Race against time for petition to save Bristol’s green spaces

A petition to save Bristol’s green spaces by preventing them from being labelled as ‘brownfield’ sites is in a race against time to collect more than 3,500 signatures.

The campaign has ties with the Save The Baltic Wharf Trees group, who orchestrated the “marriage” of over 70 women to trees in September in a bid to stop them from being felled to make way for a proposed development.

A few months later, the same campaigners have a broader mission to protect areas all over Bristol from being developed.

A group of women ‘married’ trees in September in a bid to stop them from being felled – photo by Peter Herridge

The petition laments what it calls the “mislabelling” of urban green spaces as brownfield sites as a way to justify development.

It demands a citywide ruling that restricts the categorisation of sites as brownfield to those that: (1) comply with planning law’s definition of ‘previously developed land’ and (2) are listed on the Council Register of Brownfield Sites.

Save The Baltic Wharf Trees hit the streets across Bristol to try and amass enough signatures to reach the 3,500 needed to trigger a full council debate by Wednesday, December 22.

Campaigners brought their petition to City Hall – photo by Emi Kondo

So far it has been signed by more than 3,000 people either physically or online.

This campaign comes amid accusations targeted at the council from Bristol Tree Forum, a voluntary organisation dedicated to preserving and planting trees in Bristol’s public spaces and allies of the petition.

The organisation claimed in a November blog post: “Those advocating development on open spaces within Bristol have begun, arbitrarily and without proper justification, to declare such open spaces to be brownfield.”

The group points to the proposed developments on Bristol Zoo Gardens’ car park and Baltic Wharf Caravan Club in Hotwells as examples of the term’s misuse.

The caravan site on Spike Island is set to become one of the first housing developments co-delivered by Goram Homes, the Bristol City Council-owned housing company.

Goram Homes say the development would bring “much-needed, high-quality housing to Bristol while championing the values that make our city unique”.

The proposed plans for the car park in Clifton – photo courtesy of Bristol Zoological Society

The development is objected to by the Environment Agency who are “extremely concerned that the site will be subject to hazardous flood depths, which would pose an unacceptable risk to life”.

More recently, planning permission has been granted to build 62 homes on Bristol Zoo Gardens West car park.

Chief executive of Bristol Zoological Society, Dr Justin Morris, has previously said that the controversial development “will generate a biodiversity net gain on a brownfield site”.

He added: “If not new housing on a brownfield car park site in a residential neighbourhood, then where in Bristol will new homes be built?”

But Bristol Tree Forum say that both sites have been “mislabelled as brownfield sites despite not falling within with the recognised legal definition”.

Anita Bennett, a campaigning journalist and steering committee member of Save The Baltic Wharf Trees, was among several petitioners on Picton Street in Montpelier collecting signatures for the cause.

Save the Baltic Wharf Trees said they have had an overwhelmingly positive response from pedestrians to their campaign – photo by Betty Woolerton

She says the council is “colour-blind” and questioned the “many empty office buildings in the town centre that could be occupied as flats”. Bennet hopes the campaign will “stop developments [in green spaces] in their tracks”.

A spokesperson from Bristol City Council said: “If we are going to avoid urban sprawl and protect space for nature, we need to build more densely on the brownfield sites. The government defines brownfield sites as ‘previously developed land’ and sites don’t have to be in the Brownfield Register.

“The Baltic Wharf site is previously developed land. It is currently used as a touring caravan park and mainly comprises areas of surfaced access road and hardstanding with some buildings.

“We are looking to build in brownfield sites such as Western Harbour and others so that we maximise the developments of previously developed land and reduce pressure on green field land.”

The future of the Baltic Wharf site will be ultimately be decided by a planning committee in February 2022.

Main photo by Bristol Tree Forum

Read more: Dozens of women ‘marry’ trees under threat from new development 

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