Mayor’s office accused of ‘lying’ about reopening road to cars

The Bristol mayor’s office has been accused of “lying” about a decision on reopening a popular walking route to cars.

Councillors were due to decide in May on whether to give permission for the plans, but this decision was mysteriously pulled at the last minute.

The administration at Bristol City Council is blaming planning chair Ani Stafford-Townsend for pulling the decision but the Green councillor has hit back and claimed this was “misinformation”.

Avon Crescent on Spike Island was shut to through-traffic for several years and became a popular walking and cycling route around the Floating Harbour.

The small residential street between the Nova Scotia pub and Cumberland Road recently reopened to cars despite road safety fears among locals, without any decision by a planning committee.

Avon Crescent recently reopened to cars despite a promise by mayor Marvin Rees saying that this would not happen – photo: Martin Booth

Local resident Martin Rands asked why the mayor’s office pulled a decision on the application shortly before the committee was due to meet in May, in a written question to the full council on September 12.

But the recently published response blamed the decision’s withdrawal instead on Stafford-Townsend, chair of the development control B committee at City Hall.

It is unclear who wrote the response, which said: “The application wasn’t withdrawn by the mayor’s office. The chair of the committee, Cllr Stafford-Townsend, asked that it be postponed and brought back at a later date.”

Stafford-Townsend denied this and accused the mayor’s office of “spreading misinformation”.

An email sent the day before the committee meeting by John Smith, executive director of growth & regeneration at the council, appears to show the mayor’s office did indeed request the decision be pulled from the meeting.

An email which appears to show it was Kevin Slocombe from the mayor’s office who requested the Avon Crescent decision to be pulled from a planning meeting – photo: Ani Stafford-Townsend

In the email, Smith said: “Kevin Slocombe has just contacted me re the Avon Crescent item. Given the various views on this, they would like to pull it from tomorrow’s meeting and have another think about the best approach.”

Stafford-Townsend claimed that the decision was then pulled from the meeting without their consent.

They called on Rees to apologise and alleged that his office is “meddling in the planning process”, which is meant to not be party political.

Often referred to as the mayor’s chief of staff, Slocombe – whose official job title is head of the mayor’s office – is the one party political appointee allowed by the mayor.

The trade unionist previously worked for Jeremy Corbyn, with a Freedom of Information request from 2020 revealing he earned a salary of £95,000 – more than the mayor himself.

Stafford-Townsend said: “It’s bad enough that the mayor’s office appears to have been meddling in the planning process, but to openly lie about it in this way only undermines public trust in the council and those of us elected to public office.

“I urge the mayor to apologise and to restrain his office from both interfering in the planning process and spreading misinformation.”

Responding to criticism of the mayor’s office involvement in planning matters, Rees said that “we aren’t passive spectators when it comes to developing the city”.

Rees said: “We have an active role in shaping our future and ensuring that developers reach our ambitions for the city, particularly in the areas of housing, transport and public realm.

“That’s the leadership a modern city like Bristol – with all its challenges and opportunities – needs.”

Main photo: Martin Booth

Read next:

• Road to reopen to cars despite mayor’s promise
• ‘A white line on the road is our council’s version of pavement widening’
• Former electrical power house becomes Bristol’s latest listed building

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