Campaigners and councillors celebrating a council decision to scale back house building plans on the Western Slopes in South Bristol have said it should also mean a plan for 157 new homes on the other half be thrown out too.
Bristol City Council announced yesterday it would not be building hundreds of new homes on the green spaces of the Western Slopes - after a report confirmed that the land was a vitally important ecological site.
But there is currently a planning application due to be decided soon on the other half of the Western Slopes, in which developers Lovell Homes want to build 157 new homes on the land.
READ MORE: Victory for campaigners as Mayor drops housing plans on most of the Western Slopes
Now, those who have been fighting to save the Western Slopes from development say the decision by the council to drop its plans to build on the green spaces there should also spell the end for Lovell’s controversial plans too.
Today, the Mayor of Bristol explained that it would now be for the council’s cross-party planning committee to decide the application by Lovell Homes on the land at the Bedminster end of the Western Slopes.
Bristol City Council own more than half the Western Slopes on the Inns Court side, and yesterday announced it would not be going forward with plans to build up to 440 new homes there. Instead, housing chief Tom Renhard said the only places the council and Goram Homes would be looking at developing were the sites off Novers Lane that weren’t greenfield - like the former primary school site and where there are stables off the road. That would mean a maximum of 70 new homes on the council-owned half of the Western Slopes.
Local resident Danica Priest, a spokesperson for the Friends of the Western Slopes group that formed when Bristol Live revealed both the Lovell Homes application and the council plan last year, said the fight was not over, but they were celebrating the first victory in persuading the council to scale back its plans.
“We are all crying tears of joy,” she said. “The past year has been exhausting and demoralising at times.
“But our arguments were always sound - the site has always been ecologically precious and loved by the people of South Bristol for generations and we have fought this battle many times,” she added.
“It should never have been in the Local Plan - not just because of its ecology but because of the numerous constraints of the site - lack of amenities, health care, poor access and one of the steepest hills in the city.
“It was never about simply ‘stopping houses’, it was about questioning the decisions made by the council going back many years and how unsuitable some sites are for development. We are not activists or campaigners, we are the ordinary people of South Bristol, who care deeply about where we live,” she said.
Ms Priest added that the Friends of the Western Slopes still had a huge battle to convince councillors and planning officers to refuse the application by Lovell Homes.
“The fight is not over though, with Lovell homes still waiting to destroy the northern part of the site. We thank Marvin Rees for finally listening to the people of South Bristol and we look forward to working with the council and Avon Wildlife Trust to turn the site into the nature reserve it should have always been,” she added.
Tory councillor Richard Eddy, who represents nearby Bishopsworth and is the chair of the Council’s Development Control ‘A’ committee, said he thought even the idea of 70 homes on the brownfield site parts of the Western Slopes might be too many.
Cllr Eddy proposed last September’s successful council motion calling on the council to not allow building on any green spaces.
He said he ‘wasn’t surprised’ to learn of the ecological report, and questioned how many homes the old school land and the stable yard could accommodate.
“Once the Mayor revealed his plans for the Western Slopes, in next to no time the community surrounding them came together and today more than 1,100 people are members of the Friends of Western Slopes.
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“Now confirmed by the Avon Wildlife Trust, a huge amount of evidence for the rich flora and fauna has been unearthed and, coupled by a renewed recognition of Bristol’s ecological treasures and the threat to them, I genuinely wonder if the Mayor’s notion of more limited housing opportunities for Goram Homes can go ahead.
“The Council already has a live planning application from Lovells for almost 200 homes off Novers Hill and Development Control Officers will be carefully considering this over the next few months before it goes to committee for a decision,” he added.
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