The buildings are some of the oldest surviving examples of Georgian town planning in Bristol

In the appeal decision, the inspector acknowledges that any community benefit of the plans to develop the building would be of secondary importance to the primary objective of letting commercial floor space.

The document states: “Therefore, the change of use of the appeal buildings to B1 office use would lead to the loss of a community facility.”

The inspector continues: “There has been under-investment in the fabric of the buildings for some considerable period of time. I find that overall, the safeguarding and enhancement of these designated heritage assets would be significant benefits.”

Brunswick Club CIC had expressed interest in purchasing the property to safeguard its use as a community arts space, but the inspector raised doubts about the financial viability of this.

Work is expected to start this year on redeveloping the building into office space for small and medium-sized businesses.

Speaking about the appeal decision, Orr said: “The plan is to invest £2m and stop the buildings falling to pieces, they are in desperate need of refurbishment.

“The appeal addressed whether the community use could stop the buildings falling apart and the inspector found they could not and a sensible way forward was to promote local employment. The plan is to preserve and restore the buildings and put them back into active employment use.

“I thought the inspector’s decision was a triumph of common sense. It will provide space for small businesses and there is a huge demand for that.”

The Brunswick Club became well known as an arts and performance space

Brunswick Club CIC is currently working from Pennywell Studios on Pennywell Road and remains committed to producing a programme of events and projects, with the support of Bristol City Council and the Originators Fund.

This will be an itinerant programme and will be hosted across the city in various venues and spaces. Details will be available on www.brunswickclub.org.uk or www.facebook.com/thebrunswickclub/.

Read more: Seeds of change in St Paul’s