People in South Bristol who are campaigning to stop plans for what would be the tallest building ever built south of the river are warning council planners they will be taken to the High Court unless they think again about the plans, after they reached a new fundraising target to pay for the legal challenge.
The ‘Build Bedminster Better’ campaign has reached its goal of raising £10,000 to try to challenge the planning permission granted to developers to build tower blocks next to Victoria Park, and say they are now in a position to take court action against the council.
The campaign group have hired the same barrister who successfully persuaded developers and the council to rethink the plans for ‘Redcatch Quarter’ – the 850-home plan for the Broadwalk Shopping Centre in Knowle – and are now waiting for formal planning permission to be granted for the Bedminster plan, before they take the next step.
The group will have a six week window to lodge a request for a judicial review, which only starts after the formal paperwork is signed and sealed between the city council and the developers of the site at Princess Street. That process of completing the fine print of the planning permission could well take months, but the campaign group say they will be ready when it eventually does happen.
In the meantime, they are calling on councillors to ask for the case to be brought back before the planning committee – which would be for the fourth time – to get the developers to go back to the drawing board.
The development would see a 23-storey tower block of purpose-built student accommodation for around 400 students, with three other blocks of build-to-rent flats creating 434 new homes.
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The development is the first major part of what is called the Whitehouse Lane Regeneration Scheme, which will eventually see the large industrial estate area in Bedminster, between the New Cut River Avon and Victoria Park, be transformed into thousands of new homes.
Councillors on the planning committee voted 4-1 in favour of granting planning permission – with three abstentions – back in April, triggering local residents who oppose the plan to donate thousands of pounds to the campaign to challenge the scheme.
Residents out in force at Victoria Park in Bristol, Tuesday 24 March 2026 as they oppose a new 22 floor tower block which has been granted planning permission. This, in their opinion, will blight the skyline view from the park.(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach Plc)
This week, the Build Bedminster Better campaign group said their target of £10,000 was reached, but they are calling on councillors to avoid a costly legal wrangle and bring the scheme back for consideration again.
“Quite frankly, it has taken a day to sink in and we feel slightly speechless in the face of the generosity you have shown towards this campaign,” a spokesperson said. “It is a clear sign that you want us to do this but we will save popping any corks until we have the developers back at City Hall with some acceptable plans,” he added.
The campaigners hope the time taken for planning permission to be awarded will give councillors the chance to rethink the idea, with the threat of legal action.
“If BCC refuses to respond sufficiently to our concerns we will issue a pre-action letter – a confirmation of our intention to pursue a judicial review. We have a window of six weeks to do this from the formal publication of the granting of the application,” the spokesperson said.
“In the meantime we are working to have this application brought back to committee and are giving BCC an opportunity to reconsider their decision,” he added.
(Image: Local Democracy Reporting Service)
The group said they want the whole of Bristol to support them – warning that if a 23-storey tower block can be given permission in front of a famous city viewpoint like the one in Victoria Park, it sets a precedent for the whole city.
“This application really will affect decisions for the future so, while fundamentally a local campaign, this is about principles that will continue to arise across the city,” the group said.
“We are not naive about the process we are embarking upon and how much it will ultimately cost if we get this heard in the High Court. However, we simply cannot let this development go ahead without showing our absolute opposition to it. We know that many of you feel as strongly as we do,” they added.
As well as the fundraising, the group has launched a petition, and are planning to hold an open public meeting as their campaign ramps up.