Alex SeabrookBristol’s mayor’s office has been accused of “lying” about a decision on reopening a popular Harbourside walking route to cars.
Councillors were due to decide in May on whether to give permission for the plans, but the decision was pulled at the last minute.
The Bristol City Council administration has blamed a Green planning chair for pulling this decision.
Green councillor Ani Stafford-Townsend claimed this was “misinformation.”
Responding to criticism of the mayor’s office involvement in planning matters, Mayor Marvin Rees said: “We aren’t passive spectators when it comes to developing the city.”
Avon Crescent was shut to through-traffic for several years and became a popular walking and cycling route around the Harbourside.
The small residential street recently reopened to taxis and buses despite road safety fears among locals, without any decision by a planning committee.
Local resident Martin Rands asked why the mayor’s office pulled a decision on the application shortly before the committee was due to meet in May, in a written question to full council on 12 September.
But the recently published response blamed the decision’s withdrawal instead on the chair of the development control B committee, councillor Stafford-Townsend.
“The chair of the committee, councillor Stafford-Townsend, asked that it be postponed and brought back at a later date.”
Ms Stafford-Townsend denied this and accused the mayor’s office of “spreading misinformation”.
Pulled decision
An email sent the day before the committee meeting by John Smith, executive director of growth and regeneration at the council, appears to show the mayor’s office did indeed request the decision be pulled from the meeting.
In the email, seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Smith said: “Kevin Slocombe [the mayor’s chief of staff] has just contacted me re the Avon Crescent item.
“Given the various views on this, they would like to pull it from tomorrow’s meeting and have another think about the best approach.”
Ms Stafford-Townsend claimed that the decision was then pulled from the meeting without their consent.
They called on the mayor to apologise and alleged that his office had “openly lied” and “meddled in the planning process”.
Mayor Marvin Rees said: “We have an active role in shaping our future and ensuring that developers reach our ambitions for the city, particularly in the areas of housing, transport and public realm.
“That’s the leadership a modern city like Bristol, with all its challenges and opportunities, needs.”
