A company has defended its actions after angering locals by tearing down a community bee garden in Montpelier. A local group known as Bee The Change (BTC) built the garden on top of a bus stop outside Montpelier High School on Cheltenham Road on Saturday, July 16.
But yesterday (Monday, July 18) it was taken down by Clear Channel, who are responsible for maintaining all of the bus shelters owned by Bristol City Council. A spokesperson for the company said that the bus shelter was not built to take the weight on its roof and so it posed a risk to anyone standing underneath it.
"After discussions with Bristol City Council, we jointly decided the best course of action was to remove the plants. The plants and flowers are being well looked after in our Bristol depot and we’d really like to return them to Bee The Change - we’d encourage them to get in touch through our website," said the spokesperson.
However, the decision has left those who installed the bus stop "heartbroken". Emma, a spokesperson for the group, said: "It would be thoughtless at any time but particularly in the middle of the worst heatwave Bristol has ever seen when bee populations are being devastated by heat.
Read more: Bristol sees hottest day on record as temperatures reach 35.3C
“41% of pollinator species are in decline in the UK and Bristol needs to do more. Everyone who saw our bee stop loved it because they understood that it’s just common sense.”
The bee garden was installed as a call to protect local nature and declining bee populations. Clear Channel has installed bee gardens on its own bus stops before, but they say that these are specially designed "Living Roofs" which are tested to ensure they take the increased weight. The company says it plans to roll these out in Bristol in autumn.
Clear Channel also manages the advertising on its Bristol bus stops. And it has been accused of neglecting the environment by Adblock Bristol, who campaign against electronic billboards and say that they are harmful to the environment.
The company is currently applying to install 86 new full sized digital advertising screens at bus shelters across Bristol, and it says this will reduce the number of bus shelter advertising sites overall in the city. But Adblock point to research which shows that each screen uses the same electricity as between three or four average UK homes per year.
Veronica Wignall, a spokesperson for Adblock Bristol, said that Clear Channel have "make grand statements about their environmental record" but "have no interest in the desires or health of locals, nature and the planet".
The bee garden in Montpelier was reportedly welcomed with excitement by local residents and businesses. Denzil Le Roy, who lives next to the bus shelter, looked after the planter and watered it himself.
"It was a great idea to encourage bees and it just looked fabulous. There was nothing negative about it," he said. "People waved at me from buses while I was watering. They do want it.”
According to BTC, the bee garden was installed by professional carpenters and gardeners with a recycled wooden frame, held in place by industrial glue. They say it held over eight types of bee-friendly flowers, and that two accompanying bus stop posters were put up to explain the benefits that wildlife can bring, including cleaner air and better health for people.
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