Castle Park public inquiry adjourned until January
After five days of hearings at the Old Council House, in Corn Street, the public inquiry into whether the area should be given protective "town green" status was adjourned last night.
Lawyers for the city council and developers Deeley Freed, who are opposing the application, spent yesterday making their final submissions.
The applicants' barrister, Daniel Bennett, will not get his chance to do the same until the resumed hearing on January 7 next year.
The independent inspector, Vivian Chapman QC, said the venue for the completion of the inquiry had yet to be decided.
With the formal proceedings over, Mr Chapman will then adjourn – possibly, for some months – while he deliberates on what course of action to recommend to Bristol City Council.
The council – which makes the final decision in its role as the commons registration authority – is unlikely to differ from the inspector's recommendations, despite opposing the application as the landowner.
Whether the St Mary le Port end of the park, opposite Corn Street and St Nicholas Markets, is granted town green status, will affect whether development there can go ahead.
Redcliffe resident Mary Bannerman is leading the fight to stop the council and Deeley Freed, its chosen developer.
They want to knock down the disused Lloyds Bank and Norwich Union buildings and put up shops and offices on the Wine Street site.
But protesters say the scheme would mean an unacceptable amount of green space was sacrificed and sold off by the city council, which owns the land.
Mrs Bannerman has applied to give the park official town green status, which could see development of any green space banned and mean the entire site – including the derelict buildings – could stay as it is for years.
She said: "We want Castle Park to have the total protection that other town greens have."
Mrs Bannerman said there is no reason why the buildings cannot be redeveloped more or less as they are.
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