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MP says there should be no charges for small groups to use Downs
Darren Jones is now fighting for the future of two green spaces in his constituency.
While the Bristol North West MP continues to question Cotham School over their fence around Stoke Lodge, he has now also turned his attention to the Downs.
Jones wants to keep charges for groups using the Downs “as low as possible” or even better, free, especially for exercise classes; and also to get rid of specific zones in which they can operate which Jones says is a “silly idea”.
It comes after fees for classes with 19 or fewer people have become £900 a year, while for classes with 20 or more people, the fee is £2,600 a year.
“To be honest, I would rather we were not charging small groups like fitness groups and dog walkers to use this space,” said Jones on a video published to his social media channels.
“Quite frankly, I find it a bit odd that the council, which is now led by the Green Party, is charging people to use our green spaces when we know this is something that should be for citizens to enjoy.”
Jones recently met with Bristol lord mayor Yassin Mohamud ahead of a meeting of the Downs Committee and said that Mohamud has promised to raise his concerns in the meeting on Monday at Merchants Hall, the headquarters of the Society of Merchant Venturers in Clifton in which the remains of slave trader Edward Colston’s hair and fingernails were still kept until as recently as 2016.
The Downs Committee is an independent body established by an Act of Parliament in 1861 which sees an equal number of elected councillors and unelected Merchant Venturers jointly manage the open space, with meetings chaired by the lord mayor.
I’ve been at City Hall meeting with Bristol’s new Lord Mayor – who also chairs the Downs Committee – to make the case against charging community groups to use the Downs.
The Lord Mayor has now promised to raise these concerns at next week’s committee meeting. pic.twitter.com/7IwJVfnSx0
— Darren Jones MP (@darrenpjones) June 6, 2026
Jones added: “We’re all reasonable people. We understand that like the football teams who are here through all of their tournaments, the big concerts or the circus providers, they’ve got to contribute to maintaining and repairing the grass and the land once they’ve done their thing.
“But for smaller groups coming out here just to exercise with their friends or to be able to walk their neighbours’ dogs, I just think we shouldn’t be charging them in the first place.
“My main ask for them today was for the fitness groups in particular, can they keep the fee as low as possible?
“Because these are not big profitable businesses, they are community groups.”
Main photo: Darren Jones
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