PRSC believes that Stokes Croft has been criminally and deliberately neglected by Government; that local government has treated Stokes Croft as the sink, the sewer of the city of Bristol.

Poor Government has been complicit in its decline, and the area receives more neglectful treatment of the problems that currently face it than would be tolerated elsewhere in the City. Despite, and perhaps because of, times of great adversity that were not visited equally upon all areas of the City, a culture has evolved here in Stokes Croft that is strong, beautiful and vibrant. PRSC is committed to safeguarding and nurturing this freedom of spirit.

We do not accept that top-down dictatorial government is the only possibility for decision-making in Society, nor that the rule of the State is the only possible way for people to organise themselves.

A State that often favours the interests of those who are direct beneficiaries of Financial Institutions, that continues to favour the interests of excessively powerful Corporations over the interests of the Local Community whom they were elected to serve, is necessarily suspect:

We must suspect the motives of Government; we must challenge decisions that are visited upon us from afar.

The City of Bristol has chosen over the last years to heed the Corporate Sector, to the extent that a retail area has been created in the Heart of our City where Private Corporations decide how we must behave in the Public Space of our own City.

We must develop a vision for a future, a future of our own making. We must cherish and encourage the spirit of tolerance, acceptance, experimentation and otherness that flourishes here.

We are committed to the shining star that is Stokes Croft.

Fifty years’ work

In 1946, town planners had to decide whether to demolish many buildings to make space for Broadmead Shopping centre in the heart of the city. 416 people voted for the development. 13,363 people voted against it. The council of the day gave permission for the developers to build.

Fast forward to March 2010, when according to survey, 93% of local people rejected plans for a new Tesco to be opened in Stokes Croft.

More than 2,500 letters of protest were delivered to Bristol City Council. Despite vocal and sustained, near-unanimous local opposition, the council gave permission for Tesco to open its doors eight months later.

 If you believe in doing things differently, get in touch: contact@prsc.org.uk