BRISTOL Parks Forum is calling on opposition parties to explain how they will fund improvements to the city's green spaces if the council's sell-off plan is scrapped.

The parks forum has been the loudest supporter of the city council's £87 million Area Green Space Plan, which includes the proposals to sell off up to 40 green spaces across the city.

The sell-off plan could be scrapped to keep the Liberal Democrats in power after losing control of the council.

But parks forum chairman Hugh Holden is concerned. He said: "If the plan is scrapped, which now looks possible, how to do the other councillors propose to raise the money?

"It's very easy for opposition parties to campaign against something but they will have to come up with some way to raise this cash.

"It does appear that there is not enough section 106 (money raised from planning applications) about and if the building slump continues no one is going be building anything.

"It's about time they came up with a plan.

"What this has all done is raised people's awareness of the green spaces around them.

"But sooner or later they're going to say 'where is the money going to come from'.

"And if the AGSP goes, what happens to the 20 years of protection for 97 per cent of the spaces?"