News / Politics
Marley Bennett: ‘There’s still a lot to do’
Marley Bennett says he has not avoided answering any questions about Yew Tree Farm despite many activists blaming him for the ongoing issues with the site.
The Labour councillor for Eastville was only promoted to Marvin Rees’ cabinet in October 2023 and is one of five out of nine cabinet members standing for re-election in the local elections on May 2.
The cabinet member for waste, climate, ecology & just transition says the council has made good progress on sustainability and nature goals but he admits “there’s still a lot to do”.
is needed now More than ever
The most prominent recent local issue relating to Bennett’s portfolio has been the campaign to save Yew Tree Farm from development.
Activists have suggested Bennett has been silent on the issue but speaking to Bristol24/7, he vehemently denied this accusation..
“I wouldn’t say I’ve avoided any questions,” he said.
“For my wellbeing I don’t look at Twitter much anymore. I’ve seen myself being named in lots of tweets and, very rarely, people actually start a conversation or email me. But I’m more than happy to have a sit-down conversation with anyone.”
Bennett says that maintaining Sites of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI) in Bristol, such as the one the farm in Bedminster Down sits on, has been a council priority:
“We’ve been quite clear on Yew Tree Farm… There was some work on hedgerows and land not in council control. We acted quickly. Our ecologist responded immediately to investigate.
“As a result, the issues were reported to the police. It was their responsibility in terms of enforcement.
“We’ve got a land and ecological management plan which considers how we can improve the site’s ecology. We can robustly defend our approach and our plan to increase the amount of species-rich grassland in the SNCI, which is the reason it’s an SNCI in the first place.
“We’re committed to the ecological action plan, doubling the amount of council land dedicated to nature, and protecting our SNCIs.
“There’s a lot that we’ve done to protect nature that we’ve done well. There remains more to do, of course.”
Marley bennett says he is focused on a just transition to a sustainable Bristol, active transport and supporting nature – photo: Marley Bennett
The Eastville ward councillor says that 18 of the 78 Ecological Emergency action plan goals are now complete.
The council has appointed an ecological emergency coordinator, senior sustainability officer and Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) officer, enabling environmental work to ramp up.
“The BNG requirement is particularly exciting because it means wildlife habitat creation must come alongside development, said Bennett.
“We’ve worked hard to ensure those credits are spent locally – as near as possible to a development site, and ideally on it – so nature continues to thrive in the city.”
Further achievements according to Bennett include the publication of the One City Tree and Woodland Strategy, lowland meadow creation plans, and a citywide roll-out of bat-friendly lighting by 2025. The council has reduced pesticide use across its own land by 18 per cent with a target of 50 per cent.
“The council is on track to hit our net zero targets,” said Bennett. “City Leap is a huge success story, attracting unprecedented amounts of investment to decarbonise Bristol.
“As a result, people will have better insulated homes with lower energy use. They will be able to heat their homes in a way that’s more sustainable, using heat pumps rather than gas boilers.”
Bennett conceded that some areas have stalled, including river health. Improving water quality is listed in Labour’s local manifesto for the upcoming local elections.
Campaigners are calling for greater leadership from the council following a reported 127 per cent rise in sewage spills in Bristol rivers from 2022 to 2023.
“We don’t have the metrics for analysing river health accurately,” said Bennett, adding sewage and agricultural dumping is a problem nationwide:
“Clearly there’s a huge passion from residents to improve river quality. In Bristol we can play our part but really that will come with national change.”
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Read more: Bid to save River Avon from pollution and neglect
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Bennett joined the Labour Party as, growing up under a Tory government, “you could see that things weren’t fair. Young people weren’t getting the opportunities in life.”
He added: “The climate crisis is also a social justice crisis. Getting Just Transition right is such a crucial part – we can’t decarbonise unless we bring all communities with us.
“People are worried about paying the bills or feeding their kids. I get it. But energy projects or heat pumps will reduce our dependency on fossil fuels, while also leading to lower bills for the consumer.”
Bristol’s Just Transition declaration includes retraining the workforce for green jobs: “If we do it well with well-paid, secure, unionized jobs, that will be another benefit seen by people who might not necessarily think climate is number one priority for them.”
Bennett highlights Bristol’s Climate and Nature partnership Community Climate Action project as another important factor.
Its latest incarnation, Mission Net Zero – funding won by Bennett’s cabinet predecessor Kye Dudd – helps community groups work up business plans to generate decarbonisation investment.
“It’s a way of responding to the climate crisis that puts communities first,” said Bennett, giving the “brilliant example” of Avonmouth’s community-owned wind turbine.
“It’s about unlocking the investment and overcoming the barriers to deliver it.”
This piece of independent journalism is supported by the Bristol24/7 public and business membership
Main photo: Rob Browne
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