Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Bristol Post
Bristol Post
National
Tristan Cork

Man who squatted inside derelict cinema vows to return to halt demolition

A man who set up camp for a day inside a former art deco cinema that’s due to be knocked down has vowed to return to delay the demolition crews in protest at a lack of facilities in the area. Nick Haskins said he walked straight into the cinema building on Filwood Broadway in Knowle West yesterday (Monday).

It comes as the building company tasked with knocking it down and building flats in its place, began stripping out all the fixtures and fittings. The police were called as Nick, a local activist and campaigner, got into what was the projection room and then onto the roof, and broadcast a Facebook Live video pledging to stay there ‘as long as it takes’.

Nick said he was initially occupying the building to prevent it being demolished, but after spending the day inside he now understands it has to be knocked down. Now, he said he will go back in when the demolition crews return next month to highlight the dire need for more facilities for young people in the area.

Read next: Plans for 30 homes at old Filwood Broadway cinema approved by councillors

Back in 2019, developers obtained planning permission to demolish the former 1930s cinema, which turned into a bingo hall in the 1970s and has been left to decay for the past 30 years ago after it closed. But despite having that planning permission, the cinema is still standing - and only now are developers looking to demolish it, having been granted approval for what will replace it.

City planners awarded permission to 30 flats and new shop frontages on the main high street in Filwood, despite pleas from Nick at the planning committee meeting to save the building and restore it.

The former cinema at Filwood Broadway in Knowle West Bristol, Monday 23 January 2023, where demolition work has begun and a notice of asbestos removal is in place. (PAUL GILLIS / Reach PLC)

Nick said he spent around six hours inside the building as the demolition contractors from The Wring Group stripped out the pipes and fittings, but left because asbestos was present.

“I walked in and I walked out,” he told Bristol Live. “They called the police and I told them to return with a warrant, but they never did. I didn’t want to push it too much, but I’ll go back in there as soon as the diggers come back and try to take it down.

“My grandfather built that cinema and to be totally honest with you, having spent the day in there yesterday and seen what it’s like inside now, it’s in a really bad state and I’ve come to the conclusion that they building is quite bad now and I don’t think it can be saved.

“So yesterday was me pointing out that there’s a real need for facilities here, a swimming pool, the library, the kids need a skatepark, they literally haven’t got anything here at the moment,” he added.

How the development would look at the site of the old Filwood Broadway cinema in Knowle West (Bristol City Council)

Last week, the Government announced £14.5m ‘Levelling Up’ funding for Filwood Broadway, although Mr Haskins pointed out that the money is largely going to be spent on new homes, not new community facilities for the area.

Later this week, Bristol City Council is set to finalise plans to spend £4 million of council taxpayers' money on an £8 million South Bristol Youth Zone near Filwood Broadway, on land between Inns Court and the Hartcliffe Way roundabout.

Read more:

To keep up-to-date with the latest South Bristol news, join our community of subscribers with my South Bristol newsletter here.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.