Don't Rubber Stamp the Bottle Yard Studios Sale!: Email Bristol Councillors Now!

I am a Bristol resident and member of Equity trade union. Last year you committed to consulting with Equity on the sale of Bottle Yard Studios at the 14 October 2024 meeting of the Strategy and Resources Policy Committee.To date, Equity's representatives have received no such invitation to be consulted by the committee or council officers. Before the 14 October committee, Equity was offered a hurried meeting at 24 hours notice with Director, Economy of Place Alex Hearn, where the trade union's representatives were told the sale was happening, but that the justifications for the sale were commercially sensitive and could not be disclosed.As you will know if you have ever taken part in business or industrial negotiations, this is not 'meaningful' consultation. Equity represents the vast majority of freelance creative workers who use Bottle Yard Studios. Our livelihoods will be directly impacted by this sale. We deserve to be heard before any decision is made.I am asking you to block this sale until the committee invites Equity to a consultation and vote 'NO' to any report recommending a disposal of Bottle Yard studios.Equity's key concern is that opportunities for good quality work in film & TV remain or grow in Bristol. Whatever happens to Bottle Yard, we want to see safeguards bake in on jobs and opportunities for freelance workers. Bottle Yard Studios is a strategically curcial asset which contributes to Bristol as a City of Film, and supports Bristol City of Film's commitment to diversity in the sector. We have no guarantees that any buyer for Bottle Yard will continue the crucial work of supporting the small scale film production that is the bread and butter of freelance Equity members' work.To date Bristol City Council has ignored in their research and market testing the views of the thousands of freelance workers who make the bottle yard what it is. We are offering council staff the opportunity to take on board what those workers have to say about the proposals before rushing through a sale. The financial consequences of this decision, on a large workforce in Bristol is being ignored. This would not happen in any other sector.We want to be part of the solution at Bottle Yard Studios, and would ask you to consult with Equity urgently on this sale.Until that point, I ask you to vote NO on any proposal to progress the disposal of Bottle Yard Studios.

Email Bristol Councillors to block the sale of Bottle Yard Studios