Bristol City Council responds to green spaces concerns
Q THERE has been vocal opposition to a quarter of the areas put forward for sale at the very least – is that an acceptable number?
A It's certain there will be changes to the original list that officers came up with.
But just because there are comments doesn't mean there will be changes to individual sites.
How can we address 30 years of neglect without a strategic, sensible action? We will guarantee that every park not sold off will be protected for the next 20 years.
Q Is it fair to give money raised from selling land in one part of the city to another area that might not lose any green space?
A The whole point of the strategy, which all parties signed up for, is that there should be minimum standards people should be able to expect for their green spaces.
It would be ludicrous to sell off land where there is a deficit of green spaces.
Q Should money be going to improve parks in relatively wealthy areas like Clifton and Henleaze, which won't lose out on any green spaces?
A What about areas like Easton and Lawrence Weston, which have a shortage of open space? Would it be fair to say you should deprive people of Easton of the parks they need?
The argument that you can't sell off land because you're spending the money elsewhere in the city is not a particularly strong argument. Improvements cost money.
Some people might come up and say we don't want anything sold off up here but then say we would quite like those improvements. In some areas there wasn't any local group interested in that land, so we have stirred up interest.
Q Instead of selling off green spaces to raise money for improvements, why not spend section 106 money, raised from developers who submit major planning applications?
A We know it's not enough. It's a quarter of what's required. There are four funding sources – land sales, section 106, council money and grants. The grants are easier to come by when there is a strategy showing what you want.
Q The council says it wants to sell the green spaces to help fund an £87 million programme of improvements to other green spaces in Bristol. How many of the 62 sites will have to be sold to raise the £63m the council says it needs to fund improvements?
A We can't say how many, it depends on the sizes of the areas and other factors.
This is a 20-year strategy, so we're not talking about selling off 15 to 20 spaces now.
It's not likely any of these will be sold in the next few years.
The situation has always been that land has been sold off on a piecemeal basis but the money has not gone back into parks.
Q Why not just sell off brown field sites instead of building on green spaces?
A That's what the site allocation plan is for. The money from those will go back into the council coffers, and some of the money for the green spaces plan will come from the council.
Q The council is consulting on two separate documents at the same time – the area green space plan and the site allocation document – which confused some residents. Should the consultations have run separately?
A No. They are two separate processes but there are connections between them because both involve council use of land. If responses have been sent to the wrong department that's not a problem.
Q What happens when the consultation comes to an end?
A A list will come out in December of the sites that are going to be sold off.
We may need to postpone a decision on a couple. Some residents have also extra sites we may wish to consider and we will need to look at those.
The key thing is to stir up public interest, and I think we've done that successfully, and to get their comments.
Consultation is set to finish on Friday. To view the detailed proposals go to www.bristol.gov.uk/agsp.
Our coverage of the 14 parts of the city included in the green space plan will continue on Monday. In the meantime, what do you think of Mr Hopkins' answers?
E-mail s.rkaina@bepp.co.uk or write to Sam Rkaina, Evening Post, Temple Way, Bristol, BS99 7HD.
12 Comments
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by Rob, Crews Hole
Monday, October 25 2010, 8:00PM
“The most important phrase in Gary Hopkins replies is "We will guarantee that every park not sold off will be protected for the next 20 years".
In the past bits of parks have been sold or developed without any public consultation. This strategy puts a stop to that. Everyone has had a chance to say what they they think of the proposals. The Cabinet will then make a decision based on what people have said and the evidence they have given about the value of the spaces to the community.
If you don't want your green space sold then now is your chance to say why it should be kept. Go to www.bristol.gov.uk/agsp and fill in the questionnaire before 5pm on Friday.”
by ed, bristol
Monday, October 25 2010, 12:57PM
“Why should tax payer's money be wasted on messing around with parks that are okay how they are.”
by Cllr Tim Kent, Bristol
Monday, October 25 2010, 11:34AM
“There seems to be an argument on what the Green Councillor did regarding the Area Green Spaces Strategy.
