Thousands of people have signed a petition calling for city leaders to ensure the famous view of Totterdown's coloured houses is protected, as letters of objections deluge planners at City Hall.
The number of people who have signed the petition, set up by TRESA - the Totterdown Residents Environmental and Social Action group - has jumped above 2,500 in the past week, just as Bristol Civic Society has submitted a formal objection to one of the plans to build tower blocks of flats in front of the iconic cliff-top row of homes.
The view of the coloured houses of Totterdown can be seen from many spots in Bristol - from St Michael’s Hill to the harbourside - and is the main sight to see for passengers arriving at Temple Meads station.
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Now, developers want to build a new neighbourhood of flats and apartments on the land at the bottom of the hill, in between the railway line and the River Avon. Almost 1,000 new flats are planned with a series of tower blocks up to 11-storeys at the western end to a huge 22-storey tower block at the end nearest Temple Meads station.
Over the weekend, people living in the row of homes that back onto the sheer drop of Pylle Hill hung huge letters on bedsheets spelling out their opposition to the plans. People living in Totterdown have begun to mobilise a campaign against the plans - and say they don’t object to the area at the bottom of the hill being redeveloped from industrial units into residential flats, but do object to the height of the planned buildings.
A spokesperson for TRESA pointed out that they have been labelled as NIMBYs - an informal term given to a person who objects to something perceived as unpleasant in the area where they live - even though only the people living on one side of one road in Totterdown will have their views impacted by the tower blocks - but everyone else in Bristol will have the views of those coloured houses blocked by the high-rise developments.
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“We have inevitably been insulted as NIMBYs but we are not against development,” she said. “However, we do believe strongly that development should enhance, rather than undermine, the unique aspects of Bristol’s cityscape.”
The petition asks that the mayor of Bristol and councillors ensure that views of the Totterdown escarpment which they describe as ‘an iconic feature of our cityscape’ are “protected from development proposals that wholly or partially obscure the panorama of colourful houses on the hilltop”.
“Why is this important? Views of the Totterdown escarpment regularly appear in local and national publications as an iconic feature of our city. Views of the escarpment are threatened by inappropriate proposals for tower blocks in the proposed redevelopment of Mead Street. We are not against creating a new mixed-use neighbourhood along Mead Street, but this must be at heights that do not obscure the panorama of the Totterdown escarpment,” they added.
There are three different plans going on for the area between the River Avon and the railway line at the bottom of the escarpment currently. Bristol City Council began a consultation last year, asking local residents and businesses what kind of redevelopment they wanted to see happen on the rectangular strip of land on the south side of the river between Temple Meads and Totterdown.
But the council’s hopes of a measured process to come up with a development plan have since been overtaken by developers themselves. First, developers submitted a planning application for 244 new affordable homes in buildings up to 11 storeys high at the western end of the Mead Street area, on the site of the BART Ingredients factory.
And then, last month, different developers revealed their own plans for much of the rest of the area behind the Fowlers motorbike dealership - and it includes a 22-storey tower block next to the railway line at the Bath Road end of the rectangle as part of a 900-home project.
Developers say putting the tallest buildings at either end ‘protects’ the views of the coloured houses, but objectors disagree, including Bristol Civic Society. It has submitted a formal objection to the BART Ingredients development, saying the planning application is premature, because the council had not yet produced its own masterplan for the area.
“We agree that the areas are ripe for redevelopment but feel strongly that strategies to steer it should be formulated in full consultation with residents and other stakeholders before they are adopted by the Council,” a spokesperson for the Civic Society said. “In the meantime, the Society cannot support the loss of employment generating uses on land defined in the Local Plan as a Principal Industrial and Warehouse Area.”
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But the main reason for objecting is the impact on the views of the coloured homes of Totterdown. “The Society is concerned that blocks of this height and mass will be harmful to views toward Richmond Street, with its colourful terraced houses, atop the Totterdown escarpment. This is one of Bristol's important, landmark views. Equally important are views toward the Grade I Listed buildings at Temple Meads Station and the spire of St Mary Redcliffe,” they added.
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