A petition to overturn a ban on wild swimming at a popular beauty spot on the River Avon is set to be debated at full council after soaring past the required 3,500 signatures. More than 4,100 people are now backing calls to grant bathing water status at Conham River Park.
It means the petition organisers have the right to a debate at a full council meeting of Bristol City Council. Last month the local authority, which owns the land, said it could not support the campaigners’ request because of a 2009 bylaw prohibiting swimming.
It said there was a right to navigation on the stretch of the Avon, so swimming would carry a “significant risk” from boats. But the issue now seems destined to be discussed in the chamber by 70 councillors, with a formal response required afterwards by mayor Marvin Rees or a member of his Labour cabinet.
