News / parks
Calls for new Big Park as part of Bristol Temple Quarter development
The community voice for green spaces is calling for a new large park for central Bristol, to be established as part of the Bristol Temple Quarter development in St Philip’s Marsh.
Bristol Parks Forum represents residents in the council’s decision making around all publicly owned parks and green spaces in the city.
It says the development of a multifunctional ‘Big Park’ in the area, which is being developed to create 10,000 new homes, would improve health and quality of life, as well as providing space for nature to recover.
is needed now More than ever
It would therefore contribute to the public health, sustainability and climate resilience goals set out in the One City Plan, which envisions Bristol in 2050 as “litter-free with the nitrogen dioxide levels of rural England… The tree canopy and wildlife will have doubled compared to 2018 and biodiversity will be at a level never before seen in the city.”
The St Philip’s Marsh development encompasses 135 hectares of land to the east and west of Temple Meads station; building of the University of Bristol’s Enterprise Campus and new student accommodation on Avon Street are already underway – photo: Bristol Temple Quarter
Residents have been invited to make suggestions for the area and respond to current proposals for development, with the Forum suggesting all the proposed parks are “simply inadequate”.
“A bit of green space here and a tree there are not to be sniffed at and green corridors are great,” a spokesperson said. “But building so many proposed homes at high density can only be tenable if you provide breathing space alongside.
“What Bristol really must have alongside homes for thousands and thousands of people, is green space. Substantial green space. Somewhere to run around, to sit quietly, to embrace nature, to laugh and play. A multifunctional park. A good sized space. A Big Park. We need a new, central, Big Park.”
As well as affordable homes, job creation and ‘cultural celebration’, the proposals for Temple Quarter promise “environmental revitalisation for the region”, but Bristol Parks Forum says the space allocated for parks is too small for such a large housing development – image: MapBox
As well as the central areas from St Phillip’s through to Temple Quarter and the Galleries forming the last area for new housing development in Bristol’s centre, the Forum says they it represents the last opportunity for a good sized open space in a central area.
The Forum proposed such a park for inclusion in both the council’s Parks and Green Spaces Strategy and also the Bristol Local Plan, due for imminent publication pending approval.
They cite scientific research, health research and public surveys supporting the importance of green spaces in urban areas for human and wildlife welfare, including an evidence review produced by Sheffield University and a 2023 Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) report.
The Forum spokesperson continued: “We believe it needs to be a large multifunctional park, capable of catering for a diversity of needs and activities for a diverse population of all ages. Only a big park can do this.
“A small space on one development might offer play space but not natural wild spaces, for example. A big park could offer both, and more.
“The current scenarios wrongly describe a tiny park in their drawings as “large” which is very misleading and in fact, would be smaller than the nearest park – Sparke Evans – which is a small park”.
Bristol Parks Forum is encouraging people to respond to the survey which closes on July 31. Find all information at bristoltemplequarter.com
Main photo: Martin Booth
Read next:
Our newsletters emailed directly to you
