Bristol MetroBus protesters cost council ?1m

MetroBus protesters who were evicted from Stapleton Allotments said they take “no responsibility” for more than £1 million in costs estimated by the council.

Bristol City Council released details of the running costs of the six-week protest which took place in March, including High Court orders and specialist bailiffs used to remove protesters living in trees.

A spokesman at the council added that costs were still rising due to continued on-site security to prevent protest regaining access.

Protesters, organised by the Rising Up movement, spent six weeks camped in trees on the allotment site, part of which is due to be converted into a new junction for the £200 million MetroBus network.

Belinda Faulkes, a spokesperson for the protesters, told Bristol247: “We were well within our rights to protest and it is the council who chose to react in the way they did. There were other options, like negotiating, so we take no responsibility for these cost.”

She added: “If they are trying to blame protesters for costs of £1 million, well that is just a joke. We offered to communicate with them but they chose this route.

“If they are talking about a waste of money here, then they should look at the MetroBus project in total.”

She said Rising Up had agreed to leave the site now and had not attempted to regain access.

Estimated costs associated with the eviction were as follows:

• £100,000 security prior to eviction 
• £70,000 legal costs including securing two High Court orders 
• £150,000 in planning for the eviction process including risk assessments, resource planning and information gathering 
• £50,000 for fencing and plant contractors
• £650,000 for security staff, High Court Enforcement officer, bailiffs and a specialist rescue team 

Bristol mayor George Ferguson said he had sympathy with the protest, but said the costs were largely due to “extreme measures” taken by some of them.

He added: “It is most frustrating that this action should have continued at a very real cost to local tax-payers despite all that I have done to engage directly and to explain the history and inevitability of the situation as well as  the measures I have taken to protect the majority of the land for food growing for all time. 

“The MetroBus works at Stapleton have full legal and planning approval and these very significant costs are deeply regrettable. They could so easily have been avoided if protestors had complied with the court ruling or chosen to make their points in a lawful way.”

Brian Allinson, chair of the West of England Joint Transport Executive Committee, said MetroBus will provide greener, more sustainable public transport.

He added: “We are standing fast to this big-picture commitment and working together to make it happen. With attempts to access the land still happening on a regular basis, we need to keep an ongoing security presence on site so we can keep the site safe for benefit of the local community.  

“It also means we can continue works to reconfigure the allotment site and provide improved facilities for allotment holders.  Once these works are complete work will start on the new MetroBus junction on the M32.”

Once work on the allotments is complete, construction work for a new bus-only junction will get underway.

The link, which is part of the North Fringe/Hengrove Park MetroBus route, is estimated to reduce journey times between Hengrove and the University of West of England by 27 minutes. Protesters dispute this claim.

The £200m MetroBus project includes £113m Department for Transport funding plus contributions from North Somerset, South Gloucestershire and Bristol City councils.

The three rapid transit bus routes in the MetroBus network have received full planning permission following eight years of preparatory work and extensive public consultation. Services on the network are due to commence in 2016/17.