As I led the opposition to the old strategy, where it had been proposed to sell off more than twice the area proposed than this current plan, I remember it well.
I like Charlie Bolton but the truth is that he did and said virtually nothing on this issue at the time it was decided on. He sat on the Scrutiny Commission that examined it and said nothing. I will be fair to Glenn as he did raise concerns. But the elected Green Councillor did not.
Sorry about posting on such a narrow political point. The issue is a very important one for all communities and if we want good quality parks with good play facilities for our children then we need to come up with a strategy that can fund this.”
by Chris, Bristol, England
Sunday, October 24 2010, 10:00PM
“Why are the Council wasting chamber time on debating Green space
Just leave ALL the Green space alone ,just carry on keeping it up together, as in the very past,leaving it shipshape and Bristol fashion
So for starters !
The "Council" should get our appalling roads and paths up together good clean-up of blocked drains and all overgrown shrubbery and then use all the money we have paid in Council Tax to re TARMAC roads and Paths, repaint the white Lines,and of course get rid of the Graffiti !
Next ! well get that done first . No excuses ..................so take a pay cut ?
or cut done the amount of Councillors
Come on ! We are all in it Together !”
by stoney, ashton
Sunday, October 24 2010, 10:42AM
“so the council want to sell off our green belt sites ,You only have to look at ashton vale planning permission was granted by the council even though it was green belt land .Yes the land is in private hands but look how easy it was for the football club to get planning permission on this land .Even if you thing the purposed new stadium should be built the land is still classed as green belt land.look at also the council are giving to the football club in this time of massive cuts in terms of money and land you will be shocked .If you don't believe me just check it out bristol 24/7 will give you all the facts that the evening post wont print”
by Paul, Bemmy Down
Saturday, October 23 2010, 8:22PM
“My guess is this has as much to do with providing developers with profitable sites, as with spending money on our parks. I thought council policy was to develope "brown field" sites as a priority. I'm sure most people would prefer to wait till economic times improve before money is spent, than have their green spaces sold off.”
by Stockwood Pete, http://stockwoodpete.blogspot.com/
Saturday, October 23 2010, 7:19PM
“Remember that 30% of the receipts from these selective land sales, mostly in poorer parts of the city, go into the general pot, not into parks at all. The net flow of money will be from the poorer outer wards into the (generally) wealthier inner wards. It's got little to do with the improvements to the parks, it's really about raising cash.
Cllr Hopkins is taking a leaf out of the George Osborne book of cuttings when he talks about fairness.”
by Bobs, Bristol
Saturday, October 23 2010, 6:22PM
“There is cross party support from the 3 main parties for all sorts of stuff these days:
a) giving tax payers money to the banks
b) clawing back that money from the people
c) suppressing evidence of killing of civilians and torture in Iraq and Afganistan
There is only a matter of decimal percentage points between the 3 main parties on every major policy issue. Bristol is ready and waiting for the Green Party to rise up. If only it can.”
by Glenn Vowles, Knowle
Saturday, October 23 2010, 3:24PM
“Cllr Rogers - its clearly ridiculous and absurd to say that there are three parties on the council. The Greens have an elected Cllr - fact. Because it is one person does not mean the party does not exist (!) it simply means that Green Party GROUP STATUS is not recognised (until there are at least two Cllrs ie next May!).
If you were fully open and honest here you would tell the whole truth ie that there is a Cllr representing a party on the council that opposes these green space sell-off plans. The Greens do not recognise the current approach as a proper green spaces strategy because of its flog off plans - and looking at the scale of opposition it appears that Bristol's public agree with us not the Lib Dem, Tory and Labour Cllrs that all endorse it.”
by Cllr Jon Rogers, Ashley ward councillor
Saturday, October 23 2010, 2:39PM
“There remain only three parties on Bristol City council - the Conservatives, the Lib Dems and the Labour Party.
The Green Party do have a councillor on the council, but one person is not regarded as a party!
The Green Party councillor did, as Mr Vowles suggests, vote against a proper green space strategy for Bristol.”