Cemetery given permission to expand onto Bristol’s last working farm

Yew Tree Farm’s Catherine Withers said she feels “really duped again” after South Bristol Cemetery & Crematorium was given permission to expand onto land used by the farm.

Councillors voted in favour of the application to create new burial and memorial plots on a wildlife-rich meadow currently used for grazing.

Withers said that she is now unsure if Bristol’s last working farm can remain sustainable

“We were promised something new but we got nothing new, we just got people voting along party lines which was really sad,” Withers told Bristol24/7.

“An ecological report coming out three hours before the committee meeting was absolutely outrageous. And we had to rely on evidence from that. It’s nonsense.

“It’s devastating and I’m desperately sad for protected species. We know there’s no enforcement in Bristol and it’s an absolute tragedy…

“I think it’s a really bad day for Bristol and it’s not a good look for this administration. I hope that they live to regret this decision.”

Yew Tree Farm farmer Catherine Withers speaking to councillors before they approved an application to expand South Bristol Crematorium onto a meadow used by the farm for grazing – photo: Rob Browne

Tensions ran high in City Hall after the cemetery and crematorium off Bridgwater Road was given permission to expand onto the farmland.

“You as a council say you stand for nature? It’s a joke!” shouted one member of the public.

“Absolute shame!” shouted another following councillors voting five to three to support the city council’s own application for the expansion of the cemetery.

The final vote was along party lines with Labour councillors Amal Ali, Farah Hussain and Katja Hornchen, Tory Lesley Alexander and Lib Dem Sarah Classick all voting for; and Greens Lorraine Francis, Guy Poultney and Ani Stafford-Townsend voting against the application.

Speaking after the meeting, Cotham councillor Poultney said: “I feel terrible for the residents and campaigners who are losing an incredibly important wildlife site because it’s the most convenient place for the council to develop.

“Every policy we were promised would protect nature and the environment failed to protect this site. People will feel let down and betrayed and it’s not hard to see why.”

Despite being asked to provide evidence that there were no other available sites for burials across Bristol, council officers were unable to tell Poultney and the other councillors of any other locations that had been taken into consideration other than Yew Tree Farm.

The meeting was told that Bristol only has three more years until it reaches capacity for burial spaces, with other cemeteries already at capacity and unable to expand.

Yew Tree Farm in Bedminster Down, where Bristol City Council wants to expand South Bristol Cemetery & Crematorium – photo: Danica Priest

Bristol City Council’s director of place, Patsy Mellor, spoke at the meeting in favour of the expansion of the cemetery.

“The council has explored alternative options for the provision of essential burial and cremation spaces,” Mellor said, adding that the council also carried out “extensive” ecolological surveys at Yew Tree Farm.

The council’s head of planning, Simone Wilding, said that she sees no harm in the expansion of the cemetery onto the meadows.

Wilding said: “We are saying that we don’t see any harm, there is no conflict with the policy.”

She was referring to the fact that despite the site being in the green belt, the National Planning Policy Framework says that green belt land can be developed for cemeteries.

Wilding also questioned the validity of Avon Wildlife Trust’s study of the site, with the trust objecting to this application due to its harmful impact on nature.

But planning committee chair, Green councillor Ani Stafford-Townsend, questioned Wilding’s criticism of the Avon Wildlife Trust, saying that this specific application “plays into a wider picture of attacks on the SNCI (Site of Nature Conservation Interest)”.

Stafford-Townsend said: “If we allow encroachment on this one, why wouldn’t we allow encroachment on Brislington Meadows or any of the others in the city?

“If we don’t hold a line on this, how we will hold a line on anything else? It’s a slippery slope.”

Main photo: Martin Booth

Read next:

• Dozens of protesters form human chain at Yew Tree Farm
• Yew Tree Farm to be protected under new plans
• Ancient hedgerow destroyed at Bristol’s last working farm

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