![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1752401002_210_1_Turbo-Island.jpg\")
Turbo Island could become a ‘village green'(Image: Alex Seabrook)<\/p>\nCouncil lawyers refused to give details of what those development plans might beTurbo Island could become a ‘village green'(Image: Alex Seabrook)<\/p>\n
Secret plans to build on Turbo Island could scupper protecting the infamous Stokes Croft corner as a village green. Bristol City Council<\/a> will hire a barrister to find out if a mysterious \u201ctrigger event\u201d has occurred, but the public was not told what that is or how much the barrister will cost.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Campaigners from the People\u2019s Republic of Stokes Croft are hoping to protect Turbo Island<\/a> from development, by applying to the council to register it as a \u201ctown or village green\u201d. This is a legal protection that ensures members of the public can access an area.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n If a developer has applied for planning permission to build something there \u2014 a four-storey block of flats with a shop on the ground floor was previously suggested \u2014 that could stop the application from going ahead. Another obstacle would be if Turbo Island was included in the council\u2019s wider Local Plan, which sets out how many parts of Bristol should develop.<\/p>\n 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 \u2014 known in legal jargon as a trigger event or statutory incompatibility. So now taxpayers will pay for a barrister.<\/p>\n Nancy Rollason, head of legal services, said: \u201cIt\u2019s about the existence of a development plan. I don\u2019t think I want to get into any detail. We\u2019re seeking legal advice on this issue. I\u2019m not going to talk about legal advice that we\u2019re going to be taking from somebody. I don\u2019t think it would be appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n