Renewed calls for Merchant Venturers to relinquish control of Downs

Campaigners are calling for the Merchant Venturers to hand over part of the Downs to the city of  Bristol and for them to be booted off the statutory body that manages it.

Clifton Down is equivalent in size to just over 130 football pitches and makes up half of one of Bristol’s largest green spaces.

It is owned by the Society of Merchant Venturers, which – along with Bristol City Council which owns the other half – sits on the statutory committee that manages the Downs.

Now, more than a century and a half after the Downs Committee was established by a Victorian act of parliament, pressure group Downs for People has said it is time for the Merchant Venturers to give Clifton Down to the city of Bristol and for their removal from the committee.

Susan Carter from Downs for People said: “When the Colston statue toppled, the Society of Merchant Venturers promised to review their role in the city. It has made no obvious changes. The Downs would be a good place to start.”

Downs for People have long accused the Downs Committee of secrecy and are fighting it for information about how much public money was spent unsuccessfully defending a legal challenge the campaigners brought over zoo parking on the Downs.

The group won £72,000 in an out-of-court settlement last year and estimate about £360,000 of public money was spent on the unsuccessful defence by the committee and the council.

A demonstration took place outside Merchants Hall, the headquarters of the Merchant Venturers, the day before the beginning of the Colston 4 trial – photo: Rob Browne

Southville councillor Christine Townsend, who is backing the campaigners’ demands, claims the Merchant Venturers “led on the decisions” that a High Court judge ruled were contrary to the Downs Act 1861.

“The Society of Merchant Venturers need to hand over the Downs and remove themselves from our governance structures, getting out of Bristol’s democracy – removed if necessary,” she said in a written statement submitted but not published on the agenda for the next meeting of the Downs Committee on Monday.

“The committee’s secrecy, incompetence and extravagance have cost the Bristolian taxpayer hundreds of thousands of pounds and must now be dealt with,” Townsend said.

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Read more: ‘The Society of Merchant Venturers need to get out of our democracy’

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In their public statement to the meeting, Downs for People write that the Downs Committee “is unfit for purpose and major changes are needed urgently”.

“We can see no reason for the Merchant Venturers’ continuing involvement. They have been exercising power without responsibility for too long.

“We are calling on them to give Clifton Down to the city, with a significant financial dowry.”

The dowry would reflect a “lack of past financial contributions”, the group says, and would cover future maintenance of Clifton Down, possibly including the rock faces which are currently the responsibility of the Merchant Venturers’ alone.

Master of the Merchant Venturers, David Freed, chose not to comment directly on either of the public statements.

But he said that Downs for People were among almost a dozen stakeholder groups who made “several innovative and thought-provoking suggestions” for protecting and preserving the long-term future of the Downs at a public consultation meeting in October 2021.

Freed said: “The Downs Committee is now exploring these ideas, alongside various different strategies and scenarios to ensure that this important piece of open green space remains freely accessible for everyone, forever.”

Main photo: Martin Booth

Read more:

• Downs for People celebrate success in keeping cars from parking on site
• ‘The Downs should not be the subject of secret deals behind closed doors’
• Plans for accessible paths to transform the Downs

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