A three-week legal battle has begun for the future of a popular wildlife haven in south east Bristol. Developers are trying to get planning permission to build 260 homes on Brislington Meadows, an area much-loved by locals and rich in natural habitats and mature trees.
Homes England, the government house builder, applied to Bristol City Council for planning permission. But after the council took many months to decide whether to grant permission, Homes England appealed to the Planning Inspectorate to make a final decision instead.
Over 11 days, lawyers representing the council and Homes England will argue whether or not Brislington Meadows should be built on. A planning inspector will hear from both sides, as well as local residents and campaigners, before deciding on the fate of the meadows.
Read more: Brislington Meadows: Government will ask itself if it can build homes there
Charles Banner KC, representing Homes England, said: “The council can demonstrate, at best, a deliverable housing land supply of 2.45 years — less than half the minimum required by national policy. On the council’s own figures, the housing supply shortfall is in excess of 10,000 dwellings, a truly astonishing failure. The council cannot shy away from this housing emergency, yet that it is exactly what it is seeking to do.
“You could literally fill an arena with people whose identified need for a home in Bristol is not being met. Bristol City’s Ashton Gate Stadium is probably too small for that number of people. The true picture is likely much worse, as Homes England’s evidence shows. The council has failed, and continues to fail, to deliver anything like the number of houses — especially affordable houses — that the people of Bristol need.”
In December last year, after Homes England submitted its appeal, the council’s development control committee voted to refuse planning permission for the 9.6-hectare site. This decision was largely powerless, but the committee raised concerns about how the plans would mean destroying many ecologically important trees, hedgerows and wildlife.
Mark Ashdown, chair of Bristol Tree Forum, said: “This richly-diverse habitat will be lost forever. It has taken centuries to build this complex biodiversity and it’s unlikely it could be replaced within a day, or even 30 years.”
For over 90 minutes, the inquiry heard from a tree expert about various ways to measure the size and age of trees. Homes England submitted a survey, as part of its planning application, which “missed” several veteran oak trees. Veteran is a status given to large and old trees, providing them with extra protection from being chopped down for development.
The tree survey is important because one of the main questions about whether the meadows should be built on is the loss of many mature trees, like hawthorne oaks. Legally, if these trees are classed as “veteran” that could mean the inspector decides they should be saved, rather than chopped down. Some trees on the meadows are thought to be centuries old.
Local residents implored the inquiry to focus on the real-world impacts of building housing on the meadows, rather than focusing on legal issues about sizes and measurements. They said the area is well used by people living nearby, and Brislington doesn’t have adequate public services — schools, roads, GP surgeries — to accommodate an extra 700 residents.
Dougal Matthews, of the Greater Brislington Together community group, said: “I live just across the road from the proposed site. There are real people living right next to this. The development of the site will have some serious impacts for us.
“In living memory, many local people have grown up with the meadows, and I know at least one person who was conceived on the site. It has a lot of sentimental value, values to mental health and physical health. It’s a very busy place, and it’s very important to our local community because of the values we get from it.”
Plans to build on Brislington Meadows stretch back a decade. The area was included on the council’s Local Plan in 2014. Then in 2020, the council sold the part of the meadows it owned to Homes England. In 2021, ahead of his re-election Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees promised to save the site from development, despite not having the power to do so.
The inquiry began on Tuesday, January 31, and will continue every day this week. It will continue next week on Tuesday, February 7; Thursday, February 9; and Friday, February 10. Then after a break for half term, it will continue for four more days from Tuesday, February 28 until Friday, March 3. The planning inspector is not expected to make a decision straight away.
