Community marches on meadows in bid to save it

Residents took to ‘marching on the meadows’ amid a long-running battle to save a local wildlife haven in south Bristol.

On Saturday, a group of 60 staged the protest on Brislington Meadows – where plans see it developed to make way for homes.

The group met at Victory Park to step up their campaign after Homes England submitted a planning application in the spring.

The government’s land and property agency wants to build 260 new dwellings on the fields in Brislington and Broomhill – 30 per cent of which would be affordable.

Local action group, Save Brislington Meadows, wants to stop the proposals in their tracks and safeguard the “rich green space”.

Great turnout today! (The police even showed up to make sure we behaved) We were also met with lots of support from passers by. Seems like very few trust @HomesEngland’s vapid words about a ‘nature led’ housing development. #brislingtonmeadows #savebrislingtonmeadows pic.twitter.com/Z7ZUMx5tee

— Heidi Sævareid (@HeidiSaevareid) June 25, 2022

The land off Broomhill Road is a designated Site of Nature Conservation Interest, home to hundreds of insect species and the ancient hedgerows.

Local campaigner Dougal Matthews said: “It is a nature corridor from Eastwood Farm to Stockwood Open Space. Habitats need to be close enough to support one another. Once you break the mosaic you have islands which means species can’t replenish each other.”

The march on Saturday was routed through the meadows and around Broomhill, pausing at various points along the way to allow people to take in the scale of the proposed development and the habitats that could be lost.

The protest weaved around the green space in south Bristol – photo Oren Taylor

In their planning application, Homes England say that alongside the 260 new homes there will be “a significant area of publicly accessible green space and new walking and cycling routes for all access requirements”.

“The masterplan is landscape-led, directly influenced and shaped by the existing assets of the site including existing mature trees and hedgerows, and opportunities for views across Bristol.

“A variety of green spaces are designed to encourage people to gather and interact, and some of which are purposefully naturalistic and quieter for ecological reasons.”

An aerial view of the Brislington Meadows site – photo: Homes England

Brislington Meadows was earmarked for housing by Bristol City Council in 2014 in its Local Plan, later becoming a key election issue in 2021 for mayor Marvin Rees.

Just days before local elections, Rees pledged to protect the green space along with his Labour colleagues, saying it was too ecologically precious to be destroyed by development.

But the government’s housing agency then renewed its commitment to build on the site, which it bought for £15m.

Rees went on to call Homes England’s plans “disappointing” – but added that ruling on planning applications was not in his remit as mayor.

At the time, this attracted criticism from Tim Rippington, who has represented Brislington East for Labour since 2019, saying that Rees was guilty of “a total abdication of duty”.

Homes England’s planning application is lodged, and people have until Wednesday to submit comments.

Main photo: Save Brislington Meadows

Read more: Wildlife haven could still see homes built

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