Plans to plant a new wildflower meadow on the Downs in Bristol have been criticised for “blocking picnics and ball games”. The wildflower meadow is due to be planted on a site, just over half a hectare large, which was previously used for car parking at the nearby zoo.
Local volunteers and schoolchildren are due to visit the site off Ladies Mile on Friday, March 3, to prepare the ground and sow wildflower seeds. Ecologist experts hope that the meadow will restore biodiversity and natural habitats to the area, after decades of parking damage.
The decision to plant the wildflowers was taken last November by the Downs Committee, made up of seven councillors and seven members of the Society of Merchant Venturers. But the plans were criticised during a committee meeting on Tuesday, February 28.
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A spokesperson for the Downs for People campaign group said: “The area off Ladies Mile used for zoo parking is one of the best parts of the Downs for informal recreation. It’s a perfect place for ball games and picnicking, safely accessed via the path from the pedestrian crossing in front of the zoo.
“Downs for People supports repairing the damage that parking has done, but this must not reduce the recreational value of the land. This would prevent ball games, picnicking, walking and other recreational uses. Extensive areas of the Downs have already been appropriated for meadows, to which access is limited. It’s arguable this has already gone too far.”
The Downs is a huge area of public open space in north Bristol, and comprise the 85-hectare Durdham Down and 82-hectare Clifton Down. Downs for People played a key role in a lengthy legal row about using part of the land for temporary car parking.
During the committee meeting, Susan Carter, from Downs for People, said: “If you were on the Downs on Sunday afternoon as I was on the proposed meadow site, you would have seen a big family group playing a ball game and an absolutely constant stream of walkers criss-crossing the plateau in lots of directions.
“Everybody welcomes the restoration of the meadows to recover from 50 years of parking, which this committee was foolish enough to licence. But we do question whether it should be turned into an area that can’t be used for recreation.”
Wildflower meadows provide pollen for bees and butterflies, both of which are struggling to survive in Bristol and across the country. Declining populations of bees have major impacts on producing food, according to the World Wide Fund charity and Kew Gardens.
Green Councillor Katy Grant said: “This is something positive for the Downs and positive for the people who use the Downs. It’s about managing a green space for nature and it’s about education. But I don’t see that it can’t also be about recreation. You might not opt to play your game of football in an area with longer grass, but football isn’t the only way to recreate.
“This is also about families and children on their hands and knees looking at insects and all the lovely flora that exists in other wildflower meadows on the Downs. I would hope we can make our peace with it because there are city-wide council commitments to ecology. I’m sorry if it’s at all controversial.”
