Does anyone know what is going on with the former Gala bingo hall at the bottom of North Street? I was passing by there this evening and it appears that squatters have broken in. There were assorted grotty looking vans/minibuses and a whole lot of dodgy looking characters milling around some of whom appeared to be swilling Special Brew.

Just what we need! A knocking shop round the corner, drunks squatting at the old Gala, what's next?! It can take ages and ages to get rid of squatters......

Great! Seems that the building has been taken over (sorry, reclaimed) by 'Temporary Autonomous Art', a group of 'street artists' who turn the building into 'art' by covering it with graffiti inside and out according to their website. In other words trash it. Bang goes the neighbourhood and expect the building to be a bigger eyesore than it is now by tomorrow. That said, a friend has pointed out that now would be a great time to hire a B-52 and take care of all the 'graffiti artists' who have been blighting the area for the last year or so as they are bound to attend. Apparently the police have been informed but don't seem to be doing a lot about it so far.

Colin Smith and I are trying to get the latest info - it's up to the owners to seek eviction but no one will want to see this empty building fall further into decline - and impact on the nearby residents and businesses. Mark Bradshaw Cllr for Bedminster

'free spirits' scarlet1234 does this come in bottles!

To object to the massage parlour on British Road do so asap by email stating planning application 11/00906/F to andy.cross@bristol.gov.uk colin.smith@bristol.gov.uk mark.bradshaw@bristol.gov.uk Or comment here http://tinyurl.com/3lu38bm
It counts to have as many objections as possible!

Hi all I was Involved in this exhibition, Obviously not to everyones taste....
However what we were trying to achieve is Something which is free for ALL to get involved in, bringing together of different walks of life , different talents and skill sharing for free, We actually had a very warm welcome from our close neighbours who decided to get involved and were happy to see somthing new going on in attempt to bring the community together.
The building will be wasted and probably turned into flats in the future, so its a shame its just left there rotting untll that point.
Alot of work and hard effort went into this art exhibition , we had a kids area , workshops, performances and a talent show which a local little boy came first place in after learning to hula hoop in one of our workshops.
As for the terrible graffiti ( tags) Its hard to police that sort of thing and its a shame that people come to ruin others people art , however one mans trash is another mans treasure.
Sorry for any offence to the people who did not enjoy this but please understand we are trying to do a good thing for everyone : )
We fought our illegal eviction to carry on the saturday night through music and art .
The baylift had our contact details and could of let us know in advance that he was coming and it would not of come to a protest of any sort .
he had been rounf teh building himself on thursday and exchanged numbers with us on a verbal agrement that we would leave if was to let us know in advance.

THANK YOU BEDMINSTER MANY OF MY FRIENDS GREW UP THERE AND THE LOCALS WHOP GOT INVOLVED I HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOURSELFS VERY MUCH.
Now back to my brew ta ta xxx

Bubbles... You want to open a community art gallery in Bedminster? Great! Then get a job, work hard, save some money, maybe apply for a lottery or arts council grant, and do it. Don't break into someone else's property and invite the world in as if it were your own! There are loads of venues around Bedminster/Southville which can be hired for next to nothing. If you really have a worthy event to put on, which 'the people' will love, then put something on properly? No? Maybe your 'art gallery' concept just a lame front for having fun at other people's expense and fulfilling your selfish 'punk' ideals?

You seem to do an amazing job of keeping the bailiffs and the authorities out, so how come you can't keep the taggers, ravers and drunks out too? Lame.

You make it sound like the community loves what you're doing? I tell you what, take half an hour today to ask everybody who walks past (and maybe some of the local businesses and residents) if they're in favour or against squatters, as they're negotiating their way around the broken bottles and old sofas which litter the street there now. I suspect it might be a wake-up call for you, or maybe, deep down, you know this already.

However you try to justify it, squatting is theft. Wake up, pack your spray cans and cider and do something genuinely in the interests of 'the community'.

I just found this post and i was at the exhibition, i thought it was really good and was a free space, so much so that there were a number of younger youths that came into the space and proceeded to tag the building and a number of pieces of displayed work.. this obvisously did not go down well... when the crew realised, they did not throw the individuals out but spoke to them and explained the concept of everyone contributing and it was open to all artists & performers...

these individuals worked that afternoon to learn something from a pro graf artist and produced their first pieces learning skills and contributing.

as you can imagine this scene attracts a number of characters which unfortunately come with the territory of being 'open to all' and the exhibition was put on by a number of talented artists and performers who do have day jobs.. who are committed to a different way of thinking about how we live and share the skills that we have..

now you can carry on casting assumptions based on what cans they have in their hands or you can GET INVOLVED.

The next time someone stands on the door of an exhibition inviting you in to come and look... why dont you try getting involved and form and informed perspective on something that is clearly different to how you may view things..

there are more cuts going on less space, more expense, less funding and more talent around than you can imagine.. so move away from your computer games, your internet and try and physically do something.. do not judge a book by its cover and GET INVOLVED...

thats all we did at the bingo hall...

Okay, let's see:

The building is a 'free space'...no it isn't it is currently owned awaiting redevelopment. Padlocks on the doors were cut off using bolt cutters according to witnesses. This is breaking and entering.

The 'number of younger youths' tagging things...firstly, on many Temporary Autonomous Art websites this kind of activity is encouraged. Protestations by the organisers that they tried to stop it are a pack of lies. Also, a great many of the tags are DBK or those of taggers involved with DBK. To those who don't know, that's the Def Bombin' Kru, a group of vandals who want to be Banksy but lack even his limited talent (an attempted exhibition at UWE proved what a laughing stock they were but did provide the transport police with some good evidence) so now spread their 'art' on walls and railways from Bristol to Reading.

"the scene attracts a number of characters"...so those will be the 'characters' involved in a stand off with the TSG and who damaged the building doing so. From where I was standing they looked like the kind of anarchist scumbags who like smashing up Stokes Croft.

Finally, judging people by what can they have in their hand...well, if they have a can of Special Brew and are off their faces I figure they are probably a druggie p*sshead and if they are standing outside of a building covered with tags clutching a spray can then I figure they are most likely a vandalising scr*te who needs a good slap.