News / The Downs
Downs for People celebrate success in keeping cars from parking on the site
The Downs will never again be used as parking for activities taking place elsewhere, it has been announced.
In a settlement out of court, the defendants, the Downs Committee and Bristol City Council, agreed that the green space will not be used for parking for activities that don’t place there in the future. They will also be paying up to £72,000 to Downs for People, the group who had been fighting to keeps cars off the space, to cover legal costs.
Bristol Zoo may continue to use the land off Ladies Mile for parking until October 1, 2022 and the north car park outside the zoo’s main entrance until the end of 2023; the north car park is on land that is part of the Downs.
is needed now More than ever
The defendants agreed that the north car park will not be used for non-Downs activities after the end of 2023.
With licences from the Downs Committee, Bristol Zoo has been parking cars on the Downs off Ladies Mile since the late 1960s, when parking was first allowed for six days a year.
The site has space for up to 700 cars, while the zoo’s two permanent car parks have spaces for only 340.
Bristol Zoo Gardens will relocate to the Wild Place Project. Photo: Google
In 1996, the zoo sought a licence for 102 days, and campaigning groups said that planning permission was needed for activities on the Downs other than the established recreational use.
Since then, seven temporary planning permissions have been granted. These have steadily reduced the number of days on which the site may be used, to 30 days in 2019.
Downs for People learned at the end of May 2020, in an updated response to a Freedom of Information Act request, that the zoo had been granted a licence in secret that allowed it to park for another 20 years, from the beginning of 2020 to the end of 2039.
They assumed that the Downs Committee had granted the licence but it emerged in August 2020 that this was not the case. The Society of Merchant Venturers granted a licence to Bristol City Council and Bristol City Council granted a sub-licence to the zoo. The Downs Committee authorised the grant of a licence.
The invite-only Society of Merchant Venturers are joint custodians of the Downs with Bristol City Council. Downs for People say “we think the Society of Merchant Venturers should contribute at least half the costs of this unnecessary court action. It is not right that the costs should fall only on council tax payers” Photo: Society of Merchant Venturers
Downs for People then began judicial review proceedings, which has ended in an out-of-court settlement.
“We are delighted with this outcome but dismayed that we have had to go to court to achieve it,” says Susan Carter, part of Downs for People.
“We are most grateful to all those who have helped us fight this case. Let this be a warning to those who would trample on the rights of ordinary Bristolians.”
Main photo: Downs for People
Read more: ‘The Downs should not be the subject of secret deals behind closed doors’
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