Council lawyers refused to give details of what those development plans might beTurbo Island could become a ‘village green'(Image: Alex Seabrook)

Secret plans to build on Turbo Island could scupper protecting the infamous Stokes Croft corner as a village green. Bristol City Council will hire a barrister to find out if a mysterious “trigger event” has occurred, but the public was not told what that is or how much the barrister will cost.

Turbo Island sits at the corner of Stokes Croft and Jamaica Street and for years has been home to impromptu raves, bonfires and people drinking and taking drugs. Last year the site was sold from one advertising company to another, sparking concerns about a potential new building.

Campaigners from the People’s Republic of Stokes Croft are hoping to protect Turbo Island from development, by applying to the council to register it as a “town or village green”. This is a legal protection that ensures members of the public can access an area.

But village green applications are often bizarrely complex. Councillors on the public rights of way and greens committee voted to hire a barrister to report back to them on whether the application can actually go ahead, during a meeting on Thursday, July 10.

If a developer has applied for planning permission to build something there — a four-storey block of flats with a shop on the ground floor was previously suggested — that could stop the application from going ahead. Another obstacle would be if Turbo Island was included in the council’s wider Local Plan, which sets out how many parts of Bristol should develop.

Council lawyers were coy about whether either of those two things have happened, and refused to give details during the public meeting. But they admitted that they were unable to figure out themselves if the potential development plans would scupper the application — known in legal jargon as a trigger event or statutory incompatibility. So now taxpayers will pay for a barrister.

Nancy Rollason, head of legal services, said: “It’s about the existence of a development plan. I don’t think I want to get into any detail. We’re seeking legal advice on this issue. I’m not going to talk about legal advice that we’re going to be taking from somebody. I don’t think it would be appropriate.”

When asked how much a barrister would cost, she claimed that was “commercially sensitive”. Labour Councillor Don Alexander likened the application to writing a “blank cheque”, with the potential for the ongoing saga to escalate in legal costs. The advice is expected to be received in four weeks, with the committee discussing its results the next time they meet in October.

Cllr Alexander said: “This committee is acting in a silo in a governance system which frankly has a vacuum where political leadership should be. It means that we might just spend money and spend money. I would suggest the strategy and resources committee should engage with the applicant and ask what it is they want and give us guidance on how far we should pursue this.

“We could just buy that land and declare it a village green ourselves. At the moment, a blank cheque may be overstating it, but it’s certainly not clear ultimately what we’re going to spend on this.”

Turbo Island was bought by Out of Hand, an advertising company based in Bedminster that does flyering and billboards across Bristol, for £100,000 last year. The firm operates the billboards there, and previously denied owning the site but later admitted this was an error. They declined to comment for this article.

The secrecy surrounding a potential trigger event sparked anger from a barrister representing the applicants. Daniel Bennett said the Turbo Island application appeared to be taking much longer than other village green applications he has worked on in the past.

He said: “This is my 12th town green application in the region over the last 20 years. This one isn’t really progressing in the way that they traditionally do. It just seems that this is going to stretch on for years without any decisions being made.

“What are you seeking advice on? We’re not being told what you’re seeking advice on. Do you want to go straight to a judicial review? Because you’re not telling us what he’s deciding on and not letting us make submissions on it.”

If a trigger event hasn’t happened and the application can go ahead, then the applicants will be able to make further legal submissions. The next question would be whether the council’s own lawyers can provide adequate advice to the committee, on whether they should grant the application and register Turbo Island as a green — or if they need to hire yet another barrister.