Campaigners are calling for people to object to the proposals
The back of the St George’s Hall building, which holds a disused art deco cinema
The campaign to save a former Bristol cinema from being redeveloped into housing has intensified after new plans were submitted. The campaign to save the Art Deco Redfield Cinema on Church Road now hopes to prevent developers from turning the old cinema building into a 42 bed HMO with additional parking.
In a post shared to the Save Redfield Cinema Facebook page on Christmas Eve, campaign admins wrote: “Merry Christmas folks! After a lengthy pause, following the planning inspectorate rejection, Landrose have submitted another planning application for their 42bed HMO (with extra parking this time) in the old cinema building.
“Let’s give them a nice little bundle of objections to wake up to tomorrow morning. Key points; Concentration of HMOs in the area is too high to support this scheme, parking spaces appear to be too small to meet regulations, no consideration towards introducing additional pressure on street parking, made even more important in recent times due to the introduction of the EBLN, and the new design makes up for removing the proposed bedsits from the ground floor by packing them in even more tightly to the floors above, and removing amenities such as the games room.”
The post also included a link to the planning application on the Bristol City Council website, where campaigners urged people to make a comment to lodge their objection to the plans. The plans detail a ‘proposed change of use and extension of the existing building to create a scheme of nine HMO Cluster Units (42 beds) together with alterations to the south (Church Road) ground floor street elevation’.
The application, which is currently ‘pending consideration’ was received on November 27 and validated on December 15. At time of writing (January 2) the application currently has more than 70 public comments objecting to the plans.
Among the objections, one comment not only highlighted the cinema but also other issues that an HMO would bring, and said: “The concentration of HMOs in this area is already unacceptably high. Approval of this application would further exacerbate an existing imbalance in housing provision, contrary to the aim of maintaining a mixed, sustainable community.
St Georges hall’s hidden cinema closed in the 1960s when the venue became a bingo hall before being sold to JD Wetherspoon(Image: Paul Gillis/Bristol Live)
“The proposed parking spaces appear to be undersized and may not meet current regulatory standards. This raises concerns about their practicality and compliance with local planning and highways requirements. The application fails to adequately consider the additional pressure the development would place on existing on-street parking.
“This omission is particularly significant given the recent introduction of the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood, which has already reduced parking capacity and altered traffic patterns in the area. While the proposal removes the originally planned ground-floor bedsits, this reduction is offset by increasing the density of accommodation on the upper floors.
“This results in a more cramped layout overall and the removal of shared amenities, such as the games room, which would otherwise contribute to acceptable living conditions for residents.
“The building is a vital part of the area’s historical identity and has clear potential to be restored as a cultural and social venue. The 1912 cinema within the building could be sensitively renovated to meet modern needs, providing a meaningful community asset while preserving an important piece of local history.
“Conversion to an HMO would permanently remove this opportunity, diminishing the character of Church Road and depriving the community of a unique heritage resource. This application represents yet another attempt by the developer to push through an unsuitable conversion, despite previous refusals.
“This suggests a disregard for both community concerns and the long-term preservation of this historic site. It is essential that the council safeguards this building from development that fails to serve the wider public interest. For the reasons outlined above, I strongly urge the council to refuse this planning application.”
This latest plan comes almost a year after BristolLive reported that the campaign to save the derelict cinema in Redfield had grown following a new appeal from the building owners whose plans proposed the site be turned into a 44-bed HMO, gym and workspace. Following rejections and withdrawals for its previous planning applications the building’s owner, Landrose, appealed the decision over its HMO plans to the government’s Planning Inspectorate at the time.
The Crafty Egg(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach PLC)
Redfield Cinema, which is located on Church Road and still sits empty today at the top of its building, is part of a venue that holds the status of an Asset of Community Value. The building, named St George’s Hall, opened as a cinema in 1912 before expanding 15 years later, shutting in 1961 to become a bingo hall, and then a pub. A Wetherspoons was there from the 1990s, closing in 2021, and the space recently became the third branch of The Crafty Egg cafe, opening in October 2024. But this closed in 2025,
The team behind the Crafty Egg said that the closure was down to a ‘relentless rise in costs’. When it moved into the former pub, which had been closed since 2021, it secured part but not all of the former Wetherspoon venue.
In its original post announcing the news of its takeover, The Crafty Egg confirmed that the agreement “covers the front half of the pub, excluding the old cinema section, beer cellars, kitchens, utilities, bathrooms, and rear customer areas”. The team added: “Nonetheless, we adore the space and are confident the Church Road community will too.
“Should investors aiming to renovate and restore the cinema area to the rear ever purchase it, we support that vision and pledge our assistance!”