News / Brislington Meadows
Plans refused for Brislington Meadows housing development
The years-long campaign to save Brislington Meadows from the building of 260 houses has struggled to a victory.
Councillors have thrown out the specifics of a planning application that would allow Homes England to go ahead with the development, which critics say would destroy an ecological gold mine.
While the site still has outline planning permission, approval was denied for the fine details or ‘reserved matters’ which would allow the company to get spades in the ground.
The well-loved meadows, which sit between Bonville Road, School Road and Victory Park, are home to veteran trees, ancient hedgerows and a wealth of species.
Bats, birds, butterflies, moths, badgers and foxes have all been spotted there, and the site was described as “a refuge for local residents and wildlife forming a vital green corridor” by the Save Brislington Meadows campaign.
Opponents to the development say all that would be destroyed if the build were to go ahead.
Brislington Meadows is an ecologically rich site harbouring habitats and ancient trees – photo: Sarah Shepherd
That view was accepted at Wednesday’s planning committee meeting, with councillors voting six-three to throw out permission for the reserved matters.
Homes England and contracted developers Keepmoat argued the plans would provide a ten per cent biodiversity net gain (BNG).
That means even if they destroyed some habitats, as would happen at Brislington Meadows, more would be created leading to an overall benefit for wildlife.
Representatives from Keepmoat insisted the “new homes Bristol so desperately needs” meet all planning requirements, including the planting of over 200 new trees.
However, the developers acknowledged that they would not be able to offset the biodiversity loss completely at the site of the meadows themselves, and instead would have to do so partly at other sites.
Critics say the loss of such a valuable and ancient site could not be made up for by planting trees or supporting habitats in a new location.
In the past, it has been revealed that offset biodiversity creation for sites in Bristol has happened as far away as Barnsley in Yorkshire.
Keepmoat says the development will help tackle Bristol’s housing crisis – image: Keepmoat
The tense planning meeting chaired by Don Alexander was peppered with anger and outbursts from the two dozen locals who came to protest the development and demonstrate outside City Hall beforehand.
Environmental campaigner Danica Priest said: “I just wanted to come out here and fight as hard as I can. It’s one of the only core grasslands in Bristol that’s left and surrounded by brownfield development sites.
“It’s just exhausting. I was up until 6am last night thinking about it, just lying in bed dreading it. It takes a huge mental toll on all of us.”
Jen Garrett, who lives nearby, said: “Brislington Meadows is a really special place that gives me a lot of joy. It’s the one space I feel I can walk up the hill and everything melts away.
“The idea that this space could be taken away from the community is unspeakable for us all.”
The fight to save Brislington Meadows has a long history, starting when the Labour-led council sold the site to Homes England in 2021.
When the developer revealed plans to build hundreds of homes there, it sparked years of campaigning and disagreement.
Councillors failed to make a decision in time on whether to grant outline planning permission, causing Homes England to appeal to the Planning Inspectorate and initiate a three-week public enquiry at City Hall.
Then-mayor Marvin Rees pledged that the meadows would remain untouched, despite his own party having approved the land sale.
In April, the council failed to agree on whether to approve the reserved matters, postponing the decision to Wednesday’s meeting.
That decision has now been made. But even with reserved matters rejected, the development’s outline planning permission remains and there is not a way to revoke it.
All that campaigners can hope for the now is that Homes England either gives up or runs out of time to submit further applications.
The uncertainty over Brislington Meadows has a long way to run yet.
Main photo: Molly Pipe
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