News / Bearpit
Charity claims Bearpit ‘has been left to rack and ruin’
“The plants are all overgrown, it’s covered in litter and filth, and it feels immensely disrespectful that a space that had been worked on entirely voluntarily, and which over the years had only cost Bristol City Council £7,500 in funding in the first year, has been left to rack and ruin.”
This is the description of the current state of the Bearpit by Sara Venn of Incredible Edible, a charity that aims to inspire people all over the city to take food production back into their own hands.
The charity had previously created a garden within the raised area of the sunken roundabout officially known as St James Barton, which the city council took back full control of in 2018.
is needed now More than ever
Venn claims that Incredible Edible were told to stop working in the Bearpit by the city council in March and that since then “what seems to have happened since is absolutely nothing”.
“We are really both sad and angry that this has happened,” Venn says in a blog post.
“We have sat back and said nothing as we expected the council teams to respect the work that had been done and continue it in some way.
“But instead we see hugely expensive containers and baskets full of flowers that might be bright but which speak nothing to the climate or biodiversity crisis we have acknowledged.
“As COP26 is happening we would like to call on the council to recognise the failure of this space, and a need to do better in public spaces, and especially in spaces that they have removed from community organisations with no consultation at all.
“The city centre ought to be a place of richness and abundance in spaces where planting takes place, and instead of which looks sad and neglected… (with) nothing more interesting than you might see in a supermarket car park.”
The Bearpit garden “has been left to rack and ruin” according to Sara Venn of Incredible Edible – photo: Martin Booth
A spokesperson for Bristol City Council said: “New planted areas have been introduced to the Bearpit along with new trees, greening of walls with plants and seasonal baskets.
“We’re in the process of developing a scheme which will see part of the site turned into a pollinator rich garden that will bring new life to the area and promote biodiversity.
“Alongside these plans, we are also aiming to introduce a green roof to the old toilet block which will help soften the landscape around the Bearpit and add to the more welcoming environment being developed.
“We have been in discussion with Incredible Edible about these plans and are working with them to offer alternative locations in the city to advance their project.”
The Bearpit garden in its heyday – photo: Incredible Edible
Main photo: Martin Booth
Read more: Mathematical graffiti in the Bearpit
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