MORE than 1,000 people have signed a petition against selling off green space in Brislington, while children have chained themselves to trees to show how strongly they feel.

Bristol City Council has proposed selling off seven sites in this part of the city, and residents have raised concerns about several of them.

The idea of selling off part of St Anne's Park for housing, in particular, has generated an angry response.

Two eight-year-old boys – Louie White and Edwyn Lewis – chained themselves to their favourite tree in the park to get the message across to the council.

Local resident and photographer David White produced dramatic pictures of the park using time-lapse photography, where a series of images taken at set intervals are overlaid, which showed it was well-used. He said: "Every reason they have put up for selling off the land is invalid.

"One of the main ones is to 'increase surveillance in the park to deal with antisocial behaviour'.

"We put a Freedom of Information request in to the police, who said there had been three incidents there in two years.

"They said it is 'under used' and that's why I did the photo – it's incredibly well used."

Although Victory Park is not one of the areas that could be sold off, residents are concerned about the fields around it that could be.

The site allocations document the council is also consulting on a 18.5-hectare area to the west of Bonville Road for potential development.

The three options are to build up to 926 houses, develop industry and warehousing or have no development at all. Any development could see the loss of allotments off School Road.

The Friends of Victory Park have gathered more than 1,000 signatures and 100 personally-written letters objecting to the plans.

Group member Frank Ewens said: "We are a green city, we are a cycling city – this site should be kept green. This is too good a site to lose.

"It is an inheritance we need to keep for the future.

"We're not saying people don't need houses but there are many brownfield sites that should be examined very closely.

"Then there are the allotments – moving them would be a great upheaval for the people who use them. The other issues are traffic and infrastructure – Bath Road is a nightmare."

Other areas that could be sold off include open space at Allison Avenue; part of Newbridge Road; Belroyal Avenue; Broomhill Road; and Broomhill Road Park.

Brislington Community Partnership is putting together a formal response to the council covering all of the areas of concern in Brislington.

Chairman David Waters said: "We're not going into this saying 'you will not build on our land' – we do need more affordable houses.

"But it's got to be done with consideration to the history.

"Building on St Anne's Park could close the door to the expansion of the junior school, which could be cutting our nose off to spite our face."

The council has put forward a number of ideas for areas that could be improved when money raised from land sales is reinvested over the 20-year period of the project.

Although it won't have the money to fund them all, the authority wants residents to say which they would prefer. Proposals for Brislington include a new seating area in the centre and redesigned entrances for Victory Park itself.

There are a number of options for Eastwood Farm, including picnic areas, a sculpture in the centre and new areas for exploration and play.

Council spokeswoman Helen Hewitt said: "The plans give local people some suggested ideas of what the next 20 years could bring.

"At this stage no decisions have been made." To view the detailed proposals go to www.bristol.gov.uk.

● What do you think of the proposals for your area? Email s.rkaina@bepp.co.uk or write to Sam Rkaina, Evening Post, Temple Way, Bristol, BS99 7HD.