Council has to listen to protests
THE sound of angry voices just keeps on growing, and Bristol City Council needs to listen.
For once, they are not asking the council to do anything.
They are asking it to do nothing.
They are not a noisy, petulant minority trying to overcome the prevailing will.
They are the majority and they want the council to abandon its plans to sell off pieces of open land.
For these are not neglected or abandoned parcels of land.
They are places where generations of children have played, where people walk their dogs or stroll together.
They are all valued, all used and all needed.
You have only to look at the picture on our front page of St Anne's park today to see how many people visited it in just an hour one Saturday morning.
And that story is repeated across the city, from Stapleton to Fishponds and Bishopsworth to Brentry.
No one wants to see these pockets of land sold, and nobody believes that city councillors will use the money to benefit their neighbourhoods.
They fear they will lose part of their open spaces and the money the council makes will been scattered across the city on other projects.
If the city councillors ignore their wishes and sell off these sites it will be a completely undemocratic and indefensible act.
Comments
by daron, Brentry
Thursday, September 16 2010, 6:18PM
“Once again the Evening Post has got it's finger on the pulse of Bristol.
The way BCC has put this whole idea across is shameful. They are not interested in people's welfare and quality of life. All they are interested in is pound notes.
Take the shameful way Gary Hopkins laughed at the good people of Stockwood when they tried to air their views.
He did the same at a meeting in Southmead. One person asked him to answer a question, which he was trying to dodge, when pressed for an answer he replied " I will answer questions if they are inteligent questions!"
How rude and aloof he is. He treats peoples views with a dimissive attitude if they don't agree with his point of view.
So yes, it is about time BCC started listening to the massive groundswell of opinion. Or, who knows, it may well be these councillers will be put out to grass , if there's any left, at the next election.”