This is where some vehicle dwellers will soon be moved

Some vehicle dwellers in Bristol will soon move on to a new ‘meanwhile site’ that formally opened on Tuesday.

The new site, located on the former Blake Centre space in Lockleaze, is expected to become a temporary home for 14 vehicle dwellers.

“I think it’s a really good system,” said Dan Clark, an armed forces veteran who has been living in vehicles since the lockdown and will soon be moving to the new meanwhile site in Lockleaze.

14 vehicle dwellers will soon move into the new meanwhile site on Romney Avenue in Lockleaze

Dan continued: “They started doing it during the lockdowns. We had to use public services for our showers, for our toilets, for our water and during the lockdown that ended. So the council recognised that and opened these temporary sites.”

The sites, Dan said, work on “many levels” because, other than getting vehicle dwellers off of the streets, it also prevents the use of derelict bits of land as squatting or dumping grounds that later need to be cleaned.

The site in Lockleaze is one of several meanwhile sites that Bristol City Council plans to open as part of a new vehicle dweller policy.

An armed forces veteran, Dan Clark, is one of those who will be living on the new meanwile site

A portion of the new site is currently a swamp, with outgrown grass and small pools of accumulated water. On the far end of the site is a smooth tarmac surface, with access to clean water soon to begin on one corner.

The council said that vehicles will be parked around the site and not in the middle of the swamp, which they plan to attend to soon.

Located on Romney Avenue, the site has four portaloos, a fleet of bins, access to clean water and as chair of the homes and housing delivery committee, Barry Parsons added “somewhere that’ll give them a bit of stability”.

Chair of the homes and housing committee, Barry Parsons said the new meanwhile site will provide somewhere “safe” for 14 vehicle dwellers to stay

Parsons said: “As the name suggests, it’s a meanwhile site so it is not permanent.

“But this gives people the chance to have a base, to be able to live somewhere in the city where they’re not sort of impinging on other people’s enjoyment, green spaces and things like that.

“Where they can sort of plan their next move.”

The site is surrounded by residential housing and only a short walk from the neighbourhood’s community centre, The Hub. Green councillor for Lockleaze, Heather Mack, assured that there were only a few locals who objected to a meanwhile site here.

Vehicle dwellers will have access to a set of bins for proper waste disposal on the new site

Speaking to Bristol24/7, Mack said: “There is an amount of social housing in Lockleaze already.

“There’s a number of people who have struggled with housing themselves, and so there’s a lot of empathy, a lot of sympathy, and people are really caring.

“There were only a couple of objections to this (meanwhile site) coming here, even though it is so close to people’s back gardens. But I think there’s just a deep understanding of wanting to support, and it’s been incredibly welcoming.”

Clean water access to the site is expected to start soon, with plans to bury the water pipes underground

Parsons said that the recent concerns about the safety of people living on meanwhile sites are “not a characterisation” of the sites at all, which he believes are “really well managed”.

The Green councillor for Easton continued: “What we hear from people who live on them is that they really appreciate the safety and the services that they get here.

“Over the five years that we’ve had meanwhile sites, we’ve had only a handful of complaints, and only a couple of those have been related to safety. So we really don’t think it’s a major issue.”

Heather Mack is one of the two Green councillors for Lockleaze

Parsons added that people are expected to be “much safer, much better off” on the council-operated meanwhile sites than they would be somewhere that’s not managed.

Before being allocated a pitch on this meanwhile site, Dan used to park his caravan around “known spots” around the city while always trying to “keep tidy” and not bother anyone. He hoped that if he caused minimal disruption and did not bother people, other people would leave him alone too.

Along with the newly opened site on Lockleaze, Bristol now has a total of six meanwhile sites. Another site is due to open in Lockleaze itself in 2026, with plans to have 250 pitches across all meanwhile sites by the end of the financial year.

Additionally, planning applications have been submitted for new meanwhile sites on Lanercost Road in Southmead, Tramway Road in Brislington and Western Drive and Albatross Road in Hengrove.

Spence, who currently lives on a meanwhile site in the city, said it was a “much-needed respite” from living roadside. They said that they were able to focus on wellbeing and work rather than “just surviving”.

Dan hopes that there will soon be more of these sites for everyone who needs to live on them.

He told Bristl24/7: “It’s just a shame there’s not more of them like it, because obviously there’s hundreds of people living in vans and I think it all comes down to the housing crisis at the end of the day.

“I was looking at some statistics that other day, and apparently, one in 18 Americans lives in a trailer and in the UK, it is one in 200 people.

“So it’s a stigma that we need to break.”

Meanwhile sites are seen by the council as temporary council-managed spaces created on land awaiting development. Once they’ve been offered a pitch on one of these sites, people pay a pitch fee and also receive a site agreement, which the council say is similar to a tenancy agreement and sets the rules for the site.

People can apply for a spot on a meanwhile site here: digital.bristol.gov.uk/people-communities/meanwhile-site-application

All photos and videos: Karen Johnson