Following a call in inquiry, the Secretary of State has applied his ‘town centre first’ policies and rejected proposals to expand The Mall at Cribbs Causeway by providing over 40,000 sq. m of additional A class floorspace, a hotel and up to 150 dwellings. The proposal was held to be likely to result in a significant adverse impact on the vitality and viability of Bristol City Centre and on planned investment in that centre, and to fail the sequential test as there was a suitable and available site in Bristol City Centre. Christopher Katkowski QC and Richard Moules acted for the applicant. Neil Cameron QC acted for the Bristol Alliance (Hammerson and Axa) who opposed the application. The decision letter and inspector’s report can be viewed here.