Residents have been brought together in unity following the threat of losing their beautiful colourful skyline. The iconic Totterdown rainbow-coloured houses are at threat of being blocked from sight due to a new proposal to build a 12 story block of flats in front of it.
The new development, known as York Gate, would see 244 rental dwellings built as part of a multi-storey block of flats at the junction of York Road and St Luke's Road in Bedminster.
Should plans be approved by Bristol City Council, the 12 stories high building would block the sight of the iconic Bristol skyline in Totterdown. The view is not only unique to Bristol, but it has become a pinnacle of what the city is known for.
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The painted houses, which can be seen from several different viewpoints across the city may no longer by visible should these plans be approved. Therefore, to counter the new proposals, residents in Toterdown have started a new campaign called 'Save this View'.
Residents are asking people to come together to reach out to the Mayor and councillors of Bristol to ensure that the views of the Totterdown escarpment remain visible across the city.
To try and capture the attention of people within Bristol and to raise awareness they've created a huge banner visible from miles away.
White double spread bedsheets were painted with different letters before being strung from 14 different houses and ultimately spelling out "save this view!!".
One of the residents involved, Miranda Walker told us: "There are about 25-30 people involved in the Save this View campaign. We painted the words onto double bed sheets.
"We're not against people living there and the development of the area, they've just got to be sympathetic to the view that so many Bristolians love. It's part of this city's culture and history.
"It's taken a couple of weeks to organise and get everyone sorted. It's about making aware as it was kept so quiet by the developers but it's as iconic as the Suspension Bridge or Hotwells.
"They want to build in front of these houses and the campaign is about seeing this view from across the city. We get so many people saying how much they love the sight of these houses up on the hill."
Miranda has lived in her property in Totterdown for 15 years and has been a vocal part of this campaign to try prevent the development.
She added: "Developers put in a bid and not many people had heard about it. However, when people started to hear about it, they became really worried about losing sight of these houses. It's the iconic colourful rainbow houses on the hill that everyone knows.
"It would be so sad if we lost the view, they're just a part of Bristol. If you lose them, you won't get them back so they've got to think about it. The developers did a community feedback day, but the plans were already in place so it wasn't like they were responding to how we felt. We were all in shock.
"All they'd have to do is lower the flats so we can still see the view. If you come into Bristol Temple Meads it's the first thing you see and it sort of welcomes you home. You can see them from loads of different places across the city and it's often used as advertising and for touristy aspects for the city.
A petition has been started to try and get it discussed by Bristol City Council. Currently, there are over 1,500 signatures, but a further 2,000 are needed before the Council will comment.
Miranda added: "There's a Facebook group with over one hundred people in it fighting for this now. There's also a petition being started to save the iconic Totterdown escarpments.
"We all paint the back of our houses, not because it's what we like but because we know it's seen from afar and we take a lot of pride in it. It seems such a shame to lose it to a big block of flats.
"We have to paint them every five or six years. It costs a lot because you've got to get the scaffolding up and paint them, it's not an easy job. We could quite easily not do it, but it's quite a nice thing."
You can view the petition by clicking here.
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