The future of Bristol’s most famous public open space is up for debate - as people across the city are asked for their views on what should happen with The Downs.
A major public engagement has now been opened by the Downs Committee, with a survey asking about the events that are staged there, what the priorities should be and also about how the Downs should be run in the future.
But the launch of the engagement - the first of its kind in the 160-year history of the Downs - is controversial, with the continued involvement of the Society of Merchant Venturers in the running of the public open space not the subject of a direct question in the survey itself.
Read more: Merchant Venturers 'saviour myth' challenged in row over Clifton Downs
Questions in the survey are intended both for local residents who live around the Downs, and people from across Bristol who go there to enjoy the open space or attend events there.
The engagement was initially announced in January as pressure mounted on the Downs Committee and the Society of Merchant Venturers following the saga of the zoo parking legal debacle. Now it has been launched, and it asks people what the priorities of the Downs Committee should be, whether there are too many or too few events up there, and what, if any, fresh infrastructure or buildings should or could be provided there.
Running and maintaining the 412 acres of open space, which stretches from the Clifton Suspension Bridge to the edge of Henleaze, costs around half a million pounds a year and the engagement also contains questions around whether this should be paid for from the income of the events that take place there, or from Bristol City Council’s funds.
The Downs covers both Durdham Down, which is owned by Bristol City Council, and Clifton Down, which is owned by the Society of Merchant Venturers. Collectively it is run by the Downs Committee, whose membership is split 50-50 between the two organisations.
The chair is always the Lord Mayor of Bristol - this year, that’s Conservative city councillor Steve Smith. “We are focussing here on what we are trying to achieve for the people across Bristol and beyond who use The Downs,” he said. “We know there are things we can improve about our governance as well, so we’re also taking the opportunity to ask some wider questions about how the committee is established and run, and the legal structures that underpin it.”
David Freed, one of Bristol’s biggest property developers whose company is currently building a complex of 837 student flats at the Bedminster Green project, is the current Master of the Society of Merchant Venturers.
He said, “The Downs exists for everybody in Bristol, and has done for over 180 years. We are committed to looking after The Downs as an open space for recreation and conservation for everybody, now and into the future. We really want to hear from as many people as we can across the city.”
The Downs Committee, its set up and the way it is run has been increasingly controversial - particularly since the legal saga of the battle between a campaign group of local people and organisations Downs For People and the Downs Committee over the use of part of the area for car parking for Bristol Zoo.
That ended with victory for the campaigners, the final push for the zoo to relocate to the Wild Place out of the city at Easter Compton, and a hefty £300,000 legal bill for the taxpayer.
Following that, the spotlight on the Merchant Venturers following the toppling of the Colston statue and criticism of their running of schools in the city, two of Bristol’s MPs have called directly for the Society of Merchant Venturers to disband and play no further part in public life in Bristol.
City Councillor Christine Townsend said the presence of Merchant Venturers in running the Downs was not sustainable. “As I have made clear in statements submitted to the Downs Committee, the Nolan Principles cannot be served when half of that Committee are there by way of being members of an unelected, undemocratic, invite only, private members club,” she said.
“I am reminded of the words of their ex head teacher John Whitehead when he stated that the instinct of the Merchant Venturers is 'self preservation' alongside those of Labour MPs Karin Smyth and Thangham Debonaire, who have both called for the Merchant Venturers to disband',” she added.
Cllr Townsend questioned the lack of a direct option or question about the involvement of the Merchants in the engagement survey. “In light of this and the ongoing secrecy around the costs to the public purse of the car parking fiasco, there remains nothing in this consultation whereby Bristolian taxpayers can relieve the Merchant Venturers of their involvement in the governance of The Downs,” she said.
Their heavy involvement in the Downs Committee has become increasingly controversial. The criticism that there is no direct question in the survey about their involvement, is something acknowledged by Cllr Smith.
He told Bristol Live that the Downs Committee’s set-up of half-and-half split between Merchants and councillors is set in stone by the 1861 Act of Parliament, and changing that would need a change in the law. “This is something that we have looked into in detail, and it will be very costly,” he said.
The engagement survey tells those taking part that the Downs Committee has engaged three ‘specialist law firms’ and all have agreed that changing the way the Downs is run, and rewriting the 1861 Act would take a new law through parliament - something that could cost between £300,000 and £500,000 to do.
“The Downs Committee takes the view that changing the Act in this way is challenging and lengthy,” the Downs Committee statement said. “It also risks removing the protections which currently cover the Downs. The committee recognises that improvements to governance and transparency are needed and achieving this within the Act should be a priority. Our draft principles and work plan in this engagement are based on this approach.
“However, we are interested in hearing peoples’ views on this issue. We recognise that there are people who hold views that the Downs should or could be governed in a more democratic manner and believe that efforts to achieve that would be worthwhile and should be begun,” they added.
Cllr Smith said he didn’t want the Downs engagement survey to 'become a referendum on the involvement' of the Society of Merchant Venturers.
“That’s not the most important part of it, for me,” he said. “This is about what people want to see happen with The Downs, what people’s priorities are and how it is all paid for, not who sits in whichever seat.
“But people have a range of views on the governance of the Downs, which we recognise, but we didn’t ask a direct question about this, but what we have done is explained the legal background, and that we have looked at changing that Act of Parliament, but it will cost a lot. There is a question in the survey about changing the Act of Parliament,” he added.
To take part in the survey - click here
Want our best stories with fewer ads and alerts when the biggest news stories drop? Download our app on iPhone or Android
